I become aware of a hand shaking my shoulder insistently, rousing me from a delightful dream about a shop sale of pretty heels. I just managed to buy out the whole shop, and was getting to the trying on part. Shame that my current reality is decidedly less pretty. I peel my eyes open, blinking in the darkness until I’m able to make out the form of Killian standing over me, his hand on my shoulder. He has pretty eyes to wake up to, I think, taking a moment to appreciate his bright golden gaze… but then I become aware of what I was just thinking, and shake myself. My face goes a little red, but Killian doesn’t seem to notice in the darkness of the cell. I realize he’s talking, nodding frantically in Jade’s direction. "Wake your friend up,” he says. “That leader, Storm, is walking this way.”
I sit bolt upright, all thoughts of Killian’s pretty eyes gone from my mind. “What? What does he want?”
“I have no idea,” Killian replies. “But he’s got a crowd behind him.”
I blink, clearing my throat. “Thanks for waking me up,” I mutter, feeling a little bashful. I’m surprised that he would bother to warn me, considering how rocky our relationship has been so far, but now’s not the time to look a gift horse in the mouth. I turn to Jade and begin to shake her shoulder, much like Killian did with me. Except when she wakes up, she’s all claws and sharp teeth, and I let out a little screech as I jump away from her.
"What?" she demands and then seems to realise it's me as I get to my feet. "Shit, sorry, Karma. I'm used to those idiots waking me." She sticks a thumb in the direction of the two guys still hiding in the corner. They’re still cowering, and they haven’t said a single word since we arrived here, but they’re always watching with their beady little eyes. They remind me a little of ravens in looks with their long noses and black hair. When they aren’t staring forlornly out of the cell bars, they spend all their time playing with fire in their hands. It’s become obvious to me that they aren’t powerful enough to do more than make a small flame or two, which I suppose is a good thing, considering we’re stuck with them in a confined space. That said, I’m certainly not going to let my guard down just because they seem harmless enough - after all, look at what they did to Jade.
"We have incoming," I tell her, offering her a hand to help her stand up. She slides her hand in mine, getting up like the graceful cat she is. I couldn't do that for shit - I’m arguably the clumsiest person in the world, and that’s when I’m not drunk. I turn around and walk to the door, crossing my arms as Killian, Seth and Jade choose to stand behind me. It’s strange - they suddenly seem to be looking at me like they’re expecting me to be the decisive one, here. I don’t know when I suddenly became the de facto leader of this little ragtag group, and I don’t appreciate having even more responsibility dumped on me, but now isn’t the time to argue about it. I try to keep my expression neutral, not wanting to betray the fear I’m feeling inside as Storm and a few of his followers walk down the hallway towards us. I keep my gaze fixed on him, standing tall and reminding myself to do what Peyton would do. Storm pauses right in front of the cage, unnerving me with how close he decides to stand. As much as I try to resist the urge to look at his body, I can’t help but notice once again how bloody attractive he is. He’s dressed in similar clothes to yesterday, but he looks more cleaned up than before.
"Karma," he purrs my name, letting it roll off his tongue like he’s tasting a fine wine. A shiver goes up my back at the sound of his seductive voice, and I fight off a sudden wave of panic. Holy gods, this isn't the time to finally find a guy I'm attracted to. It's bad enough the justice twins are too attractive for their own good. Now I have three hotties to stare at. Mads would be laughing if she were here right now.
Oh, Mads, I think, wondering what she’s doing right now, if she’s okay. She’s probably worried sick about me. All I can do is hope that Peyton is keeping her in the loop… and protecting her from whatever forces are trying to take me down.
“Did you sleep well?” Storm asks, tilting his head a little to one side, his bright eyes holding mine in a hypnotic gaze.
"Enough with the pleasantries,” I tell him. “What is the test?" I cross my arms over my chest and make it clear I'm not the slightest bit impressed by his sexy tone. Or him. Nope, not one little bit. Okay, maybe a little bit, but he doesn't need to know that. He’s the one who’s keeping us in here, after all, and besides, I'm sure a guy like him has women throwing themselves his way all day long.
"You're about to find out, aren't you?" he replies, and a chuckle leaves his lips like this is all one big joke to him. Why are the pretty ones always assholes? I only roll my eyes at him as he clicks his fingers, and two men with sharp looking horns sticking out of their heads run to the cage door and undo the lock.
