“Kit, come on. It’s peanut butter...how can you not wake up for that?” I question, looking between the spoon and Kit with some kind of hope. Honestly, I’m starting to really panic and worry for Kit. He shouldn’t be sleeping this long, and if he does wake up, I don’t know if I want him to use his powers again if they are causing this.
“Why are the white star-like things on him glowing?” Ruby asks me, leaning over my shoulder as I sit on the bed. Ruby is right, he is almost giving off his own light in the dim room. Knowing he isn’t going to wake any time soon, I place him on his pillow on the floor and push it under my bed. I cross my legs, eyeing Ruby as she rubs her hands together.
“I don’t know, but I’m worried about him,” I answer, eying my nervous sis. “Out with it,” I gently coax her.
“Neritous…” She pauses, and it makes me smile that she won’t call him her father either. He damn well isn’t. Blood alone doesn’t make you loyal to your family. Everyone has to earn their place in someone’s heart, or at least be there enough to earn the respect of the title. “He had a dressmaker in this morning. I overheard him, and they are making you a dress for tonight. I’m scared, Karma. I’m really scared.” And then she bursts into tears, reminding me of how much she is still a little girl, and no matter how scared I am, I can’t let her see it. I need to be strong for her. I pull Ruby to me, wrapping my arms tightly around her like I can protect her from this insane world of gods. Her cat ears tickle my chin as she calms down, hugging me back just as tightly. I want to tell her it’s all going to be okay, but she is a smart kid. Lying won’t save us.
The truth condemns us. So that’s no fecking use.
And I’m counting on gods I am in love with to save me before it’s too late.
“Why don’t we go and find Dominic? I’m sure we can make a really good meal for everyone,” I suggest, knowing she needs a distraction, and food is always a good idea. She wipes her tears, and her bright eyes stare up at me for a long time. I can only give her a false smile, and I have to hope it is enough.
* * *
“I’m not wearing that,” I protest. “I’m no fecking princess. For one, I’d be shite at it, and for two, I don’t want to look after a world. I can barely keep myself alive. How the royals keep anything around the world working is a mystery to me.”
“Put the dress and crown on, or you will regret it. Your friend is helpless right now. One slip of a dagger and...,” he drifts off, letting me fill in the blanks. I grit my teeth. Bastard. Neritous smiles as he wins this argument and walks out of the room, leaving me alone with the stunning dress. It’s a deep green, reminding me of the cube in its vibrant colour. It’s super tight, or at least looks it, at the top with an A-line drop and no shoulders. The bottom half spreads out into a princess ball gown that must touch the floor when I have it on. It’s gorgeous, fit for royalty and any higher god to wear. But it’s not me. I reach out, touching the extremely soft silk material and close my eyes, holding back my anger and my urge to rip it into pieces. Remembering Mads, I let the gown go and start undressing. It takes me a good fifteen minutes to get into the dress and get the zipper up. Breathless by the end of it, I try to breathe in, but the dress is fecking tighter than it looks.
Slowly I undo my plaited hair, letting it fall over my shoulders in soft waves before I pick up the gold tiara. I’ve seen it before on the head of my so-called “aunt” in a painting in the house I was in for the games. Why Neritous wants me to wear it when I hated her and killed her, is purely insane. Then again, he is a bastard with crazy ideas, so who knows? The gold tiara looks pretty in my wavy hair, and I hate that it suits me. The diamonds held inside the spiralling gold shine from the light coming through the window, and I breathe in the smell of whatever Dominic is cooking down the hall. I haven’t seen Ruby since this morning, and I know I have to see her before I go to that cube. I need to say goodbye, just in case.
My heart hurts when I think of the guys. How I never got to tell them I love them, and I know it’s weird, but I want them all in my life.
Neritous doesn’t even knock, he just lets himself in. “I do hope you survive this,” he claims, his eyes running over me in a way I don’t like. It’s like I’m his possession and he is seeing how much he can sell me for. “Follow me, or I will force you.”
I don’t respond to him other than sliding on my high heels that go with the dress. I hate that they are beautiful and I want to keep them. The silver heels are hidden completely under my dress as I head through the door and across the clearing. I see Dominic at a table, and his eyes fill with tears when he sees me. I have to look away before he makes me cry, and I clear my throat.
