King of the Unsightly (Tempting Trickery #1)

Glamour and Death

I made a split-second decision. The fuck if I was getting kidnapped again.

I grabbed the nearest object and swung the week-old mac and cheese pan at the intruder.

I squeezed my eyes shut and bashed with all my strength, screaming at the top of my lungs. I didn’t stop, too afraid I might hear the sound of flesh and bones getting pulverized by my kitchenware.

My clammy hands restricted my grip on the pan. I feared the worst—that it would slip through my fingers, and I would drop the only thing I had to defend myself with.

I worked up the courage to peek through my eyelashes once I stopped shrieking, gradually lowering the pan to my side. I was gobsmacked as I blinked at the floor with not a single drop of blood on it.

Did I imagine myself swinging? No, I distinctly remember trying to beat the living hell out of the intruder.

My chin lifted, and the pan slipped through my grasp. The cacophony of clangs as it hit against the tile made my pulse go haywire.

If it was humanly possible to drop dead from a heart attack as a somewhat healthy twenty-three-year-old who survived on premade sandwiches and mac and cheese, then I would have died right where I stood.

I gaped at the man—arms crossed, without a scratch on him. His alabaster-white hair tied back in a loose ponytail. A heavy contrast to the black suit molding to his tall and muscular frame.

The man still resembled Death and it freaked me the hell out. The only thing he needed to complete the look? A scythe and a black robe—if Death had an otherworldly complexion with glowing purple eyes and pointed ears.

Yep. I needed to find a way to escape. Fast .

This raging lunatic already had my psycho ex drug and kidnap me. End result? Some creepy lady pushed me off Hades Cliff!

I didn’t want to associate myself with this man ever again. He caused me more trouble than I could manage.

He pinched his face into a scowl and wiped the mac and cheese off his shoulder, grease seemingly staining his expensive suit.

Murder. The only word I could use to describe his sharp, lowered gaze.

Oh my god, I fucked up.

I turned my head back to Gren and signaled him with wild eyes, attempting to tell him now was a perfectly good time to protect me and claw the bastard’s face so I could make a run for it. But Gren didn’t flinch, as if someone cast him under a spell.

“Gren?” I whispered, but he remained silent, perched on the dining room table.

Fear engulfed my body as I twisted back to face the man, who seemed a little too entertained by my distress. The corner of his mouth coiled up with amusement like my reaction fed his sadistic appetite.

“No one can see or hear us. Humans are fairly easy to manipulate, familiars even—” Shadows shot across the room and pulsated in waves around us as Gren snapped his beak in my direction, horrified.

The shadows vanished, and Gren went back to silently perching there.

My attention fell back onto the man, confused. “No need to demonstrate your power. I’ve had a hellish twenty-four hours, so get to the point. Why are you here?” I asked, attempting to sound strong, but the quiver in my voice revealed the truth.

The man ruffled his hair as if my words made him uncomfortable when he was the one who snuck into my apartment! What was this? A free-for-all? Did someone put a sign on my door that said Come scare the living shit out of Addy; it turns her on ?

Oh, wait. I didn’t have a door anymore.

A chuckle fled my throat and the man’s eyebrows shot up; his face littered with confusion.

I waved my trembling hand, urging him to continue.

He grunted in response but carried on with his weird spiel. “Your place reeks of magic. You might be more useful than I first anticipated since you weeded out a rat in my ranks.”

“Way to state the obvious,” I said, remembering the crazy witch lady smashing my coffee mug against the wall.

So magic left an invisible residue, or did he have an abnormally strong sniffer?

I went back to the oven and gripped the sides, trying to stop my legs from giving out on me.

If the witch lady wanted to pop out of my fridge, too, I would consider it normal now.

“I can sever your ties with the key if you help me find the other one. You’ll be free to live your mundane life without these persistent disturbances.”

I spun around and grabbed ahold of his collar, squaring him up. “Don’t fucking lie to me.” I scanned his face, but not even a hint of a lie, only disgust when my thumbs brushed up against his skin.

The man swiped my hands away and adjusted himself. His jaw clenched at my words.

“I cannot lie.”

A snort escaped my lips, and I covered my mouth. From my recent experience, what man couldn’t lie? “ Whatever helps you sleep at night, bud.” Oh my god. Did I want to get myself killed?

In the blink of an eye, the man cornered me . My back pressed against the oven. My butt probably turned on a burner with how much I jerked backward.

The man leaned close and whispered in my ear. “By all means, take your chances by yourself. See how much it takes before they break you. I’ll be waiting at Death’s Paradise for an answer.”

I blinked and the man disappeared, evaporating into thin air, or maybe he messed with my mind and strolled out the front door.

I stood there, stunned, and rubbed my temples, not entirely sure what my best options were.