“Maybe it was a good thing you kidnapped me in the end then. I’ve grown to like you a little bit,” I admit, and he laughs. God, I love his laugh.
“I’ve grown to like you a little bit too,” he softly remarks, leaning down and kissing me. I freeze in unexpected shock. Killian softly explores my lips as I arch myself into his touch, loving how he feels. My hands slide into his hair as he groans, pulling me closer, and I happily sink myself into him. Kissing Killian feels like finding a new home. Cold drops of water splash down on us, breaking us apart as we hear thunder rattle in the dark cloud that has appeared above us. Killian swiftly moves me aside just as Storm slams into him, smacking him to the ground as the rain harshly pours down on us all. Seth wraps an arm around my waist, stopping me when I try to run towards Killian and Storm, who are intent on smacking the shit out of each other. The cloud flashes white lightning across it, highlighting Killian’s face as he punches Storm, sending him flying across the ground.
“Let me go, Seth!” I demand.
“No, you could get hurt,” Seth says, shaking his head as Jade gets to us. Lifting one sharp nail, she places it under Seth’s neck, and he gulps.
“Let her go, Seth. They won’t hurt her, and she can handle herself. You can’t hold her back, if you care, you will have to help her,” Jade says. Seth mutters something about stubborn women as he lets me go, and I don’t think as I run, jumping between Killian and Storm. I place my hands on their chests as they stare at each other, blood dripping down their faces, and they both heavily breathe which I can feel under my hands.
“Enough! Don’t do this over me. Please,” I say, but neither of them says a word. Suddenly an alarm blasts out in the prison, the noise vibrating off the walls almost. What the hell is going wrong now?
Chapter Thirty
"What is that alarm?" I ask. My hands slide down from Killian’s and Storm's chests because the blaring alarm has distracted them for a second. I look up to Storm for answers, and he holds a hand out for me as the rain stops and the cloud disappears. If this is how powerful Storm is with his powers weakened in this place, god only knows what he would be like on the outside. Feckin’ hell it would be crazy to witness.
"The alarm means the doors have been opened," Storm answers, still sounding furious.
"Finally," Seth states, before running off towards the door with Killian fast behind him. I instantly try to follow them, only to have Storm grab my hand, stopping me.
"Let them go and stay here with me. They will only get you killed, and we won't ever be able to see each other again," he pleads with me, and it just about breaks me to hear him ask me this. His hair is soaking wet just like mine, but it suits him. His thick eyelashes drip droplets of water down his cheeks and to his lips. Everything about Storm is made to perfection, and he is right, I could stay here with him. I would be happy for a long time, and I have no doubt Storm would love me even when I got old. But that isn’t the future I feel is fated for me. I know deep down that I have to follow the twins. I have to escape here.
"They are our friends...and I have a life outside. A family," I tell him. This is my only chance to see my family and Mads again.
"So do I...but my family will kill you for even knowing about me," he warns, his voice is desperate and pleading. "I can't let you go and die."
"I've run from everything, from everyone. If I have to run from you so I can see my family and get the justice I deserve, then so be it," I tell him, even though I know it’s hurting him to hear it. I never wanted to hurt him.
"What did you do? You never told me, and if it's bad enough that they locked you in here and threw the justice gods in here with you, it must have been bad," he asks, and I so wish he hadn’t decided now was the perfect time to ask this question.
"I killed one of your adoptive brothers," I whisper, the words blurting out from my lips as tears stream down my cheeks. Storm stumbles back, letting my hand go as shock and disbelief shine in his eyes. "It was an accident...and I don't understand why it happened. I'm sorry." Storm stands so still, and it breaks my heart when I take one step back. Then another. My heart and body fight me as I turn around and run across the bridge. Tears roll down my cheeks as I leave him, as running from him is likely the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
Leaving the bridge, I run down the steps, tripping on a few and managing to keep myself running until I get to the ledge at the bottom. I run across it, seeing gold light flashing from inside the room, knowing something is wrong. I skid to a stop as I get into the circular room with the tunnel on the other side. Seth and Killian are standing side by side, slamming gold waves of power into a man in a cloak who is stood still. The power isn’t touching him, and he doesn’t even seem to be noticing it. The cloaked man turns to me, like he can sense I’m here.
“Karma. Just who I came to get,” the man says, his voice and accent unfamiliar to me.
“Who are you?” I ask, gaining the attention of the twins now as they spot me.
“Leave! Now, Karma!” Seth desperately demands, sounding like he actually cares for me. Killian looks at me for a second, his eyes pleading with me to leave.
