by G. Bailey
“You are always ruining my fun, dude,” I respond, sighing before running and jumping head first into the portal.
12
Landing with a scream, I roll onto my backpack, dropping painfully to the ground and nearly hitting my head on the concrete. My stomach feels like it’s tied up in a knot, and I clutch my hands around myself as it swirls in pain, sickness building in the back of my throat. I close my eyes and try to focus on my breathing, and the feeling of the cool night air. It’s all I can do to keep from throwing up all over the ground. I wasn’t expecting magical transport to take this much of a physical toll on me, but then again, maybe I should have. The one time Peyton used this portal, he described the sensation as like a bad hangover. Did I really think it would be this easy to just jump across the country?
I have to lie still for a little while longer as I wait for the pain to stop, and the blurry night sky comes into focus. I slowly sit up, seeing the empty rooftop I'm lying on, and the cold air is a welcome relief as it blows against me. I pull myself up, shaking a little as I try to keep my footing. Looking back at the portal, which is well hidden under a tarp, I know I need to get moving. There is no doubt in my mind the bartender will let the twins follow me through. As nice as he was to me, there's no way a human will risk crossing agents of the higher gods.
I spot the fire exit on the other side of the building and hurry over to it, doing my best not to upset my stomach further as I sling my backpack back over my shoulders. I pull myself over the other side just as the portal begins to flicker with magical energy once again, and suddenly two familiar-looking people are thrown out of it onto the roof. The feckin’ twins are good, I’ll give them that. I run down the steps of the fire exit, hearing nothing but the busy city noises of London at night and my own heartbeat pounding hard in my chest. If I’m lucky, they’ll have the same physical reaction as I did, and will need a few minutes to compose themselves before moving again. It won’t give me much time, but it will give me enough to put some distance between myself and the two of them.
The area smells like fast food, which only makes me hungry as I run and finally get to the last steps. I guess that’s a good thing, considering that just a few minutes ago I felt like I had the stomach flu. Thank the gods for Mum and her peanut butter. I jump into the alleyway, running down towards the end. I’ve barely made it halfway when suddenly someone jumps in front of me from right out of the air, gold dust littering the ground by his feet.
"Didn't know you could fly," I mutter, feeling frustrated as the casual justice twin steps into the dim street light, his arms crossed and a big grin on his pretty lips. This close, he is far more attractive than I thought. His carefree nature, the playful smirk, and pretty gold eyes are something else. I’m certain he has no trouble getting girls. “How are you not barfing your brains up right now?”
He smirks. “Call it a perk of being as powerful as we are.”
“Cocky asshole,” I say, putting a hand on my waist. Do I try to run? Will I even be able to? It’s clear that these guys have me outmatched in terms of stamina, and my only other option is to try fighting them, which will probably go about as well as you would expect. My only choice is to wait for an opportunity to turn the situation to my advantage.
"Why don't we just introduce ourselves and have little a chat?” The casual twin suggests, taking a few steps closer to me. “We aren't the bad guys here, Karma. My name is Killian.” He reaches out and offers me a hand to shake, but I’m not that stupid. I’m not shaking his hand, and I know his brother will be coming up right behind me at any point. Killian smirks, crossing his arms as he figures out I won’t be touching him.
There’s a whooshing sound, and I glance over my shoulder to see the other twin manifesting in a ring of gold sparks behind me. Now I really am trapped, and there’s no one else in the alleyway who’s going to be able to help me "There is no point in running; we will always find you," Killian's brother says, and I try to remember what his name was. He was so boring on our date, until everything went wrong and I saw another side to him. I do remember how seductively handsome he is, far more than anyone I had ever seen before. I never liked the colour gold before, until I saw his eyes. I never forgot his eyes.
"Way to get her to trust us, Seth," Killian mutters, and lowers his crossed arms as he takes another step closer. I should have gotten those daggers out my bag, then I'd at least stand a chance of stabbing one of them and making a break for it. I’ve messed up big time, and we all know it.
