"Who the hell are you?" she asks, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at me like I'm the new enemy now. Damn, I thought I was good at making friends. Mads always said I was good at making friends…though she said that when I was drunk, and she is my only friend that stuck around. Maybe I am bad at making friends instead. Huh, I’ve never really thought about it. The cat lady claps her hands in my face, snapping me out of it. Shit, what did she want again? Oh right, I’m stopping her killing the justice twins. Even though they aren’t my friends.

  "Karma, and you can guess my job. Is it true you talk to cats?" I ask her, wanting to know more about her job. Cat goddesses are meant to keep the cat population under control, because if cats were left to their own devices, I’m pretty sure we would be ruled by them like that one time in Egypt.

  "You could say I have a thing for pussycats," she replies, and I smirk. Oh, I like her. It’s decided, I’m going to make her my friend. I believe her about the higher god, considering my own story, and she doesn’t feel like a child killer to me. No, the twins screwed up with this one. I am starting to think the twins just do their job and never bother to ask important questions later.

  "So these gobshites threw you in here without listening to the truth as well then, huh?" I ask her, pointing a thumb behind me at the twins.

  "You too?" she asks, looking around me at the twins. "You really are shit at your job, aren't you?"

  "You are both guilty," Seth bites out before choosing to ignore us and go to sit in the corner of the cage like a stroppy child. Killian has more balls though and comes to my side, his arms tightly crossed.

  "I have to admit, I did wonder why I sensed a higher god’s magic at your apartment. You were unconscious, which made no sense when we were told you killed the girl," Killian tells us, and just for that, he earns some brownie points in my books. It takes a lot to admit you are wrong about something. Only the best people do it.

  "How old was she? Who killed her?" I ask, wanting to understand why a higher god would go after a child.

  "Nelly was eight, and a higher god killed her. I was babysitting her for my best friend, who is also a cat goddess, as she had to work. An uprising of tabby cats in New York, but that’s a longer story. Anyway, the higher god turned up, threw me across the room, and held me down with magic as he stabbed a sword through Nelly’s chest like she was nothing. I tried to fight him, to save her, but he wanted to watch her die, and then he knocked me out. I woke up with chains around my wrists, and I was blamed for her death. I didn't even get to tell my friend what happened to her child. I didn’t get to say goodbye to a child I really loved like my own," she says and harshly wipes her tears away as I reach forward and place my hand on her arm. She sniffles before straightening up, nodding once at me. I feel sick at the idea a higher god would do that to an innocent child. I’m now hoping the higher god I accidently killed was the one that did that. He would have certainly deserved bad karma. Maybe it was why he was my job…because he killed Nelly.

  "Not that I believe you, but why would a higher god kill a child? A lesser goddess who could never be a threat to him?" Killian asks, and I want to smack the silly out of him. I take back the brownie points; he doesn’t deserve them. All these thoughts of brownies makes my stomach grumble, which is pretty loud and awkward in here.

  "I don't need you to believe me, but I want my friend to know the truth. I suspect it was because Nelly was his child. My friend confided in me that she slept with a higher god, but there was also a chance Nelly was someone else’s child. She never saw him again, and Nelly was a normal child for all accounts, but I think he came back to kill any proof of when he broke the law," she explains. Still such a horrible thing to do. Poor Nelly did nothing but be born.

  "Shit," I mutter wide-eyed because I believe her. I don't care what Killian thinks, I really do think Jade is telling the truth. Especially considering it seems higher gods are around more than they are meant to be. I mean, I accidentally killed one. I look over at the other two guys in the room, who are cuddled up, shaking as they watch outside the bars. "What did they do?"

  "Oh, they are assholes who deserve to be in here. I just had to kick their asses for trying to hurt me," Jade shrugs. “I was keeping them alive just in case I need to throw them at our captors before escaping.” I chuckle and wink at her. She thinks just like me. Kind of. I mean Jade is clearly more badass than I am, because I’d hide behind the guys instead. Still, we could be friends.

