The Captivator

Chapter 3

 

I furrow by brow in concentration, knowing this decision would impact my life as a Captivator, and I try to tamp down the excitement festering in my chest. After very careful deliberation, and trying them all on and looking in the mirror (hey, even though I’m a warrior, I’m still a teenage girl!) I slowly slip the silver and ivy piece onto my wrist.

 

 Instantly I grin, checking the mirror once again. Even though I am splattered with grime and blood from last night’s expedition, my body still shivers when I see myself in demon-hunting gear. Dressed from head to toe in neutral grays, midnight blacks, and dapples of bright white, I look ferocious, just as a Captivator should. My dark gray t-shirt clings to my body with sweat though, and my light brown hair looks messy and untamed. But what I notice most are my eyes. Green, speckled with flecks of brown, they are bursting with excitement, the way a child’s would on Christmas morning.

 

Turning back to Jared I thank him for the gift. His eyes brimming with now undisguised pride, I feel that I had made the right choice. “Now shower, and prepare yourself for your consul with the Authority,” Jared commands with a slight frown, his eyes doing a once over on my shambled appearance. I laugh, and then agree.

 

“Wait, what should I do with Vyn?” I sputter suddenly as Jared is walking out the door. Vyn looks up from her sprawled position on my bed with an expression impossibly mixed with curiosity and boredom. I know, somehow, that she is the only person who has ever mastered this expression, and it irks me beyond comparison.

 

“I believe the Authority wishes to see you, Vyn, and Jeremiah,” Jared says with an uneasy look on his face. I frown, immediately forgetting my frustration at Vyn, for the moment; this is a very uncommon meeting if the Authority wishes to meet before demons. “Do you have enough energy to summon him?” he inquires politely.

 

“Of course,” I retort sharply. I don’t like being underestimated, even if he does mean well. With a knowing smile, Jared leaves the room, closing my door behind him.

 

Turning back to Vyn, I am stunned into silence when I see her. Her figure now curled into a ball with her arms wrapped around my pillow, I see her even breathing make her chest rise and fall slowly. I physically force my gaze to turn to her face, and not at her toned legs that seem to go on for miles. I realize now that she is only wearing one of my huge black t-shirts with some no-name band on the front. Her lip twisting upward in a smirk as she catches my gaze, she says lazily, “You know, I still haven’t forgotten about your debt.” I should move, or snap at her, or try to come up with a witty retort, but because it’s Vyn, I stand simultaneously trying and failing to conceal my gawking.

 

She giggles, then teasingly tugs the shirt down her leg just a bit and that’s when I snap. “You better behave in front of the Authority or I will never let you live it down,” I hiss vehemently.

 

 “And I can find you some pants too,” I add more reasonably as an afterthought. At that, she laughs again, light and cheerful, and in that moment I swear she could be mistaken for an angel, with her golden brown hair shimmering in the early morning sun.

 

But that’s exactly why demons are the most horrid creatures in existence; they are the perfect example of how beautiful everything rightfully wrong can be. I sigh, giving up the argument with Vyn, temporarily, and nonchalantly gesture to my closet. “Pick out anything you like, we’re leaving soon,” I command, then rush to the bathroom, eagerly anticipating a hot shower to soothe my aching muscles.