Hellbound With You (WN)

"What could be the connection between these two?" Alicia asked softly. She had not been expecting for them to welcome another intriguing matter at this point.

"I'm not certain." He answered, still staring intently at the amulet. "But I realised that I haven't seen this on you before, Alicia. Why is that so?" Ezekiel looked up at Alicia at this point.

"It's because I stopped putting it on and hid it instead. It was stolen from me once by my peers, way back even before I had been selected as the queen. I had to fight them to get it back. And it was a very intense fight, might I add. Because… well, maybe because I have had this with me for so long that I came to really treasure it. It's just very important to me."

Ezekiel was silent for a moment.

"Have you ever noticed if there was something different or maybe special about this amulet? Especially when you were still wearing it?" he asked.

Alicia shook her head after scrunching her brows and thinking silently for a couple of minutes. She had wondered about that so many times before, but she had long come to accept that the amulet she owned had no magical abilities whatsoever. She had always thought of it as nothing more than a precious keepsake.

"How about your dagger? You had given that to me like you were just giving away some of your extra weapon."

"I never noticed or felt anything special as well. But no, you're wrong about that. I did hesitate for longer than was necessary before handing the dagger over to you. Though it has no exceptional abilities, that dagger had been handy and saved me from trouble quite often back when I still thought I was nothing but a pure-blooded vampire. When I was young, I believe I had once thought it possessed some good luck charm."

"And that was why you've given it to me before I left that day? You thought that it would… could keep me safe…" Alicia could not help the smile that was tugging at her lips.

"It's a proven good luck charm." Was all he replied, causing Alicia's smile to widen. But she forced herself to return to their dilemma. About the possible connection between these two items. After going through so much in life, they knew better than to brush it off as pure coincidence.

"Do you have any theories on how these two might be connected?"

Ezekiel stared at her. But just as he was about to open his mouth and answer, they both snapped their heads towards the entrance.

"The witches had noticed that someone is inside." Alicia said calmly. She knew that they definitely would notice if she and Ezekiel lingered and that was why she had planned that they had to immediately leave after taking the dagger to avoid alerting the witches.

Lilith was not in the Black Forest and so was Zeres. Thus, the witches would definitely think that someone powerful had intruded into their sacred place.

"Let's leave for now, Ezekiel." She hurried him and as soon as she clung onto Ezekiel's arm, the two of them disappeared like smoke, not a single trace of either of them left. When the witches arrived, they would not be able to even find any traces of the slight wisp of smoke that was created when Alicia and Ezekiel disappeared.

The third time they materialized, Alicia was shocked to realized that they were back in the Reigns castle. Somehow, she could not help but fall speechless. She had never thought that he would bring her to this very same castle when all the vampires were probably preparing to hunt them down again very soon.

"Why are we here?" she hissed at him as he led her to what looked like a secret door inside his massive room.

"To get some gifts." He casually replied before grinning mischievously.

Before she could say anything, her jaw dropped at the sight that welcomed her behind the secret door. It was a room full of… well, weapons. From ancient weapons to the most modern guns that had been developed today.

"Wait a moment Ezekiel, you're not going to gift the twins with weapons, are you?" Alicia exclaimed in a whisper, almost falling over at the thought of him giving guns to the babies.

"The twins need to learn how to protect themselves as soon as possible, Alicia." He explained seriously as he looked through a row of daggers, ranging from tiny to large ones as long as her forearm.

His expression was serious as he started his explanations. Well, he had a point, but still… oh well, Abi and Alexander's children would not be normal human children anyway. And she was quite certain that Abi would hide Ezekiel's gifts until they grow up and are able to use them well.

"This would be a good pair to the amulets you're gifting them with." Ezekiel said with satisfaction as he picked two identical daggers with golden hilts. It would really look like a pair to the protection amulet she had prepared for the twins.

"You're right," Alicia beamed. "Now all we need to do now is to go and buy a couple of boxes and wrappers. After that we'll go and get changed and we're set to go."

"Sounds like a plan," Ezekiel agreed and the two of them disappeared into smoke again.

…

In Alex's mansion.

The baby shower was already about to end. None of Alex's VIP guests had arrived yet, because the baby shower was actually divided into two sessions. The first one – that was about to end – was for Abi's family and friends. Meaning, it was a normal party, exclusive for humans only.

The party was fun and lively. It was like any other baby shower, full of laughter, and full of a variety of people. Young, old, children, teenagers – all running around in high spirits, laughing and having fun. No one would ever doubt that this was actually a party for the children of an immortal couple.

Once the party was over, everyone went home with wide smiles on their faces. They obviously had enjoyed their time at the mansion.

And then night came. It was now time for the baby shower, part two to begin!