"I'm sorry I find it so hard to speak about them. Their memories are tainted with their ending in my mind, and one just comes with the other. I did name you after my little sister because you look like her in a way. Hugo is named after Holly because she had his black hair. They look similar too, same chin, and both like my nan who died when I was a child. It's comforting to know, even though they are gone, they aren't really," she softly says. “They are here, with us, and I will never forget them.”
"I'd love if we could talk more about my aunts one day, mum," I say, seeing how mum tenses up just a tad. I don’t want to push her, but it’s a big part of our past that I know nothing much about. The school library has photos of them all in school, but that’s all I’ve ever been able to find out. I love my mum too much to hurt her to find out about the past.
"I think that would be a lovely idea. Perhaps with a glass of wine and some chocolate next time," she says, smiling and smoothly sliding off the bed as she clears her expression into a happy one in an instant. I find myself wiping a tear as she walks to the door and pauses. "See you downstairs in a bit, darling."
"Of course, mum," I reply, and she shuts the door as she walks out. I sit back on my bed, eating my toast and drinking my orange juice before getting the spoon for the peanut butter jar. After getting a big spoonful of peanut butter, I start eating it as I slide out of bed. I jump in the air as something quickly bites my ankle, hurting like a bitch.
"You little fecker! It's my birthday, you are meant to be nice to me, Kit!" I shout at him, hopping as I sit back down and sigh. This isn't the best start to my birthday, but at least I will have a good night with Mads tonight. I glance at my hand as I put the empty spoon down and see a name in black. It’s unusual for me to have a job so soon. Neritous Cyncus. I frown as I lift my hand, looking at how odd the name is. Who has a name like that these days? It sounds Greek or something, but certainly different, and it has my interest straightaway. I can’t remember the last time I had two bad karma jobs in a week. Normally it’s one bad, one good and then a week off. Or at least that’s the usual. This guy must have done something feckin’ bad to get me on his case right now.
I pick my phone up off the side, opening up my safari app and googling his name for clues on who he is. Nothing comes up in the directories, but there is one website which I click on. It's a popular nightclub that boasts an infinity pool, and the address isn't far from where Mads lives. We could walk there from her place, which is a little weird. My karma jobs aren’t usually this close to home. I know I should just use magic to take me to him, but I have a weird feeling about this one. I always listen to my suspicions, or at least most the time. I quickly text Mads the address, and she agrees that it's a brilliant place to go for my birthday. I lie back on the bed, rubbing my bitten foot. Nothing like a little fun karma on your twenty-first birthday.
Chapter Seven
"Dark red is a hundred percent your second best colour. Dark green is your first, of course, as it compliments your hair," Mads says after whistling low as I come out of her bathroom in the red dress she bought me as a present. It matches my dark red heels that my brother’s girlfriend got me from her and Hugo. I'm officially in love with her for the heels, and I decided she can stay in the family for good now. Damien got me red roses that I know for a fact mum made him give me…then he gave me another present once mum left the room. I am pretending he didn’t give me his joke gift. To my surprise, Peyton bought me green emerald earrings that I have on. He told me I was an annoying little shite as he gave me the box, but that is pretty loving for our family. I walk to the mirror, admiring the low cut dress that stops mid-thigh and has cut outs around my ribs on the side, but somehow it looks damn good. I walk to Mads and pull her in for a rare hug, and she laughs.
"Thank you, you are the best and always know what looks good," I say and let go as I'm really not a hugger. Or good at dealing with emotions at all, now I think about it. I'm sure it's a side effect from growing up with a house of brothers and no sister in sight. Though Mads was like my school sister, and she did come back to the house after school sometimes.
"Of course I know what looks good; I work in a department store," she replies, rolling her eyes at me like that should be obvious. I suppose it kind of is.
"Come on, let's go. I need a long drink and to tell you about what Damien got me for my birthday," I say, shuddering. I'm certain Damien did it because he is pissed his girlfriend couldn't handle the truth about what he is and that magic is real, so we had to erase her memory. Michael the goat just toppled her right over the edge. Oddly enough, Michael only behaves around Mads, and really doesn't say a word when she is in the house. Or at least she has never told me he has said anything, and she only left the house screaming that one time Hugo had a bug collection phase and the bugs got free. The house was crawling with random bugs for days, and I swear mum was inches away from burning the house down and starting over again.
Mads grabs her black handbag which matches her suede black heels and black velvet dress as I pick up my red one that has a bow on it. Everything always looks marvellous on her; I've never seen Mads look terrible before. Mads links her arm in mine when we get outside her apartment block and starts walking us down the pavement. Dublin is a gorgeous city, especially at night where the cobbled streets come alive with people going for meals or out for a night of drinking. We Irish do know how to hold our drink down, and I sure want to test that tonight.
