Page 26 of King of the Unsightly

Gren hesitated. “I’m under a sworn oath. It would destroy me ...” He gave me a defeated sigh as he lowered his beak to the bed.

How frustrating. “Okay, I won’t pry any further.”

Who was I kidding? Everyone avoided giving me direct answers like I was the plague. And Gren conveniently couldn’t tell me because of an oath?

I had no idea who I could trust and it scared the hell out of me.

“Thank you.”

My smile waned as I pushed the uncertainty down. “Do you know anything about the person I made a deal with?”

“I’m not sure about the fae. I don’t have much information on the Unseelie. I’m only versed in the dark arts of ours. Not theirs.” Gren raised his wings into a shrug like I should know the last bit of information.

I erupted into a fit of laughter.

This was all so absurd. I wondered if it was more plausible I was locked up in a psych ward right now than knowing I made a deal with an actual faery.

I patted Gren again. “All right, thanks for trying to explain.”

The clothes bundled together beside me were, of course, my graphic T-shirts. At least she brought a pair of black jeans and boots. I wouldn’t lookthatridiculous.

I slid the dark green shirt over my head and grumbled, frowning at the bold letters like it would somehow alter them, but they remained the same and read“Life’s too short, so let’s fuck.”

I had to remind myself my wardrobe didn’t matter. I didn’t need to impress anyone. Who cared if my outfit seemed like a teenager dressed me?

The mirror suspended in front of me revealed my worn-out reflection.

I detangled my hair and wiped the smudged mascara from under my eyes. The hell if I was wearing this outfit and looking like an unhinged raccoon—I had to maintain some form of dignity for myself.

If the sun had risen, I couldn’t tell. The place resembled a dungeon without any source of natural light, but since Ryas showed, it meant Kaschel might come for me soon.

“Try not to disappear from my side so much,” I told Gren as I veered from the mirror and watched how he pecked the bed, circling around the same spot, attempting to get in a comfy position before he plopped himself down.

“Of course.” He blinked and somehow, I doubted he would hold true to his words.

I let out a controlled breath and wiggled my hands. The anticipation sent shivers down my arms.

The door swung open, and Kaschel stood there in odd attire.

Where were we going that required a sword in its sheath strapped to his hip? If I had to choose words to describe his outfitmedieval-times chic with juniper trousersseemed to fit.

Yeah, he had questionable taste.

“Ah, so the little flea isn’t going to make me drag her this time.” The side of Kaschel’s mouth tugged into a smirk, but it vanished as he fully took me in. He turned his back to me; his tight black tunic had a deep V, leaving nothing to the imagination as his broad shoulders practically devoured the doorframe. “Let’s go, and make sure you bring the necklace with you. We don’t have time for mistakes,” he said and disappeared into the hallway.

A nagging thought told me I was in for one hell of a ride, and obviously, not the hot kind.

Blàth Falls

Ijogged to the hallway. I peeked both ways and saw Kaschel already ten meters away, and I hurried to his side. I was annoyed he couldn’t wait—like did he need me here or not? He sure didn’t act like it.

It’s hard to expect anything from Kaschel, but some common courtesy wouldn’t kill him. I highly doubted he could manage something so simple since he kidnapped me once already. He was on a losing streak in my book, and playing nice was poison to a man as pretentious as him.

Also, why did he keep referring to me as a parasite?

I took long strides to keep up with his pace and craned my neck up to glare at him. “Thanks for the endearing nickname, but I already have one,” I said, sarcastically. “It’s Addy. Short for Adeline. Got it?” I enunciated by hitting my pointer finger on my collarbone.

Kaschel chuckled with no hint of amusement. “Oh? I didn’t think I asked for your name.”

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