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  With a loud sigh of frustration more to herself, she put on the bra and underwear, and stepped into the satin red strapless gown. The black high heels gave her more height, making her legs look longer with the slit going up her right outer thigh. The outfit made her look like a woman that was sexy, and confident. Which she wasn’t. Looking in the mirror she almost smiled before realizing where she was and why she was wearing this. “Fuck.”

  Apparently, her time had wilted. “Yes, yes you look gorgeous, now it’s time to come on out Cinderella.” She took one last look in the mirror, looking at her fierce red lipstick. She opened the door and walked out with her long dress dragging behind her. Both the guy’s faces lit up. “Wow, you look like something I need to slather on some bread. Honey he’s going to eat you up!” Elijah said wiggling his eyebrows.

  Mikayla leveled them with her best bored look. “You guys know you kidnapped me right?”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t look sexy. We’re going to have to leave you to your gorgeous self for a minute to retrieve Sarah. You stay perfectly still now and don’t mess up our work. Ta-ta love.” Elijah said ignoring her and following Cain out the door shutting it on his way out.

  As she sat down carefully, on the little black fold out chair, staring across the room at the huge full-length mirror, she hardly recognized herself. She scoffed standing up before deciding to snoop for weapons of any kind, or clues to where she was. Walking along she stared at some of the odd framed artwork that filled the walls. Lots of portraits, abstract in one way or another was a woman screaming, open mouthed and in terror. She gently lifted one from the bottom and glanced at the wall beneath while feeling behind it. Nothing. Next, she looked under the bed and other than a tiny black spider that almost had her falling back on her ass screaming, still, nothing. Behind the sitting area held what looked like a bar of some type; it looked like cabinets ran along the walls but none of them opened.

  “That’s weird.” She muttered to herself, before heading to a window that was on the opposite side of the room across from the bar. She looked out but it being dark, couldn’t see anything. Nothing at all. She was starting to think that was weirder. There was no way to open it either. Tapping gently on the window, she was surprised to find it was glass. Did they not think that she would break it open to escape? She tucked that plan in the back of her head, before moving on to the bathroom. Normal everyday bathroom use items, some hair products and tools, makeup and bathing essentials but nothing out of the ordinary.

  At this point she wasn’t sure why she was even snooping. Sure finding something to use as a weapon to protect yourself in a new place, where you were apparently held captive was a good idea, but she didn’t think carrying a curling iron around to bash someone on the head would save her. She sighed out loud moving slower on to the closet, the feeling of hopelessness filling her mind. Just as she was searching through the last dresser drawer, a knock came, making her bolt out of the closet to the main area. She straightened her dress trying to feign boredom like she wasn’t just snooping while Elijah, Cain and Sarah walked in.

  Sarah immediately pushed past the men and came rushing straight for Mikayla, loudly saying. “Oh my hades, you look gorgeous! Ha, and they said I wouldn’t be able to make you into a queen. I showed them!” At this Mikayla could see Elijah, and Cain roll their eyes at each other behind Sarah’s back.

  “I just have one last present to complete the attire.” Sarah said with excitement, turning to Elijah and Cain, who stood there looking confused. “The necklace! Hurry up you idiots!” At that they both jumped into action and between the two of them produced a fairly large black velvet jewelry box, which Mikayla assumed was the necklace. As Elijah rushed over and held it out for Sarah, she snatched it out of his hand angrily, before turning back to Mikayla with a grin.

  “This, my dear, is for you.” She opened the box and inside was the biggest diamond necklace Mikayla had ever seen. It was hard not to stare like an idiot with her mouth open and her eyes wide like saucers, but it was all she could do. The necklace was a single chain of square white diamonds, starting small at both sides of the clasp and getting bigger towards the center, and in the center held the biggest square ruby with a small square black diamond in the middle of that. Maybe she just liked it because red was her favorite color, or maybe it was she’d never been presented something so expensive, but she loved it!

  “It’s beautiful. This is mine, like to keep?” Mikayla was shocked, these people really knew how to treat their guests, err, prisoners.

  Sarah gave a little chuckle as she threw the box on the bed and unclasped the necklace walking around her to put it on Mikayla. “You may wear this for as long as you wish my dear. Soon you will be royalty, you need to start getting used to being pampered.” As the cold metal and weight of the necklace settled around her neck and onto her collarbone, she took a look in the mirror as Sarah stepped back.

  Elijah, and Cain both clapped their hands quickly in joy. “Fabulous, oh my goddess! You look stunning!” They said at the same time.

  She noticed Sarah leaning in towards her, back in the mirror. Feeling the warm tickle of Sarah’s breath against the back of her neck, Sarah whispered “Grebnui”, over her skin. Mikayla stepped away wondering what that was about when she caught sight in the mirror of the necklace glowing slightly before returning to its normal appearance.

  Almost as if she’d drank too much or had turned into a mindless zombie, the thoughts in her head flew out and all she could do was stand and blankly stare ahead. A tingle ran through her body and felt like a vice grip held her insides. She blinked and suddenly realized not only had she moved from her spot in front of the mirror, but she was walking down the hall. How did that happen?