"That's fucking creepy. Is that how you find all your women? ’Cause it's not working on me, goldipops," I say, hoping my tone of voice doesn’t give away my fear. Seth stays deadly quiet while Killian throws his head back and laughs. Man, is that a laugh that could drop panties.
"Goldipops, I like that. Though, usually women just run to us, not away, angel," Killian replies, coming up with his own nickname. But he really has the wrong idea if he thinks I'm an angel. "Now hand me your bag and that charming necklace of yours, and then we can get going."
"That really isn't happening," I tell him, crossing my arms and desperately looking around for some way to escape this alleyway. I reach for my necklace, but in the blink of an eye, Killian is in front of me, and I feel Seth at my back as Killian grabs both my wrists. Usually I like a little bondage, but this isn’t the fun kind. Gold, shiny bracelets lock around my wrists as Killian sadly smiles at me. Why does it feel like he doesn’t want this to be over so easily?
"I don't want to do this, but you have been found guilty of conspiring and murdering a higher god. There is only one punishment for such a crime," Seth coldly informs me. I get the murdering part. Kinda. But the conspiracy part? I mean, I didn’t actually set out to kill him at all, so can it really be called premeditated if it was an accident? I didn’t mean any of this. I quite liked my life as it was; there was no way I would have done this on purpose. If I could rewind to the beginning of the night with Mads, I would do it in a heartbeat.
"Wait, conspiring?” I demand, struggling against the golden cuffs. “Are you feckin’ kidding me? It was an accident, you big eegits! I didn't conspire anything!" My shouts fall on deaf ears, and I continue trying to wriggle free of Killian's tight grip as Seth comes to our side. Without responding to me, he gently pulls my necklace off before giving it to Killian for safe keeping. It’s frustrating to see how easily they were able to disarm me, and it stings even more to know that they’ve taken away something with sentimental value. I'm going to get that back, one way or another.
"Proof of your crimes has been shown to the gods, do not try to talk your way out of this," Seth warns me.
"I'm being set up!” I insist. If struggling isn’t going to work, I’m not above pleading “I swear, the god’s name, Neritous Cyncus, appeared on my hand as a bad karma job. That's why I was anywhere near him, and everything went really wrong. I swear it was accident," I continue, but I can tell they are completely ignoring me as they look at each other, clearly calculating something. Killian eventually nods in some sort of agreement that I can’t understand as I try to pull my arm out of his tight grip.
"Karma Maria Kismet, you have been caught by the gods of justice. Your punishment is a lifetime in the gods’ correctional prison with no release and no visits until your natural death. This is the law …and will of the higher gods," Seth proclaims, his tone of voice stern and official.
Killian seems hesitant to continue the sentencing, making the whole situation feel pretty awkward, but he finally nods at his brother and adds, "As the gods of justice, we find you guilty. No further investigation will be taken. Do you accept your fate?"
Fuck no, I feckin’ don’t.
“No,” I bite out, and Killian shrugs his shoulders, sighing.
"I’m not surprised, they always say no. I don't think there have been more than three people that have accepted their punishment in our career," Seth says and nods his head at my bag as Killian lets go of my arm, clearly trusting the golden bracelets to m
ake sure I don’t run off. I’m sure they are trackers of some kind, as well as a way to block my powers. I can’t feel their fears or wants at all like I should be able to if I wanted. I don’t like being without the powers that I’ve had since before I can remember. I feel naked around the twins, and not in the fun, kinky way I’d prefer.
"Take the bag off,” Seth tells me.
"Make me," I sweetly reply, raising an eyebrow at him. I'm not going to make this easy. No way in hell. "Or let me go. I don't care which one. Though the latter would be the best idea."
"Leave her with the bag, just open it up and check it," Killian suggests. He clicks his fingers, and my wrists slam together, locking in place so I have no choice but to link my fingers to make myself comfortable. I consider warning Seth about Kit, but change my mind at the last second. Instead I just smile as he pulls open my bag, and I feel him rummaging before pulling the daggers out.
“Those are some nice daggers,” Killian remarks, his eyes finally leaving me only to check out my brother’s daggers. I’m not about to tell them they are magical - they’ve already taken my necklace, and if they found out I had enchanted weapons, they would never give them back.
