King of the Unsightly (Tempting Trickery #1)

Desire

K aschel swerved and dodged trees as the air whipped around us. I buried my face farther into his chest as the cold air assaulted my shivering body.

I didn’t know how long Kaschel ran as he carried me in his arms—but he never pressed me further, and after some time had passed, my stomach wrenched my insides.

The silence could only alleviate my mind for so long before I went stir-crazy.

We had an elephant in the room, yet he decided for the both of us to turn a blind eye and not address it?

Did he have nothing to say to me?

I was calmed by it at first, but after the prolonged silence, how could he not care?

Did I want him to care?

Was I too quick to let him sweep me off my feet?

Kaschel couldn’t be Fell, but I still had to check.

“Are you real?” I asked, only realizing how stupid I sounded after the words left my mouth.

My paranoia was justifiable, though.

Kaschel narrowed his eyes and wrinkled his nose. “Do you want to continue groping me, or shall I stab myself a couple of times to satisfy your curiosity?”

“Maybe once or twice.” I avoided his heated stare and sucked in a breath. “The stabbing,” I clarified. “Not the groping.”

Kaschel chuckled, and it echoed throughout the swamp.

The condensation thickened the air as the red maple trees surrounded us.

I wriggled as Kaschel held my body close. Even as I moved in his arms, he carefully avoided touching the throbbing wounds plaguing my backside.

The affliction against my skin tormented me as I shifted restlessly.

I sighed. I was being ridiculous. I knew that already, so why couldn’t I stop myself?

“All right. Can you walk?”

I manifested all my confidence, but it still came out abrupt and squeaky. “Yes.”

I avoided his complacently smug face, cleared my throat, and tapped my fingertips against my thighs.

Kaschel smiled and softly rested me next to a patch of white flowers that had spiked up, attempting to reach the sun despite their disadvantage of being enveloped in shadows.

I glanced back at Kaschel and watched him intently. He reached into his back pocket, took out a switchblade, and clicked it open.

Kaschel kept his focus on the blade, shifting his stance to give me a better view of his forearm.

Kaschel’s rugged voice stroked every inch of my body as he spoke. “My father was a Seelie. He was meant to be pure and of sound resolve.” He paused and brought the blade to his arm and pressed it into his skin. Blood trickled out as he locked eyes with me. “When he had my brother, it was painstakingly obvious we were opposites in every way imaginable. The sun and the moon. Grabiel was light, and I was the shroud of darkness contaminating their divinity.” Kaschel laughed, and it was deep and titillating as the blood dripped from his arm to the ground.

I drew in a breath, and I sat there mute as Kaschel spoke again, hanging on every syllable like he sang a hypnotic hymn, enchanting me with every word. “My father cheated on his queen, and I, the byproduct of his adulterated obsessions. My brother ... well he was supposed to take the throne, but my uncle got him before his coronation.” Kaschel let out another shaky laugh as he shook his head.

Kaschel closed his switchblade, put it back in his pocket, and ruffled his hair. “And what better way to gain the throne than blame the bastard? My uncle framed me for treason so he could ascend in my place. I mean, who would dare want the king of the Seelie moving through shadows? Condemned souls?”

Kaschel revealed a sliver of himself, and it didn’t even scratch the surface. “Is that why you’re so desperate to find the keys, so you could become the king of the Seelie?” I whispered.

I was so afraid if I spoke any louder, he would change the subject and leave me in the dark again.

“I am no lightbringer, little flea. Nor does fauna rise in my wake.” Kaschel stalked toward me and lowered his eyes as he towered above me, his stare intensifying as his lip tugged into an indelible smirk. “It trembles and convulses, repulsed by my wicked nature. I am darkness and depravity who brings only destruction and chaos. The Unseelie. Soiled, immoral—a fae of lust and terror—a fae constructed in my mother’s image. The Seelie crown was never meant for me.”

“So you were never a king?” I wasn’t sure why I kept asking questions.

I wasn’t sure why I hung on every word he said, or why I was so desperate to know more.

But I craved it more than anything.

Kaschel shrugged, and his face relaxed. “I was, but the politics between courts is always such a mess, and my uncle made sure to see me banished even when I was chosen for another crown.” His chin dipped down, and his face carried an emotion I couldn’t decipher. “So, what I’m trying to say is ... I know what it’s like to be betrayed by someone who was meant to protect you. By someone who was meant to foster your ambitions. Not someone who took pleasure in crushing them.”

My heart stirred feverishly by his words, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry or if I yearned for a hug or more.

Out of everyone who filtered in and out of my life—why was it only him who understood me ... who saw the real me?