"Look, something big is going on, and at the end of the day, we need to focus on surviving in here and worry about getting out some other time. Those doors have to open eventually for someone else to be brought in, and then we can make our play," Killian reasonably tells Seth, and I can't help but overhear their conversation. I’m sticking to their asses like glue if they are trying to get out.
"We have put hundreds of people in here. The moment they recognise us, we are dead," Seth points out. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t stay that close to them.
"Well, I'm definitely not sticking around with you guys then," I say, standing up straight, shifting my backpack, and making my way down the corridor, leaving them behind. They may be attractive, but I'd have to be crazy to stick by my kidnappers’ side at this point. Regrettably, they both run and catch up to me, walking at my sides. I look up at Killian first, raising an eyebrow.
"Did you not hear me tell you to get lost?" I ask.
"I heard you, and even though we were tricked out there, we are good fighters to have at your side. We are sticking with you, maybe you could give us a bit of good karma," he suggests, and I roll my eyes.
"I don't do that," I reply, and he laughs, the deep, sexy sound vibrating off the walls. Even if I did give out good karma like lollypops, they wouldn’t be getting one.
"No, you don't seem the type. I was honestly surprised you are a karma goddess at all. You are too mean," Killian replies.
"Way to compliment a girl, Killian," I say, not realising how flirty that sounded until it escaped my lips. Flirting with your kidnappers is crazy, and I’m not that crazy yet.
"Would you like me to compliment you, Karma? I'm sure I could think of something," he teases, making my cheeks burn a little red which I'm sure doesn't look sexy with my freckled cheeks and pale complexion.
"Enough with the flirting. We need to stay focused. Who knows what we are walking into," Seth interrupts. I look up at the fire lit lanterns that light all the corridors and the dome room I can now see. There are dozens of them.
"Unfortunately, my brother has a point. I will save my compliments for another time," Killian says and changes his whole demeanour in a second. He straightens up, letting his powers light his hands up gold much like how Seth has, though Seth looks angry enough to murder the entire world right now. I really don't want to get in his way. Shame, as angry looks mighty fine on Seth.
We silently walk down the rest of the corridor, coming to a metal bar gate, and the door has been left open. We walk through it one by one, entering a dome shaped room with several doors, each one of them closed tight with no handles. The room is covered in rust, and it smells pretty damp as well. We all stop in the middle of the room, looking around and seeing nothing to suggest which door to try. I go to suggest we try a door each when the door right in front of me opens, and people flood into the room. They all look different, in old ripped clothes and various coloured hair.
I try to look for a leader, but they all quickly move around the room until we are surrounded by a big crowd, and each one of them is staring at us like the enemy. I'm smart enough to know I can't trust a single one of them in here. Some of the people in here are mass murderers or worse. Every single god, creature or monster in here is a threat to me now, though all these people look normal, not one creature or monster in sight. Maybe they don't do welcome parties. Suddenly, they all fall to their knees, bowing their heads and leaving a gap in front of one of the closed doors. It reminds me of that horror movie my brothers tricked me into watching once. It did not end well for the people in the middle of the circle, that’s for sure.
The door slowly opens, and a tall man walks out with his hands behind his back. The man is well over six foot, looking like a damn giant. He has long black hair that is plaited at the back of his head and lightly swings as he walks. I have to admit, even though this guy is hella scary, he is damn hot in his tight black top and black jeans with a leather belt. His heavy boots slam on the stone as he walks around us, circling us as he seems to be thinking. I hope he is thinking about letting us go and not murdering us. He rubs his smooth chin with one of his large hands as he chooses to stop right in front of Killian, and I see the axe strapped to his back from this angle. The axe has double blades that catch the fire light in the room, and they look deadly.
"The gods of justice, I presume. You both look just like your father," the man says, though he doesn’t seem to want a real answer as he smirks.
"You've been in here that long? Our father died over fifty years ago," Killian replies. "Then again, we never locked you in here, so that would make sense."
"Your father didn’t lock me in here, boy. You did lock many, many of us in here though," the man says, still keeping that grin on his face. "Many of my friends want to chop you up and eat you. Why should I stop them?"
