"It seems I don't know anything, Karma," he softly replies, and I wonder what the little slideshow of his life showed him. He turns his head back to look me in the eye. "I did my job...but I am sorry. That's all I can say or do for now."
"It's enough..." I reply and step back, shutting the door before he sees any more emotions from me. Dammit, these attractive guys are messing with my head. I glance at my bag, knowing the last thing I want to do is get bitten by a goblin to get my clothes out. Groaning, I pull myself away from the door and get the bag, opening the top and tipping the contents out on my bed. Kit bounces out my bag, glaring up at me as he hisses.
"Sorry, Kit. Though, I have a new bed for you to hide under," I say, putting the bag down, pausing when I see my necklace pushed under the gap of the door and hear someone’s footsteps walking away. My necklace that Seth took off me and gave to Killian. Why would Killian give me it back? I pick it up as Kit hisses once more before jumping off and hurrying under the bed to no doubt make his new home. Bloody weird creature, that one is.
I pull on my underwear, including my favourite red lacy bra before putting on my top and jeans. After putting my jar of peanut butter on the bedside table, I count that I have two more spare underwear and only one more top before I run out of clean clothes. I put all the clothes and my bag into the box at the end of the bed before hanging the wet clothes from the bathroom over the bathroom door for them to dry. I glance down at my necklace, feeling a million times better now I have it on. I'm not powerless exactly without it, but all my powers are mental and not physical, which I think won't help me here. Even if the charms don’t work, they make me feel better. Deciding it's best I have a look around, I walk to my door and pull it open, heading out into the corridor. I get to the stairs just as Jade is walking up them with Coxen. She is soaking wet, but damn, am I happy to see her alive.
"Did I ever mention how much cats fucking hate cold water?" she says, stopping in front of me, huffing. "We really, really hate it. Like, swimming is not something I like to do unless it’s a spa."
"I didn't think of that, but hey, at least you are alive," I say, trying to give her something to smile about.
"Yeah, swimming and reliving all of my worst memories. This is just the best fucking day ever," she huffs, and I can't help the laugh that leaves my lips. My laugh must be infectious as she smiles before laughing herself. Even Coxen smiles.
"We should find you a room," Coxen gently suggests, and our laughs drift off.
"Good idea. I need to get dry," Jade says and then pauses. "But I don't have any other clothes to wear."
"Storm is on his way back with clothes for you all. He went to the market not long after Karma came up," Coxen explains to us. "I'm sure Karma could wait downstairs for him and bring you some clothes up."
"Would you?" Jade asks me.
"Of course," I reply, crossing my arms. "I wanted to have a look around anyway." Jade smiles at me before heading back up the stairs, and I walk down to the bottom. I walk into the kitchen first, which is like no kitchen I've seen before. The counters are made of pure stone with dark wood surfaces, and above them are the same colour wood cupboards. Herbs and dried fruits hang from the cupboards, and under them are various kitchen utensils that are all handmade. The other side of the room has a long wooden table with enough wooden chairs to seat at least eight people. The room is lit up by lights, but they don't look electric as I can't see any wires. No, these are glowing orbs that hang around the place. They are everywhere, in all the rooms, on the ceilings, by the looks of it. I wander around the kitchen before leaving it and heading into the corridor just as the door slams open. Storm stomps in with a big bag on his shoulder, which he drops on the floor as Seth follows him in the room.
"Hey, you survived!" I say, but he only glares at me before walking up the stairs, leaving us in an awkward silence.
"He's an angry one, isn't he?" Storm points out the obvious.
"I think I pissed him off on our one date," I reply, moving my gaze to Storm.
"So, you two are a thing?" he asks.
"Oh, nope, not one little bit. He hates me," I reply with a chuckle. "He literally ran away from me on our one time date a while back. I don’t have a boyfriend." I don’t know why I add that in, but his smile suggests he is happy. God, I don’t need to make the asshole happy. I don’t even know him.
"Good. I'm glad to hear that," Storm remarks. I don't get to ask him why as he walks back to the door, holding it open as he turns his head back. "The clothes and shit you all might need are in there. I will be back for dinner." I watch him leave, shutting the door, and for some odd reason, the house feels colder without him in it, and I feel lost.
Chapter 20
"Something smells good," Killian says, coming into the kitchen where Coxen is cooking dinner for us all, and I will admit it does smell good even though there is no meat. It's some kind of soup, by the looks of it, and fresh bread. Jade winks at me as Killian chooses to come and sit right next to me instead of any of the other spare eight seats. "How are you?"
"Fine, considering I'm trapped in here and have no chance of seeing my family any time soon. You?" I sarcastically answer just as Storm comes into the room, followed by Seth.
"Do you have a big family?" Storm asks me, choosing to sit opposite me while Seth sits next to his brother.
"Well kinda. I have three brothers, one older and two younger," I tell him.
"Don't forget the goat," Killian adds in, reminding me that he went to see my family at some point before finding me. "He told me I was a big shite."
"That's a compliment," I reply, holding in a chuckle. It's really not, and damn, Michael is pretty awesome.
"No, it really isn't," Seth remarks. "I won't even remark on what he called me before eating part of my jacket pocket."
"You have a talking goat? One of the ancient creatures?" Storm asks as Coxen places bowls on the table and a tray of bread. I offered to help, but he insisted that on our first night, we do not do chores, but tomorrow he will make a list for us to share.
"Yeah, he talks, but what is an ancient creature?" I ask, never having heard of that before.
"When I was born, there were hundreds of them. Ancient creatures could talk, teleport and sometimes create elements to defend themselves or protect their god, though many of the lines were destroyed, like unicorns or phoenixes. I've heard they are nothing more than myths now," Storm quietly says, though there is a tinge of sadness in his voice that makes me really look at him for a moment. Though he looks no older than thirty, there is something about his voice, his manner and that comment on ancient creatures, suggesting he is a lot older than his looks. The only issue with that idea is that only higher gods are immortal.
"What the hell kinda god are you?" I ask, and it only makes him laugh. "And how are you immortal?"
"When you know me better, I will answer that. Why don't you tell me what you did to get locked up here, little Karma?" he counters. Two can play that game.
"When you know me better, I might tell you," I reply as Coxen brings a big bowl of soup to the table, sliding it into the middle and sitting down in his seat next to Jade. Storm only smirks at me, like I've just issued him the best challenge of his life, and I roll my eyes at him. We serve ourselves soup and bread before tucking into our meal. It's brilliant, and if Coxen always cooks for me, I'm sure I’m never going to miss meat again. Okay, that's a lie...I need a juicy bacon hamburger and a kebab after a night out drinking like everyone else does. Crap, do they even have wine here?
"Thank you, Coxen," Seth is the first to thank the cook, and we all say the same, which makes his cheeks light up in a cute pink colour.
"Why are you idiots in here then?" Storm asks Killian and Seth, dropping the room into silence. I glance at Jade, who looks as awkward as I feel about that question.
"We don't know, but it has something to do with Karma. I'm sure someone will come and get us out soon," Seth responds.
"Yeah, that doesn't happen, so you will be waiting a long time," Storm sourly replies to him and smiles at me. “You are going to be trouble, aren’t you, Karma?”
"That's what you think," Seth replies to Storm’s first comment with a huff before I can say a word, and Storm’s expression quickly returns to annoyance once more.
"It's what I know," Storm retorts, and his purple eyes somewhat start to glow for a second. Despite the fact it's pretty, it's fucking terrifying with the look on his face.
"We don't want to argue, that is going to get us nowhere," Killian awkwardly says, clapping a hand onto Seth's shoulder. "Right, bro?"
