Chapter 1961

Plain Bread

“I’m so hungry… so hungry,” Magnus murmured weakly. Pride or dignity no longer mattered anymore. All he could think of was the gnawing void in his stomach.

The girl studied him and thought he didn’t seem like a liar. She made a decision. “All right. Stay here. I’ll get you something.”

She slipped free of his grasp and hurried toward the glow of the convenience store down the street. Cheap, plastic-wrapped bread was on sale. She grabbed four without thinking. When she returned, she thrust them toward Magnus. “Here. Eat.”

But instead of gratitude, his face twisted. The bread sat in his palm like lumps of clay, their doughy smell cloying and stale. Even hunger couldn’t override years of ingrained disgust.

“Eat up,”

,” she urged, pressing one to his lips. “Aren’t you starving?”