"Because that's gross," I mutter, catching the big guy’s attention. Dammit. I don’t want him to think I’m with these idiots. He slowly walks over to me, stopping extremely close as I arch my head to look up at him. All I can smell is rosewood drifting off him, and his purple eyes are something else entirely. They look like stars in a purple night sky.
"Gross you say?" he asks. "Now, now. Who are you?"
"Karma Kismet. You are?" I ask. Know your enemy and all that.
"Storm Cyncus. Welcome to our own personal hell, and if you survive the test, maybe we can get a drink together," he states, not waiting for my response before walking away. What an asshole. His name sounds familiar, but I’m so pissed off and scared I can’t think why right now.
"Take them to the cells. The test begins tomorrow!" Storm yells, and the people cheer like he is amazing or some shit before rushing to us. I scream as two men grab me, lifting me up in the air, and more hands start to carry me out of the room. I struggle to escape their grip, but it does nothing to stop them as they carry me. They continue to cheer and shout about this test, like it is the bee's knees, as I look over to see they have Killian and Seth in the same way. The people lower me down a little to slide through the door and into the bright light of the other side.
My mouth drops open at the inside of the place as they carry us across a bridge. It's levels and layers of homes, streets and bridges built into the mountain around it. Big bright lights hang at the very top of the prison, looking like a sun, but we are too far away for me to see what it is. Flowers, scrubs, trees are everywhere between the metal homes; with their wooden doors and wooden bridges, it looks magical in here. Did we come to the wrong prison? Because honestly everything is not what I expected. The place is full of people who walk across the bridges, and I pick up the sound of children’s laughter through the cheers. They have children in here? What the hell is this place? The people carry us off the bridge and turn right, into a cave where they carefully drop me on the rough stone floor. The twins are dropped next, but not as gently which makes me smile. I hurry to get up, trying to chase them, but they shut the door and lock us in the cage before I can get there. I wrap my hands around the bars as I shout at them.
"Let me the hell out of here," I scream, trying to shake the bars, but not one of the people looks back as they begin to disappear over the bridge. "Assholes! Get that leader asshole here so I can talk to him! I’m not meant to be in here!" When all the people do is laugh, I rest my head against the cold bars, knowing there is no way I'm going to escape this now. What the hell is the test?
Chapter 15
"You might as well give up now. They won't let you out," comes a gentle female voice from over my shoulder. For a moment I’m not even sure she’s talking to me, since I’m not the only one in the cell, but then she adds, “You’re better served saving your energy, hon.” Finally I turn around, having to squint through the shadows of the cell I’m in, which, let’s face it - is more like a glorified cage than an actual jail cell. It’s about the size of a large bathroom, and the prospect of spending any extended period of time in here is enough to make my blood run cold. After my little meltdown earlier - you know, the one where I called everyone in here all the names under the sun, the ones my mum would kill me for saying - I ended up getting stuffed in here along with Killian and Seth. I guess I shouldn’t have sassed Storm like that, but honestly, he might just have put us here anyway. This doesn’t seem like the kind of place where you get treated fairly, and considering the welcome we’ve received so far, I’m not expecting the royal treatment. Still, it would be nice to at least have room to move around comfortably. This cell was probably originally designed to house a single prisoner full-time, but without a system in place to keep order in the prison, it’s clear that the ones in charge here aren’t the agents of the higher gods. They have their own government, and Storm is clearly on top. All we can do now is wonder what his so-called test will be… and hope we’ll make it through in one piece.
It’s dark in the cell, and it’s difficult to make out the source of the voice. I can see the forms of three people sitting together, wearing modern clothes, although that’s about all I can distinguish about them. The twins are standing at the other side of the cage, looking decidedly uncomfortable, and it takes me a moment to realize that the strangers’ gazes are all locked on them. So they know who the justice twins are, then. I don’t envy them having to survive in here when most everyone in this place is here because of them. They’ve made a name for themselves here, and not in a good way - in spite of their power, which is admittedly vast, I’m starting to think they need me as much as I need them. Which sucks, because if I had my way, I’d be as far away from them as I could possibly be. I take a few steps closer, peering through the darkness, and can see that the person on the far left is the woman speaking. “As for you two justice bastards,” she says, turning her gaze to Seth and Killian, “the moment they give us weapons, I’m going to murder you both for locking us in here. If I don’t do it with my bare hands, that is.”
