Page 7 of To Hell and Back
“And if a soul is really evil, they are immediately destroyed,” Braxton added.
Devon nodded. “Right, like serial killers. Other souls have to reach a certain level of purity before they can move on to whatever stage is next. We’ve streamlined the sorting process, but we noticed something strange the other day that we haven’t seen before. That brings us to how you ended up here.”
“Souls usually appear in the Hell Realm as blue orbs of light, but yours was pulsing red,” Braxton said. “When I pulled you out of the river and reviewed your life, I immediately sensed you weren’t meant to die. At least, not yet.”
What the hell did that mean?
“It means, you have a chance for a redo,” Devon exclaimed. “You have the opportunity to go back and fix your life.”
“One,” Braxton repeated. “One chance only. If you fuck up and fail, you will end up back here to be recycled with the rest of the souls.”
“Around the same time Brax was pulling you out of the River of Souls, we also felt a disturbance in the force,” Kingston interjected. “Autumn has never been pulled all the way to another realm for a revenge case, so this was completely new for us.”
Seneca appreciated the movie reference, but she didn’t understand the rest of what he’d said.
“As the new Goddess of Revenge, I get pulled towards individuals who deserve revenge. Usually, I have to be at least within a certain proximity to a person, but I guess that is changing. Or maybe you are just a special case. This is my first time dealing with someone who is already dead so I’m not exactly sure how this is supposed to work,” Autumn admitted.
“Not being sure how shit works is kind of normal around here,” Braxton said dryly. “It’s not like this type of magic comes with instruction manuals.”
“I’ve basically been winging it since I was given my powers,” Autumn admitted. “But after reviewing your life, I know you definitely qualify for a chance to get revenge on those who wronged you. We are pretty confident that the four of us can send you back. I know it sounds crazy, but I guess this is a new aspect of our powers we haven’t tapped into yet.”
“Yeah, I think we can do it, but we don’t know what you need to accomplish to be allowed to stay in the new timeline.” Braxton paused, then added, “We aren’t sure how far back you will get sent either. It could be a few days, weeks, or hell, even years.”
Hearing that made hope spring to life inside Seneca. The idea of reliving her entire life from birth was rather daunting, but if she got sent back far enough to save her parents and friends, that would be a gift beyond measure.
“We haven’t been gods for very long, so if you return to a time before any of us have met, we won’t be able to help you,” Devon pointed out.
Autumn raised her hand again. “I will definitely think you are crazy if you contact me pre-godhood since I barely had enough magic to be considered a witch back then.”
“You can try to contact me for help at the firehouse near Trifecta University. But before that, I was in the Supernatural Prison so I won’t be much help,” Kingston explained.
Recognition snapped into place.
Seneca might not have officially met Kingston, but she had seen him before. She had also heard about him since she and Shadow had been friends with Thayer Katz, a tiger shifter-fairy hybrid who was also a firefighter at the station close to the university.
Kingston grinned. “You’re friends with Thayer? Feel free to reach out to us when you go back, then. I still might think you are crazy if you tell me this story, but I’ll still try to help. I’m sure Thayer will, too. He loves shit like this.”
“I probably won’t help you.” Braxton sighed when Devon elbowed him in the side. “What? I’m just being honest. You remember what I was like before I met you, mate. I wasn’t exactly very personable.”
Devon flashed him a grin. “Like you are now?”
He laughed. “I’m better…because of you.” He sighed again as he focused back on Seneca. “If you really get stuck, you can try to contact me. Tell me that you’ve been here at Guardian’s Gate. No, that won’t help. Better yet, tell me you know who my mate is. That should catch my attention long enough to listen to you.”
“Be careful about that,” Autumn warned. “We have to be cautious about changing too many things in the past. Whatever you do could create a paradox that could alter the future. What if you don’t become the God of Souls? Or if you don’t end up meeting Devon?”
“Fuck that. Don’t contact us,” Braxton ordered.
Devon sighed. “I think she just means Seneca has to be careful about sharing information about the future.”
“I won’t risk you,” Braxton growled. “We’re giving her the chance to be reborn, but she has to figure out how to fix her own life in order to remain in the new timeline.”
“Unfortunately, I think he is right. Revenge is a tricky business and should remain personal,” Autumn said. “Just focus on what you want to change in your own life.”
“Don’t go back and tell too many people what happened or try to interfere in events that don’t directly relate to you,” Kingston emphasized. “Something like trying to stop a war might seem like a good thing, but that could end up with disastrous results for too many other people.”
“It also might attract the attention of other gods. You do not want that to happen because most of them are raging assholes,” Braxton stressed.
Since that sounded rather ominous, Seneca would definitely heed their advice.
