Page 93 of Dark Captivation

“Are all demonesses as desperate as you?” I placed a straightened finger to my chin. “No, Princess Ferina isn’t. So, I guess it’s just you.”

Done with his conversation, Malek called for me to join him as the next game was about to start.

Vanessa raced for his side before I could fully straighten my knees.

Vanessa hugged so close to Malek that she was almost under his armpit.

He barely seemed to register her presence, but I couldn’t help but notice how well they matched.

She was way taller than I was. Her strong build went well with his. Their scents complemented each other’s while ours clashed. They just looked like they both belonged.

Malek called for me again, his eyes dripping with unease. Like he sensed something was wrong.

“Are you alright?” He took my hand to Vanessa’s chagrin.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Good. So, the next game is called pin the snout on the hell worm. You’ll need a blind fold for this.” He covered my eyes with a handkerchief handing me a snout attached to a pin.

We played for a good half an hour, laughing as I and other blindfolded guests wandered the room aimlessly, missing the target by several feet.

It was a lot of fun, with Malek and I bouncing into each other several times during the game.

For the next game, a large circular table was brought out. The moment the table was set in the middle of the room, everyone went silent. We’d all been drinking a bit too much.

But tipsy or not, the mood morphed from one of light, playful humor to one of sternness.

Apparently this game would be more serious than the others. Malek invited me to sit next to him at the table. Ferina and Elias sat across from us chatting and I was glad to see they were hitting it off.

The other seats filled in quickly. In total it was about twenty of us. Each player had three pies set out in front of them on the table.

By the smells they were an array of fruit pies, with a few meat pies thrown in. Some of the scents I didn’t recognize.

“I like where this is going,” Licking my lips I picked up the fork on my right. “I love pie eating contests.”

“Wait. It’s not quite what you think.” Malek explained taking my forked hand. “This game is called ‘pie luck’. The game has three rounds. At the start of each one, you take one of your pies, handing it to the person on your right. You in turn, accept a pie from the person on your left. Then you eat one of the pies you currently have. You repeat this again for the next round. The game ends in victory when you have eaten at least three pies.”

“And how do you lose?”

“One of the pies has horse dung mixed into it. Eat that one you lose.”

“Dung?” I choked. “You mean, like shit?”

Malek nodded gravely.

Two seats down from me, on my right, Vanessa took her fork, giving me the side eye in an unspoken challenge.

Malek declared the game open. I chose one of my three pies at random, handing it to the man on my right. I then received one of Malek’s pies as he sat on my left.

We all had a heightened sense of smell, but with so many different types of fruits and meats all on one table it was next to impossible to sniff out which one had the dung. The game was well thought out, the perfect way to fool even the keenest of noses.

I put the fork in, cautiously sampling one of my pies.

“Cherry,” I said, relieved.

“Chocolate. That was close.” Malek’s eyes slid closed and as he exhaled.

“Still in the game!” Ferina declared loudly from across the table.

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