The woman had crept back into the shadowy corner of the cell. She settled, the rattling of her chains quieting.
"You did that," came the quiet response.
"Pretty sure I would've killed myself, if I had the ability," Deidre said. She wiped tears from her face. "How can I heal without my mate?"
"The Dark One." It was a scoff. "The Great Imbalance!"
Deidre shifted to sit comfortably, exhausted. Her stomach was hurting again, and she gritted her teeth until the discomfort was gone.
"You had the ability to heal but slowly. I sped it up," the goddess said, calming.
"You're a deity, aren't you?" Deidre asked. "Fate has eyes like yours."
"I know. My brother comes to visit me sometimes."
"He's your brother and won't help you out?"
"Long story," the deity in the corner sighed.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Deidre thought. If Fate was one thing, it was unpredictable. "Why are you locked up down here in the first place?"
"Deity business is messy."
Deidre smiled faintly. "I know."
"You are the first demon she hasn't killed."
"She?" Deidre's brow furrowed. "You mean you?"
"Yes."
"I'm not a … well … I wasn't born a demon."
"They're hatched. You were born," the woman corrected absently. "She saw that, though. You were turned."
"Saw?" Deidre waited.
"When you are balanced, all is revealed, from the moment you entered the world until the moment you take her hand. The content of your soul is hers to examine."
Deidre shivered at the explanation. "Who are you?"
"The Great Balancer, the scales of justice in a world that does not like it."
"Do you have a name?"
"Karma." The word was a grunt.
Oh, shit. Deidre didn't speak for a long moment. She'd met the devil, Death, and Fate. Never in her imagination did she believe Karma was real, too.
"Your scales are severely off balance. You have experience such evil and so little joy." Karma's voice grew soft. "Karma cannot let that injustice stand."
"So you didn't kill me because I've been tortured and killed a couple times over?" Deidre asked, recovering herself. "Kinda seems like ending it all would be a better alternative."
"Not the way it works."
Deities and their bizarre rules. "I never thought I'd like … I mean, meet … um, like to meet Karma."
"No one likes Karma, but everyone is supposed to meet her."
Deidre felt a little bad at the quiet note in the deity's voice. "They can't if you're here. Why are you in prison?"
"Immortals and deities don't like Karma either."
Deidre gave a husky laugh, startled by the disgruntled note in the woman's voice, as if the deity was truly hurt that no one liked her.