"So why did you choose this place tonight?" Mads asks me. "I didn't even know it existed until I followed your link. I swear I've walked past the area many times before and never once saw it." I frown at her innocent comment, which makes me wonder if the place is magically hidden or something. The more I think about this all, the more I wonder if I should take Mads somewhere else and get my brother to help me with this karma job. I shake my head as a cold gust of wind blows into us, making me regret not bringing a coat and making me realise I'm just being paranoid.
"I'm sure it's just a well-kept secret. I found it randomly online, and I checked the reviews which said it is exquisite," I say, which is true, but there were only two reviews and they sounded like they were talking about the wrong place. Again, not something I need to explain to Mads. No, we are going to have a good night, and even if there are gods there, we will ignore them. Gods don’t hang out together anyway, so they should have no reason to try and talk to me.
"It's your birthday, so it's up to you. We can always leave and go to our regular place if this one is dead," she replies to me as we dodge a drunk couple who nearly stumbles into us, shouting sorry as they walk away.
"Good plan B," I reply, squeezing her arm and grinning at her. "Now tell me what you've been up to recently. Are you still seeing that banker guy?" I ask, forcing myself to relax and catch up with my bestie. I haven’t seen much of her in the last month, a mixture of her searching for a new job and the fact I majorly dislike her latest boyfriend. He is a plonker, and I know it will only be a matter of time before Mads sees it.
"Logan is an accountant, and no," she says, shaking her head at my lack of memory. Banker, accountant. They are basically the same thing…I think. "He was just too normal. I know that doesn't make sense, but he wanted a pretty girlfriend to go to meals with, meet his posh parents, and eventually marry. He is the perfect guy to have two point five kids with and be like everyone else...and I want more than that. I want excitement, passion and someone who challenges me in a purely sexy way."
"You are listing every girl’s perfect man there, babe," I reply, knowing I could do with a bit of that kind of man also. It’s hard for me to find a human remotely exciting when I know all the secrets of the world and that magic is real.
"I know, but a girl can dream, right?" she wistfully sighs.
"Definitely, but for now, we can find a hottie who doesn't talk too much? That would be awesome," I reply, and she chuckles at me.
"That's all you date, Karma. I've never seen a guy who has gotten your attention for more than a week before," she declares, and Mads sort of has a point. Human guys are just so boring, and dating gods isn't allowed. No one wants to risk getting locked up for a fun date with someone that actually understands what you are. I've never met a human, other than Mads, that I could even imagine telling the truth to. I don't reply to her as we get to the street the club is on and see the glowing blue doors with two bouncers outside a few feet in front of us. There is no queue like I would have expected there to be on a Saturday night, and instead we can just walk up to the beefy, bold bouncers who are dressed in suits. They both eye us strangely before looking at each other. The one bouncer pushes the door open, holding it for us and nodding his head inside.
"The human is your responsibility in here. Understood?" the bouncer asks, and Mads laughs as I nod once at him in agreement. They know I'm a karma goddess, and it makes me wonder what the hell is inside that I would need to be responsible for Mads. I eye the bouncer warily as I hold Mads’s arm close as we walk through the door and up the long staircase on the other side. This was a bad idea, I can feel it.
"I didn't get that bouncer’s joke about human, but he looked so scary I had to laugh," Mads tells me, and I'm thankful she thinks it is a joke. I force myself to laugh with her, because the other option is running out the door while I drag her with me. I know I shouldn’t run away, but it usually is a good option to keep myself out of trouble.
"You know some guys think they are funnier than they actually are," I reply, smiling tightly at her as she looks down at me. "Don't worry about it."
"I'm not worried. It's already forgotten. Holy crap, look at this place," Mads gasps as we get to the top of the staircase, and we can see the crazy beautiful room we are in. The entire room is spread open, with glass pillars holding the ceiling up. The crazy thing is the ceiling, the pillars and the floor are one large aquarium, filled with fish, sharks and stingrays. Even the bar in the middle of the room has a glass, fish-filled base. There are lights floating in the water with the fish, that make the room look cosy and somehow bright at the same time. There are about five other people in here, and all of them are sitting together on the stools at the bar. I can only see the backs of their heads, but my senses tell me that none of them are the guy written on my hand. As we walk to the bar, I see another larger group of men and women in the corner, wrapped up in each other like the start of an orgy, so they don't notice us.
"It's quiet," I point out as we get to the bar and slide onto some stools, the ones on the opposite side to the men.
"They are cute," Mads whispers, looking at the men that I quickly run my eyes over. They are young business types, all handsome in their own ways, but I'm so on edge with this place that I can't even focus on them. The bartender comes around the corner, smiling when he sees us. The bartender is just as cute too, with wavy brown hair and big blue eyes. He is Mads’s type, especially with how tall he is.
"What can I get you attractive ladies? Perhaps an Irish karma charm?" he says, running his eyes over me and winking. I'm sure it's charming in his head, but all I can focus on is that he knows what I am, but to me, he feels human. Gods can sense each other, almost, but I sense nothing strange about him.
"Is that a cocktail?" Mads asks, looking happy. “Funny enough, my friend’s name is Karma!”
