King of the Unsightly (Tempting Trickery #1)

Vanquished Foes

“O h god.” I sniffled. “What did I ever do to deserve this?” I cried out between sobs. The woman pulled me behind her with such brute force my feet could barely keep up. So I carried on with my worthless plea. “I may have stolen a few things in my youth and hijacked a car, but who hasn’t impersonated a valet and taken a Lamborghini on a joyride? It was stupid teenager stuff. I swear, I’ll repent,” I cried out again.

I rambled on and on like it would somehow bring on deus ex machina and save me from this nightmare. But real life didn’t work that way, so I worked with what I had—which didn't feel like much.

The woman dragged me to a black SUV with no license plate. My heart rate dropped, and my teeth clattered.

No one had a car without a license plate unless they planned on doing some shady shit like burglary, trafficking, or going on a stabbing spree .

I thrashed and wiggled against her, and I somehow escaped her grip and took off toward an open field. The forest beyond it appeared so far away, and I knew I wouldn’t make it in time before she snatched me. I frantically searched for a paved road, but only dead grass filled my vision for miles and miles.

My best chance of surviving: running and not looking back. If she managed to stuff me in the back, I was as good as dead.

I continued my pursuit to the open field despite my odds. Dealing with mice, snakes, and ticks seemed more pleasant than begging for my life again.

My breaths came out in short, jagged bursts as the night sky loomed over me with millions of scattered stars illuminating the field like a stage light.

My hands tied behind my back, I stumbled as I ran for my life.

I didn’t even make it ten yards before her body slammed me into the ground.

The wind knocked out of me, I rolled onto my side and gasped for air. My hands and knees covered in dirt, she picked me up and flung me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

I couldn’t catch my breath before she chucked me into the back of the SUV.

The woman put her slender pointer finger to her ruby lips and whispered, “Don’t make a sound.” And she slammed it closed.

The engine turned on, and she peeled out of the empty parking lot.

Every bump and turn sent me flying. I tried to kick my way out, but the constant whiplash made it impossible.

My head smacked against something and a loud Ooof escaped me .

My vision blurred, along with my concentration, as a strong queasiness settled in my stomach. I honestly thought my drinks from earlier might flee my throat and paint the whole back.

The SUV screeched to a halt.

The silence suppressed my breathing altogether. Or had I forgotten how to when the door shut and the crunching of dead leaves rang in my ears?

The closer the sound came, the more a deep-rooted turmoil churned inside me.

The back clicked and popped open.

Rust, pine, and salt hit me all at once.

I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my hands into tight fists. My nails dug into my palms and a sharp twinge of pain shot through me. Blood oozed and trickled down my wrists.

I heard the click of her tongue as she dragged me out by my shoulder.

My knees smacked onto the gravel and another Ooof escaped me.

I cautiously opened them, and a rusted sign saying Hades Cliff in an off-white color towered over me.

The crashing of waves hitting sharp rocks launched me into another panic. I rambled on despite her previous threat. “From one girl to another, your boss seems like a dick—”

“He’s not my boss and you talk too much.”

The woman pushed me in front of her and all I could think about was why this place was so infamous and had the second name of Widow’s Peak.

Rumors swirled around after so many deaths. The townspeople swore the River Styx resided right below the cliffside, and that Hades himself would cry out to all the damned and condemn them to jump, leaving countless grieving widows behind. Oh fuck. Was I like the damned in the story?

“Don’t move,” the woman barked as she shoved me onto a bench facing the ocean.

A small squeak slipped out as the view stole my breath in a holy fuck kind of way—my focus remained on the spiked rocks at the bottom, harsh tides thrashing up against them.

All my blood drained from my body, and I gulped. “You honestly don’t have to do this. I mean, you guys probably have the wrong girl,” I whispered more to myself than to her, shaking like a newborn calf.

I was content with staying on this bench for the rest of my life. If I had claws, I would have dug them into the sides, so she would have a hell of a time prying my cold, dead body off it.

The woman scoffed. “We’re out of his territory.” Her chilling stare froze me in place. “Now ... the coven wants you and the keys, but I have another agenda, first. Tell me where Larisa’s grimoire is?”

“Larisa? Wait . . . My mother?”

“You have ten seconds before I throw you. Don’t test me,” the woman hissed, baring her canines, her face full of contempt.

“I haven’t seen her in over a decade, and the only thing she left me was the stupid key necklace that man stole from me!”

I almost keeled over and died again for the second time tonight when her glare turned into a thin smile.

“Wrong answer. Have fun in the other realm. I’m sure you’ll come crawling back in no time like a cockroach that just won’t die. You are your mother’s daughter, after all.” The woman unbound my hands, pulled me to my feet, and pushed me off the cliff, waving as I plummeted. “Next time, come up with a better answer.”

