Page 82 of King of the Unsightly

He was tempting me to shatter all the walls I built around myself just so I could get one more kiss.

Kaschel was an error in my system I couldn’t clear out. No matter how many times I told myself his affection wasn’t real, my body still reacted to his touch,hisvoice, and the vast emotions churning in his vibrant eyes as he waited with bated breath to taste me.

I lifted my chin as Kaschel grazed his thumb over my bottom lip.

We looked at each other, both of us too stubborn to make a move.

Kaschel relinquished his pride and pressed his lips to mine. His gentle touch turned desperate.

Desperate to be closer, craving more and more.

My icy heart thawed from each stroke of his hands against my skin as they explored my body and skimmed past my hips, resting below the sides of my ribcage.

We greedily consumed one another as each touch and gasp for air exhilarated us.

He nibbled on my bottom lip and ecstasy shot through me as I brushed my fingertips across his shoulders and moved them slowly down his firm back, tracing over every muscle and raised scar along the way.

I pulled away from him, but not because I wanted to.

I wanted him so badly, but what I wanted and needed were two separate matters.

We didn’t have time to drown our sorrows. We had to worry about making it out of here alive.

Kaschel didn’t say anything as we let the silence eat away at us.

It’s like Kaschel already knew what crossed my mind, and his mask concealed his emotions again.

Any tenderness I saw, or believed I saw, vanished.

The magenta night embellished the sky with flecks of gold as the vine walls closed in on us—until we walked a path leading in only one direction.

We didn’t talk about what had happened, and I was fine with that. Relieved even. It would only unnecessarily complicate things, and my life was already complicated enough.

So we concentrated on what was ahead since with one wrong step the possibility of getting impaled by arrows or falling to our deaths was extremely high.

The soil beneath us shifted and contorted to the will of its creator. I almost fell multiple times, but Kaschel snatched my waist before I plummeted to the bottom.

My adrenaline wore off, and the agonizing pain returned tenfold.

My legs screamed as my back stung with each gust of wind. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could last in this state.

“Did you feel that?” Kaschel scanned the area.

“Feel what?” I scrunched my face, unsure of what he heard or saw.

“The trembling of the ground? It’s getting closer.”

I sure as hell didn’t feel the ground moving beneath us, no more than usual.

“I think you might be—” I glanced behind us and gasped in horror. “Holy fuck.”

Treachery

Aswarm 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.

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