Hellbound With You (WN)

The study was silent for a while. Abi waited with an expectant look on her face as she stared at Zeke. She was still a little distracted by Zeke's new, or rather, real appearance that she didn't notice Zeke's quick glance towards her before returning his gaze to Alex. Abi also overlooked the seemingly wordless communication that briefly passed between the two men as they stared at each other.

"The prophetess didn't see anything, unfortunately." Zeke then said, his gaze now on Abi, and immediately, disappointment and worry flashed in Abi's eyes.

"Oh, dear," she uttered softly, biting her lips as she worriedly faced Alex. Abi couldn't help but feel her heart ache for Kelly. If even the prophetess couldn't help, then who could? Abi knew that the prophetess and Ezekiel were their last hope. So if these two couldn't help as well, what would happen with Kelly and Kai? Was it really hopeless?

The solemn and sad look on Abi's face made Alex worry. He grabbed Abi's hands that were resting on her lap, and squeezed them gently, comforting her. Because Abi was looking down, she didn't see how Alex was glaring at Zeke, silently urging the man to say something that could lift Abi's spirit.

Zeke stared at Alex, maintaining his relaxed posture on his chair. Zeke could almost hear Alex's pissed voice as he told him to remember that Abigail was pregnant and that she was sensitive - the very words he said to Alex to send him away. But Zeke remained unbothered despite Alex's intensifying glare for a short while, until eventually, he spoke, just right before a sound could leave Alex's mouth.

"But…" Zeke said. Abi's head lifted almost immediately, and she looked at him with an expectant look again. "Because of what happened to Kai, I believe there must be some changes in his body now."

Confused, Abi eyes darted between Alex and Zeke. "What happened to Kai?" she asked Alex.

"He self-destructed. He did that so he could stop himself from killing Kelly," Alex told her, and Abi's lips parted in shock again. "What he did was something that supposed to kill him, but miraculously, he survived. Though it appeared he still suffered a huge price."

"Price?"

"Yes. His lifespan has tremendously decreased. He now has a lifespan of a human."

For a moment, silence hung over the room. While Abi was still speechless and processing the shocking news, Zeke started to speak.

"He'll grow old like humans and die of old age." Zeke's voice was serious. Although his face still remained expressionless, Abi was sure that this was something that's unacceptable to him. Kai was Zeke's younger brother, after all. It was hard to believe and accept that Kai, who was supposed to still live for a few more hundreds of years, would soon die a few decades later.

Abi didn't know what to say. She had never expected that Kai had paid such a huge price that night. She knew Kelly didn't know about this. She thought Kelly would break down if she'd learn what had happened to Kai. And if she found out about the price that Kai had to pay, she might blame herself, and worse was, Kelly might refuse to touch him again. God, what should she do?

"My theory is that Kai managed to survive the self-destruction because of his royal blood." Zeke resumed the conversation.

"Must be. No royalty ever tried to do that before. As far as I can remember, he's the first." Alex replied as he continued gently rubbing Abi's hand with his thumb.

"I am still not certain if there are more changes in Kai's body aside from his lifespan, but there's a possibility that this could be the answer we are looking for. Perhaps, his sacrifice opened a way for them to be together."

Alex creased his brows. He was about to retort when his wife leaned in on him and looked at him with her huge eyes that were now filled with hope. He clamped his lips and swallowed his words because what he was about to say might extinguish the hope in her eyes again. Alex didn't like seeing her being worried and troubled, so he decided not to speak anymore.

"Of course, that's just a possibility. But if Kai's sacrifice is indeed the answer, I guess, the two should reconcile to find it out themselves," Zeke added, causing Abi to nod in great approval.

"I think I need to speak with Kelly, Alex." Abi grabbed Alex's hand. "She must know. She deserved to know what happened with Kai. If I were her, I would want to know. So I really need to speak with her about all this. I'm sure she'll fight for Kai again!"

Alex threw a quick glance at Zeke before he smiled at Abi and caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. "Sure, my love. You're going to talk to her once we're home." He said, and as soon as Alex said those words, Abi rose from her seat. Obviously, she wanted to go home now and speak with her best friend as quickly as possible.

And thus, after thanking Zeke and saying goodbye to him, Abi grabbed her husband's hand, and they walked out of Zeke's study and went straight to their car parked in the palace's courtyard.

However, before Alex could start the car's engine, Zeke called him. Alex wasn't surprised. He knew that Zeke had something else he wanted to tell him, so he immediately asked his wife to stay in the car and wait for him.

"I won't take long," Alex promised, and when Abi nodded at him, he leaped and disappeared from the courtyard. He reached Zeke's study in no time, entering the room through the window.

"What is it?" Alex asked, not beating around the bush as he looked at Zeke, who was now half-sitting at the edge of his desk.

Zeke's serious eyes stared back at him before he spoke. "The prophetess actually saw something."

"She did?"

"Yes."

"And what did she see?" Alex approached him. His expression was now curious and grave. He had noticed the hardness in Zeke's voice, and he knew it was a sign of bad news.

Zeke gazed outside the opened window as he sipped blood from his glass and answered. "Kelly and Kai's gravestones."