"I'm not threatening you," she quickly backtracks. "I'm telling you the truth. Storm is immortal, and you are not. What do you think is going to happen when you get old? Do you think he will want you then?"
"I don't need any advice from you about anything," I remind her, ignoring how she does hit a soft spot. Storm is immortal…and I’ve never thought about it. When I’m an old lady, he will still look like he does right now, and man would that suck. Even being his friend would be difficult.
"I love him, I always have done, but he never loved me. He has never loved anyone or let them close enough to even try. Every person in this goddamn place loves him one way or another, and whatever you feel for him is nothing special. Just remember that," she somewhat gently tells me as I walk away. I stop in the archway, not looking back as her words hit home in a way I'm not sure I like. What if she is right? Storm is immortal, and that means liking him at all isn't something I should be doing. I can be his friend though and pray that is enough.
"You heard what Storm said. You know where the door is," I reply to her before leaving the room and walking up the stairs. Jade is on the middle step, sat down and clearly listening which, for some odd reason, makes me smile. She pats the space next to her, and I go and sit down just as Vivian walks into the corridor.
"Don't come back here again if you're just going to be a bitch," Jade coldly remarks.
"You can't say that to me," Vivian sputters, and for the first time she looks unattractive. Anger and frustration really don't suit her.
"I just did," Jade replies, flashing her a toothy grin as a long hiss leaves the back of her throat. The threat makes me shiver, and Vivian looks frightened before she quickly high tails it out of the house. Jade and I are silent for a long time as I just stare at the corridor, not knowing which of my emotions to focus on. The last two weeks, I've come to see Storm, Killian, Seth and Jade as a makeshift family. Even Kit and Coxen fit in well, and we get along somehow. Killian and Storm could even be called friends. Jade reminds me of Mads, who I miss so damn much. I miss my family just as much too. I fiddle with the charms on my necklace, pulling out the lightning one that started all of this.
"That's a pretty charm," Jade says, glancing at it with me. "I've seen them before, but I can't remember what they did."
"What do you mean you’ve seen it before?" I ask her, confused and very interested. Maybe she could tell me what the hell this charm is and how it did the feckin’ impossible.
"Oh, my friend I told you about owns a stall in the magical market. There was a charm stall right next to hers, and I used to look through them," she explains to me. “The old lady who sells them is a snake charmer and pretty funny.”
"This necklace, well this charm, was the cause of all my problems. I'd love to know what it is meant to do, if you could remember," I ask her.
"I will think about it," she shrugs.
"Thanks," I say, and without really thinking on it, I rest my head on her shoulder. "I'm glad we met. You're a good friend, Jade. I'm just sorry we met in here."
"Same, girl," she replies, resting her head on top of mine for a second before we both straighten out and smile. "Now give me a shout if that flower smelling woman comes back. I'm not having her make my friend sad when she is just jealous."
"There is nothing to be jealous of when it comes to me and Storm," I explain to her. “I doubt he sees me the same way I see him. I’m not even sure what I feel about him, other than the fact I want to keep Storm around.”
"Yeah, there definitely is something to be jelly off," Jade replies, and I know there is no point arguing with her when she can sense my feelings towards him. "Why don't we go and see the guys in the fighting area? Coxen said that's where they all are, and man is it sexy to watch, don't you think?"
"I haven't gone and watched them," I admit. "I'm really not a fighter, I'm more like a bad escape artist with a tendency to trip over obvious stuff."
"Oh girl, I don't go to fight. I go to watch. They take their shirts off," she tells me, laughing and grabbing my hand before she drags me to the door. I really don't think being around anything sharp while drooling over shirtless guys is the best idea for my accident prone self, but hey, how bad could it go?
Chapter 26
"Watch out!" someone shouts for like the third time as I try to make my way across the fighting ring at Jade’s side. Jade swiftly pulls me to the side as a random dagger swings past me, and I look back to see it slam into a target right behind us. Oh man, that could have really hurt.
"Maybe we should go around the targets?" I ask, my eyes widening when Jade pulls me down quickly, and an axe is thrown over our heads. The whistling sound of it going over our heads is going to give me nightmares tonight. I just know it.
