Storm Gods - G. Bailey Page 0,8

anything around the world working is a mystery to me.”

“Put the dress and crown on, or you will regret it. Your friend is helpless right now. One slip of a dagger and...,” he drifts off, letting me fill in the blanks. I grit my teeth. Bastard. Neritous smiles as he wins this argument and walks out of the room, leaving me alone with the stunning dress. It’s a deep green, reminding me of the cube in its vibrant colour. It’s super tight, or at least looks it, at the top with an A-line drop and no shoulders. The bottom half spreads out into a princess ball gown that must touch the floor when I have it on. It’s gorgeous, fit for royalty and any higher god to wear. But it’s not me. I reach out, touching the extremely soft silk material and close my eyes, holding back my anger and my urge to rip it into pieces. Remembering Mads, I let the gown go and start undressing. It takes me a good fifteen minutes to get into the dress and get the zipper up. Breathless by the end of it, I try to breathe in, but the dress is fecking tighter than it looks.

Slowly I undo my plaited hair, letting it fall over my shoulders in soft waves before I pick up the gold tiara. I’ve seen it before on the head of my so-called “aunt” in a painting in the house I was in for the games. Why Neritous wants me to wear it when I hated her and killed her, is purely insane. Then again, he is a bastard with crazy ideas, so who knows? The gold tiara looks pretty in my wavy hair, and I hate that it suits me. The diamonds held inside the spiralling gold shine from the light coming through the window, and I breathe in the smell of whatever Dominic is cooking down the hall. I haven’t seen Ruby since this morning, and I know I have to see her before I go to that cube. I need to say goodbye, just in case.

My heart hurts when I think of the guys. How I never got to tell them I love them, and I know it’s weird, but I want them all in my life.

Neritous doesn’t even knock, he just lets himself in. “I do hope you survive this,” he claims, his eyes running over me in a way I don’t like. It’s like I’m his possession and he is seeing how much he can sell me for. “Follow me, or I will force you.”

I don’t respond to him other than sliding on my high heels that go with the dress. I hate that they are beautiful and I want to keep them. The silver heels are hidden completely under my dress as I head through the door and across the clearing. I see Dominic at a table, and his eyes fill with tears when he sees me. I have to look away before he makes me cry, and I clear my throat.

I only have to live through touching the soul of the goddess of life. One of the most powerful goddesses in the entire world.

No pressure.

Fecking hell, I can’t breathe. The closer we get to the door, the more it feels like I’m going to pass out, and I dig my nails into my palms to keep myself awake. Neritous unlocks the door, and I follow him in, coming face to face with the sphere and the cube inside of it. My nerves only get worse when I feel the power, feel the call to it and all the destruction it no doubt promises.

I gulp as Neritous shoves his hand into my back, pushing me to the edge of the sphere.

“I will kill you when this is all over. You realise that?” I breathlessly state the words, a promise I fully intend to keep. “For the pain you put my mother through, for all the lies you have spoken, and for the karma you are very much in need of. I know why I haven’t been given a karma job since your name appeared on my hand...it is because you are alive. Death is your karma, and it is my job to deliver it to you.”

“I have escaped karma my entire life. You will be no different,” he responds to me. “Now take the power we both know calls to you. Stalling will not save you.”

I scream as he shoves me into