Page 26 of Dark Captivation

“I don’t know what your brother has told you, but I have not agreed to be his queen, wife or anything. As a matter of fact, I’ve even entered into a deal with him in an attempt to stop him from starting a war.”

“A deal?” Ferina had a dazed look scrawled on her gaze. She hit the brakes holding up traffic behind as the road cleared ahead of us. She didn’t move, lost in thought as a symphony of car horns played behind us.

“Hey, you okay?” I snapped my fingers in front of her face. Why were demons so weird about deals?

“Sorry, yes! I’m here.” She snapped out of it, pumping the gas, crossing the street just before the light went from amber to red.

I rolled down my sleeve, revealing the heart shaped tattoo. “If my love for your brother doesn’t fill this tattoo all the way in the next two months, he can’t declare war and must stop all hostility outside his own borders. Meaning as long as I don’t give him my heart, there will be no war and obviously no wedding.”

Her jaw dropped to the floor, and she drew back dramatically. “Your gutsy as hell, girl! Leaving it to use a demon’s weakness for deals against us.” She cackled as if the entire thing was positively hilarious.

I wanted to ask her if she thought he would keep his word, but it would only put her guard up, knowing I didn’t trust her brother. Then she’d never give me the info I need.

She made a sharp left over a bridge and a right down a bumpy, restaurant lined boulevard. “You must have incredible self-restraint, though. I’ve had to beat most of my friends off Malek with a stick. Most demonesses think he’s the most gorgeous and charming male on the planet.”

Gorgeous was an understatement. The man was sex personified, his dark stare seductive enough to charm the panties off a python. His muscles were so hard and large, every time he was near all I could think about was how much I wanted to touch them.

“He’s okay.” I shrugged, averting my gaze so she wouldn’t see the lies floating across my eyes.

Heavy traffic slowed us to a snail’s pace as all lanes converged on the heavily built up commercial center. At Ferina’s suggestion, we parked the car on the sidewalk and continued to the donut shop on foot.

Food stalls trailed the crowded street. Demons tucked in and out of shops and restaurants. It was like we’d entered an ant’s nest with lines moving in so many directions that I’d have gotten lost if Ferina wasn’t holding my hand.

We passed a demon in a hooded black cloak handing out a flier. He stood in front of an old church that was wedged between a bookstore and an antique doll shop.

A swelling of demons congregated in front of the church, accepting the flyers and quickly scooting away, as if worried they might be seen. Those who already read the flyers passed them on to other passersby.

Who would have thought that demons even went to church. Well, I guess nobody would believe in angels more than demons.

We weren’t too far from the church and someone placed a flier into my hand, not saying a word to me as he went the other way.

Ferina took the paper from me without asking and read it. Her jaw tightened. “What in the world is this?” She turned the paper sideways. “This isn’t English, Demonish or any language I’ve seen in a thousand years of life. It’s pure gibberish.”

I took the paper and glanced it over. It was written in perfect English.

“Are you tired of living under the boot of a callous and arrogant leader?” I read it aloud. “Come and find your home with demons just like you! Join the Brotherhood of the Black Phoenix. My cursive is a little rusty but it’s easy enough to read.” I handed it back to her.

“Easy for everyone but those who weren’t meant to read it.” She crushed the paper into a tight ball and crammed it into her pocket. “Come on, we’re going to the afternoon service, to find out what ‘holy message’ that priest is peddling.”

“Fine, but first we need to get you a change of clothes.” My finger swirled in a circle near her midsection. “Something tells me a military uniform may not be the best thing to have on where we’re going. You don’t want to draw more attention than necessary.”

She nodded, agreeing that I was right, scowling in the direction of the cloaked man still handing out flyers.

“Speaking of attention, how come no one comes up to us for your autograph? You’re the princess.” I asked.

“Malek is much more of a public figure than I, and even he tends to shy away from too much public engagement.” She explained as we continued down the street looking for a clothes store. “He sees it as better for the safety of the royal family to keep some level of distance and anonymity between us and the public. So we tend to only make rare and select public appearances, usually away from cameras.”

“Where I come from, there's no hiding the alpha and his family. Their faces are on every billboard, every tv commercial. They always want to be the center of attention.”

“That’s interesting. I’ve always been curious about why shifters are so open with their private business.” Her eyes lit up as she pinched her chin in thought. “I feel like I know more about the lives of shifter online influencers than I know about my own family. Demons prefer to live life in the shadows. This is how we feel safest. But, when I think about it, I envy your people’s openness. It’s such a fearless way to live. It’s freeing.”

“That demon tendency to cling to the shadows and be more secretive might be at the center of the propaganda flyer we’re about to investigate,” I argued.

“Good point. We demons tend to justify being secretive and sneaky by arguing that what others don’t know can’t hurt them. But after hearing the angry opposition to my brother’s rule in that flyer, I’m not sure that type of rhetoric is completely harmless, at least not for my family.”

We stopped in a store and got Ferina a pair of jeans and a plain black T shirt.

I wasn’t entirely sure this was a good idea, I thought while waiting for her to finish changing in the dressing rooms.

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