Page 88 of King of the Unsightly

So they took him.

My chest tightened as if someone pinned me down and compressed my lungs. My breaths intensified as each bit of air left my throat.

Faint footsteps grew closer from outside.

Someone stopped at the other side of the door and fiddled with the handle.

Tremors bombarded my nerves as apprehension clouded my mind.

I panicked and launched out of bed. I snagged the burnt orange lamp, yanked it out of its plug, and moved behind the door.

I couldn’t guarantee it was Gren. From what I learned up to this point, I had to be cautious.

The door clicked open as a shadow engulfed the room.

I raised the lamp over my head and swung at the ebony waves bouncing past me.

Almost scraping the side of Gren’s face with the lamp, I sighed and slid against the wall, crumpling to the ground.

God, I was so paranoid.

Gren held a brown bag in his hand with a pool of grease soaking the bottom.

So he left to get food.

Gren turned away from the bed and his eye landed on me—on the ground, clenching the lamp against my chest.

Gren scrunched his eyebrows together and crouched by my side. “Are you all right?”

“Fuck no. Not being in control was ... terrifying,” I confessed, and I couldn’t believe I let those words spill out of my mouth. I cleared my throat, placed the lamp next to me, and pointed at the brown bag Gren held. “I’m famished. Is that what I think it is?”

Gren opened and closed his mouth like he had no idea what he should address first.

He stood up, walked over to the wobbly table, and set the food on it.

He took a seat and stared at me with the same blank expression, and he shook his head. “Come eat. I know it’s been a while.”

He tore open the bag and set a flimsily wrapped burger opposite to him.

He peeled his open and started eating.

Gren sat, silent, and I knew he was the quiet type, but this felt different.Strange.

I rose from my feet, walked over to the table, and plopped down beside him. “What happened?” Gren didn’t say a word, and I pushed him further. “I mean, how did you stop me?” I looked up from my burger, anticipating an answer, but he stayed tight-lipped.

Gren finished his food, wiped his hands on the napkin beside it, and glowered at me. A mixture of anger and something else I couldn’t pinpoint.

Gren averted his glare and rubbed the back of his neck as he slouched more into the chair. “You lost control.” He licked his lips as he took a deep breath. His darkened gaze refused to meet me. “So, I absorbed your magic until you were able to calm down.”

I eyed him. “Did something else happen?”

Gren appeared shocked for a brief moment and concealed his emotions again. “Not particularly.”

Gren was hiding something, but if I kept pressing him now, I knew he would never tell me.

It had to be on his time. He would trust me, eventually. Or so I kept telling myself.

I threw my head back and rubbed the sides of my face. I was so exhausted from these games. “All right, I trust you.”

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