"I have cat instincts, they won't get me," she carelessly replies.
"It's not you I was feckin' worried about!" I mutter, but that only seems to make her laugh as I search around us for anything else that is flying our way in the madness we have descended into. We come away from the target area, finally, and walk straight out into a clearing where there are nothing but topless guys practice fighting with swords, daggers and axes. As I look around, the men and some women I spot seem pretty happy as they fight against each other. What is it with men and shiny sticks that makes them so happy?
"There are your gods," Jade teases, pointing a finger towards the middle of the fighters where Storm and Seth are fighting. I feel frozen in place as Storm swings his axe at Seth, who counters with two swords. They roughly push each other away before coming back to swing at each other once more. I don't know who is winning, but hell, I have to admit they look sexy as sin right now. Sweat drips down both their bare chests, sticking to their skin as they fight, and it only emphasises their muscular and toned bodies. Even though they aren't using any powers, which they don't need to, their brute strength as they fight is crazy and somewhat amazing to watch. Only gods can fight like this. Fierce, scary and damn sexy.
"Karma!" Killian calls my name, jogging over to me from the right. He stops in front of me, holding a towel which he uses to wipe some of the sweat off his face. "Do you fight? I didn't have you down as the type, but I’m happy to see you here."
"Nope, and you're right, I'm not the type. I'd likely harm myself before someone else if I tried to practice weapons," I tell him, wondering if I could get my daggers back off Seth at some point. This place just reminds me that I could have a chance of defending myself with those. I look back at Seth and Storm, seeing that they are so focused on beating each other that only a fool would interrupt. I’m no fool.
"Have you ever tried though?" Killian asks, and I look back at him as I answer. Words escape my lips for a second as he peels his shirt off his chest. The world seems to slow down as the shirt comes off, and man, even though I’ve seen Killian shirtless in the kitchen a few times, it is always impressive.
"Nope," I manage to cough out. I elbow Jade when she laughs, and Killian just looks confused as he shoves his shirt into his trouser pocket.
"Well, call me your new teacher. Come on." Killian wraps an arm around my shoulders, leading me away as I hear Jade just laugh. This is not what I had in mind today, though pressed against Killian’s bare chest isn’t too bad.
"I didn't come here to fight," I look up to tell him, making sure not to place my hand on his chest like my body itches to do.
"What did you come for? Did you miss me?" Killian asks, teasing me.
"Maybe...If I said yes, would you let me escape back to the house?" I ask.
"Err no," he says with a laugh. "Come on, I'm not going to do anything but show you how to defend yourself. In this world, that's something everyone should know how to do."
"My older brother, Peyton, once tried to teach me how to throw daggers...and I accidentally stabbed him in the foot," I say, remembering how mad he was at me. He was hopping around for a week until it healed, and my other brothers kept “accidently” stepping on his foot before running away, because they knew he couldn’t catch them.
"I will keep my feet out the way then. Maybe a light sword might be better for you to start with," Killian says, and he seems somewhat nervous as we get to the line of weapons. Killian chooses two swords before handing me the smaller one and nodding his head to the side. We walk until we get to a clearing.
"Right, stand here and hold your sword up, angel," Killian instructs, shaking his head at me as I stand still, holding the sword in the air. Killian puts his sword down and comes over to me, standing close to my back, and my body tenses from the close contact. Dammit, I like having him close to me.
"Move your hips this way," he instructs, placing his large, warm hands on my hips and turning me to the side. I almost sigh as he slowly moves his hands up my sides to my arms. I gulp as his hands cover mine, moving the sword into position. "Perfect," he whispers into my ear, his hot breath blowing against my neck. In a matter of seconds, he steps away and picks his sword up before walking a few feet away. I’m not sure if he knows he is teasing me, but god, is he good at it.
"Now stop me," he says, swirling his sword around with impressive wrist actions and stepping closer. When he lifts his sword, I do the only logical thing that comes to mind. I drop my sword and run away.
"Karma!" Killian shouts in panic. I don't get to register his warning until something hard slams into the side of my face, and everything instantly goes black.