  "Well, you got two out of four right. I mean that would be good if your job isn't handing out life sentences," I say, raising an eyebrow at Killian who mutters something under his breath and goes to sit by his brother. I choose a spot in the middle of the cage with my back against the wall as I sit down, pulling off my bag. Jade comes and sits next to me, and I eye her for a moment, deciding that teaming up with her in this test might be a good idea.

  "Any food in that bag of yours? They haven't given us anything but slush in a bowl since we got here," she asks. “I mean, you don’t have to share, but I’d really appreciate it.”

  "I have a jar of peanut butter I could share," I say reluctantly, because I really don't want to share it. She screws up her face in disgust and shakes her head.

  "Never mind, that is worse than nothing," she says, shaking her head.

  "You're crazy," I say, pulling my bag open and glancing at her ripped top which she has managed to tie together in an awkward way. I carefully shove my hand in my bag and quickly pull out a shirt before closing it. I look up to see Jade staring at me like I’ve lost my mind…which to be honest, could be an option right about now.

  "What was that?" she asks.

  "Oh, I have a goblin in there called Kit, and he likes to bite. Anyways, you can have this shirt if you want, we look near enough the same size," I say, offering her the top.

  "Thanks. The bastards over there are fire gods, and beating their asses cost me half this shirt," she says, accepting the top off me and pulling it on. This cat must be crazy to take on fire gods. She pulls her long hair out of her top before resting back, flickering her eyes between the twins and the fire gods. "We are surrounded by assholes. Gods help us."

  "I don't like the twins, but I think they were just doing their job, and I get that. I'm a karma goddess, and I have to deliver karma to whomever I'm sent to. Sometimes it's hard to see past the job and make your own judgment," I explain to her, having no clue why I'm sticking up for them as they sit glaring at us. Well, Seth is glaring, Killian is resting his forehead on his knees, and I can't see his face.

  "You don't like them, huh? Could have fooled me," Jade teases, shaking her head at me while resting back on the wall. "What did you do to get thrown in here anyway? And how did they get locked up too?"

  "I killed a higher god," I start off, seeing her eyes widen, and she coughs on thin air. I guess she wasn’t expecting me to say that. "By accident. The twins came after me, and then these hooded guys outside chucked them in here with me. I don't get what is going on, and all I really want is to get out of here to see my family."

  "Doesn't everyone in here want the same thing?" she asks. “Well, I think so anyway.”

  "I'm thinking the gods of justice will be saved by someone, and I'm going to stick close enough to their sides so that I can escape with them," I whisper to her. “They are my ticket out of here.”

  "It's a good plan. You're taking me with you," she says. "I need to see my friend and tell her the truth about her daughter’s death before I die. It's the only important thing to me now."

  "Then you're coming with me," I say, knowing I'm likely going to regret that promise when I need to focus on getting my own ass out of here. "Do you know what this test is?"

  "No clue, but I'm betting it isn't going to be fun," she says, resting further back and closing her eyes, clearly done with this conversation. I glance over at Seth, who is looking at me like I'm the bane of his existence, and I can't help but wink at him before looking away. Whatever this test is, I have to survive it somehow, because one thing is for sure—I'm not dying here.

  Chapter Fifteen

  "Karma, wake up." A hand roughly shakes my shoulder, shaking me from my lovely dream about a shop sale of pretty heels, and I managed to buy the whole shop. I peel my eyes open to see Killian standing over me, his hand on my shoulder. He has pretty eyes to wake up to. It only takes me a second to snap out of that thought and realise he is talking. "Wake your friend up, that leader Storm is walking this way with a crowd behind him."

  "Thanks," I mutter, a little confused why he would bother to wake me up, before turning to Jade. I shake her shoulder much like Killian did with me. Except she wakes up all claws and sharp teeth, and I screech as I jump away from her.

  "What?" she demands and then seems to realise it's me as I get to my feet. "Shit, sorry, Karma. I'm used to those idiots waking me." She sticks a thumb in the direction of the two guys still hiding in the corner, not saying a word, but they are always watching with their beady eyes. They remind me of ravens in looks with their long noses and black hair. They spend all their time playing with fire in their hands, but they aren’t powerful enough to do more than make a small flame.

