Page 95 of Dark Captivation

I thanked her for coming, twitching my hand to my side so she wouldn’t see my itching. Malek and I continued toward the exit when I continued scratching the spot.

My heart jumped as my finger touched something hard, something I recognized. It was long, flat and very curvy. The Angel Song Dagger. It was in my dress.

I left it under my bed. What the fuck was it doing tucked into my bra strap? Thank God my dress was too thick for anyone to see the outline.

We were almost at the door and I kept smiling so no one could tell I was shitting bricks.

This dagger had to be enchanted. It had more than just the power to kill ancient demons. It had the omnipresent enchantment on it. I learned about this at Pennington Academy. The owner of an omnipresent object can never lose it or leave it behind. It is always with them until they pass it to a new owner.

That sneaky, treacherous Varcus. I should have known he would pull some crap like this.

This enchantment could only be done by the most powerful of mages. How in the hell did Varcus get his hands on something this dangerous? And why didn’t he warn me? Because he was a bastard. That’s why.

Malek and I departed the ball and soon entered another wing of the palace, one I’d never been to before. I wanted to figure out what to do about the dagger, but while I was still with Malek I couldn’t risk him seeing it. So I was stuck with it for now.

He took me into a room with a few pieces of antique furniture and portraits of demons hanging on all four walls. The room was lonely and quiet with nothing but the scent of wood polish to keep us company.

Checking to ensure we weren’t followed, Malek drew the door closed. Removing a long skeleton key from his pocket, he locked the door.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

LIVY

I’d been with Malek for most of the night. But now that we were finally alone, I had a chance to really enjoy being with him. His long black hair careened down his taut, powerful shoulders.

His white and black tuxedo did nothing to tame the boundless muscle that rested just beneath.

He’d just locked the door and turned around to face me. Malek was desire personified. He gazed at me, heat swirling within the darkness. Desire, hunger, need all converged into one on his gorgeous face.

I shuddered as my legs betrayed me. They shuddered, wanting me to strip and allow him to do more than ravish me with his eyes. My body craved his touch and demanded his sweet carnage, just like in his room the other night.

The air hummed with sparks of electricity. The current built, strengthening the strings of lust that connected us.

Malek’s lips opened as if he meant to say something but then his gaze flickered to the opened window.

A gigantic moon and thousands of brilliant stars spied on us through the window. They mystified the night and formed a rich and romantic backdrop for whatever Malek had brought us here for.

“Sorry to take you from all the fun but if I don’t say this now it’s going to burn a hole straight through my tongue.” Malek rubbed his chest and closed the window.

He switched on his heels in a quick fluid motion. “Every portrait in this room belongs to a member of my family.” He strolled over to a picture of a demon with black horns twice the size of his.

He had a curly, blond mustache, and piercing black eyes just like Malek’s. “This is Borack, my great grandfather and the first Demon King. He fell so deeply in love with my grandmother, Ivet, he left the underworld to find her on Earth when she had been kidnapped by mages. Back then, demons were incapable of breathing the Earth’s atmosphere. He died of suffocation halfway through his search.”

“Gods.” I drew hair behind my ear.

“No” he shook his head, “None of the gods helped him.”

We moved to the adjacent painting. This demon was much younger, around Malek’s age. He could be Malek’s twin except this man’s skin was tinted red and his eyes were an icy blue.

“This demon was my uncle, Mullen. He was the trickster and the merriest prince the underworld had ever birthed. He fell in love with a human and was banished to Earth for daring to love one that our family thought to be beneath him. His banishment should have been a death sentence, but through the power of his love, and the wish to be with his human bride, he was the first demon to attain the ability to breathe Earth’s air.”

“And how did you attain it?” I asked.

“The bond that binds all demons is of old and unbreakable magic. Once Uncle Mullen broke the curse that kept us away from Earth, it was broken in all of us. Throughout time, my family has known a great many love stories. Uncle Mullen’s was my favorite. But no love story could have prepared me for you.”

His eyes sparkled with pride as he said my name. He wet his lower lip with his tongue narrowing the gap between us.

His warmth soothed me as he drew me into him. The scent of pine and musk fluttered into my nose.

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