The wind ripped and lashed at my clothes as my hair plastered to my face, blinding me from my impending doom.

I clenched my eyes and butt, anticipating the end.

A clear, dense substance invaded every crevice of my body. I wheezed for air, but nothing came in until I slammed ass-first onto the cold, hard bottom of the ocean waiting for myself to slip away—but it never came.

Groaning from the impact, I blinked and blinked again. But trees and shrubs surrounded me instead of harsh tides and an unforgiving current.

Stuck, dumbfounded, I didn’t leave the spot where I landed, and it seemed like hours passed before I laughed maniacally to myself.

I was so out of my element.

I pushed myself off the ground and brushed the dirt off my jeans. If I fractured something from the fall, I wouldn’t be surprised as my adrenaline wore off, and I felt strangely high-strung.

I pinched myself, anticipating again for my world to morph into frigid waters and sharp rocks, but my brain kept deceiving me.

Was this how the body copes with dying of hypothermia or drowning? Easing the body into a slow and painless end full of colorful hallucinations?

The sky, painted like a canvas with strokes of cerulean and plum, had two moons parallel to each other. Miniature beings in all hues of green and translucent wings quavered across the soil.

“Thank the Fellow! The prophecy has come true! Our mighty savior has blessed us with her arrival!”

Intense sobbing and cheers came from below as hundreds of winged creatures resembling dolls with wide eyes and wispy limbs flooded around me. My sight lowered to their exoskeleton legs bending outward.

I could have gone my whole life without seeing it.

“We beg you! Vanquish our foe and we shall grant you our most prized possession!” a high-pitched voice cried.

“Hurry!”

I narrowed my eyes, stupefied. Was I tripping balls, or was I in some weird level of hell?

No, hell wouldn't have cutesy, bug-like creatures.

Tiny screams erupted again, and they pointed toward a creature lurching at them.

The more I looked, the more my vision focused, and it mutated into an eight-legged creature like some twisted species of a spider, crimson dripping down its white-striped back and a huge stinger. About the size of a house cat, the creature jabbed at a pixie the color of the forest with an orange dress covered in frills and pink flowers. They looked like a scoop of orange sherbet.

“Will you not help us?!”

I wrinkled my face, repulsed by the pool of saliva dripping from the creature’s mouth.

“You guys need me to kill”—I pointed to the terrifyingly sized spider-creature—“that?”

Tiny screams erupted again, and they scattered all over the place.

Oh my god. This was too much, but I guess I was well past not indulging in crazy, so fuck it. I needed some good karma after all this supernatural BS.

I took my boot off and crept up to the spider cornering a group of them and slammed my boot down again and again. I winced and gagged all at once as it popped and ruptured into a yellow goo. The smell of rotting flesh flooded all my senses.

Squeaky cheers came from behind me, and the fluttering of their wings started.

“Our magic!”

I scraped the remnant of its body off my boot and shook the putrid-smelling goo off it. I squirmed at the realization I had smacked a massive spider to death.

So, two witch ladies, talking crows, some Legolas-looking motherfucker, and now pixie creatures?

I was well past insanity. I couldn’t tell what or who was real even if it bit me on the ass.

A male pixie hovered at my side. A white cap in the form of a rose rested on his head as he wore junipers and a frilled, gold-laced, black tunic. Bunched-up bodies hugging and crying tears of joy stood behind him. I assumed they were pixies. Tiny bodies and little wings—what else could they be?

The forest-green pixie bowed before me. His big, pitch-black eyes blinked at me. “My people and I are forever in your debt.” He rose and clapped his hands and my whole attire changed in an instant. “You are an honored guest. We feast tonight for our victory!”

I was stunned as the weight of my clothes left my body and soft and airy fabric replaced them. My black jeans and T-shirt morphed into a light pink, baby doll dress with puffy sleeves and ruffles. My world went dark as something obstructed my view.

A flower crown materialized on top of my head, and it matched the cap of the male pixie in front of me.

All right, this was about as far as I could manage without losing all my marbles. I looked like a pink princess who had an unhealthy obsession with balloon sleeves.

I stepped backward again. “Thank you for your generosity but I need to get back home.”

“Let us discuss the details over the feast. We must honor you,” the tiny pixie grinned, and he was oddly cute except for his dagger-like teeth. Those were a little frightening.

“No, no I can’t.”

Retracing my steps as they swarmed me, I slipped and fell; the density of the air thickened as a weird sensation vibrated throughout my body. I couldn’t breathe as my world went dark.

I crashed stomach first onto the ground, rolled onto my back, and coughed.

I laid in the middle of the road not really grasping my reality until I looked down and saw the pink, frilled dress still clung to my body.

This was not how I wanted to spend my birthday.