“We’re keeping these for the investigation. They could be the murder weapons, for all we know,” Seth firmly replies, and Killian laughs.
“Sure, I’m sure that’s why you want to keep them,” he replies through his laughs. “But remember, twins always share.”
“You two are thieving assholes, you know that?” I mutter, but they both ignore me. Typical. I feel Seth continue to dig through my bag a few moments later, and I just wait for it. There’s a hissing sound, and I can feel a jerk as the inevitable goblin bite comes.
“Little fucker," Seth shouts, pulling his hand out of my bag, and I loudly laugh, not being able to stop myself. Seth pushes Killian out of the way and grabs my joined hands, dragging me down the alleyway, further into the darkness and away from the busy street.
"What the fuck is in your bag that bites?" Seth demands, shaking his other hand, and I see blood.
Good one, Kit.
"A goblin," I answer, loving the look of fear on Killian's face as he glances at me in shock from his brother’s side.
"You know those are bad luck, right?" Killian tells me. “I’ve heard a lot of rumours about goblins, but I’ve never met one to know if they are true. Either way, all the rumours are bad.”
"That's what you think, but Kit isn’t all bad," I reply, and Killian just shakes his head at me.
“You named him? Like a pet?” Killian asks, and I nod. He isn’t a good pet, but hey ho, mum never let me get a puppy. Killian stares at me for a moment, his eyes narrowing, and I see the faintest hint of a smile on his face… as well as a glimmer of admiration.
"How did you hurt your hand?" Seth asks me, and I'm surprised he noticed at all. Why the hell does he care?
"One of the charms on my necklace burnt it. The charm is powerful, more than I could have expected, and it creates green lightning. It burnt my hand when I used it, thinking it did something else. It's how I accidently killed that higher god," I explain, and Killian just laughs as Seth shakes his head. We stop at the end of the alleyway. Killian places his hand on my shoulder.
"Nothing and no one can create lightning," Killian says, still laughing. "Though, my little liar with pretty red hair, hold your breath. We have a long trip." I gasp as the world spins rapidly, bursting into gold light, and then we fall.
13
The magic the twins use to pull us to wherever we currently just dropped into is strong and powerful enough to make me nearly pass out as we arrive. I have to rest on Killian's arm for a second, waiting for my legs to finally get the strength I need to stand and actually be aware of where we are. All the air in my lungs seems to leave me as I look up at the black stone building with no windows and only one massive door that looks like a dragon mouth with glowing gold eyes. The building towers over everything around it, the forest it is in the middle of and even the mountains in the distance, because it is so tall and wide. It's imposing, and it makes you want to run away from it somehow. There are no guards because they are that certain that no one could ever escape. No one ever has, at least as far as the magical community knows.
"Let me go, just for a little bit, and then I promise I will let you lock me up," I try to plead with them, panic and desperation filling me. I’m scared, really, really frightened of whatever is in there. I’m not a bad person, I don’t deserve this. I made one mistake and my life is over the moment those doors open. No matter what I say, I know they won’t let me go. This is their job, and they don’t believe me anyway. My family isn’t going to be able to help me now.
"Do we look stupid?" Seth asks, and I can only smirk at him. He doesn't want me to answer that one, and his frown tells me he knows my answer. "Come on, brother, we are wasting time that could be used on our other work."
"So do a lot of people break the laws then?" I ask them, anxiously wanting to distract myself as Seth holds my one arm and Killian holds my other, pulling me towards the prison. The place makes me more scared and nervous the closer I get to it, and my smart mouth isn’t going to save me now. I might as well just talk to them.
"Yes. We come here every other day, at the moment," Killian tells me, though Seth looks like he wants to do nothing more than get rid of me. "Though usually we don't have as much trouble catching them as we did you. That tornado was impressive. I am looking forward to examining these charms of yours later."
"Impressive enough to let me go?” I question, hating how he isn’t going to give me my necklace back. Dickhead.
"No, so stop asking," Seth growls out before Killian can answer.
