I stumble back, staring at the cube and sphere with a whole new understanding as he keeps on talking. “When one of my children, as promised, is given the power of life, they can give it to me, and I can rule the world. See, my adopted mother was a smart woman, and when she died, she made it impossible for a higher god to take the power. But I found a way around that. When one of you takes the power, I can make gods, I can level cities of humans to remind them who is ruling this world. I can and will do whatever I want, what she never wanted us to do.”
“And if the power doesn’t accept you?”
“You will become like Faleria,” he coldly answers, turning back to me. “But I don’t believe that will happen. The power only touched your friend, Madison, and transformed her. She is the first who survived that since I and my siblings were changed. I believe my adoptive mother’s soul is waiting for you and saved Madison for you.”
“That’s impossible. It’s just a cube, not a soul,” I say, shaking my head. I can hardly believe Storm’s mother’s soul is in that cube and saved Madison for me. Why would her soul know me at all?
Neritous smiles at me like he knows something I don’t.
Walking to my side, he pauses and leans down as I stare ahead, tears prickling the corners of my eyes. “You were born for destruction, Karma Kismet. Don’t let me down.”
“I was born from lies and loved from the second I existed by a brilliant mother. I will never be what you want me to be.”
“In three days, we will find out, won’t we?” he counters, finally leaving the room just before the first tear falls down my cheek.
Chapter 55
“I took some food to your friend, but she threw it back at me. Is she always so mean?” Ruby asks me, sitting next to me on the floor in front of the door. I overlook the grey waters, the shore lapping against the wooden planks outside the door. I’ve knocked myself out twice trying to walk out of here. Once, I attempted to just walk out the door, calling Neritous’s bluff. That hurt. The second time, I got creative and tried to escape through the roof. The same thing happened, and fecking hell did it hurt when it threw me back onto the steps I climbed up. I was almost thankful I passed out that time.
“Thanks for trying, and no, she is the kindest person I know. Mads is just lost right now,” I tell her, wrapping my arm over her shoulders. “Is Kit awake?”
“Just checked and nope,” she answers, moving her eyes to the water. “I’d never seen the sea before I came here. Mum wanted to take me, but we didn’t have much money. I told auntie Jade, or she overheard me, and she made a beach in our living room with a pool, sand and deck chairs with umbrellas.”
I watch her fond smile, and I can just imagine Jade taking the time to do all that. She was the kinda person who always made the best of any bad situation.
“I wish she was here. Jade would know what to do next,” I admit. “Or she would tell me I had the answers, or I could figure it out myself. She always believed in me, even when we just met.”
“Do you still think the weatherman and the twins will come to save us?” she asks.
“Weatherman?” I furrow my brow until it clicks. Storm. I chuckle as her cheeks go red.
“If anyone can find us, it’s him. The justice twins have a chance, and so do my family. We all defend each other and find a way. Even against all the odds.”
“I like that,” she replies with a shy smile. “Cats have packs, like most animals, and anyone we have in our pack, we would protect. That’s what mum told me once.”
“You’re my family always, Ruby. I will protect you, you know that?” I say, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I felt like I knew you before we met thanks to the stories Jade and your mum told me.”
“They didn’t tell you about that one Halloween, did they?” she asks, pure horror in her eyes as her cheeks go bright red, matching her hair. “I was five, and I made a bad choice in costumes.”
“Nope,” I laugh. “But I really want to know now.”
“I will never tell you,” she states and sticks her tongue out at me. I’m so busy laughing that I almost miss the sound of Killian’s voice. I pause, crawling to my feet and searching around me.
“Karma, we will find you,” Killian’s voice whispers to me like a ghost. But it is him.
Hope blossoms in my chest. “Killian?”
“Karma,” his voice softly replies. “Karma, we will—” The voice gets cut off, and whatever magic was here is gone, leaving me feeling cold all over again. Even though I only got to hear his voice for a second, it’s enough to fill my heart with hope and a longing that just comes with it.
I have to face it. Killian has dug his way into my soul and made roots there.
Roots I’m never going to be able to get rid of.
Not that I even want to.
“Do you two want lunch?” A nervous voice cuts into my thoughts, and I turn around to see Dominic standing behind us, shuffling his feet and rubbing his hands together like he just can’t stand still. “I mean you d-don’t have to but I”
“That would be brilliant. Ruby told me that you can cook?” I ask, and he nods with a big grin. He relaxes a little as we walk to the kitchens, and he rambles with Ruby about the chicken noodles he has made for us and how he hopes we like it. I can see why Ruby likes him; he is just a nervous young teenager and really doesn’t seem to have an unkind bone in his body. Ruby is more like me, headstrong and direct, whereas I see he is the kind one of us all. He serves us chicken noodles as we sit at the table before he joins us. After a few mouthfuls, I can’t hold it in any longer.
“Where did you learn to cook like this?” I ask. “And can you teach me? I’ve always been a fecking shite cook.”
“Language,” Ruby scolds me, and I sheepishly grin at her as our brother chuckles.
Our brother.
“I grew up with twenty-four other kids in a foster home near San Francisco, and our foster parents didn’t care much for any of us unless we got them more money…somehow. I taught myself in order to survive and to seem useful to the other kids. I hoped they wouldn’t bully me as much if I could feed them,” he admits with a shrug, and my heart hurts for him. “It worked.”
“You don’t need to cook for me to earn my friendship, you know that?” I ask him, and he shrugs again, his white hair moving with him. “And most likely, they bullied you because they sensed you are different than they are. I had a similar experience, so I became defensive and never let anyone but my best friend get close to me. The last year, I’ve had those defensive walls stripped, and now I can look around me and see that I don’t need to push everyone away. Not everyone is cruel.”
He watches me for a long while, taking in my words. Until I said them out loud, I didn’t realise how true they actually are. “Not everyone is cruel, I can see that. Thanks, Karma.”
“You’re my brother. Another one, and you’re not a dipshit,” I say, and he frowns at me, not understanding. Ruby coughs about language, making us laugh, before Dominic asks me all about my family. By the time I get to Michael, they are in tears with how much they are laughing.
And it’s not just them. For a moment, I’m happy in my prison.
Chapter 56