I only have to live through touching the soul of the goddess of life. One of the most powerful goddesses in the entire world.
No pressure.
Fecking hell, I can’t breathe. The closer we get to the door, the more it feels like I’m going to pass out, and I dig my nails into my palms to keep myself awake. Neritous unlocks the door, and I follow him in, coming face to face with the sphere and the cube inside of it. My nerves only get worse when I feel the power, feel the call to it and all the destruction it no doubt promises.
I gulp as Neritous shoves his hand into my back, pushing me to the edge of the sphere.
“I will kill you when this is all over. You realise that?” I breathlessly state the words, a promise I fully intend to keep. “For the pain you put my mother through, for all the lies you have spoken, and for the karma you are very much in need of. I know why I haven’t been given a karma job since your name appeared on my hand...it is because you are alive. Death is your karma, and it is my job to deliver it to you.”
“I have escaped karma my entire life. You will be no different,” he responds to me. “Now take the power we both know calls to you. Stalling will not save you.”
I scream as he shoves me into the sphere, and it instantly starts to attack me. Waves of magic, feeling like actual waves in the sea, slam into every part of my body with intense hits. I feel like I’m drowning as I take a step forward, and then another, and then one more until I sense I’m near the cube. I open my eyes, and even that hurts as the magic still tries to hurt me, and see the cube right in front of my hands.
“I’m sorry,” I manage to whisper as I place my hands on either side of the cube, and it explodes. The cube changes into a liquid form, the green liquid shimmering as it spins around my hands before sinking into my skin. Green tree root tattoo-like marks appear on my hands and wrists, going up my arms, and I look down as they meet in the middle of my chest, making a small tree with several roots that look like a Celtic knot. I scream as the power suddenly hits me like a bullet to the chest, and I gasp in pain.
Protect my son. This is my gift for you alone, Karma Kismet, a kind sounding woman’s voice invades my mind, smothering me in a sense of safety before disappearing. My power has always been there, under my skin, protecting me, but this is nothing like that. The sphere disappears as I fall to my knees, holding onto my chest like I can stop the power with just my hands.
“You did it.” Neritous’s voice is a whisper. “My child did this.”
“I may be your daughter by blood, but I am not yours in any sense. Neither is this power,” I exclaim, forcing myself to stand and turn around to face him. He doesn’t seem remotely interested in my threat as he looks at me. The wall behind him suddenly blasts into pieces, and I’m frozen as the dust settles. Neritous runs for me as I reach my hand out for the man I know is stepping through the dust. I’d know him anywhere.
“Storm!” I scream just as Neritous makes us disappear, and I can’t stop him.
Chapter 57
I push Neritous away the second we appear, stumbling back only to hear the loud sound of cars passing by. I turn around to see I’m on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which I have always wanted to see. It’s not gold, instead it is red, and it’s far bigger than I ever would have thought possible. We are directly in the middle of the sweeping bridge, and the cars pass us like we aren’t here.
Maybe men with cloaks and women in princess ball gowns are normal for San Francisco.
“Karma!” Ruby shouts as a man I don’t know, a thug with a bald head and a massive body drags her by her arm to Neritous’s side. She cries out for me, but I can’t do anything. He could kill her in seconds.
Neritous grabs Ruby and places her in front of him, his hands on her shoulders. She tries to fight, but he grips her shoulders harder, making it clear she can’t move.
“Go kill anyone you find at the warehouse. Try to go for the rest of my children first,” Neritous commands.
“No!” I scream, but it’s too late, he has just disappeared in front of me. Green magic, looking like electricity, flickers around my body, and it spits across the floor in the middle of us. My anger makes it worse until Neritous pulls a dagger out of his jacket and places it against Ruby’s neck right in front of me. I stop, pulling the magic back as my hands drop to my sides. Ruby looks terrified, and I feel sick.
“Using a child to fight me? What kind of man are you?” I growl. “I can answer that for you, by the way: a fecking coward.”
He doesn’t show me any emotion or reaction to my outburst; he looks bored instead. “Unleash your power on the city, or I will kill her. This is a test, and you will pass or she dies.”
“What will happen to the city and the people in it?” I question, but the sickness in my throat lets me know the answer far quicker than he does.
“For those who survive, they will have magic, their souls changed,” he answers. “You have the goddess of life’s powers in your soul now, Karma. You are going to change them all.”
