off, nearly hitting Damien in the process. “What the hell?” he yells, but there’s no need to answer his question.
Neritous, Kjetli, and Ivar walk up the front steps. I feel paralysed with fear as I watch Neritous reach out nonchalantly and push open the door, as if he were walking into a convenience store and not forcibly breaking into someone’s home. The others follow him, turning to look at us with vaguely amused expressions on their faces. Like this is all some big joke to them. It’s enough to make me clench my hands into fists, staring them down with seething rage on my face.
“Ah, Karma,” Neritous says, pausing in the foyer and putting his hands behind his back. “So good to see you again.”
“Wish I could say the same thing to you,” I spit back. “Actually, wait. No, I don’t.”
He gives a condescending chuckle. “You really are a spitfire, aren’t you, Karma? I guess I should have expected as much, considering you’re my daughter.”
“Don’t you dare call me that,” I hiss. “You’re no father of mine.”
Neritous lets out a long sigh, shrugging. “If you say so, Karma. But the sooner you can learn to embrace it, the easier this will be for all of us.”
“Oh, sure,” Killian snaps, taking a step forward. “Just like you forced her to ‘embrace’ her powers back in the States? Just like when you turned your own children against the rest of the gods?”
Neritous rounds on Killian, his eyes flashing. “That’s awfully bold coming from someone who abandoned their station in favour of following a pretty face around the world,” he says coldly. Killian bristles at that, and I start forward, but Seth’s hand flies out to stop me. I know Neritous is just trying to get a rise out of me, but I can’t help it. He knows exactly which buttons to press, exactly what to say to go right for the jugular. “What, don’t you agree?” he asks, crossing his arms and taking a step forward. I wish I could say I didn’t flinch away, but I do, and I hate myself for it. “You two were some of the most feared justice gods in the entire world,” he continues, taking another step closer. “You had the supernatural community in the palms of your hands. All that power, wasted, and for what? A little girl who doesn’t even understand her own birthright?” He shakes his head like he’s disappointed.
“Don’t listen to him,” hisses Mads, and out of the corner of my eye I can see blue sparks beginning to flicker around her hair like a halo. I’m not sure she’s even aware it’s happening, but the extent of her power is clear, and so is the extent of her anger. “He’s trying to make you turn on us.”
“Believe me,” Seth replies grimly, dropping his hand, but not before giving mine a gentle squeeze, “we’re not going anywhere.”
“That’s a shame,” Neritous replies. “Well, no matter, I suppose. There will be others along to replace you sooner or later. That’s the way of things.”
“The way of things?” I demand, my face twisted with anger.
“Karma,” dad says, clearly worried that I’m about to make the situation worse—and honestly, who can blame him?—but I don’t listen.
“You think this is right?” I ask, sweeping an arm around at the destruction that’s already taken place. “You think this is the way things should be? Innocent gods being thrown in prison without a fair trial? Making decisions that kill countless humans, all for the sake of your precious new world order?”
“Last I checked,” Neritous replies, his voice still sounding aggravatingly level headed, “you were the one who levelled that city. Not me.”
“You made me,” I protest, practically yelling now. I know I should be making a plan, trying to find a way out of this, especially since the twins are still staring at us with their hawk-like eyes, but I can’t help it. My anger and fear are combining into a hurricane of emotions, none of them useful in the moment. “Just like you made the rest of your kids help you.”
“Made?” Neritous asks, spreading his arms out and looking to the twins for backup. “Since when do these fine young men not want to be here?”
“He’s right,” Ivar affirms, his expression grim. “We’re here because we want to be. Father has a vision, Karma. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner things can go back to the way they’re meant to be.”
“Things were never meant to be