Page 46 of Stuck with my Frenemy
“I assume you have the hammer.” A cloud of smoke puffed at me and surrounded my head.
“Oh, dear Cupid, it’s so nice to—” Cherry squealed when I grabbed her to stop her from darting at Karma, my short nails ripping the skin of her forearm. “Owww.”
“Forgive Cherry, she’s just excited we were successful at our task. We have it.” Yanking Aphrodite’s daughter to the side to get her out of Karma’s reach, I snatched Thor’s hammer and trotted down the few steps to stab it at the creature who saw all of us as nothing more than insects stuck under her shoe.
“I see.” Karma didn’t take it.
Fingers wrapped around the weapon in a white-knuckled grip, my arm shook from the effort it took to keep holding it out to her. I didn’t lower it, however, because I didn’t dare show any weakness in front of her. “Karma was delivered for the slight of stealing from a god as well. It’s done.”
I watched the tip of the cigarette glow when she took another drag, her cheeks hollowing before she blew another cloud at my face. My eyes watered, but I kept my face expressionless. All I had to do was wait her out until she took the hammer and left. I could do it without showing any emotion, I was sure of it. Any moment now, she would snatch it from me and leave.
Any moment.
“Forgive Ebony, she is still learning manners,” Cherry huffed from the porch and rushed to join us. My body went cold. “She’s doing amazing, by the way, she just needed some time.”
Panic choked me when she wiggled between me and Karma, and without giving anyone time to stop her, Cherry threw herself at the creature all of us feared. Hugging her for all she was worth, Aphrodite’s daughter went as far as rocking side to side, while Karma’s expression looked like we had shoved the hammer up her ass.
“I totally approve of the outfit, by the way.” Stepping back to hold Karma at arm’s length while I was frozen in place, Cherry looked her up and down. “The tie is a perfect touch, and the white brings out your pearl-like complexion. Let’s work on the make up next, yeah? Start with a bronzer because that blanched face does nothing for you.”
Even the two humans behind me sucked in a breath at Cherry’s audacity.
Unfortunately, that brought Karma’s attention to them. Head tilting like a bird of prey, she zeroed-in on Ash and his brother, forgetting Cherry’s antics, thank all the hells. My sigh was lodged in my throat when her power slammed into me and sucked all the oxygen from my lungs.
“And who do we have here?” The raspy sound of Karma’s voice had me shivering in my boots.
“Just our mates.” Cherry drowned any excuse I was ready to throw Karma’s way. “Isn’t it great? We solve crimes, slather karma left and right like it’s going out of style, plus we find our mates. I can’t thank you enough for giving us this adventure. You are literally the bestest.”
“Mates, you say. How interesting.”
When interest glittered in her predatory gaze, panic gripped me, because she could kill those two men where they stood with shocked looks, probably from seeing her with their own eyes. Karma was a presence none of us were immune to, not even the gods. All arguments on the humans’ behalf died on my tongue when Karma wrapped those talon-like nails around Cherry’s arm, shoving her aside hard enough that the woman stumbled before she righted herself with a hurt expression plastered all over her pretty face.
I saw red.
“Don’t touch her.” My snarl shot out like a bullet in the silence, freezing Karma with her foot an inch off the ground.
For the first time, Cherry said nothing and shuffled toward me until she stood at my back. My extended arm trembled when Karma turned a furious gaze on me, and I swallowed hard. This was it. I could tell. I felt Death tap me on the shoulder, ready to carry me away just as the faceless sentinels moved right at me. Fuck Karma and all her arrogant bullshit. Cherry just wanted for everyone to like her. She didn’t deserve for this bitch to shove her away like she was rotten fruit.
My chin jutted out as I felt Cherry’s hand press on my back.
I was ready.
Head cocked unnaturally, Karma’s hand rose in the air, stopping her executioners from descending on me. We stared at each other, her with an unreadable look in her freaky, cold eyes, and me with determination I never thought I’d feel. I was done letting assholes push everyone around simply because they could. It ended there. Fuck all the hierarchy they pushed on us because it suited them.
“You would defy me for her?” The softly spoken question was the scariest thing I’d heard in my life, and I’d spent way too long in my mother’s dungeons.
“Her name is Cherry.” I heard myself say from some detached place outside of my body. “And she is a living being who deserves to be treated that way. Even by you.”
“Does she now?”
I just stared at Karma.
“Interesting.” Her smile felt different that time, and I had no idea why, but it was more terrifying than thinking I was about to die.
What the fuck did I just do?
“Lucky for you, little girl, I am needed elsewhere.” Karma’s hand lifted excruciatingly slow before she plucked the hammer from my hand. “But be aware, this is not over. You and I will finish this conversation the moment I am done with my engagement.”
“I’ll be ready.” If she thought I’d be crying and begging for forgiveness, she had another thing coming. Loki’s words swirled in my head, and at that very moment, I believed him with every fiber of my being.