  It wasn’t until they’d walked into a big dining hall through huge black double doors, that she felt terrified with no way of showing it, and no way to escape. All this glamour for a prisoner.

  4

  Bewildered

  “There she is!” A gorgeous looking man said approaching her with open arms. His black wings jutted out from his back, towering over his head, twice the width of his body, and long enough that they trailed the floor behind him as he walked. He was not like the other men in the room who were obviously human. A dark aura seemed to penetrate the room and the closer he got the feeling crawled over her bones. Looking away from the giant wings she continued to slowly examine the room with a dragged force of concentration. A weight held her mind making it hard to react.

  There was a dark wood table in front of her long enough for at least fifty people. It was dressed with silver platters that held every type of food imaginable. The room itself was a huge dome shape, making the dining table look tiny and out of place. The floors were white marble, and crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling; it looked more like a ball room than a dining room. She tried to move away from the quickly approaching winged man, in her mind she’d run to the other side of the room but a slow blink revealed she hadn’t moved. She couldn’t turn her head, come to think of it she couldn’t talk, barely think for that matter.

  Her lazy stare moved away from him once more even though she fought her eyes to stay trained on the threat. On both sides of the dining table, stood everyone she’d met in the short time she’d been here, plus some she didn’t know, all dressed in formal attire talking casually with wine glasses in hand. There was at least thirty people in the room.

  The man finally reached her, taking up her sight once more, as he put a warm hand on her bare shoulder. The deep smell of ginger or some spice mingled with pine assaulted her senses. The odd combination seemed to fit him though.

  “My love has finally arrived.” He lifted her hand, kissing the back of it lightly. She continued to stare empty ahead watching his dark brown eyes frown before a smile took over his face, then a laugh. “Well, looks like I rendered her speechless.” At his crass joke the people in the room broke out in a light chuckle. He seemed to soak up their attention before
taking her hand and leading her to the table.

  He looked to her as they walked and she’d never seen anyone pull off shoulder length hair before but the hair that wasn’t tied back and had fallen slightly in his face, was deep brown and beautiful. “You can call me Anock.” He said looking away from her yet keeping a hold of her hand. She wanted to snatch her hand back and tell him not to touch her, kiss her, or call her his love; the feeling of his lips on the back of her hand still burned making her want to reach out and throat punch him at the same time she wanted more of the feeling it gave her. Her body’s reaction to him was confused, or maybe it was just because of the spell they had her under. She wanted to tell him that his name sucked and that his overwhelming handsome demeanor wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all her but when he caught her eye his lips tilted in a sexy smile that made her lips refuse to move.

  People watched them as they passed, some were silent, while others gossiped about her. He walked her over to a chair closest to the head of the table, which she assumed was his, pulling it out and helping her sit. She tried to move her feet from the odd angle they were at from him scooting her chair in, but they refused to comply. The irritation filled her, and she sighed, her heart stopping from the excitement of the one small act she could accomplish. The sound of someone approaching broke her attention and she looked up seeing Blake approach Anock just as he took his seat at the head of the table. It stole her attention from trying to move her legs.

  “Master, I see you’ve met Mikayla.” Blake said as a way of greeting. Mikayla wasn’t sure if it was the light or something reflecting off his eyes, they almost looked orange, but it was over too quick to tell before his normal blue ice eyes took over.

  Anock cleared his throat from a swallow of wine, setting his glass down. “Yes, and I owe it all to you, my right-hand man. Please, come sit down next to us. After all, without you none of this would be possible.”

  Almost as if appearing out of no-where Sarah rushed over, shoving Blake aside and coming to a stop next to Anock, bowing her head in haste. She looked like a proper slut. Her dress so short you could probably see everything if she bent over. Too bad she couldn’t roll her eyes. “My lord, I have a lot to tell you and I will need to take Blake’s pla-“

  “SILENCE!” Anock’s voice boomed over Sarah’s, echoing throughout the room. Everyone’s conversation seized as they turned to face him. “Sarah, we do have a lot to discuss, but now is not the place, nor time. You will sit next to Elijah as you have for the past five years.” Anock paused, looking away as to end Sarah and his conversation, and looked forward to address everyone. “Now that I have everyone’s attention, you may all take your places it’s time to begin.”

  Everyone hurried over to take their seats at the table. The chairs scooting out quickly and everyone scooting in the same time, quickly and quietly. It was almost like they’d all trained at a weird dining room camp. If Mikayla had any real way to show her emotions, she probably would have laughed at something so obedient. Damn necklace.

  Anock leaned over to Mikayla. “Sorry if I startled you, Sarah is a great servant for you don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I believe she is out to take your place.” He said taking her hand again, giving it another kiss. This time to anger and thrill only showed through goosebumps on her skin that made him smile like a predator. She wondered why he kept doing that and why her reactions to him were so intense. She hated it. “But there is only a place on the throne for a person of blood, and that’s you.” Mikayla could hear someone down the table scoff, she assumed Sarah.

