Chương 12: 012

The thug lurched, his knife lifting just enough from my throat for air to burn its way back into my lungs.

"You-."

"Dennis, call the cops!" I barked. Relief flared when Anna was yanked out of sight, the door slamming shut behind her. My captor spat a curse, but I barely registered it. I twisted against his grip, fighting harder now that it had slackened. She was a witness, and no self-respecting thug left witnesses alive. No matter what happened to me, I couldn't let him get to her or Dennis. I slammed my weight into him, knocking him off balance, grappling for control of the hand still holding the knife at my throat.

Dennis had to be calling the police by now. I just had to buy time. Easier said than done. He had height, reach, and strength on his side, and I wasn't exactly in peak condition. I wasn't fat, but I wasn't slim either. After years of scraping by half-starved, I'd never minded the weight I'd gained. It meant stability. It meant I was doing better. Now, as my muscles screamed and began to give, it worked against me. The thug hissed and jerked the blade across my neck. Fire bloomed, hot and blinding.

Blood slid warm down my throat. I didn't stop. Just a little longer. Instinct took over. I clawed for his face—eyes, nose, throat—anything vulnerable. Pain pulsed in my neck, but I ignored it, digging in with everything I had left. He cursed and slammed me into the wall hard enough to knock the air from my lungs. Then, it was over. The knife punched into my chest. A white-hot flare followed as he dragged it downward, his other arm shielding his face. Fire carved through me in its wake. My legs buckled.

I staggered, then collapsed, my body refusing to obey no matter how desperately my mind screamed at it to move. I couldn't die now. Anna wasn't safe. The thug was already staggering toward the door, face slick with blood, one eye cradled in his hand as he cursed under his breath. The edges of my vision darkened, closing in. The unfairness of it all hit like bile in my throat. I knew what he'd hit. I knew what that kind of damage meant. I wasn't going to make it.

But Anna and Dennis didn't deserve to die for some greedy clinic's bottom line. They were so young. They still had lives ahead of them. Damn it, I can't save them. I can't even move. My fingers wouldn't twitch. My legs wouldn't answer. The thug's hand closed around the door handle. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. If someone didn't stop him-. Someone, anyone, please! That's fucking it. Karma's voice growled through me, low and lethal.

That piece of shit isn't getting away with stabbing my brat. Then, everything stopped. The thug froze mid-step, hand still on the door. The clock's ticking died in the same instant. Then, the world held its breath. The moment stretched, unnatural and suffocating, until the air itself grew heavy, charged with something vast and unfamiliar. It came together, swirling in a mesmerizing show of lights, stretching and taking humanoid form. … God? The thought drifted through me as the presence took shape. A woman.

Power rolled off her in waves, warping the air. I blinked against the creeping darkness to take her in. God… was a woman? Long, blood-red hair spilled down her back. Obsidian eyes swept the room, sharp and merciless. When they landed on the thug, her lips curled in open disgust.

"Pathetic sack of skin," she said coolly.

"I can't wait until I get my hands on you." Oh, god was a vengeful woman. Wait. That voice, it couldn't be…

"Karma?" I croaked. Her mouth curved into a thin, dangerous smile, eyes blazing.

"Damn right, kid. Told you I was real. But I can gloat later." Her gaze snapped to my chest, to the blood spreading fast. Something darkened in her expression.

"I can't fix that," she said grimly.

"Only option is Nexus. You're coming with me, because you are not dying on me today." Her voice carried something otherworldly, wrapping around my thoughts until I felt dizzy, though that might've just been the blood loss. If Karma was real… Then Nexus was real. Everything she'd told me. All of it. She wanted to take me there.

"No-." I tried to lift a hand toward the door.

"I can't go yet. He'll hurt Anna. Please, save-." Blood bubbled up, cutting me off in a violent coughing fit. When it passed, Karma nodded slowly.

"I know, but this world isn't my domain. Most of my power lies in Nexus." Despair surged, the darkness clawing harder. I slammed my head back against the wall, pain blooming fresh and sharp, just enough to keep me anchored. Karma was a spirit. One step below a god in her world. There had to be a way. I wouldn't go anywhere until Anna was safe. I just…Had to figure out how to save her.