“I’ve got an idea,” I mutter, yet she continues as if I haven’t spoken.
“Not to mention, everyone seems to think I can’t heaprewardson people.Oh, Karma will get them. Don’t you worry.I’m not a fucking genie or some harbinger of death, for fuck’s sake. I thought if I was…happy, others would think I wasn’t?—”
“Incompetent?”
She lets out a humorless laugh. “Whatever. Are you really still mad at me?”
“Yes.” I can already see the question in her eyes. “You sent me to the bottom of a volcano in Odium. Then you told everyone I was dead.”
“Oh, it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
I throw my hands in the air. “You had a fucking funeral, Karma.”
“Except you weren’t really dead. You’re fine. Besides, the only reason I sent you to the volcano was because you pissed me off.”
“Oh yeah? And what exactly did I do?”
She purses and taps her lips. “I don’t remember, but it wasn’t very nice.”
“You trashed my apartment. Sold half my shit. And tried to get them to demote me instead of enshrined like a demon of my station would normally be. Whatever I did certainly didn’t deserve all ofthat.”
“Probably not, but you got me back. You sent me into the Mariana Trench. Do you know how dark it is down there? And thecreatures.” Her whole body shudders.
I pace away from her, shaking out my hands. I know I’ll eventually forgive her. This is always the way it is with us. One of us fucks with the other and the retaliation begins. It’s never-ending and is becoming exhausting. I want off this ride. It used to be fun and quirky, but now we’re just doing it out of habit. Something’s gotta give or we’re going to end up enemies instead of siblings.
“Can we just be done with this?” I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “And could you please clothe me?”
She snaps her fingers, and a toga drapes around my frame. Her eyes narrow. “Wait, be done with what? Us? Are you breaking up with me?”
I roll my eyes. “You’re my sister, not my soulbound, Karma. We can’t break up. You really need to get a grip on context clues when you watch human shows.”
“So, you’re just stuck with me and you hate me, then. Got it. Well, now I don’t feel so bad for cursing you.”
Slowly, I turn and glare at her. “It was you?”
She must not catch the warning in my tone. She’s too busy off in her own head, probably thinking up the next way to torture me. All this time I thought it was some rogue witch or a demon with a grudge who employed a witch when all along it was my fucking sister. I didn’t think she’d go so far as to curse me. I didn’t even know she knewhowto curse demons.
Fuck, I accused Mari of being the culprit. For nothing. I was an asshole and a vindictive one at that. I wanted to hurt her, plain and simple—inflict a bit of the same pain I was feeling. The betrayal in her eyes erased everything I’d built with her.Ibetrayed her. Shame hits me hard and fuels my rage toward Karma.
“You bitch. Do you know what you did? Do you know who you hurt?”
Her shocked gaze meets mine, and my magic flares to life. Nets of electricity encase my hands and arms. I stalk toward her as my fury alone heats the cave. Karma holds up her hands to ward me off, but I won’t be stopped this time.
She’s pushed too far. She’s always gotten away with everything because of who she is, of what she can do. Her power’s gone unchecked for too long. This time, she fucked with the wrong demon.
My wings burst from my back, and ominous thunder rolls overhead. Karma shuffles back until she hits the rocky wall. Wind whips around her, tangling her hair in the crevices of the cave. A sword forms in my fist, and sparks flicker along the blade.
“Wait,” Karma screeches, straightening her arms. As if her puny hands will stop me from gutting her.
She won’t die, but she’ll have a hell of a time clawing her way back to this dimension. Or any dimension, really. A little time in the void will do her good. She can think about all the trouble she’s caused.
“You tookmonthsaway from me,” I growl. “Time I could have spent?—”
I shake my head as pain stabs through my temple. If I’m pulled away right now because of her fucking curse, I’ll make her death that much more painful. It’ll be payback for the time she dropped me in shark-infested waters in Waterworld and Omen had to save my ass. Our little rivalry has gotten out of control, and I aim to end it now. She’ll think twice about fucking with my life again.
Then I can go back to Mari. I’ll explain what happened and beg her forgiveness. All the other issues I thought impeded us from being together wash away in the wake of my rage. I can fix this. One little swipe and it’ll all be over.
“It wasn’t a true curse,” she yells, cringing away from me.