  "We have incoming," I tell her, offering her a hand to help her stand up. She slides her hand in mine, getting up like the graceful cat she is. I couldn't do that for shit. I turn around and walk to the door, crossing my arms as Killian, Seth and Jade choose to stand behind me. I don't know when I suddenly became the leader, but I keep my gaze fixed on Storm who is leading his couple of followers towards us. Storm pauses right in front of the cage, unnerving me with how close he decides to stand. I can't help but notice how bloody attractive he is today in his similar clothes to yesterday, but he looks more cleaned up than before.

  "Karma," he purrs my name, almost seductively tasting it. Holy gods, this isn't the time to finally find a guy I'm attracted to. It's bad enough the justice twins are too attractive for their own good. Now I have three hotties to stare at. Mads would be laughing if she were here right now.

  "What is the test?" I ask, crossing my arms and making it clear I'm not the slightest bit impressed by his sexy tone. Or him. Nope, not one little bit. Okay, maybe a little bit, but he doesn't need to know that. I'm sure a guy like him has women throwing themselves his way.

  "You're about to find out, aren't you?" he replies, and a chuckle leaves his lips like this is all one big joke to him. Why are the pretty ones always assholes? I only roll my eyes at him as he clicks his fingers, and two men with sharp looking horns sticking out of their heads run to the cage door and undo the lock.

  "One at a time. The test is not a group activity. Who is going to be the brave one and go first?" Storm shouts as the door is opened. Seth goes to step forward, but I beat him to it, jumping out of the door, which one of the horn guys slams shut behind me.

  "I will," I say, keeping my head high and steeling my gaze on them.

  "I'd hoped you would say that," Storm says, with the largest grin on his stupidly perfect face.

  "Good luck," Jade shouts from behind me. I look back and nod at her, moving my eyes to Killian who doesn't look impressed and finally to Seth who is livid.

  "Don't die," Seth offers before walking back into the shadows of the cage. I guess that is something coming from him.

  "You got this, my crazy tornado," Killian quietly states, but I hear him before I look back as Storm nods his head for me to follow him through the crowd. The crowd parts like they are scared or in awe of him, and it just makes me wonder which one it is. There is a certain presence about him, like standing in front of royalty. I've never felt like this around anyone before, and I know it's not just this prison that is freaking me out. I step onto the bridge, where Storm has stopped directly in the middle of it. The bridge creaks and moves slightly, even though there is no wind in here. God, I hate heights. He waves a hand for me to come closer, and it's not like I have much choice. I stop at his side, following his gaze into the darkness below.

  "The test is down there. You need to jump, survive and find a purple glowing gemstone. It will be about the size of your hand," he tells me and rubs his chin. "Consider that a favour from your new friend. Usually, I just throw the new ones off the bridge."

  "You have to be kidding me," I say, knowing my eyes are wide and showing all my fear of heights off.

  "Don't go letting me down now, Karma. I'm just starting to like you," Storm says, smirking as he steps closer, hooking his finger in the strap of my bag. "You might want to leave this here with me. Trust me, Karma."

  "Whatever," I say before clearing my throat and pulling my bag off. I shove the bag at him, which only makes him laugh. I am not letting this asshole prove me to be a coward. I am Karma fucking Kismet, and I may be many things, but a coward is not one of them. I climb over the rope of the bridge, keeping my feet on the wooden boards as I hold the rope tightly, my body swaying slightly as I see nothing but darkness below.

  "Do you need me to push you?" The sarcastic asshole chuckles behind me, and I look back, locking my eyes with his for a second before smiling.

  "Never." After the word leaves my lips, I push off the bridge, screaming as I fall.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It doesn't feel like I'm falling for long until my body slams into freezing cold water, my body fully submerging under the still water. I pull my eyes open in the water as I struggle to swim up, but the water burns my eyes for a second until I see nothing but darkness. Deciding that I need to have a look above the surface, I swim up as fast I can, breaking out of the water and gasping in the cold air. I spin around in the water, still seeing nothing but darkness and hearing no sound whatsoever other than my splashing and heavy breaths. It's bloody concerning given the circumstances.

