King of the Unsightly (Tempting Trickery #1)

A Brewing Storm

I wasn’t prepared. Not now and especially not when that crucial moment came, and I desperately needed to stay level-headed. Someone’s life hung in the balance, and I was the puppeteer who held all the strings. Maybe I could have saved Kaschel but instead, I cut all his lines and let him take the fall.

I made a judgment call where I knew no matter what route I took the outcome would never be in my favor, yet I couldn’t help but be repulsed by my actions.

Now I had to live with myself for what I had done.

“Where is he?” Ryas asked, concern leaking from her voice. When I stood there silent, I could see the wheels turning in her mind as she pursed her lips. “Where is Kaschel?” she asked again with more malice.

Levisus stepped closer to Ryas’s side. His deep purple eyes harbored a despondency in them as he ruffled his short silver hair. He was a wreck, a stark difference from when I first met him.

Levisus lowered his dark brows as he placed a hand on Ryas’s shoulder. “Hey, calm down. There has to be a solid explanation. Right?” He glanced in my direction, and all I could do was stare blankly at him.

Levisus was acting sensible, and I honestly didn’t think he could be anything other than an overly flirtatious playboy.

Ryas huffed in aggravation as she crossed her arms.

Before I could say anything, Gren stepped in front of me and blocked them from prying any further. His obsidian hair reflected the sun’s brilliance—and I lost it as an ache gradually gnawed at my insides and twisted my stomach until I felt nothing but a numbing sensation.

I buried my face into his shirt hoping to feel something, anything but it was only cold and relentless.

And just when I thought I was in control of all my emotions, Gren wrapped his strong arms around me and patted my head, and I lost all control.

He didn’t utter a single word as I unleashed all my miseries on him.

He squeezed me tight, and I nestled my head more into his chest. I couldn’t form a coherent sentence or answer. It was like every time I tried, my throat constricted.

And I couldn’t face Ryas or Levisus in this state.

Not now. Not when it was all too fresh.

Levisus lost any chance of setting his brother free, and I had no idea how far Ryas’s connection to Kaschel went or how deep .

All I knew was I was no better than Jared.

No better than the killer of the mangled corpse we saw in the cabin. No better than the witches stalking and tormenting me.

No better than the trickster bastard himself.

I played into his trap. Hook, line, and sinker.

I might as well have taken Kaschel’s sword out of its sheath and stabbed him in the back with it.

Again and again and again.

My mind twisted what I did, attempting to justify it, like sacrificing someone else was forgivable. You barely knew Kaschel. You had no other choice. Kaschel wouldn’t have given you the keys if you asked. Lucien was waiting for you. Have you forgotten? You still needed to save him.

My lungs revolted against me, and I gasped in between my cries of pain.

A pity party for one when I knew better. I knew crying wouldn’t solve any of my problems.

It wouldn’t reverse my despicable choices, and it wouldn’t bring Kaschel or Lucien back.

I squeezed Gren harder and tried to calm down and think of my next course of action. My face was red and puffy as I wiped the tears staining my cheeks.

Gren’s body tensed as I broke away from him. His dark brows creased as he fiddled with the seams on the bottom of his gray shirt.

He looked distraught.

A zap shot through my wrist and shifted to my fingertips.

I looked down at my hand, and the mark Kaschel gave me flared like a flame, the crescent moon glowing silver until a searing sensation assaulted my skin. I winced and threw my hand behind my back, afraid Levisus and Ryas would understand what it meant.

I stood on my tiptoes and whispered into Gren’s ear, “We need to leave. Now .” I leaned back, and he straightened his posture and unwound the tension in his body.

Now his face held a determined glint.

Gren nodded and before I could tell him what I was thinking, he said, “Hold tight.”

He scooped me off my feet and ran for the cliff. I squeaked as he propelled us off the edge.

I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable plunge to our death. If he could morph back, how would he carry my weight?

Seconds passed, and the wind whipped around us.

I blinked, and Gren’s hair rippled in waves as his matching massive crow wings carried us through the sky. His iridescent feathers shimmered a deep violet when the sun touched them.

I didn’t know how long we soared through the sky, but the cool air lashing at my wounds didn’t do anything except make me quiver in agony.

