Page 71 of Dark Captivation

“I think we’re safe for now, but maybe we should find another hiding place, deeper in the library’s interior.” She whispered, hunching over onto her hands and knees. Sticking her butt in the air, she crawled on all fours.

“Okay, I’m right behind you.” I rocked myself forward following her a few inches across the shaggy carpet.

“My, my, what a nice view. I thought they said demonesses were androgynous.” A mellow voice trickled down from above. It was male and unfamiliar, but not particularly threatening.

Ferina and I looked up to see a handsome young mage, around his early twenties. His glossy blond hair sparkled in the faint light as he pleasantly smiled down at us from the top of the bookcase.

“No need to be alarmed, ladies. We’re here for the Demon King, nobody else. Now why don’t one of you be a dear and tell me where he’s run off to? I promise not to hurt you if you do,” he winked flirtatiously.

“We? Who is ‘we’?” I raised to my feet, staring him down. Ferina’s glare shifted from him to me and back. You could cut the tension with a knife as she slowly stood.

“Yes, we’ve got several portals opened in the library, every minute that passes, another four or five of my brethren arrive.”

“If you touch just one hair on either of our heads, King Malek will have you skinned alive.” Ferina’s jaw twitched angrily, and the mage’s face brightened with amusement and delight.

“The monster couldn’t care that much if he’d leave you lovely little ladies all alone.” He ran his tongue over his upper lip as his eyes invaded my body from face to chest, lingering on my hips.

Lecherous plans involving my body were plastered all over his face.

“You don’t know the first thing about him!” I snapped.

“Wait a minute,” his eyes popped, his jaw going slack with realization. He jumped down from the bookcase snaking himself closer to me. “You’re no demoness. You’re the she-wolf that’s got the Demon King pussy whipped, aren’t you?” He squealed like he’d uncovered a dirty secret.

“I see my reputation precedes me.” My glare went venomous in a warning for him to not come any closer. “Now here’s how this is going to go down. You’re going to turn around and pretend like you never saw us while we go on our merry way. Or, you can find out what it feels like to be ripped apart by demon and wolf fangs simultaneously. How does that sound?”

His head cocked back, a smug look scrawled on his face. “No mage male would turn down a chance to be touched by two beautiful women at the same time, not if he were straight. Do your worst.”

Pain lit up my spine as the shift began, a series of cracking sounds let me know that Ferina’s transformation had also been triggered.

“They’re over there!” Four mages in dark purple cloaks blocked off the path in front of us, the blond one making five.

The memory of the incredible energy blasts displayed by the first two mages I’d encountered made me pause the shift.

“We can’t take on that many of them, Ferina.” I looked at her, my face pleading with her to run.

A thin layer of black fur had already sprouted on her face and arms, but her full beast form had yet to sprout. She peered over at the mages murderously.

The five mages didn’t flee, instead they came barreling towards us.

Snatching my hand, Ferina turned and ran.

“Careful pretties, running only excites me.” The blond mage purred.

His fingers dragged through my hair as I sprinted away.

A frightful roar busted from Ferina’s mouth as she shifted. Gaining a foot of height, a furry black creature towered beside me. With a bear-like bulk, and a leather face with an elongated jaw and fierce red eyes, she reminded me of the demi-god’s monster form. But instead of all fours, Ferina stood upright, and she was somehow more menacing than the demi-gods were.

Three mages hovered around us, the pattern of approaching footsteps alerted us to the fact that there were more on the way.

Where was Malek?

“Run, Sunny!” Farina’s voice broke into my mind telepathically, setting off a flame that made my brain ache like a migraine.

She dug her claws into the mages on her left and blood soiled the ground.

Agitated and injured, the blond flung himself back, bringing his palms close, funneling blue energy into his palms until a tightly spooled orb formed.

I summoned the shift, desperate to help Ferina. My bones didn’t rearrange, and I felt no part of my wolf come to the surface.

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