“That would be a good guess.”
“Well, if you want to follow, my master and I have a price,” he responds, crossing his arms and eyeing me up. An illegal portal does make sense - there’s been talk for years about an underground portal network, and usually this would be the kind of thing we could shut down and turn in to the higher gods for a pat on the back. Now, however, we’re going to need to make use of it, if we want any hope of tracking Karma down again.
I can’t help but wonder why Karma would choose to sit in a bar when she was meant to be on the run. If she’d left just a few minutes earlier, she would already be in the wind by the time we arrived. In fact, it was only sheer luck that we tracked her down in the first place: we wouldn’t have found her if it weren’t for a worried bus driver calling his wife and telling her about the young woman with red hair who he was concerned for. While we’re able to use our magic to track the location and use of magic, Karma has clearly been one step ahead of us; her magical signature went dark almost as soon as she left the nightclub, which means she knows that as well as we do. We were left to figure out where she was the old fashioned way: by knocking on doors and interrogating unsuspecting acquaintances. Seth ended up using his powers to search through every phone call in Dublin to find a clue, and he just happened to intercept the bus driver’s phone call to his wife. Turns out, the guy’s route took him to this part of town, and he saw her walking into the bar; if it hadn’t been for that, then we would still be on a wild goose chase right now.
I don’t get to respond as Seth jumps over the bar, drawing my attention away from the gray-haired man. His beer-stained jacket is gone, and he has taken his tie off. To anyone else, that would mean nothing, but to Seth, that means war. Karma is in trouble now. This just got personal to him.
“The price we will pay is not shutting you down for owning an illegal portal,” Seth tells him, his expression impatient. “If you don’t let us pass, I will make sure this portal is permanently closed. Or maybe we’ll just let you follow the redhead into the gods’ correctional prison where she is going,” he threatens, sounding more than annoyed that there is another hold up and Karma will be getting away. Our only saving grace at this point is that illegal portals are usually unpredictable and tend to make even the most experienced travelers ill. She won’t have gotten far.
“And who the hell are you guys to do that? No one would believe you that a portal is in a human pub,” the man responds, and I grin.
“We are the justice twins, keepers of the magical world, and there is no one in this world who wouldn’t believe us,” I slowly reply, and the Scottish guy’s skin visibly pales as I speak.
“So, move,” Seth tells him, sounding uninterested in dealing with this dude any longer. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone move as quickly out of the way, plastering himself to the wall, as this Scottish dude does.
“Brother, did I ever tell you that joke about a Scottish guy and a British guy walking into an Irish pub?” I ask Seth as we head down the long corridor.
He opens the door at the end, looking back at me like I’m an idiot. It’s a usual look from him, in all fairness. Seth doesn’t do jokes. “No, and I don’t want to hear it. Let’s just get this job over and done with,” Seth responds, walking into the empty room where there is a swirling portal on the one wall.
“You are always ruining my fun, dude,” I respond, sighing before running and jumping head first into the portal.
Chapter 12
Landing with a scream, I roll onto my backpack, dropping painfully to the ground and nearly hitting my head on the concrete. My stomach feels like it’s tied up in a knot, and I clutch my hands around myself as it swirls in pain, sickness building in the back of my throat. I close my eyes and try to focus on my breathing, and the feeling of the cool night air. It’s all I can do to keep from throwing up all over the ground. I wasn’t expecting magical transport to take this much of a physical toll on me, but then again, maybe I should have. The one time Peyton used this portal, he described the sensation as like a bad hangover. Did I really think it would be this easy to just jump across the country?
I have to lie still for a little while longer as I wait for the pain to stop, and the blurry night sky comes into focus. I slowly sit up, seeing the empty rooftop I'm lying on, and the cold air is a welcome relief as it blows against me. I pull myself up, shaking a little as I try to keep my footing. Looking back at the portal, which is well hidden under a tarp, I know I need to get moving. There is no doubt in my mind the bartender will let the twins follow me through. As nice as he was to me, there's no way a human will risk crossing agents of the higher gods.
I spot the fire exit on the other side of the building and hurry over to it, doing my best not to upset my stomach further as I sling my backpack back over my shoulders. I pull myself over the other side just as the portal begins to flicker with magical energy once again, and suddenly two familiar-looking people are thrown out of it onto the roof. The feckin’ twins are good, I’ll give them that. I run down the steps of the fire exit, hearing nothing but the busy city noises of London at night and my own heartbeat pounding hard in my chest. If I’m lucky, they’ll have the same physical reaction as I did, and will need a few minutes to compose themselves before moving again. It won’t give me much time, but it will give me enough to put some distance between myself and the two of them.
The area smells like fast food, which only makes me hungry as I run and finally get to the last steps. I guess that’s a good thing, considering that just a few minutes ago I felt like I had the stomach flu. Thank the gods for Mum and her peanut butter. I jump into the alleyway, running down towards the end. I’ve barely made it halfway when suddenly someone jumps in front of me from right out of the air, gold dust littering the ground by his feet.
"Didn't know you could fly," I mutter, feeling frustrated as the casual justice twin steps into the dim street light, his arms crossed and a big grin on his pretty lips. This close, he is far more attractive than I thought. His carefree nature, the playful smirk, and pretty gold eyes are something else. I’m certain he has no trouble getting girls. “How are you not barfing your brains up right now?”
He smirks. “Call it a perk of being as powerful as we are.”
“Cocky asshole,” I say, putting a hand on my waist. Do I try to run? Will I even be able to? It’s clear that these guys have me outmatched in terms of stamina, and my only other option is to try fighting them, which will probably go about as well as you would expect. My only choice is to wait for an opportunity to turn the situation to my advantage.
