The Man In The Shadows

Annalise kept her eyes trained on the person hiding in the shadows of the room as she slowly moved towards the farthest corner of the pool, creating as much space between herself and that person as possible.

"Who... w-who are you?" She repeated her question when that person refused to respond to her previous one.

Still, there came no reply. And the silence only made her heart race like a maniac. She chewed on her lower lip as her eyes suddenly looked around the pool room which appeared way darker than it was a couple of minutes ago and as usual, even her enhanced sight couldn't see through the darkness that resided inside the castle.

The thought of calling out for help entered her mind but she hurriedly shook it away. She was in the farthest corner of the castle. There was next to no chance that anyone would hear her and if no one heard her, she would only end up alerting the person in the shadows.

As her thoughts returned to the intruder, her eyes hurriedly moved to look in the direction where he/she was hiding but that place was empty now. That person had taken advantage of her distraction and changed their hiding place.

Annalise became even more anxious as she couldn't seem to find that person anymore but her instincts were telling her that he/she was still there, hiding in the shadows.

If it had been some other place or time, she would have already escaped from the room or at least, had tried to. However, her current situation wasn't favorable at all. She was not only underdressed but also wet from head to toe. Leaving the pool wasn't an option and she could do nothing about the intruder by staying inside the pool.

"Are you looking for me?"

A gasp escaped Annalise's lips as she felt the warm breath against her ear as the man whispered the question to her. At the very same time, one of his hands snaked around her shoulders and wrapped itself around her collarbone.

Goosebumps shot all over her body as she hurriedly turned her face to look at the man while her body was pinned in place by the force of his hand. Her eyes found themselves looking into brightly glowing red orbs that reminded her of the vampires she had read about in the books.

She couldn't look away from his eyes even if she wanted, even when there was a voice inside her head that was telling her constantly to get away from the man. Something about him, or his eyes, was making her stay in her place.

"Are you taking revenge now, Your Highness? You won't reply because I avoided answering your question just a few moments ago?" The man asked as he tilted his head slightly while still gazing at her non-stop. There was a little twitch visible on the corner of his lips as if he was mocking her.

Annalise found herself opening her mouth but words refused to come out. It was like her voice was lost and even when she wanted to speak, she couldn't. That's why she just sat there staring at the man whose face was only mere inches away from her. They were so close that she could feel the warmth of his body and his hand that was still wrapped around her collarbone wasn't helping the situation.

"You shouldn't stare at me like this, Your Highness. I'm not as good at controlling myself as my brothers." The man whispered as he moved his face a little bit closer to her face, almost causing their noses to brush against each other.

Annalise closed her mouth and stopped breathing as her entire body sizzled with some sort of unknown energy. There were so many unfamiliar feelings and sensations working all over her that were completely foreign to her. The only feeling that she could recognize was nervousness. But to her surprise, there was no hint of fear at all.

"My Lord..." The words finally left her lips but she stopped immediately when she noticed him arching his eyebrows in surprise. He seemed impressed by the fact that she had already recognized him.

But how did she know that he was none other than Lord Damien, second among the Dark Lords? Annalise had no certain answer for this. She just knew that it was him the very moment she rested her eyes on him.

She found herself studying him just like she had done with the other two Lords. It seemed like her eyes had their own mind when it came to the Lords and no matter how much she knew that what she was doing wasn't a proper thing to do, it couldn't be helped.

Therefore, her eyes slowly took in his long black hair that was tied in a braid. His dark eyebrows, red glowing eyes, and thin lips that were carrying a hint of a smile. His features seemed sharp and the aura surrounding him was way darker than the ones surrounding Lord Kenric and Lord Valerius.

He also seemed colder and more dangerous than the other two Lords, but she still couldn't feel any sort of fear or panic.

"Tell me, Princess, how did you charm my brothers?" Lord Damien asked as he brushed one of his fingers against Annalise's temple, trailing it down her cheek, causing her to shudder as she tried to find her voice that was once again gone to some other world.

"Did you make them enchanted with your beauty? Or was it your sweet voice that sounds like a siren's call? Will you tell me? What is it about you that captivates all of us?" Lord Damien questioned as he placed his fingers against her chin and made her look up at him.

Annalise again found her lips parting and to her surprise, words did come out of her mouth this time as she asked, "Us? Are you included too, My Lord?"