Page 94 of King of the Unsightly

Gren snatched Valeria’s throat and raised her off the ground. “Tell me why I shouldn’t snap your neck right now,” he growled, lowering his brows as his features turned animalistic.

Gren looked feral as black mist pulsated around him.

Valeria’s mouth stretched across her face as she let out an insidious laugh.

She didn’t respond to Gren and instead, looked through him to me. “You should have a tighter leash on your familiar. Or are you a fan of gentle training? Whatever it is, I should warn you. The things he does behind your back are quite serious.”

What did she mean? Was she trying to pit us against each other?

Gren squeezed Valeria’s neck tighter as her feet dangled off the ground. She dug her needle-like nails into Gren’s forearm, but her smile never faltered.

For a split second, I wanted Gren to finish the job.

My mind screamed to kill her.

To kill her now, and I would be free.

But I couldn’t let them harm Lucien.

I gripped Gren’s shoulder and looked at him with a grimace. “Please.”

Gren’s face softened, and he dropped Valeria to the ground.

Valeria caught herself and rubbed the deep purple bruises already forming around her neck.

She didn’t utter another word as she turned her back to us and walked deeper into the haze, signaling us to follow.

Sing for Me

An enormous white granite mausoleum with four thick pillars loomed over us. Each one had a distinct design carved into it. One covered in thorns. The next had blooming lilies. The other two had the moon and stars at the top with bodies piled at the bottom; it resembled a mountain desperate to reach the heavens. A work of art cut into four parts, telling a hauntingly vivid story of longing and death.

Valeria dragged the black granite door open, and it scraped against the concrete floor.

She tilted her head and beamed at me, acting like some valiant chauffeur, but she looked more like the ferryman, Charon, escorting us across the River Styx after we paid our dues.

“Enter,” Valeria said, delicately waving us in.

I gulped and jiggled the tension out of my hands.

My heart pounded against my ribcage like the last remnants of my soul didn’t even want to be here either and were desperate to flee my body.

I tried to calm my nerves as I stood in front of the ominous entrance.

My eyes flickered back to Gren, who paled as he scrunched his nose, yet he still took my hand and squeezed it longer than usual before letting go.

I gave him a thin smile, and we walked past her.

IknewGren was by my side, but it didn’t make me feel any less nervous as I picked at the drying scabs on my fingertips.

Could we really escape unharmed if it was a trap?

A nagging thought told me even if I could do a little magic, it didn’t mean I could go up against an unknown entity who had been tracking me for god knows how long.

A casket with the same engraving as the pillars caught my eye, and it made the hallway appear more menacing as moisture permeated the air.

My body tensed and I barely stopped myself from having a full-on panic attack—only the sound of water dripping from the ceiling alleviated my nerves.

My legs took another treacherous step in the eerily lit hallway, and the granite walls warped and melted like acid as the air around me turned thicker than the swap I trudged in with Kaschel. The resemblance it had to his shadows was uncanny as it wrapped around my body and filled my lungs.

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