King of the Unsightly (Tempting Trickery #1)

Treachery

A swarm of gigantic centipede corpses crawled toward us. At least they looked like centipedes as they desperately piled over each other, crashing and cramming themselves against the ground and walls.

They ravenously surged and screeched collectively as a thick slimy fluid poured out of their disfigured mouths.

Kaschel stood there stunned like me. “What is wrong with this psycho?!” I screamed as the corpses scurried closer to us, accelerating their speed with each unbearable shriek.

“Archaic magic abides by no laws!” Kaschel yelled out like I would somehow understand his words as he snatched my hand and hauled me behind him.

We fled until the walls shifted closer together.

It was like everything in this crazy world wanted to squeeze the life out of us.

Our pathway started to barricade us in, becoming smaller and smaller until we had to flee by crawling on all fours.

My breaths were shallow as the cramped space had my head spinning. I felt more claustrophobic as the spiked thorns on the vine walls dug into my sides and shoulders.

I was so thankful Kaschel let me go first, but a horrid thought entered my mind. What if they reached us and snatched Kaschel and dragged him away?

What if I was next?

The vines convulsed around my shoulders, and I lost confidence by the second.

A dim light shone from a distance, and I hoped to god it led out of this monster-ridden labyrinth.

I couldn’t deal with this shit anymore.

I reached the end, stood up, and peeked back at Kaschel who was right behind me.

He rubbed his temples and sighed.

The same doors from the beginning of this hell loop.

But this time the massive metal doors had different symbols burned and etched into them, and now, I could understand it.

The grieving-face door with a mouth full of fangs suspended before us. The words under it written in silver. Still or be steel. Both weep for cordial affairs. Rust will be anew if you seek the truth. One for two, ruin awaits if uncertainty brews. I looked at the other door with the mask, serpent-like eyes, and the dangling tongue split in half. Two hearts, one beats, and the other pumps. Two of one, desire for none. Let it be known one bleeds and the other sows .

What the hell does that even mean?

On the verge of hyperventilating, I peeked over my shoulder, and the centipedes increased their speed, burrowing faster.

Kaschel unsheathed his sword and sliced the ones shoveling their way out of the tunnel, lunging at us.

Kaschel split them in half one by one as a green substance oozed and sizzled out of them.

A heavy rancid smell permeated the air with each killing blow Kaschel landed.

“Choose one, and I’ll be right behind you!” Kaschel swung his sword again and again.

Another one hissed as it squeezed its appalling body through the hole before Kaschel decapitated it.

I panicked as I looked at him and back at the two doors.

The first one seemed like the only option with a somewhat promising outcome if I understood it correctly. Right?

I pushed open the grieving-masked door and prayed for the first time in my life to not let it be another trap.

Kaschel stumbled in after me as the room we left filled to the brim with centipedes.

I slammed the door shut behind us and huffed for air.

Kaschel was drenched in the neon green slime while I only had little bits of it spattered on my clothes.

A slow clap came from above.

It evolved, louder and faster.

I glanced all around us, and the sky melted away and morphed back into Fell’s throne room.

Fell looked the same, lounging lazily on his throne of bones and jewels with his horde of creatures craning their necks behind him. “You guys are quite the entertaining pair,” he said, and it made my whole body convulse.

Fell glided to our side.

Fell seized my chin with his claws and tilted it so fast, he caught me off guard. “What a treat. You chose the same door as Larisa.”

My eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

Fell shrugged.

Kaschel snatched Fell’s hand that touched my chin. “Enough games. We did what you asked.”

“Hmm. She did.” Fell inclined his head as he inspected Kaschel with vexation. Fell clicked his tongue. “A bet is a bet.” He snapped his fingers, and the silver key in the shape of a hexagon with an engraved crescent moon manifested in front of us, floating in the air. “Now, Adeline. Will you make the same mistake your mother did?” Fell’s toothy grin devoured his whole face, revealing his wickedly sharp teeth. “Take what you desire, but you must leave something of the same weight in stature.”

“That wasn’t the deal.”

“Oh, child. I said you get your prize if you win. Did I not? ”

I glanced back at Kaschel, but I couldn’t read his expression. It was strategically hidden—all his emotions carefully stored behind a tough front.

I held eye contact with Kaschel as I spoke. “As I said before, I don’t know what I could offer.”

“Not what. Who .”

My heart thrashed against my chest as my pulse went wild. “What? No. He’s not mine to give,” I choked out.

“Are you certain?” Fell hummed as he twirled a lock of my brunette hair. “I see the only one who holds power is you .” His voice turned to venom as he yanked my hair by my roots and pulled my face inches from his fangs. My eyes flickered to Kaschel, but he was unmoving. “Is your resolve strong as steel, or will you falter because of one insignificant fae ?” Fell asked and his words rattled me to my core.

“I can’t. I can’t have someone trapped for a decision I made.” I tried to say it with confidence, but it was weak and barely audible.

“Take the key and run, Adeline. I won’t say it again,” Fell whispered into my ear. His hot breath burned against my neck, and I recoiled in disgust. “Or neither of you are leaving my prison.”

A whirlwind of emotions filtered into my body as I snatched the key without thinking.

Fell broke into a manic fit of laughter, and it bellowed throughout the throne room. “Cold-hearted just like Larisa too. You truly are your mother’s daughter.”

“What do you mean? What do you know about my mother?” I could barely hear my voice as the pounding of my heart deafened his cruel taunts.

“Who else begged me to hide the key? She sacrificed so much and now, it’s all for nothing. Who knew her blood would be the one to ruin all her hard work! I mean, the only one who could take it from me is someone of kin. But what are the odds you found me ?”

So my mother had been here, but why did she give the key to some monster like him?

I was about to speak again when the ground beneath me shifted and crumpled inward.

I caught a glimpse of Gren and the others from below.

I glanced back at Kaschel. I opened my mouth like I could say something, but I couldn’t articulate the right words as he snapped out of whatever trance Fell had cast on him. His face was riddled with confusion until his eyes landed on the key in my hand.

Kaschel’s expression twisted into pure enmity as the radiating fury engulfed him.

A sharp pang in my chest cemented itself within me. I clenched my heart like it would suppress the pain, but it only made it worse.

I didn’t owe Kaschel my loyalty.

I didn’t owe him anything, but my chest still constricted as I watched the rage swallow him.

I wished Kaschel screamed or shouted, or at least told me how vile I was. I could handle the yelling and name-calling—but not the silence.

And nothing could have prepared me for what came next.

Kaschel’s demeanor turned placid as the vines snatched and crawled up all his limbs and slammed him against the wall with all skeletons adorned in diamonds and rubies, positioning him as the centerpiece.

Kaschel hung there like a spectacle for all to witness.

“Wait!” I cried out.

I didn’t truly grapple with what I had done to him until it was too late—until everything slipped through my fingers and faded from view as I fell through the floor, and dropped to the front entrance of where it all began.