Every little inch of my body hurts as I try to sit up, forcing myself to be strong. It feels like I’ve fallen down a mountain, or had the shit beaten out of me by a group of giants. My muscles are on fire, and even just moving my head a little is enough to send a pulse of pain up my neck and through my skull. I probably have a concussion, at the very least, if not a bruised skull, and I would honestly be surprised if all my bones were intact. But that doesn’t matter, and we gods are built sturdier than most; my wounds will heal in time, but I can’t afford to dilly-dally when other lives might be on the line.
I give a grunt of effort, pushing past the pain long enough to first sit up, and then slowly get to my feet. For a moment the blood rushes out of my head and I sway on my feet, the world spinning around me. I grit my teeth and will myself not to pass out, focusing on my breathing until the world comes back into focus. I straighten up and allow myself a look around at the courtyard I now find myself in the middle of. It seems like the ruins of some ancient building, with parts of the walls broken and fallen down. The pieces are huge, and I can only wonder at what this might once have been before it was abandoned and destroyed. Nature has taken some of it, covering it with vines, and I can even see flowers growing out of a few of the cracks in the stones beneath my feet. The air is cool as it blows against my skin and pushes my dress around my legs, but as I look down, I see blood spattering the hem. Slowly, I raise my hands, and they begin to shake as I realize that there’s blood on them, too.
I suddenly feel like I’m going to be sick, and not from the pain, but from the grief, which is striking me again in spite of my determination.
Jade is dead. She sacrificed her life to save the justice twins, and I couldn’t save her. The twins might be dead, too, for all I know. I never saw them get up, and the idea that they might have been killed too strikes fear into my heart. Jade sacrificed herself to save them, and if that sacrifice was for nothing…
Come on, Karma, I tell myself, don’t think like that.
But it’s no use. Jade’s dead body just keeps flickering in my mind like a nasty picture that’s impossible to get rid of. Even if the twins aren’t dead, they are still trapped in that prison while I am stuck out here. What if I never see them again? What if they spend the rest of their lives rotting in there, and it’s all because of me?
The sound of a voice snaps me out of my thoughts, and I’m nearly startled enough to jump out of my skin. “Are you going to play nice this time, little mouse?” the voice asks from behind me, and for a brief moment I’m reminded of the creepy murderer in a horror movie - you know, who tells the victim not to run. I never did understand the victims’ logic in those movies, though. You never run if you hear that voice. It’s best to hide. I quickly turn around, my eyes settling on the hooded figure who is standing very still in the courtyard. He’s some distance away from me, but even without any distinguishing features, I can tell that this is the same arsehole who killed Jade. I can’t put my finger on why, but I just know it. For all I know, he could have possibly killed the justice twins too before he knocked me out.
Rage begins to fill me, burning like fire, and when I look down at my hands, I see a familiar green lightning beginning to flicker out of them. I turn my hands around, entranced for a moment by how the lightning moves like a wave but doesn’t seem to hurt me. I have no feckin’ idea how to control it, but it might be the only thing to help me get out of this. My karma powers aren’t exactly the best for self-defense, and whatever this lightning is, it was powerful enough to take out a higher god, so it will have to do for this son of a bitch. All I need to do is find my family and disappear. After that, I can make a plan to get Storm and the twins out of prison somehow. Maybe I can use my necklace of charms, too.
“That would be a massive nope, you feckin’ gobshite!” I starkly reply, crossing my arms and feeling for my charms with one hand. It only takes a minute of fumbling to realize that they’re missing. Dammit. Plan B it is, then. Except I don’t have a plan B, and I didn’t really have a solid plan A to start with. I still have that cool lightning, but I remember this guy was too quick at throwing that back at me, so I can’t count on it working on him at all. I take a step back, digging my feet into the dirt as the wind blows my hair into my face. I knock it away, really wishing I had a hair tie right now. I want to keep my eye on this guy. I don’t know who he is or what he wants, but it’s obvious from our interactions so far that he isn’t on my side.
“That kind of language does not suit your heritage, and it will not be allowed in my presence without punishment,” the man says, seeming to revel in his own smugness. If I were any closer (and I had any chance of holding my own against this guy), I would sock him in the mouth. “Now—”
I stop listening to him, deciding in a split second that running away is looking like my best chance of survival. If you can’t fight it, run. That’s what my brother always told me, and it’s always my solid plan C.
Plan C, don’t fail me now, I think.
I turn and run straight towards the ruined part of the building nearest to me, noticing that there’s a gap in the middle of it that should lead to the other side of the building, and the forest beyond. I’m halfway there when I skid to a stop, frozen in place when I see two women walking out of the gap. They’re standing side by side, their movements almost perfectly in sync with one another. I know who they are, and it’s that knowledge that stops me in my tracks. I nearly trip over myself, dirt puffing up like a cloud around my feet as I stare at them with wide eyes. My heart is beating so loudly that it makes my ears ring as I watch these higher gods, the female twins that Storm told me about.
They look just like they did in the painting he showed me. They wear matching red cloaks with red dresses under them by the look of it. Their skin is pale but in a smooth, picture-perfect way, almost photoshopped, if I didn’t know better. They have thick black eyelashes, white eyes with tints of black in them, and ruby red lips. The only thing that is different about them is their hair. One has long black hair, and the other’s hair is as white as snow.
“Ah, sisters, you took your time,” the hooded man says, passing by me like I’m nothing and stopping in the middle of the twins. They look to him, and for a second, the black haired god looks my way and smiles. If I didn’t think she looked inhuman before, I’m in for a shock: her teeth are razor sharp, stained with blood, like a shark’s.
I gulp because that is feckin’ creepy, and it takes everything I have not to shrivel up under her intense white gaze like a little girl at her first haunted house. Maybe I should just focus on the guy instead. He is clearly the boss man, anyway, and less disgusting to look at. His black cloak is such a contrast to the red ones his sisters wear, and I can see now why everyone is frightened of them. Even when they don’t say a word, there is something about them that is downright terrifying. The power seems to vibrate off of them in waves, an intense, ancient magic that I can tell would be enough to make me do whatever they want. This is what it’s like to stand in the presence of higher gods, and I realize with a start that I’m trembling, and not because of the cold night air.
I know this man is going to kill me; why else would I be here? I accidentally killed his brother, and now I’m going to pay for it. I avoided it for a while, but sooner or later it was going to come for me; it was only a matter of time. I just wish I got the chance to say goodbye to Storm and the twins, to Jade as well. I wish I got to say goodbye to my family and Mads while I’m at it. Maybe even Michael, but perhaps not Kit. Gods know I would probably get bitten for that. I’m sure the poor fecker is starving by now and biting Storm. That thought makes me smile, and reignites the boldness in me that’s gotten me in and out of countless scrapes in my lifetime.