Page 89 of Dark Captivation

“You’re awake. I was hoping we’d be finished before you came down.” Malek strolled up to me, out of breath. His handsome face glistened with sweat, and his clothes had patches of dirt all over.

“This place looks incredible. Wait. Have you been working on this all night?” I questioned.

“I’m going to show you the greatest party experience demonkind has ever put together.” He beamed with pride, the look on his face said that to him this was so much more than a party, this was everything.

“You really don’t have to push yourself so hard on my account. I’m already impressed, I’ve never seen anything like this.” I marveled at the room.

Malek cupped my cheeks and his eyes sparkled like the sun. “I want this to be really special for you. Tonight will be a night we will both remember for the rest of our lives. So it must be perfect.”

Suddenly everything in the room took on an all new meaning. Everything in here, down to the last detail was all done for me. All the staff, all the work, all the expenses, he did it with me in mind.

“Why? Why do all of this just for me?”

“Because you’re mine.” He said as if my question made no sense. “You are the only true love I will ever have, and I want you to know how much I treasure you, Sunny.”

“Then, you would do anything for me?” I asked.

One of his brows drew down but his twinkling smile didn’t falter. “Name it, anything you want.”

“Forget your war plans.” I said.

“Name anything else,” he replied.

“Malek.”

“Sunny,” he laughed as if we were playing a game.

His posture was so relaxed, it was clear that as far as Malek was concerned, all was right in the world and tonight’s party was the only thing worth thinking about.

I still held onto the hope that Malek could be reasoned with. He may have been stubborn, but he wasn’t evil.

“I think it’s your turn to see the fitters.” Malek alerted as a bold demon holding an oversized pair of scissors approached us. He had a young demoness behind him with three dresses folded over her arm.

I gave Malek an intense look that said this conversation wasn’t over and he pressed a delicate kiss to my forehead. “Come on, you’ll want to make sure your dress fits just right. Now go.”

“Please come with me, Lady Sunny. We’re ready for you.” The tailor said and I followed him and his assistant out of the ballroom and into the living room down the hall. A dozen even spaced rolls of brightly colored fabric were set out against the wall like a satin rainbow. The tailor asked me to choose my preference and I chose the bright red one.

“Raise your hands please,” the tailor instructed, and I obeyed. He wrapped the red silky fabric around my waist and the assistant fitted it in place with pins. They discussed what the style and length should be, getting my input as needed.

I became distracted as I spotted Ferina through the large bay window. She played with children outside in the gardens. It was some kind of playful tussle, almost like wrestling. The teenagers I saw earlier joined into the fun, unafraid of getting their dresses dirty.

This was such a merry occasion. The palace was more lively than it had been since I arrived. Even the air was light and sweet. I wished I could freeze this moment and nothing would change.

A muffled scream stole my notice. It wasn’t coming from the direction of the ballroom, or outside the palace. Where was it coming from?

“Did you hear that?” I asked the tailor as he flittered the hem back and forth, trying to figure out how long the dress should be.

“Hear what?” He asked.

“That scream.” I insisted, and the tailor tugged at his ear, his gaze going cloudy with confusion.

“I didn’t hear any scream,” the assistant continued pinning up my left side.

They both drop the issue, believing it unimportant. They carried on with pinching, creasing and pinning the fabric up to form a style.

Were my compounding thoughts making me hallucinate, like when I hallucinated seeing Chasten the other night? Or maybe I’d just let Varcus get too deep into my head and now his crazy was rubbing off on me.

I needed to relax. Malek said that tonight would be a night that we would both remember for the rest of our lives. I was determined to enjoy it to the fullest, Varcus be damned.

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