"Yes, madam. It's a favourite of my boss, actually," he replies, still grinning because he now knows Mads doesn't know what I am.
"We will have two then," I reply before Mads can, and pull my card out of my handbag. He waves me off and steps back to grab some glasses.
"The boss says it's on the house. Perks of the job, huh?" he tells me and then disappears off to make our drinks. Shit, maybe we should be getting out of here before he tells Mads everything by accident. The last thing I need is her freaking out and me possibly losing my best friend on my birthday because she is scared of me.
"The boss must be nice then," Mads awkwardly says, no doubt picking up on the strange mood I’m in. I can only nod as I run my eyes around the room and decide it’s about time I get my karma job out of the way so we can leave. I do not want to have to come back here, and Mads can drink in peace for a second. I have to trust the bartender isn’t a giant dick and won’t tell her. I will use the bathroom excuse, get my karma job done, and then tell Mads I saw a rat or something in the bathroom and we should leave. Yep, this sounds perfect and foolproof.
"I'm going to find the bathroom while you wait for the drinks, alright?" I ask, and she nods as I get up and walk across the room towards the sign for the bathrooms. I pass the table of orgy couples and walk into a long corridor where there are doors at the end with bathroom signs on. As I walk down, I feel my hand start to burn where the location dot is, and I spin around, looking for my charge as a man steps into the dark corridor behind me. I can’t see all his features, just a built, muscular body and a tall frame. His hair looks red and messy, but his face is too hidden in the shadows to see. Whoever he is, he sends goose bumps all over my body, and some instinct in me tenses up. The corridor feels tenser, and not the good sexual tension, no, the scary ass one instead.
"Hello," I utter out, pulling my power so I can sense his fears and what I need to do here for him to get bad karma. I sense nothing other than water, but I can’t tell what it is about water he doesn’t like, so I'm taking a wild guess he isn't a fan of water. There is something else, but it feels like a wall is slammed up when I try to understand it. In this place, that should be easy to make water a problem anyway. I start to get more creeped out by the second as he doesn't reply, just stands still as a statue as he stares at me. I can't see his face from this distance, but I wouldn't sense his fear unless he were the man I was looking for. I pull my necklace out of my dress, feeling around my charms for something to break the glass above him and flood this corridor with water. That should be karma enough, and it's my birthday, so I'm not doing more right now. I pause on the bolt charm I got today, wondering if it's not a bolt at all but a crack. Well, no time like the present to find out.
"I have been searching for you for a long time, Karma…" the man darkly says, but I can’t reply as I press the bolt into my palm, and it glows a bright green. Suddenly, overwhelming power slams into my body, and I stretch my hand out to the ceiling only for green lightning bolts to shoot out of my hand and smash into the glass. Water and fish pour out of the gap, mixing with the green lightning as it hits the man. I scream as my hand burns, and the man cries out as the lightning filled water smothers him. It feels like forever, but I’m sure it is only a few seconds before his screams die away as his body slumps onto the floor.
The power abruptly stops, and I fall to the wet floor, gasping from the pain in my hand as I lift it into the light. There are burns all over my hands, and my god healing isn't fixing it and won’t for a long time. I don’t even know how long burns take to heal. A cut is a week…a burn this bad could be longer. It's burnt quite badly, and I bite down on my lip as I close my hand. What the feck just happened? I pull myself to my feet as I hear people screaming, no doubt getting out of here as more water falls from the hole in the ceiling. I walk over and look down at the man...the very dead man. Oh god, I killed someone. What the hell have I done? My body starts shaking as I force myself to think, and I tilt my head to the side as I really look at his face. His eyes are closed, his skin is tanned, and I think he is a god. His features are familiar somehow, though I can’t remember seeing a god with dark red curly hair before. There is something different about him...and I can't put my finger on what exactly it is.
I reach down, grabbing his wrist and feeling for a pulse, and there is nothing. Oh god, I've really fucked up now. I have killed him. I didn't even know lightning was possible...it shouldn't be possible. I go to put his wrist down when I see a mark on the back of his hand. Everything slows as I turn his hand before letting it drop from my hands as the mark burns into my mind. I yelp, falling back in the water as the mark registers in my mind. The only creatures that have those kind of dragon marks. Higher gods. Holy shit, he is a higher god...and I somehow killed him. I turn around and throw up into the water, coughing up everything I've eaten today before shakily picking myself up off the floor.
"Karma!" I hear Mads shouting my name just before she comes around the corner and sees me—and the dead higher god who is now floating in the water filling up the room. Oh my god, they will take her in as a witness or even blame her if they find her here with me. I can't have that happen. I shake my head and run to her as she stands shocked, looking at the dead body as water pours from the gaping hole in the ceiling. I’m well aware that fish are swimming around my legs, and thankfully the hole isn’t big enough to let the shark in here. I’m not going to stay long enough to test that theory though. I stare at my best friend, knowing that I’ve not only threatened my life tonight but hers. If anything happened to Mads because of me, I couldn’t forgive myself.
