Storm Gods - G. Bailey Page 0,67

but then Seth sucks in a breath and opens his eyes. The wound on his chest is already beginning to close up, and I kiss him urgently when he meets my gaze. “Karma…” he murmurs.

“It’s okay,” I tell him, stroking his hair. “It’s okay, I’m here. We all are.”

Killian drops to his knees to pull his brother into a tight hug while Storm gives Seth a firm clap on the shoulder. “We almost lost you, there.”

“But we didn’t,” Killian replies, looking at me admiringly and then reaching out to kiss me passionately. Storm follows, embracing me tightly, and for several moments, none of us says anything, unable to keep our hands off each other in our gratitude to be alive.

The sound of Mads clearing her throat is what finally pulls my attention away. “I hate to interrupt this little love fest,” she says, grinning, “but in case you haven’t noticed, we’re kind of in the middle of a war zone.”

I smile a little, sitting back on my haunches. “Not anymore,” I reply quietly. The war is over.

Chapter 20

Green magic spins and twists around the stone doors, making them crack every few seconds. Sweat drips down the back of my neck after a few minutes, and after what feels like much longer, my hands start to shake. I turn my gaze to Storm, Killian and Seth standing on my left. They are sending the same amount of power from themselves as I am, but I can see the tension on their faces.

This isn’t easy work. I close my eyes and turn back to the doors. This time I remember everything this day represents, how everyone in the gods community is watching us and needing to see us as leaders. I scream as I push more magic from my soul, and as I open my eyes, the doors blast into nothing but dust. The life magic zooms back into its owners—me, Storm and the twins—like a button clicking on, and I fall to my knees, breathless.

“I got you, little one,” Storm murmurs, wrapping an arm around my back and lifting me to his side.

Seth steps to my other side, taking my hand and lifting it to his mouth. He kisses my hand once as Killian winks at me from Storm’s other side.

“We did it!” I say, looking back at the blown-up entrance to the gods’ correction facility. After the war, there was no one left but the twins and Storm to figure out how to lead the rest of the world. The humans are angry, rightly so, and the gods are scared of the power we hold within us. They are scared of higher gods, period.

For the interest of the world, we made a community where the actions of gods and goddesses, no matter their power or place in the world, can be judged. It seemed only fair this was a voting system, and we did a worldwide vote for the thirty seats of the community judges. Surprisingly, all my guys and I were chosen. Along with Pey and Mads. The rest of the judges were strangers to me but, turns out, very good people under all the power. One of the first things we judged on, before getting to the crimes committed during the time we had no leaders, was the state of the gods’ correction facility and how no one there needed to be held captive.

“I’m sure our new legal system will work wonders. Don’t worry,” Seth whispers to me, almost like he can read my thoughts. Our new legal system means to be found guilty and charged, there must be a majority vote. Then they will be shown to the creature in this prison, and if they survive, we will find out how right or wrong we were.

My thoughts come to a halt as I see a familiar face walking out of the dust and into the light. Coxen doesn’t look at me or the guys, neither do any of the other former prisoners. They just look up at the sky, the beautiful sky above them. The way the wind blows through the trees.

How the world looks when you’re finally free.

No one says a word, letting them enjoy the sound of nature. The sound of peace. A little girl and boy, only about three or four, run out into the trees and start spinning around. They giggle and laugh, the noise filling the silence, even as more children sneak out from behind the adults and join them.

“Hello, everyone,” Storm