“No,” the cloaked man states, and with the wave of his hand, green energy swooshes out of his hand, destroying the twins’ magic like nothing. I scream, running towards the twins as the wave of green energy heads towards them, but I’m too late as I know the power is going to hit them first. It’s going to kill them, I feel it. In the blink of an eye, Jade recklessly runs past me and jumps in front of the twins, taking the full force of the green energy blow. All three of them fly in the air, smacking against the ground as they slide to a stop. I run over to Jade who is face down on the dirt when I get to her. I turn her over, a cry catching in my throat when I see all the blood on her chest and the burns.
“M-my friend. T-tell her it was the higher g-god. P-promise me,” Jade asks, gasping for each word. My hands feel the hot blood pouring onto them as I try to cover her chest up with her coat. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, but I can’t let her die.
“I promise. You rest now, it’s going to be okay,” I tell her, sounding more calm and less panicked than I feel. I know deep down I won’t be able to save her, but I am going to try. I’m going to desperately try.
“The ch-charm boosts y-your own powers. I rememb…er.” Her last words echo in my ears as her dead eyes just stare at nothing, and her hand falls ever so slowly out of mine. Jade is gone, and nothing but pain controls everything now. It floods me, the grief and shock feeling like they will break me. I glance up as the twins’ bodies shake from the buzzing green energy flickering around them…and I know they must be dead too. He killed them all. A scream unlike anything I’ve ever done leaves my lips as I rise up. The world seems to start going green, but I just barely notice through the pain and anger. My hands lift on their own, and it’s then that I see green lightning flickering and swirling around my arms. I don’t question the power, I don’t think of anything but revenge.
“Oh, aren’t you powerful? So beautifully powerful. It’s a shame we have to leave now.”
“No,” I respond, not really hearing what he says as I step forward, the ground crackling from the lightning that surrounds my body with each step. I feel powerful, broken and lost…but more determined than ever. I’ve run from everything my entire life…but I will not run from this. He killed my friends. He killed my gods. My justice twins are lost, and he will pay. I pull my hands back before rapidly pushing them forward. Lightning flies out of my hands, straight towards the cloaked man. He only laughs, catching the lightning like a toy, and with a cold laugh, he throws my power right back at me. I cry out as it slams into my chest, and I feel the world falling away. Just as my eyes close, I hear Storm shouting my name…but it’s too late, and I can’t fight the darkness any more. Not even for him.
Epilogue Storm
“Where is Karma?” Seth groggily demands, storming into her room where I’m sitting on the end of her bed, a bottle of whiskey in my hand as I replay those last moments over and over like I have done for two days while they have been passed out. I don’t know who took Karma, but I have a good guess. The way she used lightning…she isn’t just a karma goddess after all, and I never fucking noticed it. Of course, they wouldn’t keep her alive. Now she is out there, and I’m fucking locked up in here because I was too late to go after her. I will never forgive myself for this. She is mine, and I let her run away.
“Gone,” I growl out, looking up at Seth and Killian who have finally woken up, thanks to a healer. They look like shit, and it’s typical that the twins would wake up at the same time. “Jade is dead, and Coxen is mourning her while blaming us. Anything else you need to know before you get the fuck out of my sight?”
“Jade saved us, fuck,” Killian says, sounding like a ghost until he seems to snap out of it. “Where is Karma? What the hell do you mean gone?”
“As in gone outside. They took her,” I inform them. I take a deep drink before standing up off her bed and blink as I see a goblin sitting on her dressing table.
“Didn’t you know she had a goblin in here? She called it Kit,” Killian says, though there is no humour in his voice like you would usually hear. Seth is in a trance as I walk over to the goblin. I haven’t seen these creatures for a long, long time, though they used to be a lot bigger. This one looks like only a child. I bet it can’t even talk yet…but I hope it’s old enough to have done something else.
“Is Karma your goddess?” I ask him, and Kit tilts his head to the side, thinking about it before nodding once. Hope swells in my chest as I grin, knowing this goblin is going to give us a chance. I throw the bottle of whiskey away and straighten up. Everything just changed.
“Why would you ask it that?” Seth asks, coming to stand next to me.
“By any chance, has Kit been eating a lot recently?” I ask Seth, who shrugs.
“Karma told me he has been eating three meals instead of his usual two meals a day,” Killian tells us, coming over to stand next to Seth, all three of us looking at Kit.
“Kit, open a portal to your goddess. Karma is in danger, and only we can help her,” I demand, and Kit yawns before picking himself up. He turns his back to us as the twins look at me like I’ve lost my mind. Black light bursts from Kit, spreading across the wall behind the dresser and eventually pulling the entire dresser into it as Kit floats in the air and the portal gets bigger. “Goblins are loyal and imprint themselves on gods and goddesses. Karma is an extremely powerful goddess, and Kit would have been drawn to her. Goblins are protectors, and there is nothing in the magical world that can stop a goblin from opening a portal to their goddess. Get ready, twins, it’s time we rescued our Karma.”
The End for now…
