Page 6 of Dark Captivation

I took a step away from him and pain sparked through my ankle like a firecracker. I winced, bending my knee to take some pressure off the ankle.

“Those bastards! You are hurt.” He scooped me up like a sack of potatoes, carefully carrying me princess style out of the room and up a dark staircase.

His warm earthy scent flooded my nose, and I couldn’t stop my cheeks from warming. The Demon God was touching me. My face was nestled in the powerful abs of the Father of Evil. How was this possible?

“My injury is minor. I-I’m perfectly capable of walking, thank you.” I complained, struggling in his arms.

“You’ll exacerbate your injuries. Just relax and let me take care of you, Sunny!” He snapped, giving me a look that said no amount of arguing would make him put me down.

I argued with him all the way up the stairs, but it made no difference. He was like a child with his favorite toy, stubborn in his resolve to keep it at all costs.

We emerged from a basement and entered the living room in a dilapidated and abandoned house. Outside the house, a shiny black Mustang sat in the driveway. Not telling me where we were going, Malek strapped me into the passenger seat.

Slamming on the gas, Malek tore through the quiet neighborhood. After a few silent minutes, homes gave way to shops and high rises as we entered the city. The opulent palace I’d escaped sat on a small hill in the distance, glistening majestically in the morning sunlight. Coming through the back streets to avoid traffic, he jetted in the palace’s direction.

CHAPTER THREE

LIVY

“Is there acid in that stuff?” I cried as the doctor dabbed the cotton-soaked antiseptic to a wound on my neck. It burned like hell.

“I’m almost finished. Please stay still.” The doctor grasped my shoulders, positioning me in the center of my chair. He reached into his supply bag and poured more antiseptic onto his cotton applicator.

We were in a large, beautiful living room. The walls were a pristine white, the brilliant sun shone inside through the large bay window across from me. A couch sat between me and the window. A large flat screen TV took up half the wall behind me. And a small round table sat in the corner with three chairs around it.

Aside from my stinging wounds, the atmosphere was pretty relaxing. At least if you didn’t count the over seven-foot tall, gray-skinned Demon King who sat with his legs folded, one atop the other, on the couch.

He silently watched the doctor work. His eyes trained on me for the last half hour, his brows furrowed with anger as if he wanted to say something. But since we arrived at the palace and he called the doctor, he hadn’t said a word.

“I never thought I needed to lock up my own bride. Why did you run from me?” He asked, sounding mildly irritated.

“How did you find me?” I asked, ignoring the fact that he’d called me his bride. His head tilted backward.

“Surely by now you can see I’ll always find you. No matter where you go, I have my methods of tracking you down, Sunny.” His tone was sharp, menacing, even a little threatening. Almost like he was daring me to try running away again.

He was right, he could communicate with me through my dreams. And when I summoned him, he immediately came to me through a portal. Did this mean we were now tied together and he could find me no matter where I went?

“The lone she-wolf in a city of demons was not hard to find.” He shrugged. “I followed your scent.”

“Okaaay.” I drew out the word. “Now that that’s settled. Who is this Sunny person and why do you keep calling me your bride?”

He leaned forward, the tension easing in his face as he rested both elbows on his legs.

“This was the nickname I gave you years ago. And back when we were children, I asked you to be mine and you said, ‘Yes.’ That formed an unbreakable contract. That agreement makes you mine, now and until the end of time.”

He said it with such surety and plainness, as if he was telling me something I already knew.

“Excuse me, what?!” I jumped, almost tipping out of the chair, knocking the cotton ball out of the doctor's hand.

“Clearly, this is the best I’m going to get.” The doctor affixed one last bandage to my neck and forearm, packed up his bag and left.

“When we met in your dreams, and you said you didn’t remember me, I was hoping you merely didn’t recognize me since we hadn’t seen each other for thirteen years.”

He glided across the room as if he weighed nothing, and kneeled at my feet. The pads of his fingers smoothed over my cheek and wildfire burned under my skin.

My body craved his touch, and I was drawn to his dark soulful eyes like a moth drawn to the flame.

“I don’t remember much before the age of thirteen. Not my original pack, even most of the memories of my family are gone. Still, I think I’d remember being friends with the Demon God. That's kind of a big deal.”

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