"I know," he replies, and it's such a simple response, but the way he says it is anything but simple. I shake myself out of it, swiftly standing up.

  "Thank you, though you shouldn't have," I mutter, and he smirks when I look back at him. "I should get some food for Kit before he sneaks into Seth's room and bites his grumpy arse."

  "Seth is complicated and certainly deserves a goblin bite on his ass. I'm not sticking up for my dickhead brother, but he lost his human wife a few years ago. We didn't ask for an immortal life with crazy powers, and all Seth wanted was a normal life with a family. Something permanent when we never had anything permanent other than each other growing up. I won't tell you more, but just give him a chance. You were the first and only date since she died," he tells me, and damn do I feel bad for judging him so harshly. I couldn’t imagine growing up not knowing what I was, especially without my family. They both didn’t have anyone, and for Seth to lose his wife, that must have been horrible.

  "Really?" I end up whispering on instinct, even though I fully believe what Killian is telling me.

  "Yeah, Karma. Seth is angry with the world for giving his wife cancer, angry with our dead father for being selfish, and angry that he is immortal with a ticking time bomb of death in about thirty years," Killian tells me. "He needs to heal, and this place might actually be good for him. You might be good for him."

  "Why would I be good for him?" I ask, completely confused. If anything, I only seem to piss Seth off and push him further than I really should.

  "You don't see it, but you make him smile and laugh. Hell, no matter what jokes or dumb shit I've done over the years, he hasn't smiled like he does when you aren't looking," Killian says, picking up his notepad and pencil before walking out of the room. These justice twins just get more confusing and complicated, and yet, I kind of like them.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  "Checkmate, I win again!" Storm says with a loud laugh, and I cross my arms, resting back on my seat with a glare firmly on my face as he cheers for himself. Again.

  "You said you wouldn't be a sore winner if we played again," I remind him, though he doesn't calm down one bit. Storm is a big child when it comes to playing chess. Seth and Killian told him where he could shove his games after a week of it. Coxen warned us all that Storm is a sore loser, and that he doesn’t play. Jade has never played chess and decided she didn’t want to learn just to get beaten. I should have seen this coming and run the other way.

  "I lied," he replies, still grinning. After shaking my head at him with a smile I can't get rid of, I pull my chair out before walking to the sink. As I get out a glass from the cabinet above the sink, the door is knocked a few times, and Storm goes to answer it. I just finish pouring my glass of water when I hear Vivian's overly sweet voice as she coos at Storm. I've managed to completely avoid Vivian these past two weeks here, mainly as every time I saw her, I made sure to walk away as quickly as possible. She has never come to the house before though. I lean against the counter as Storm walks in first, looking slightly awkward as he rubs the back of his neck. Vivian comes in straight after him, raising her head higher and practically huffing when she sees me. As usual, she looks like she forgot half her clothes in a vest top and tiny shorts, her long hair swaying around her. God dammit, she smells amazing, like freshly cut roses or some shit, and it makes the whole room smell nicer. I highly dislike her for no good reason other than the fact she is Storm's ex, and being petty is clearly my middle name.

  "What brings you here?" I ask after putting my glass down, not even bothering to hide my tone of voice. I don't like her. Not one little bit.

  "I have a brilliant idea for you, Karma. See, my next door neighbour is moving in with her children because she can't cope on her own, and that leaves a lovely four bedroom house cave. Now, you guys have been here a couple of weeks, so why don't you move in there together?" she suggests, and clearly she is just trying to get rid of me. The house next door to hers would mean she could watch my every move, and I have no doubts I would be watched. I’d rather live in the lake with the scary ass god eating monster.

  "No," Storm sharply replies to her before I can even come up with a reason why I don't want to move out. I glance over at him to see his eyes firmly fixed on me, and I have never seen anyone look at me in the possessive way Storm is in this moment. I'm not sure why I feckin' like it.

  "Why not? Everyone stays a week at most, and yet she is still here over two weeks later!" she demands, losing her cool a little. Oh, she doesn’t like not getting her own way. Surprise, surprise.

  "I don't have to explain myself to you, Vivian," Storm responds, clearly pissed off from having to deal with her. We have talked about Vivian a little over the weeks, after Killian asked about why she was following Storm around like a puppy dog. Storm said that plant goddesses have a bad tendency to choose their soulmates and get fixated on them. Storm didn’t know this when they started dating, and now no matter what he tells her, she comes back like a bad smell. Well, he didn’t call her that, but in my mind, that is what she is. I would feel a little sorry for her if she wasn’t so bitchy. "I have work to do. You know where the door is." Storm walks around her to the door and then looks back once to nod at me before disappearing. I go to walk out, not exactly wanting to stay around Vivian any longer than I have to, but she roughly grabs my arm.

  "You might want to let go before I make you," I threaten, because there is no way in hell this smelly goddess is going to bully me. I mean, she smells fucking amazing this close, but there is no way I’m calling her something nice with how she is looking at me.

  "Do you think you have a chance with Storm?" she asks, keeping her hand tightly on my arm. Her tone is nothing but patronising.

  "Whatever I do, or who I do, really isn't anything to do with you," I reply, pulling my arm away. "And you should be careful who you threaten. I can sense your fears, and right now you fear nothing other than being ugly and alone. You adore your long hair, pretty eyelashes and shiny skin. It’d be a shame if you woke up hairless and covered in shit, wouldn’t it?"

  "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 of," 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 Twenty-Five

  "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.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  "How is your head now?" Storm asks when I come out the shower room, seeing him sitting on the sofa with a black glass bottle in his hand. He takes a long sip as I close the shower door and walk over to sit next to him. I choose to sit close even though there is plenty of room. Maybe the head injury—that I wouldn’t let Killian heal and take from me—is making me braver than usual. Storm doesn’t move, instead he just lets me rest against his side.

  "Sore. I can't believe I didn't see that flying ice sphere," I mutter, placing my hand on the lump on the side of my forehead, where it is still throbbing after earlier today. Killian and Jade blamed themselves for the accident, Seth couldn't stop laughing at the fact I ran away from practice fighting, and Storm carried me back to the house when I woke up, despite my several protests about it all being embarrassing.

  "You were running away from Killian like he decided to stab you or something," he chuckles before his face darkens, and he takes a long sip of his drink that smells like some pretty strong alcohol. "I thought you guys looked pretty close before that happened." I try to ignore the jealous comment, knowing that Storm isn’t going to make me feel bad for anything with Killian. Storm doesn’t own me, nor has he made a move to suggest he wants to be more than a friend. I also know literally nothing about him, other than what everyone else in this prison knows. As much as I don’t like to admit it, Vivian was right in some ways. Storm is a closed book and keeps everything locked away tight.

  "Hand that over," I say, holding my hand out for the bottle, knowing that I could use a drink. Storm shrugs before giving me it, and I take a long sip, the unfamiliar liquid burning my throat almost instantly. I cough a few times, thinking the closest thing I've tasted to this is whiskey, before I can even speak. "What the hell is this stuff?"

  "Honestly? Who knows?" he tells me. That isn't concerning at all. "A pleasure god who lives in here makes his own drinks, and he gave me that a while ago, telling me it would 'chill me out'."

  "Does it?" I ask with a little chuckle as I rest back on the sofa, well aware that at some point, either Storm or I have moved closer to each other. Our legs are now pressed tightly together.

  "I wish," Storm replies as I take another sip and hand him the bottle back, watching as he takes a long drink. "Nothing can erase the past and make everything less stressful. Not even this stuff." I’m surprised by his comment, because that is the first time I’ve heard him comment on anything to do with his past.

 

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