  If she was any kind of normal, she would have run at the first sign of something as weird as this guy. She hadn’t heard of angels having black wings, but then again did the bible even clarify the angel’s wing colors. Was he an angel? Other than the huge black feathery wings, this guy was extremely good looking. Not as good looking as Blake, but good looking in his own way. He looked like he was in his upper twenty’s and for some reason she couldn’t stop seeing him with his hair down around his face, wet and ready to be pulled while he made love to her. She wanted to shake her head of her hormonal thoughts. Instead of being any kind of normal though she was lifeless, nothing but an outer shell.

  She continued to study Anock more in curiosity than anything, but quickly shifted her eyes down when she noticed he was looking back at her. His face was set in an admiring look, as hers, she was sure just looked blank and thank god, with the thoughts floating through her head.

  A loud clatter of something falling to the floor broke his stare from her and he dropped her hand, standing up quickly and looking on to where the noise came from. Mikayla shifted her eyes as far down the table as she could to see the noise had come from a snow-white kitten that had jumped on the table, knocking down a platter of fruit. Servants rushed about quickly cleaning up the mess and backing away when finished as to not interfere.

  “ALEX!” Anock shouted at the adorable kitten in frustration and in a matter of seconds, the kitten that had been walking slowly up the table towards the party, rubbing itself along all the food, jumping down and transforming into a little girl, who was naked. She stood there with a guilty look as a servant rushed over with a blanket to cover her. She thought the purple ball of light had made her head hurt, but this was the nail in her brain stem that she knew would only go away with an ass load of alcohol. No one seemed to budge or even looked shocked at the events that just took place, they all just sat quietly without gawking or acting surprised. It made her wonder if they were stuck in a trance like her, but they seemed surprised and full of gossip when she walked in, so maybe not.

  “Sorry daddy, I just wanted to say hi.” The little girl said, with big brown eyes. She was the cutest thing Mikayla had ever seen. More than being shocked about her being a cat, if Mikayla could think straight, she would definitely be confused on how someone so young could have a kid. Where was her mother?

  Anock clearly frustrated rubbed at his temple with one hand. “Fine, just fine. But next time we adults are having dinner you will need to wait to come in. Okay? Now be on your way.” The girl turned quickly and ran out with her blue blanket trailing behind.

  “Now that everyone is here and ready, I will begin. We are two months ahead of schedule for the Breaking Ritual, we’ve acquired Mikayla early thanks to Blake, so now we have more time to prepare and move the timeline up. Which is exactly what we were hoping for. Tonight we are here to celebrate Blake, our dream walker here on site.” Anock held up his wine glass, “after twenty-one long years, all your hard work has finally paid off. To Blake!” Everyone else followed suit raising their glasses and repeating, “To Blake!” Even Mikayla, to her surprise.

  “Now, where are the status reports?” Anock said leaning forward with both hands on the table. He looked purposely at certain people at the table.

  An extremely handsome, well now that she looked all the men were heartthrob handsome, but the one that spoke up was of Asian descent. She could tell he was tall from where his head landed above the back of the chair. For as beautiful as he was, his pitch-black eyes would have knocked her head back in shock if she’d been able to move. “Lilith’s realm is contained. We’ve collected for the quarter, and as of now there are no riots”, he said looking over at Mikayla with a frown before clearing his throat and continuing. “Cander is there now finishing up but should be back soon. There was a slight issue at Crows bar, but it was contained.”

  Anock growled slightly for his response, before looking to a woman with long bright blue hair. One side was shaved close to her scalp and the other side held braids that laid over her shoulder. She had smooth mocha colored skin, and her orange eyes matched her lipstick, and color of her dress. She was stunning and unique. “The sixth is still in unrest.” Was all she said, before looking over and grabbing the hand of a female that Mikayla noticed looked fairly similar to the blue haired girl. Only the other female had white skin, with pink hair, but had the same orange dress, eyes and lip color. The bright colors we
re so crazy it almost hurt her eyes, but these girls pulled the look off.

  Blake cleared his throat, and she looked over to see he was now standing as well. His eyes were bright red and a small wave of fear hit her before vanishing. He was in a black suit and tie, his hair slicked back giving him a very proper look but aside from the attraction, deadly was the word to sum up his look when his eyes were blood red.

  “Why isn’t your queen here?” He asked in a rough voice. Sarah had said he was nothing but a dream walker, but it seemed he was more in charge than she led on if he was the one asking questions along with Anock.

  The pink haired girl, still holding the blue haired girls’ hand, spoke up this time. “Fellen was unable to attend because of the unrest. She is maintaining the chaos.” She paused visibly gulping before looking at Anock instead of Blake. “But she sends her regards.”

  Blake’s hand twitched at his side as he frowned deep turning to Anock. “I can finish this up tonight if you’d like?” He then looked at Mikayla, and Anock followed his line of sight staring at her too before agreeing.

  “Your right. Finish up the meeting with the Watchers later. I want Cander to report in when he gets back. His numbers have been slacking since Ariel.”

  Blake nodded his agreement giving the demon with pitch black eyes a scowl as Anock sat back down, ordering the waiter to his right to start serving before he turned his attention back to Mikayla.

  “I hope all of your accommodations are to your liking. You see, I’ve waited so long to be with you; I’ve had lots of time to get everything perfect.”