Page 70 of Dark Captivation

His jaw cracked, and his eyes squeezed in pain.

“Are you injured?” I stroked his chin, and he knelt, swaying himself as close to me as possible.

“The mage bolted the instant we arrived. He could be anywhere now.” His teeth clenched muzzling his anger as his eyes scanned the bookshelves that surrounded us.

We were in the library in the palace.

“How did we get back here?” I asked.

“The mage had opened the portal, intending to take us off somewhere I don’t know. But I was able to use my magic to divert the path back to the palace.” He rubbed the ache from his shoulder. Malek seemed a little banged up from the fight but thank the gods that none of his injuries looked serious.

“Good plan. Here at least we have the home field advantage. Plus, now it’s him against you, me, your sister and all your guards.” I said and he grazed my palm, smoothing it over his cheek.

“Not entirely good. The spell that keeps intruders out only works from the outside. Now that a mage is here in the palace, he can open his portals from inside. If I don’t find him quickly, he can let any number of his comrades in. I knew that when I brought us back here, but I had no choice. His magic is strong. I was only able to get us back here because of the strong anchor I have to the palace.” Something dangerous swam across his dark gaze, the desperate instinct to kill or be killed had been awakened in him.

“Go find Ferina. Then the two of you must search for a good hiding place and stay there. I’m going after the mage.” Rising to his full height, he set me to stand.

“Wait, you might need me. What if he’s already summoned back up? What if the mages swarm you?” I fisted the back of his shirt.

“Then we’ll swarm them back and snap their cowardly spines!” Ferina strolled up, looking fierce in her high waisted jeans that stuck to her curvy body like paint. “Now, who are we talking about? And if you guys came back early, why did I have to sniff you two out? Didn’t you miss me?”

Hurt thrummed in Ferina’s voice, her expression mouthing, ‘what the fuck?’.

“Mages. One of them followed us into the castle. There may be more coming. I’ll alert the palace security and go look for him. Take Sunny and go hide.” Malek reeled off the info like a laundry list before handing me off to Ferina like I was a sack of diamonds that needed to be guarded.

I spun round, finger raised and primed to argue.

Malek gave Ferina a look. One that seemed to convey a secret message that meant something to the siblings. Because before I could utter a peep, Ferina snagged my arm with bionic strength, ushering me through the library’s science fiction section at top speed.

“Hey!” I grated. “I get that you’re from another time and place. But in this century women don’t run. We stay and fight.”

“Well here in Demon City, when our king gives a command, we follow,” She made a hard left, pulling me along.

“Since when do you care about his commands? From the minute I met you, you’ve defied Malek at every turn.” I stumbled around a shelf’s edge.

We entered an older part of the library with few lights and cobwebs draping most of the books. It looked like nobody had ventured over here in years. Seeming to find this spot to be as good a place as any to hide, Ferina installed herself on the floor at the base of a dusty bookshelf, getting comfortable as she bunkered down.

“This is different. I’ve never seen Mally this worried,” She whispered, pointing at the ground, gesturing for me to sit with her.

I plopped down beside her, folding my legs. “Did it even cross your mind that we might be of help to Malek? What if he gets ambushed by ten or twenty mages? Even a demon of his strength could use our help then.”

“Any help he needs he’ll get from his guards.” She tenderly feathered her fingers over my shoulder as her eyes landed on the damaged books in front of us. “Hey, I don’t know if you noticed, but you’re not just any wolf shifter to him. If you died, he would die. Mally can’t risk losing you. That’s why he needs me to keep you safe.”

A slight hint of sadness rebounded in her voice, and it gave me pause. I’d only just remembered my childhood and Malek’s place in it. He’d spend the last decade mentally revisiting the past and longing to see me again.

His longing for our past lives together drove him to want to control the world and make it as safe as possible for us to live happily together, just like we did as children before my village was attacked and I was taken by Prometheus.

Still I couldn’t help but think there was more to the story I was missing. A missing piece to the puzzle, the reason why a thousand year old demon from the underworld would need to be reborn on Earth.

“Sunny, get down. I think I heard something.” Ferina warned, urging my head down by tugging on my shoulder. The smell of burned rubber wafted into my nose from above, apprehension quickening my pulse.

Ferina and I dipped so low, we were almost sprawled out on the carpet, holding our breaths so as to not make a sound.

Concern dulled the shine of Ferina’s striking blue eyes and by the way her fangs now protruded from between her lips, her beast was rising to the surface.

Several minutes went by and the strange scent passed us by. The silence of empty space greeted us, calming my nerves and tempted me into thinking everything would be alright.

Ferina poked her head up, taking a look around to see if the coast was clear.

---