"I wasn't asking you, goldipops," I tell him, and he glares at me, having a familiar look in his eyes that my brothers have when they want to murder me but aren't allowed to. My smile soon drifts off as we get outside the doors of the prison, which is basically a black stone wall with a small circular symbol right in the middle of it. Killian lets go of my hand as a tear falls down my cheek, and he looks back, seeing me in this brief moment of pure fear. Our eyes just seem to lock with each other, and his lips part to say something, but then he changes his mind and turns back to the door. I try to remember what Peyton said about being strong, what he would be like in this situation. He wouldn’t be crying, that's for sure. Neither would my mum or any of my family. We are the Kismets, and it takes damn more than locking us up to break us down. I need to remember that. Killian pulls out a yellow stone from his jacket, pushing it into the gap, and it glows, spreading a yellow light like water through all the gaps on the door as Killian steps back to my side.
“What does your shirt say?” Killian asks as we wait outside the prison doors, watching the light spread across the whole door, and it surprisingly takes a little time. I roll my eyes at him, knowing he is just trying to distract me from my doomed fate, though I'm not surprised he is looking at my boobs already. We only met like today, or it might be yesterday now by the look of the bright skies. This is so typical of the asshole gods that fuck anything, or that's what I've heard in the magical community. Luckily, I might be able to play this one into my favour. Though my top does say “My name is Karma, and it is pronounced fuck you.” I’m pretty sure the stuck up twin god here might not laugh at that.
“Why don’t you step closer and have a look?” I try to seductively suggest, and to my annoyance, Seth grabs his brother’s arm as he tries to step in front of me to look. I’ve never been good at the whole seductive thing. My go to way to tell a guy I’m interested is to get drunk and literally throw myself at him. Most of the time, it’s worked. Maybe that’s why I’ve always ended up with asshole boyfriends.
“Nope, don’t do it. Whatever it says won’t be funny, and she uses her boobs to get whatever she wants,” he warns.
“I don’t do that,” I protest, totally lying my ass off. I’ve used my boobs on more than one occasion to get out of shit. I knew I should
n’t have gone on a date with this asshole god of justice who really can’t take a joke. I learnt that fact roughly two minutes into our date. That’s what you get for letting your crazy ass best friend set you up on a blind date. I would have much preferred a hottie with sexy hair or a sex god (not the literal kind), but oh no, she got me the friggin’ god of justice as a joke. Though she didn’t have a clue he was a god and that we aren’t allowed to date each other, so it wasn't her fault. She thought he was just a stuck up human she met at college in her business study class, and Mads said he was a nice guy. She also said she thought we would get along...which is the polar opposite to the truth. I really do not like him.
“Karma, yeah you do,” he sourly replies. Seems he is still pissed about that whole date fiasco. It’s not my fault he is stupid and doesn’t understand what “run” means. If someone shouts run, you run, right? Not just stand there. So yep, that date was not my fault, and somehow I was the one that got shot. He walked away scot-free, so I don't get why he is mad.
“Well…if I let you see my boobs, will you let me go?” I ask, lowering my joined hands to the bottom of my top.
“No chance,” they both say at the same time. Damn. We all seem to freeze as there is a loud bang, followed by the sound of the stone door rising up in the air. Dread feels like it slams into my body, taking control until I can barely see straight from it. Screw being brave, I want to scream.
"Good luck in there, Karma. I wish things had been different," Seth quietly says, pulling me towards the door as I look up at him. For a second, I see something other than annoyance and hate in his eyes. He looks sad. I push him away and pull Killian's hand off me.
"I can walk into my own fate, you assholes. Don't think I will forget you doing this to me," I warn them, because I really won't. “Bad karma comes to those who do wrong. This is wrong because I am innocent. Karma is one thing that never forgets.” I see the looks of confusion and worry in their eyes before I turn away. I raise my head high as I walk through the door into the stone corridor, where the walls are covered in scratches, burn marks and dried blood. Seems like it's usually a fight to get anyone in here, or they tried to get out. Either way, it doesn’t make me feel any better.