Page 84 of Dark Captivation

Ferina and I departed the palace in a chauffeur driven car. We hopped out in the busiest street of the blue line fashion district, accompanied by two tall and bulky bodyguards.

Oodles of shoppers lined the streets, carrying bags and boxes of different sizes.

Roasted sweet potato stalls dotted the busy sidewalk, setting a sugary, floral scent sailing on the wind.

Street performers played melodious violins and guitar music nearby, setting the stage for a lively and buzzing atmosphere that excited the senses.

“Oh-oh, let’s go in there. That’s one of my favorite shops.” Capturing my hand, and pulling me through the crowd, Ferina ushered me into a shop with neon-colored clothes in the window. The bodyguards shuffled along after us, always giving us several feet of breathing room.

I tried on a couple of outfits and Ferina tried on all of the latest arrivals. Setting aside what I didn’t want from the ones I’d tried on, I carried a top and pair of shorts to the register.

I couldn’t even see Ferina’s face behind the tall mountain of dresses she miraculously managed to balance on one arm, while carrying twelve handbags and a pair of sneakers with her other.

“Put everything on this.” Ferina handed the clerk a card with Malek’s name on it and the clerk swiped it. She handed Ferina the receipt and boxed everything up for us and thanked us for coming.

We went to a couple more stores and tried on a few more outfits. Even the outfits I was sure didn’t flatter me, Ferina insisted made me look like the epitome of style and grace. She always said it with a flamboyant twinkle in her eyes.

I couldn’t help but love Ferina, even though I was beginning to suspect that she got off on that beeping sound the credit card machine made every time a transaction was successful. She may have been a shopaholic, but it suited her personality.

I loved girl time, this was one thing I dreamt of when I was growing up in the Prometheus Pack. To have a friend I could go out into public with was a dream I was so cruelly denied. Now thanks to Ferina, I was able to make up for lost time in ways I never thought possible.

We were back on the sidewalk. Ferina and I headed towards the burger place where we planned to have dinner.

The bodyguards carried most of the bags, but Ferina and I kept two each, as it provided a small buffer between us and the extremely thick crowds.

I could almost smell the ketchup, mustard and cheese as we got closer to the restaurant. But the street we entered had a far less happy atmosphere than a few streets back. Here it was like all joyful ambiance had been sucked from the scene. We’d even left all the street performers behind as none of them would come to such a gloomy, gray block.

A stomping noise lugged me toward the soldiers that marched through the street ahead. Starting as a fine trickle and building to densely packed lines of soldiers, they marched through the street. They chanted something I didn’t understand, probably because it was in Demonish.

Some pedestrians cheered and others complained about not being able to cross the street. Crowds on the sidewalks diverted with some shuffling away down alleys and side streets.

“It’s just a military exercise. A simple drill meant to keep the soldiers limber and on high alert. They’re probably marching from the northern base to the southern base. It happens every couple of weeks.” Ferina said, sounding unperturbed.

Two dozen rockets sat on the backs of trucks, following behind the batch of soldiers. These missiles were black with blood red stripes. Each larger than three demons put together. These were weapons of mass intimidation and destruction.

“What are those for?” I asked.

“Oh, we bought those from the humans,” she said simply.

“That doesn’t exactly answer my question.” I said, and she did a one eighty degree twist, facing me.

“Sunny. Magic alone will not keep us safe. You better believe that humans aren’t only selling these to us. They’ve sold hundreds of missiles to the mages too. This is how the world works now. It’s a balancing act. As long as both have the same deadly weapons, neither side can use them.”

What she said made sense. I’d learned in school how the humans maintained a similar balance between America and Russia. But these weapons didn’t belong in our world. They were far more deadly than anything magic could ever conjure.

We continued to the restaurant and Ferina quickly changed the subject to something more pleasant. We chatted for over an hour, eating our burgers and having a few drinks before retiring to the palace.

Malek’s warm embrace greeted me at the door. His soothing hug calmed the rough seas in my head to a mild ripple. Just looking at him was all it took to chase away the darkness that engulfed me. This was why I chose to remain on his side.

Maybe I didn’t need to be the hero. Maybe I just needed to allow myself to be happy. For the first time in my life, I was finally happy. I had love. I finally had the freedom to make friends and do anything I wished, anywhere I wished. Was it so wrong that I didn’t want to give up all the good I’d finally been given?

Plus, when it really came down to it, things always worked themselves out somehow. Didn’t they? Every day Malek and I drew closer, becoming happier and more at ease with each other. If I was patient with him and gave him time I was sure he would come to see that all these soldier marches and missile exhibitions were unnecessary. That war itself was unnecessary.

The more we built a happy home, and life became more stable, he would come to see that we could be safe right as we are. All he needed to do was stop all foreign aggression and we’d be safe.

Through our love, he would come to see that he didn’t need any more power or to subjugate a single person.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

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