"Why don't we just introduce ourselves and have little a chat?” The casual twin suggests, taking a few steps closer to me. “We aren't the bad guys here, Karma. My name is Killian.” He reaches out and offers me a hand to shake, but I’m not that stupid. I’m not shaking his hand, and I know his brother will be coming up right behind me at any point. Killian smirks, crossing his arms as he figures out I won’t be touching him.
There’s a whooshing sound, and I glance over my shoulder to see the other twin manifesting in a ring of gold sparks behind me. Now I really am trapped, and there’s no one else in the alleyway who’s going to be able to help me "There is no point in running; we will always find you," Killian's brother says, and I try to remember what his name was. He was so boring on our date, until everything went wrong and I saw another side to him. I do remember how seductively handsome he is, far more than anyone I had ever seen before. I never liked the colour gold before, until I saw his eyes. I never forgot his eyes.
"Way to get her to trust us, Seth," Killian mutters, and lowers his crossed arms as he takes another step closer. I should have gotten those daggers out my bag, then I'd at least stand a chance of stabbing one of them and making a break for it. I’ve messed up big time, and we all know it.
"That's fucking creepy. Is that how you find all your women? ’Cause it's not working on me, goldipops," I say, hoping my tone of voice doesn’t give away my fear. Seth stays deadly quiet while Killian throws his head back and laughs. Man, is that a laugh that could drop panties.
"Goldipops, I like that. Though, usually women just run to us, not away, angel," Killian replies, coming up with his own nickname. But he really has the wrong idea if he thinks I'm an angel. "Now hand me your bag and that charming necklace of yours, and then we can get going."
"That really isn't happening," I tell him, crossing my arms and desperately looking around for some way to escape this alleyway. I reach for my necklace, but in the blink of an eye, Killian is in front of me, and I feel Seth at my back as Killian grabs both my wrists. Usually I like a little bondage, but this isn’t the fun kind. Gold, shiny bracelets lock around my wrists as Killian sadly smiles at me. Why does it feel like he doesn’t want this to be over so easily?
"I don't want to do this, but you have been found guilty of conspiring and murdering a higher god. There is only one punishment for such a crime," Seth coldly informs me. I get the murdering part. Kinda. But the conspiracy part? I mean, I didn’t actually set out to kill him at all, so can it really be called premeditated if it was an accident? I didn’t mean any of this. I quite liked my life as it was; there was no way I would have done this on purpose. If I could rewind to the beginning of the night with Mads, I would do it in a heartbeat.
"Wait, conspiring?” I demand, struggling against the golden cuffs. “Are you feckin’ kidding me? It was an accident, you big eegits! I didn't conspire anything!" My shouts fall on deaf ears, and I continue trying to wriggle free of Killian's tight grip as Seth comes to our side. Without responding to me, he gently pulls my necklace off before giving it to Killian for safe keeping. It’s frustrating to see how easily they were able to disarm me, and it stings even more to know that they’ve taken away something with sentimental value. I'm going to get that back, one way or another.
"Proof of your crimes has been shown to the gods, do not try to talk your way out of this," Seth warns me.
"I'm being set up!” I insist. If struggling isn’t going to work, I’m not above pleading “I swear, the god’s name, Neritous Cyncus, appeared on my hand as a bad karma job. That's why I was anywhere near him, and everything went really wrong. I swear it was accident," I continue, but I can tell they are completely ignoring me as they look at each other, clearly calculating something. Killian eventually nods in some sort of agreement that I can’t understand as I try to pull my arm out of his tight grip.
"Karma Maria Kismet, you have been caught by the gods of justice. Your punishment is a lifetime in the gods’ correctional prison with no release and no visits until your natural death. This is the law …and will of the higher gods," Seth proclaims, his tone of voice stern and official.
Killian seems hesitant to continue the sentencing, making the whole situation feel pretty awkward, but he finally nods at his brother and adds, "As the gods of justice, we find you guilty. No further investigation will be taken. Do you accept your fate?"
Fuck no, I feckin’ don’t.
“No,” I bite out, and Killian shrugs his shoulders, sighing.
"I’m not surprised, they always say no. I don't think there have been more than three people that have accepted their punishment in our career," Seth says and nods his head at my bag as Killian lets go of my arm, clearly trusting the golden bracelets to make sure I don’t run off. I’m sure they are trackers of some kind, as well as a way to block my powers. I can’t feel their fears or wants at all like I should be able to if I wanted. I don’t like being without the powers that I’ve had since before I can remember. I feel naked around the twins, and not in the fun, kinky way I’d prefer.
"Take the bag off,” Seth tells me.
"Make me," I sweetly reply, raising an eyebrow at him. I'm not going to make this easy. No way in hell. "Or let me go. I don't care which one. Though the latter would be the best idea."
"Leave her with the bag, just open it up and check it," Killian suggests. He clicks his fingers, and my wrists slam together, locking in place so I have no choice but to link my fingers to make myself comfortable. I consider warning Seth about Kit, but change my mind at the last second. Instead I just smile as he pulls open my bag, and I feel him rummaging before pulling the daggers out.
“Those are some nice daggers,” Killian remarks, his eyes finally leaving me only to check out my brother’s daggers. I’m not about to tell them they are magical - they’ve already taken my necklace, and if they found out I had enchanted weapons, they would never give them back.
“We’re keeping these for the investigation. They could be the murder weapons, for all we know,” Seth firmly replies, and Killian laughs.
