Page 89 of King of the Unsightly

A flicker of dismay enveloped Gren’s face before he started talking again. “Do you want to shower?”

“Only if you come with me,” I teased him.

I tried to lighten the mood, but it turned sour on my tongue, and I felt like a creep.

God, why did I always have to joke around at the worst times?

Gren only leaned his head. “I’m not entirely familiar with the customs of how humans bathe, but if you need my help, I’ll do my best.” He blinked at me with a trusting sparkle in his eyes as the joke went way over his head.

I snorted so loud I shocked myself and gave Gren a weak smile. “I was only teasing. I didn’t mean it.”

Gren sighed again. “You’re as odd as I remember.”

I scoffed. “Are you saying I was a weird little girl?” I tried to decipher if he was messing around or if he truly meant it.

Gren’s frown told me he meant every word. “Extremely.”

I laughed again. “Says the talking bird that turned human.”

“But I’m not human or a bird.”

“You know what I mean.”

My body eased as I relaxed into the chair, but my mind wouldn’t let go of the cluttered thoughts, and I wished to silence them somehow.

Gren raised a brow, and his dark eye bore into me. “Go shower, and I will teach you what I know from the days I spent living with you and your mother.”

My eyebrow perked up in excitement. “You mean it?”

“What would I gain from lying, Adeline?”

Foreboding Ties

The dirt and grime rolled off my body and swirled around the shower drain until it fell through.

I didn’t know how long I stared—or how long I stayed in a fetal position in the shower—as the steam suffocated the cramped bathroom, but it was oddly comforting.

What would it take to break me until there was no return? Wondering when or how it would happen was always a thought that heckled me ... until now.

Here I was—shattered into a million pieces and I would have a hell of a time putting myself back together. I was more likely to cut myself on the shrapnel than become whole again.

So I buried my unwanted feelings as before, digging a metaphorical hole in my mind and barricading the worthless emotions in a coffin as I stood above it—shoveling the dirt on top until I suffocated the noise and their ruthless taunts.

I couldn’t let their constant pestering stop me from pushing forward.

Right now, I had to think about my main objectives—learn magic, save Lucien, and trick the bitch, Valeria. All within a twenty-four-hour period. Doable ...I fucking hoped.

The small white towel hanging on the wall at least looked like they washed it with bleach or took it to the dry cleaners, so I grabbed it and dried myself off.

I wiped the mirror with it and saw my god-awful reflection staring back at me.

I slept, but I still had bags under my eyes, and if anyone decided to look at me for longer than a second, they would see what a wreck I was.

My brown hair felt thinner than my patience from all the stress-induced shit I went through. Luckily, I didn’t look malnourished too.

I turned away from the mirror and slid the new clothes Gren bought from the tourist shop down the road. But they were no better than my previous outfits. A small cotton-candy-blue shirt with a mermaid on it and black letters readSiren’s Cove, and a pair of cargo pants to match.

I groaned. Would I ever be able to wear a normal outfit again?

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