“I don’t fucking care.” I stalk toward her and flip the blade once. Twice.
“Dimitrius, please,” she pleads, tears filling her eyes.
The sight gives me pause, and my feet stutter to a stop. I haven’t seen Karma cry in centuries. Not since she was thrust into the role of truly being karma, deciding which way others’ lives would go. Doling out rewards or punishments must be exhausting. Doesn’t absolve her of all the shit she put me through.
I rest the tip of my blade against the base of her throat. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t send you into twilight.”
“I’m the one who gave her the joining spell,” she says in a rush, then squeezes her eyes shut and turns her head away while waiting for my blow. When I don’t move, she peeks at me.
My nostrils flare and I grit my teeth. “What the fuck is a joining spell?”
She swallows hard and the sword tip bobs. “It joins two beings together. Duh.”
“Who?”
“The witch?” She winces. “The one in Hell.”
I glare at her, then drop the sword to my side. I haven’t made up my mind yet, but she clearly has some more explaining to do. Her shoulders sag and relief floods her face.
She smirks at me. “I knew you?—”
My blade whips around and slices through the leather of her satchel. Marbles scatter across the hard ground, and she cries out. When she drops to her hands and knees to gather them again, I step back. Exhaustion crashes into me, and the ache in my neck becomes unbearable. I need to get back to Mari more than I need revenge on my sister.
“Tell me what you did,” I demand as my magic recedes, settling into the occasional snap, crackle, and pop.
“Me? I didn’t do anything. I stumbled on a witch in some basement of some building in some dimension within Hell. We got to chatting and she wanted a joining spell. Itoldher it wouldn’t work. She wanted to try anyways.” She gathers the rest of her marbles and dumps them in the bag, then glances up at me.
“What does that have?—”
“Because she needed to join someone who could protect them. I offered you up.” She sighs, sitting back on her heels. “I didn’t think it would work. I forgot I cursed you.”
Thunder cracks overhead and she yelps. “Forgot?”
She eyes the blade. “If you put that thing away, I’ll keep talking. Otherwise, I’m blipping out and leaving your sorry ass here.”
My chest tightens and I suck in a sharp breath. While I’m sitting here demanding answers, my witch is wondering where I blipped off to. I’m wasting my time. Karma isn’t going to give me anything of importance. I squeeze the hilt as I attempt to get my shit together. The whole sword shatters, raining sparks down my legs.
“Send me back,” I whisper while I stare into the darkness.
“I thought you wanted to know?—”
“I don’t give a fuck. Just break the curse and send me back. Now.”
“Um, well, see, I…can’t.” She scrambles to her feet. “I can. I just can’there. Plus, I can’t break the joining. You’ve gotta do that yourself. Might help to go see the witch. She’s probably still in that cage.”
My eyes snap to hers, and my mind nudges me to remember…something. Omen. The cage. Ludovic. Someone softly crying. Triton with the summoning circle. Mari. The witch. They’re all connected, yet I can’t figure out how. There’s a block in my mind, probably brought on by Karma’s curse.
“Break the curse, Karma.”
“I just told you I can’t. Besides, I don’t know why you’re so butthurt about this curse. It only sends you when someone calls you.”
I dig my nails into my palms, fighting against just leaving. Staying means knowing how to deal with this so I can focus on repairing things with Mari.
Karma’s face swims into view, and I realize I’m listing to the left. “Stop fighting it. You’re just making it worse for yourself. Someone’s thinking about you, needing you.”
“Who?” I croak out.
She shrugs, glancing away. “I’ll work on breaking it. I didn’t know it would be painful for you.”