Gren dipped down, and I clenched my nails into his arms.

It took everything in me not to scream as the ground closed in on us.

A soft thud vibrated off the earth as Gren landed us near a gas station with a Motel Five right behind it.

A familiar aura hung around and it bore a striking resemblance to my apartment complex. All the people hovering by their rusted and chipped-paint vehicles dealing who knows what from the trunks was an uncanny parallel.

“We’re far enough, and the wind should mask our scent.”

“You don’t think they’re right behind us?” I asked in a hushed tone.

Gren held an empty gaze, and I wasn’t sure what he thought.

He sighed. “No. I think they have more important things to worry about.”

Kaschel. Yes . Why would they come after us when they have no idea what happened to him?

“You’re right.” I groaned. I flipped my phone out and the date read Wednesday, October 29th . I snapped my head back to Gren. “We were trapped for three days?”

I didn’t notice until now the dirt clinging to Gren’s shirt and pants, his look of exhaustion, and the heavy bags under his dark eyes.

Gren shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, and the fact I couldn’t get through the barrier ... and I had to wait while you were trapped somewhere with ... him .” He cleared his throat. “The only thing that kept me sane was the fact I knew you were still alive because ... I was still here.” Gren beamed.

I returned his smile, but it was forced, and I probably looked exactly like the three-day-old roadkill a few steps away from us.

I held my phone tightly in my hand and choked on my spit, fully aware of how close we were to facing Valeria.

My hands trembled at the horrifying realization. “It’s ... the red moon tomorrow.”

“We can’t go in unprepared.”

I ran my chipped nails and raw fingertips through my hair as I tapped my foot. “I know. You need to teach me something, anything.”

Gren shook out his hands, bent down, and snatched a couple of leaves.

I eyed him with concern and curiosity. “What are you doing?”

Gren shifted his free hand over the leaves, and a swirl of black mist devoured them and quickly evaporated and left dollars in the palm of his hand.

“You need food and rest before we do anything. You look awful.”

A loud chuckle erupted from my throat.

Of course, I looked like shit. Who wouldn’t after everything I went through? “Thanks, but I’m fine. We have to keep going. I need to prepare.” I shoved Gren’s chest to make him move, but he stood there, unbudging.

I huffed in frustration.

“No. You’re exhausted, wounded, and emotional. You need rest.” Gren shifted his feet and shoved the money into his back pocket. “And are you certain you have to do what Valeria says?”

My focus went back to Gren.

How could he say something like that? After everything I have done? I couldn’t fold and throw in the towel now.

“I can’t let them torture Lucien. He’s the only family I have, and he wouldn’t be in this mess if ... if he didn’t know me.” Another unstable laugh fled my mouth, and I shook out my hands and pressed my pointer finger to his chest. “I’ve already done horrible things I can’t take back. I need to see this through. He needs me.” I swung around and choked back the sobs threatening to spill out of my throat, but I couldn’t calm down.

Gren’s words ignited a fury within me. It pulsated in violet waves like an electric current shooting through my veins.

Blood flooded my vision as an intense anger shattered me from within. It churned and fed all the rotten emotions I buried, flailing back alive against my skin with thousands of needles puncturing me all at once.

My flesh burned from the inside out as the needles burrowed deeper.

I screamed out in agony as all my bleak emotions came alive, sinking their venomous fangs into me and cementing themselves into my flesh and bones. The crescent mark on my hand pulsated violently as I tossed my head back.

I was rotting from within as the pangs of brutality radiated through me, convulsing inside me like a deadly storm raging on until my vision went black.

The energy traveled up my throat and through both my arms and legs as if coerced out of me, and my body lightened under the release.

My eyes fluttered open, and Gren squeezed me into a hug, my arms frozen at my sides.

His firm body against mine—strong and determined.

Gren pulled away and spoke, but I couldn’t hear a goddamn thing as my body crumpled under the weight of gravity, and I lost all the strength to stand.

Gren caught me before my knees slammed against the asphalt.

I wanted to push Gren away and ask him what the fuck was happening, but my eyes rolled back, and all I could do was let the beckoning darkness swallow me whole.