Page 8 of Marked

I blink. “What the fuck are you going on about?”

“Why do you think hell is depicted in several different ways in your literature? Think of all the mythologies and folktales within the land of the living. They are all correct. Different afterlives exist, but all within one underworld,” they explain.

My lips purse together. “So, one person comes to our realm while someone else goes another, but they’ll all be in the same underworld?” I rub my chin, thinking about all the possible different hells. “Is it similar to the different continents in the land of the living?”

“In a way, yes.”

“That complicates the shit out of things. And here I thought just the Greeks got it right,” I mumble.

“Every culture has it correct,” they reiterate. “There is no one correct afterlife.”

“I get it,” I sigh and pull at the hem of the t-shirt once again. My modesty doesn’t normally bother me, but Cerberus has a way of making me feel vulnerable. I don’t quite like being half-naked in front of the guardian. My brow furrows again, and I meet their crimson stare. “Does that mean there are other guardians of the underworld?”

“Yes,” Cerberus answers. “Each realm has their own being who judges the dead.”

I glance down at the cool sand between my toes. If I had landed somewhere else during my near-death experience, would I still be alive? Would they have given me the same choice Cerberus did? Or, what if they had just let me go? If they didn’t make me mark souls for them?

“What are you pondering?” A triplet asks curiously.

“My life choices,” I mumble, looking at the vast dark grey around me. At the void of nothing that surrounds the Styx. Cerberus once told me there’s a whole city on the other side of the river and that this is only the entrance to it. Part of me wants to see it, but the majority hopes I never do.

“We must discuss your failure.”

I run my hand through my damp hair, knowing it will stay wet until I’m back in my physical body. “Like I said, it wasn’t my fault. It’s not fair to punish me for something I couldn’t control.”

They cross their arms, but only one says, “We have taken this into consideration, especially since the soul in question has ceased to exist.”

“So, you are not here to be punished,” another explains.

“We are warning you and giving you another mark,” the third adds.

I bristle at their tone. “I’m not going to like this.”

“Perhaps not. The being that killed your mark does not show up on our radar. The only reason for this would be due to the fact that they are from a different realm.”

I blink at them and try to make sense of their statement. “You mean, they’re also from the underworld?”

“We assume so.”

I mimic their action, crossing my arms over my chest. “Let me guess, you want me to mark the killer?”

“Yes.”

“You’re going to drag someone from one hell to another? Is that going to be an issue?” Is that even possible? “And how the fuck am I supposed to take on someone like you?”

They preen, each one standing a little taller. “There is no one like us.”

I wave my hand at them. “You know what I mean.”

“You will accomplish your task by being smarter and swifter. People do not know what you are, Valkyrie. It’s highly likely that this entity does not either, especially since they are from a different realm,” they explain. “Find who stole our mark from us and mark them in return.”

“You seem to have more confidence in me than I do.” Damn, I want a smoke. And maybe a shot of tequila. “What happens if I don’t mark this...person? Is that even the right word?”

They ignore my last question. “Then they will continue killing.”

I frown. “Won’t they keep killing even if I do mark them? You won’t get them until they die.”

“If they are an underworld creature then they won’t die regardless,” they point out. “But if they are marked for our territory, we can at least do something about it. We can force them here if we must.”

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