Warrior King New Worlds (Crystal Kingdom #6) - Milly Taiden Page 0,65

snapping at him again. It was useless, though. Nothing would change. He dropped her off at work and then headed for his own job at a nearby construction site. He was security and sat on his ass all day, playing on his phone.

An hour later, she was in the thick of the breakfast crowd, already exhausted.

“Hey, Kaia doll,” Cookie said as she came in to check on the morning staff. “How are you doing today?”

“Good,” she said. What else could she say? She wasn’t one to share her problems with people. At the end of the day, she knew she had to work hard and get herself moving forward. Life wasn’t going to gift her everything.

“Are you going to school tonight?” Cookie asked, fixing a to-go cup of coffee and placing it on the counter.

Kaia shrugged. Today was one of those days she didn’t know the point in anything. She’d been going to a school she hated to please her mother. She wasn’t happy with it and had finally decided she’d do something that she actually enjoyed.

“I don’t really know what I want to do,” she admitted.

Cookie’s head snapped toward her, a frown marring her face. “Really? You are so talented, Kaia.”

“My mom is the one who wants me to be a hairdresser. That was always her dream, not mine. But I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.” She started to question herself. Shouldn’t she know by now? She was twenty-two years old.

“Don’t push yourself,” Cookie said in a soothing, motherly voice. “You’ll figure it out. If you need any advice, just come see me.”

She gave Cookie a smile she didn’t feel and went back to her customers. The rest of the morning went by fast. During her break, she sat at the back entrance to the diner, talking to her mother on the phone.

“Kaia,” her mom said in that authoritarian voice, “did you buy any food?”

“No, Mom. DJ and his girlfriend don’t buy any food. When I buy it, they eat it all when I’m at work and never replace anything.” She glanced at her black Nikes. They were her only pair and already they were torn from overuse. She’d need to buy another pair soon.

“Your brother is allowing you to live at his house. The least you can do is pay half of everything and buy some food.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I’m already paying the rent and half of the bills that aren’t mine.”

“Whatever,” her mom said, dismissing her. God, she always did that and it just made Kaia feel more alone than before she’d called. “Are you okay?”

She didn’t really want to know. She just said those words to act like she cared. Damn. Was she in a shitty mood or what?

“I’m fine.” Her mom never noticed when her responses were clipped or heard the exhaustion in her voice.

“Okay. I gotta go. I’m going to the spa today. Have you spoken to your dad?” The spa, that was a luxury she could never afford but heaven forbid her mom offer to treat her sometime.

“Not yet.” She knew without a doubt he’d be calling in the next few minutes and then he’d start crying over whatever financial problems he had. Problems he always expected Kaia to solve.

“Listen, your grandmother gave me this ugly old-style necklace with a gemstone that looks like something a little kid put together. She said it was supposed to go to you on your twenty-first birthday.”

Kaia sighed. “Mom, I just turned twenty-two.”

“You did? When?”

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Elf King

Chapter One

Avery lifted her battle axe and threw it into the back of the ogre in front of her.

“Sorry, bmooner46,” she said, adjusting the mic on her gaming headset. “Never turn your ass end to the landscaping.”

Bmooner46 snorted loud and clear through the speakers. “You damn bush-camper. Only a chicken shit hides in the bushes, santa’s_helper.”

She smiled. “Maybe,” Avery replied. “But who’s dead and who’s going to kick everyone else’s ass?” Well, not this go around. As soon as her mother got home from her ER shift, she was dragging Avery shopping for “proper” office attire. Avery’s post-graduation corporate job started next week, and she wasn’t looking forward to it. In fact, she dreaded it.

“I wouldn’t be too proud about that, santa’s_helper,” bmooner46 said. “It’s a Friday night and look where we are.”

So she didn’t have a boyfriend, wasn’t in a relationship. Most of her interactions with guys her age were done in virtual reality. Big deal. Having a man in her life