  Knowing I need to make a choice and swim in one direction, I just start swimming in front of me. The water doesn't move once, there are no waves, so it must be a pool or lake, something still which gives me hope that there is an end to it somewhere. I don't swim for more than a minute before I detect light. Finally, I see a shore with glowing rocks hanging from trees that give off enough light for me to see the way. I swim quicker, getting to the shore and dragging myself out of the water.

  "Welcome," a warm, distant voice echoes in my mind, strong enough to make me stumble and fall to the rocks below. I scream as I look down, registering that the shore isn't made of rocks...it's made of bones. I pull myself up, staring around at all the bones that litter the shore and all under the trees. What the hell killed this many?

  "Who are you?" I ask, edging closer to the tree, remembering what Storm said about the rocks. I just need to get one.

  "Your reckoning. If you pass it, you may live and have a gemstone as a gift," the voice responds to me; the pain in my head is just as strong as before. I try to ignore that, every time I move, I’m cracking bones under my feet, and the fact that something killed this many people.

  "And if I fail?" I ask, spinning around when I swear I feel something touch my back.

  "Then you are my meal," the voice simply tells me, this time out loud and sounding so very close to my ear. My breaths come out in smoky puffs as I turn around very slowly, holding in the whimper that threatens to leave my lips when I see the creature in front of me. It’s a dog with three very human looking heads on long necks, and each one of the faces has very sharp teeth. The entire body is covered in white hair, and it has red stains around its mouths.

  "What the hell are you?" I manage to ask through my fear, not knowing which of the heads to look at first as the creature bounces over. It knocks me to the ground, and I freeze in fear as one of the heads leans down and presses its cold lips to my forehead in the blink of an eye. Darkness instantly takes over, making the world disappear into nothing more than a haze. Images flash across my mind like a play, only I have to watch, and I can’t look away. It starts off with me as a toddler, walking to my mum and falling face flat on the floor, crying my eyes out. I don't get a second to really admire my curly hair and cute chubby face before the image changes to me as a seven-year-old. I'm standing in the playground, crying my eyes out because Jimmy Franklin just pulled my favourite hair bobble out and wouldn't give me it back. The image changes again, this time the images pass faster. Everything from my high school prom night to finding out my first boyfriend cheated on me flashes by until we get to the moment where I pressed that lightning charm into my hand, setting off the lightning.

  "You have a good soul. You pass my test...take a gemstone and never return," the voice whispers in my mind as the images fade into darkness. I gasp as I open my eyes, seeing that I am alone on the shore. The pain, happiness, fear and love from the memories feel burnt into my memory so much that it freezes me in place as it overwhelms me. It's too much to feel, to have forced into your mind in such a short amount of time. This test is cruel.

  I eventually sit up, pushing myself to my feet and walking to the tree. I only have to reach a hand out and the vines grow, spreading until a gemstone is hovering above my hand. I wrap my hand around it, and the vine snaps, letting the stone go. The gem glows brightly, the light spreading up my arm, all over my body until it reaches my feet, and then I start to float up in the air. I laugh, feeling nothing but wonder as I float all the way up until I'm in front of a stone ledge, where Storm is stood waiting, holding a hand out. I reach for his hand as I let the stone fall into the water below and Storm pulls me further onto the ledge, smiling down at me.

  "Everyone, welcome Karma Kismet to her new home!" Storm shouts, still holding my hand as the crowd behind him cheers. Maybe he isn't such an asshole after all.

  Chapter Seventeen

  "You can let go of my hand now, or do you need me to hold it, little one?" Storm asks, smirking at me. Nope, I was wrong. He is a total asshole. I pull my hand from his, crossing my arms and glaring up at him as I try to push all the strong emotions from the test out of my mind. His eyes seem to very slowly drift over my body, and I have no doubt my wet clothes are see-through in places. I feel like a drowned rat, but he isn't looking at me like one. God, he is distracting.