by G. Bailey
24
"Ouch, what the effin' hell was that?" I screech as I wake up, rubbing my very sore arm. The dim light from the glowing sphere illuminates Kit's face as he sits on my bed, his star-like skin reflecting off the light in the room like a mirror. He is licking his teeth while I rub my arm where I can feel blood pouring down. It feckin' hurts.
"I swear I am going to stop feeding you if you keep doing shite like this. I want to keep my hair, and no more biting!" I demand, feeling exhausted, so I know it couldn't have been long since I went to sleep. Kit doesn't give a shit and points at his mouth, which is creepier than usual as I can see my blood on his teeth. "Fine! I will go and get you food. I swear I'm never being a parent if kids are as evil as you are!" I shake my head at his bigger smile, like he is finally happy now, before I climb off the bed. Kit never used to eat this much food when we lived at home, but this week, he seems to think he needs more than just breakfast and lunch like he used to have. I pick up my hoodie, pulling it over my thin top and shorts, before quietly leaving my room.
I have to admit I've liked my first week here, and damn does it feel nothing like a prison. Storm somehow finds somewhere or something new to show me in the day, Killian has taken over the kitchen, and Seth helps Coxen with the gardening. Jade is a typical cat, she eats and sleeps most of the day, though I really think she is awesome. I was scared of coming into this place, when in reality, it’s pretty amazing. It’s still a prison with walls you can’t escape, but Storm really makes this place alive. I’ve watched how he makes the sun and light spheres everywhere, how he creates rainclouds to go across the prison every other day, and his powers are insane. If this is how powerful he is when the prison dims his gifts, I don’t want to see what he would be like outside.
After slowly closing my door, I tiptoe down the corridor, holding onto my arm as it starts to really sting. I go down the stairs, mentally wishing I hadn't already run out of biscuits, before heading into the kitchen, where I jump when I see Killian sitting at the table. He has a pencil in one hand, a light hovering low as he sketches on a notepad. I go to step away, not wanting to disturb him, when he notices me, and I have to pause. His eyes drift over my bare legs— I thank Jade for finding us razors—all the way up until he meets my eyes and clears his throat.
"It's not like you to be up in the middle of the night. Everything alright?" he asks, and I notice how he turns the notepad over like he doesn't want me to see as I walk closer. He seems to just notice my arm when I go to talk, and he speaks first. "What happened? Let me look." I don't have a choice really as Killian pulls the chair in front of him out, and I slide into it, trying to ignore how my legs press against his as he faces me. I am totally ignoring how warm and comforting he feels.
"Do you remember my little secret that was in my bag?" I start off asking Killian as he takes my arm into his hands and pushes up my sleeve. In the light down here, you can see a pair of sharp teeth marks near my wrist where blood is dripping onto the floor. Killian looks at me in confusion before he remembers my little goblin friend.
"What is your goblin called again?" he asks.
"Kit, and apparently the stress of moving here is making him emotionally eat more food. I get it, but he is being rude about telling me he wants midnight snacks," I say, and Killian chuckles with wide eyes. Killian’s expression changes from humour and surprise to something else in a second, leaving me paused in this moment as he holds my arm. There is just something about Killian, far more than just his good looks that draw me to him. We always seem to be so comfortable around each other, like we have been friends for years. I don’t ever hesitate with anything I say around Killian. I just know he won’t judge me or hate anything I say. Seth and Storm make me nervous around them, like I have to think about what I need to say next. Attractive guys have always had that effect on me though. That’s what is so strange about Killian; he is so gorgeous, just like all gods are, yet I feel at home around him.
"Close your eyes," he softly tells me, and I pull a face, not knowing if I want to do that. The last time a guy told me to close my eyes in a seductive way, my brothers had made him do it, and they poured ice cold water over me. The little dipshits. Dammit, I miss them though. "Come on, you know by now that I'm your friend."
"You do make me pretty good food," I cheekily say, and he only smiles at me in an agreeing way and tilts his head to the side. "Fine, fine." I take a deep breath and close my eyes, feeling Killian placing his hands over the bite mark on my arm. I flinch from the sting of it being touched. After a few seconds, warm golden light shines brightly, or as brightly as I can see through my closed eyelids. I can't hold in my curious side for long, and I open my eyes just to see what the light is. My lips part in wonder as I see that every part of Killian is glowing gold, his eyes the brightest, and he is extremely beautiful.
I look down, seeing swirling gold waves covering my arm, which his hand is on. There is no pain anymore; there is nothing but light and the pure beauty of it. The gods and the many powers we all can have might make some of us evil, but there is also so much light to us. The glow slowly fades from all of his body until there is nothing but his eyes glowing. They too eventually fade, and Killian moves his hand off my arm after clearing his throat. Registering there is no pain, I quickly look down and see there is nothing but dried blood on my arm. I look up to thank Killian, only to frown as I see the bite marks are now on Killian's wrist instead. He took my injury from me.
"I can heal myself, and they will be gone in the morning," Killian dismisses my frown and lets my hand go to cross his arms, discreetly hiding the marks. As much as it is a sweet thing to do, he didn’t need to. I have boosted healing, but it takes a good week, considering I’ve just taken the bandage off my hand from my burn. If he can heal himself in a day, that is pretty impressive.
"Wait, you didn't have to do that," I say, finding myself moving closer and placing my hand on his arm. Killian tenses ever so briefly before looking at my hand and letting his gaze travel to my face.
"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.
25
"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 off," 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?
26
"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.