"One at a time,” Storm warns, taking a step away from the cage as his henchmen pull open the door. “This test is not a group activity. So,” he continues, his eyes settling back on us as his cronies move aside. “Who is going to be the brave one and go first?" I glance back at the others, and we exchange a questioning look. Seth takes a deep breath and goes to step forward, but I beat him to it, jumping out of the door, which one of the horn guys slams shut behind me. Maybe it’s a stupid thing to do, but I want this test over with, whatever it is. This could be my chance to prove to Storm that his scare tactics aren’t going to work on me.
"I will," I say, keeping my head high and settling my gaze on them.
"I'd hoped you would say that," Storm says, a crooked smile spreading on his stupidly perfect face. “Well then,” he says, taking a step backward and making a sweeping gesture with his hand, “shall we?”
"Good luck," Jade shouts from behind me. I glance back and nod at her, moving my eyes to Killian, who doesn't look impressed, and finally to Seth, who is livid.
"Don't die," Seth offers before turning on his heel and walking back into the shadows of the cage. I guess that is something coming from him… even if it’s not much.
"You got this, my crazy tornado," Killian mutters, and I look back to see him smirking and shaking his head, crossing his arms.
“Come on,” Storm says, drawing my attention back to the front of the cage. He nods his head for me to follow him through the crowd, and I begin to move after him, amazed by the poise and grace with which he carries himself. The crowd parts like they are either scared or in awe of him, and I find myself wondering which one it is. There is a certain presence about him, a power in the way he moves. I imagine it must be what commoners feel like when they stand in front of royalty. I've never felt like this around anyone before, and I know it's not just the fact that I’m in prison that is freaking me out.
We come to a cavernous room with a precarious-looking wooden bridge that leads from the prison hallway to the front room. We passed through here to get to our cells, although at that point I was too panicked about being thrown in prison to really register just how high up we were. Now, though… I make the mistake of looking down as we approach the end of the bridge, and see an enormous gaping pit expanding below me in all directions. What the hell was this even for, originally? I wonder, but then the answer comes to me: it was probably designed as another way of keeping the prisoners from escaping. I have to give them points for creativity, even if I’m damn near pissing myself at the idea of walking across it again. For a moment I think back to the incident with Peyton and the motorcycle, which feels like it happened years ago, even though it was really only the other day. I had thought hanging off that cliff was bad. I had no idea what was coming.
Storm walks wordlessly onto the wooden planks, not seeming to be bothered in the slightest by the fact that he’s on a rickety bridge over a giant hole. Maybe it’s more stable than it looks… or maybe he’s just out of his mind. Actually, that second option seems like more of a possibility. I take a shaky breath to steady myself before I step onto the bridge, watching as Storm stops directly in the middle of it and turns back around to face me. The bridge creaks and moves slightly, even though there is no wind in here, and I feel a cold trickle of sweat run down the back of my neck as I inch forward. God, I hate heights. Whatever task he has planned for me, it’s not going to be fun - that much I know for sure. Storm waves a hand for me to come closer, and I balk, even though it's not like I have much choice. Moving carefully, the bridge swaying precariously underfoot, I come to a stop at his side, following his gaze into the darkness below.
"The test is down there,” he explains, looking almost smug at the fact that he’s getting to explain this to me. If he weren’t so damn good-looking, I’d be half-tempted to shove him off and into the pit. “You need to jump, survive and find a purple glowing gemstone. It will be about the size of your hand," he tells me as he rubs his chin. "Consider this a favour from your new friend.”
“A favour?” I ask incredulously, staring at him like he has two heads.
“Damn right,” Storm replies without missing a beat. “Usually, I just throw the new ones off the bridge."
"You have to be kidding me," I say, knowing my eyes are wide and my voice is unsteady. My fear of heights is on full display, and I’m suddenly desperate to put off this test as long as I can, if only for a few seconds.
"Don't go letting me down now, Karma. I'm just starting to like you," Storm says, smirking as he steps closer, hooking his finger in the strap of my bag. "You might want to leave this here with me.”
“Like hell I will,” I snap, pulling the bag away from him. It’s bad enough that the brothers took my necklace away. If anyone puts their hands on my peanut butter, there’s going to be hell to pay.
“Trust me, Karma,” Storm says, meeting my eyes with an expression that catches me off-guard. There’s that cocky playfulness, yes, but also a sense of earnestness, like he actually does want to see me succeed. I don’t know what to make of it.