Killian shoots her a glare. “That’s rich, coming from someone who killed a child,” he says. My mouth snaps closed in shock, my eyes going wide. “You deserve to be in here.” I stay silent as I watch the exchange. If she did do that, then I’m in agreement - there’s no excuse for killing an innocent. But if she didn’t… well, it’s not like the justice twins have never gotten it wrong before. They did with me, after all, so I don’t trust them one little bit - they’re too trigger happy to think rationally, and I could easily see them having made the same mistake with this woman… whoever she is.
“Jade, is that you?” Seth asks, turning to stare at her. “Gods, figures we would end up trapped in here with you.”
"Hey, I never killed anyone, okay?” the woman, Jade, snaps. “I was trying to save the child from what that higher god did to her!”
Seth scoffs. “That’s the same story you used on us when we tracked you down. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now.”
“I’m telling the truth,” she insists. “The higher god killed that girl because he wanted to hide his dirty secret, and you wouldn't listen! I tried to save her - she didn't deserve to die!"
“You’re seriously still trying to sell us that bullshit?” asks Killian, sounding disbelieving. “We had proof! The higher gods don’t get these things wrong!”
“Like hell they don’t,” Jade says, and without warning she springs to her feet, moving with an agility I’ve never seen before. Before I even know what’s happening, she’s charging towards the twins, her eyes flashing eerily in the darkness. I don't know what gets into me, but before I even know what’s happening, I can feel myself jumping up, rushing over, and grabbing Jade’s shoulders. I shove her back, not hard enough to hurt her, but with enough force to push her back and put some distance between her and the brothers. I’m no huge fan of theirs, either, but the last thing I want to do is get caught up in a prison brawl when they’re more or less the only people on my side right now.
Jade whirls around, all hints of politeness gone for the moment, and hisses at me. That’s right, she actually hisses at me, and when she opens her mouth, I catch a glimpse of sharp teeth. I tilt my head, brow furrowing as I try to figure out what kind of goddess she could be. She certainly doesn’t look like any other sort of supernatural creature, which means she must be a goddess of some kind… but which? In spite of the situation, my curiosity gets the better of me, and I lean forward a little, trying to look for any other distinguishing features. I’m drawing a blank, even as she continues to hiss, but then I see the little black ears sticking out of her long black hair. “You’re a cat goddess,” I exclaim, letting her go and clapping my hands together like a little kid. She glares at me, and if looks could kill, I would probably be dead right now, but I can’t help it - I feel like a kid in a candy store. “I’ve always wanted to meet one of you guys,” I explain, relieved to have distracted her from Seth and Killian, at least for the time being. “But with the laws and all, I’ve never been able to.”
“Who the hell are you?” Jade asks incredulously, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at me like I’m the new enemy now. I guess the niceness in her voice when she first started talking to me was only a result of not knowing that I’m on Seth and Killian’s side.
Damn, I think. And here I thought I was good at making friends. Mads always said I was good at making friends…though she said that when I was drunk, and she is my only friend that stuck around. Maybe I am bad at making friends instead. Huh. I’ve never really thought about it. After all, my personality doesn’t exactly give most people the warm and fuzzies, and I’m as prone to getting wasted and punching someone in the face as I am to being a shoulder to cry on. Still, none of this is to say that I don’t want friends - I enjoy hanging out with other people, and at times I wish I was easier to get along with. But I guess there won’t be many chances for that in the near future, at least as long as I’m in hear.
I’m startled when the cat lady claps her hands in my face, snapping me out of my thoughts. Shit, what did she want again? Oh right, I’m stopping her from killing the justice twins, even though if I had it my way, I would never have to see their faces again. What a strange situation I now find myself in. “Hey,” she says, staring at me and crossing her arms. “I asked you who you were.”
"Karma,” I reply. “And you can guess my job from my name. So is it true you talk to cats?" I know she looks fit to be tied right now, but I’m curious about her job. Cat goddesses have a very specific but important job - they’re meant to keep the cat population under control, and have been ever since that one time in ancient Egypt. It’s pretty commonly accepted that if cats were left to their own devices, they would probably end up ruling over us the way they did back then.
