He doesn’t wait for me before walking away and through another one of the doors. The tears I’ve held back slip down my cheeks, and I look up at the glass, seeing the night sky. There are no stars in the city, and I hate it. I feel a prickle of magic going down my spine just as a tiny black portal appears in front of me, and Kit flies through it, crashing into my lap.
“Kit?” I question as the portal closes, but not before I hear a familiar shout.
“NO!” I hear Storm, and I reach for the portal, but nothing other than faint traces of magic is left. He is looking for me. Storm and the twins won’t abandon me, and sitting on the floor, crying, is not going to help them find me. I need to search this place, find a weak spot, and get us out of here. Looking down at Kit, who is unconscious, I tuck him into my hood and cover the hood with my hair so no one will see him. Kit is my secret way out of here.
And Neritous is going to be outsmarted by a goblin.
Chapter 52
With a goblin tucked into my hoodie, I make my way through the door my father went through, and I step into a makeshift cafeteria, and Neritous isn’t alone. Two guys, not much older than me, with black hair, dark skin and tightly closed expressions watch me. They are twins, clearly, but they seem familiar somehow. Littered around the room are armed guards with heavy helmets covering their faces, but I sense something off about them.
“These are your older half-brothers, Kjetli and Ivar Nesby,” he introduces the guys, and I’m speechless, wondering exactly how many half brothers and sisters I have.
“Is Ruby here?” I question him. Ruby has never once left my mind, and neither has my mission to clear Jade’s name and bring back Ruby to her mother.
His eyes flash with annoyance. “Yes, she is, and I’m sure you two will get along. Both of you are headstrong and rather a big annoyance to me.”
“I would like to see her,” I demand. He inclines his head, watching me closely as an older woman walks into the room. She has the same black hair as Kjetli and Ivar, but her skin is covered in markings of flames, all flashing against the hanging lights. She is a fire god. I wonder what the twins are, I can’t pick up on it.
“A new sister?” the woman asks, running her gaze over me. “Fun. Now there are six of us left—for now.”
“Don’t be bitter, Faleria, it will be all worth it in the end,” Neritous replies, but his tone shows a lack of interest in her altogether. Faleria sits with her brothers...well, I guess our brothers, and I clear my throat.
“How many were there? Where are they now?”
Kjetli answers me when our father chooses not to. “There were twenty, well, twenty-one including you.”
“And they are all dead. Each one of them failed our father,” Faleria replies. “I am being tested next, and I will not fail.”
“What test?” I question Neritous, not wanting to comment on the level of crazy brainwashing that is going on with Faleria.
Neritous stands and walks to me, pulling out a familiar necklace in his hand. I all but jump for it as he hands me it, my hands curling around the charms like a lifeline.
“You had my necklace this whole time?”
“I took you from the prison, and I never suspected you had the key on your necklace all this time. Maria stole it from me, and I spent years searching. How did you get it?” he holds up the lightning charm mum gave me on my last birthday. The charm I nearly killed him with.
“It’s not a key, it creates lightning,” I say, and he laughs at me, slipping the charm back in his pocket.
“The lightning bolt is a key to unlock the sphere of magic. The original source of all the gods’ magic in the world,” he tells me. Well, fuck me, Neritous is the craziest out of all the higher gods. I was sure Xur took that award, but I was feckin’ wrong. “And when one of my children takes the power without dying, I will take the world. If Faleria dies, you will be next.”
My heart pounds in my chest as he walks away, creating a portal and disappearing into thin air. Feeling the eyes of my siblings on me, I choose a random door and walk through it into a room of bunk beds. All of them but the one at the very end look used, and on the bed next to it is a little girl with bright red hair in a blue dress, who must be about nine. Hoping she is who I think she is, I walk over and sit on the made up bed opposite her. The little girl looks up, her ruby eyes locking onto mine, and I take in her tiny cat-like ears poking out of her hair. She rubs a silver bracelet on her wrist with two charms hanging off it.
“Who are you?” she asks.
“Karma Kismet,” I reply, offering her my hand. She eyes it before looking up at me with a stubborn set of her jaw that reminds me of myself. Crossing her arms, she sweeps her eyes over me.
“Another sister?” she asks around a yawn. “I’m Ruby, but I’m not going to be your friend. I want to get out of here.”
“Same,” I tell her, making her pause. “And your mum, Emerald, is looking for you. I met her, and I was good friends with Jade. I am here to save you.”
“Mum?” she asks, her hands falling to her sides, and her lip wobbles a tad. “She is looking for me? Father said she thought I was dead.”
“You can’t trick a cat that easily. Do I have to tell you that?” I say, and she smiles, a full beaming smile before jumping on me, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck. I hug her back as tightly before she suddenly freezes.
“You have a goblin in your hood. Do you know they bite?” she slowly asks me, leaning back. “I’ve read books about goblins, and they are bad luck.”
“This is Kit, and he isn’t bad luck. For us, he is the opposite, I promise,” I whisper as Ruby climbs off my lap and I pull Kit out of my hood to show her. “And he is how we get out of here. I need to hide him, so is under the beds safe?”
“Yes, I clean in here. It’s my job,” she whispers back and pulls out a spare pillow from her bed. I place Kit on the pillow, and Ruby pushes it under my bed before standing up, her hands going to her hips. “Karma, you will have to pretend to be on Neritous’s side. He isn’t a good person.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I tell her and take her small hand. “Can you show me around?”
“Yep, and I will show you good places to hide. Don’t trust the twins or Faleria, but Dominic is nice. He cries every night when he thinks no one is looking...can we save him too?” she asks me, and I nod once, making no promises.
I will get Ruby to her mother for Jade and save my own ass because I don’t want to die here. But unless I’m sure, I’m not taking a crazy sibling back to my family. Gods, I fecking miss them, but at least I’m not alone anymore.
And we are getting out.
Chapter 53
“Here’s your friend,” Ruby says, pointing at the black steel door with a little window. “They put anyone who fights and tries to run in there.”
“Thanks, Ruby,” I say, placing my hand on her shoulder. She grins up at me, and for a second, she reminds me of myself. Crap on a cracker, I have a sister that looks up to me. I’m not a good role model.