"Whatever," I say before clearing my throat and pulling my bag off. I shove the bag at him, which only makes him laugh. I am not letting this asshole prove me to be too afraid to keep going. I am Karma fucking Kismet, and I may be many things, but a coward is not one of them. I might be in prison, and I might have the higher gods out for my blood, but I’m not going to let some punk lesser god who thinks he’s king of the hill make me too afraid to move forward. Hesitating for only a moment initially, I climb over the rope of the bridge, keeping my feet on the wooden boards as I hold the rope tightly, my body swaying slightly as I see nothing but darkness below.
"Do you need me to push you?" The sarcastic asshole chuckles behind me, and I look back, locking my eyes with his for a second before smiling.
"Never." As soon as the word leaves my lips, I push off the bridge, screaming as I fall into the darkness below.
Chapter 17
I don’t have time to try to use my magic, and even if I did, I don’t have my charms, so there isn’t much I can do as I tumble downward but pray that this wasn’t just some ploy to get me to kill myself. If he told me to survive, that means there must be a way to… right?
Either way, it doesn't feel like I'm falling for long until my body slams into freezing cold water. The surface tension hits me hard enough to knock the wind out of me, and I feel like knives are plunging into my muscles as my body fully submerges and I drift down under the still water. For a moment I’m struck with sheer panic, unable to do anything but writhe in the water, a few stray bubbles bursting out of my mouth. Then I manage to pull my eyes open in the water as I struggle to swim up. It’s like trying to look around in a swimming pool, and the water burns my eyes for a second as I try to look around. I see nothing but darkness all around me, and fear threatens to take hold of me. I decide that I need to have a look above the surface, if not to get my bearings, then to at least be able to see.
I begin to pump my legs and arms, swimming up to the surface as fast as I can. Strange, how all my falls lately have led me to a pool of dark, stinking water. I break through the surface, gasping for breath, completely disoriented for the first few moments. I blink the water out of my eyes, scrubbing at my face with my hands, and can’t help but feel a smidge of gratitude towards Storm for offering to take my bag… although come to think of it, he was the one who made me jump in the first place, so I’m not going to let this warm me up to him too much. High above me, in the dim light of the everlasting lanterns, I can make out the silhouette of the bridge, as well as the shapes of Storm and his cronies watching me. Wiping the hair out of my face, I politely flash them my middle finger before spinning around in the water and trying to get a sense of where I am. I still see nothing but darkness, and there’s no sound whatsoever other than my splashing and heavy breathing. It’s bloody concerning, given the circumstances. It’s clear that there’s not going to be any help from above - if the others can even see me, that is. It’s almost like somewhere in the pit, the light has been banished, and I’ve been plunged into a layer of impenetrable darkness.
Knowing I need to make a choice and swim in one direction, I just start to move forward. I notice as I continue to swim that the water doesn't move once on its own - there are no waves, so it must be a pool or lake, something still, which gives me hope that there is an end to it somewhere. It’s possible that this is some sort of underground cavern, that has existed since before the prison was built. But I don’t have time to speculate - I need to find the crystal and get it back to Storm so that I can have this damn test over with once and for all.
I don't swim for more than a minute before I begin to detect light. It almost makes me blink in surprise, and vaguely I wonder if it’s just leftover from high above me on the bridge. But the more closely I look, the more clear it becomes: yes, there’s a light source around here somewhere, and in the midst of the gloom I can see a shore. All along it are trees that seem almost bioluminescent; they give off enough light for me to see the way, and each of them has glowing rocks dangling from its branches.
"Welcome," a warm, distant voice echoes in my mind, strong enough to make me stumble and fall to the rocks below. It’s not coming from an outside source - it’s somehow coming from within my head, like a hallucination. Except this feels all too real. My heart pounding, I slowly look down at the rocks under my hands and knees… only to realize that the shore isn’t made of rocks at all. It’s made of bones. I let out a scream that echoes off the stone walls, pulling myself up and staring around at all the bones. They litter the shore in piles, spread all around and under the trees. What the hell killed this many?
"Who are you?" I ask out loud, my voice sounding strange and fearful as I edge closer to the tree. I remember what Storm said about the rocks - I just need to get one, and then get out of here.
"Your reckoning. If you pass it, you may live and have a gemstone as a gift," the voice responds to me, this time sending a shooting pain through my skull. It’s enough to make me bend over from the discomfort, and I put my hands to my temples, trying not to lose my cool. I try to ignore the fact that, every time I move, I’m cracking bones under my feet. Real, honest-to-gods bones. And whatever killed these people might be lurking in the shadows at this very instant.
