Page 6 of To Hell and Back
Kingston’s lips quirked up in a smirk. “I still can’t believe the big bad son of Lucifer has a cute little kitten as a familiar.”
Braxton shot him a vicious glare. “Don’t think I can’t kill you in my own living room. I’m the God of freaking Souls, after all. I can rip yours right out of your body.”
Kingston just laughed in response.
“Please, don’t,” Autumn pleaded, sounding more amused than worried. “I really like his soul right where it is.”
“Aww, thanks, sweetheart.”
“It’s not like I even wanted a damn familiar,” Braxton grumbled. “I mean, seriously. What other god has a fucking familiar?”
“Sapphire and Raiden have their dragons,” Devon pointed out. “Oh, and then there is your dad.”
“He doesn’t count. His psycho ass has an army of hellhounds, not familiars.”
Autumn raised her hand. “I want one.”
“You can have mine,” Braxton offered.
Devon playfully slapped his arm. “Don’t say that. You’ll hurt Oreo’s feelings.”
“She’s a damn cat.”
“So? Animals have feelings, too. Oreo is adorable, and you love her. Admit it,” Devon demanded, poking her finger against Braxton’s chest. “You wouldn’t have brought her home otherwise.”
“We brought her home because you wanted to,” Braxton muttered.
“You decided to keep her as soon as she sat on your foot,” Devon countered. “I know since I’m in your head, mate. You love her.”
Braxton kissed his mate’s forehead. “I love you.”
“Maybe we should pop over to Familiar Field at Aegis Academy to see if you connect with any animals that show up,” Kingston suggested to Autumn. “What type of familiar do you want? A cat? A rabbit?”
“Actually, I would love a hellhound.”
He blanched a bit. “Hellhounds aren’t normal animals, sweetheart. They are unstoppable beasts created from devil fire and dark magic.”
“Which makes them even cooler.”
“What’s wrong with hellhounds?” Devon asked. “I love mine. Snix is the best.”
As if sensing its master talking about him, a small brown dog appeared on Devon’s lap in a puff of dark smoke. His stubby tail wagged happily as she stroked him and kissed his head in greeting. When he turned, Seneca saw that he had glowing red eyes and elongated canine teeth that clearly confirmed he was not a normal animal.
After getting showered with affection by Devon, the hellhound disappeared in another puff of smoke. Then, to her utter shock, he reappeared right in front of Seneca. Only this time, he was twice as large as he had been a few seconds ago.
As he stalked closer, Seneca prayed that the hellhound didn’t see her as a potential food source. To her surprise, instead of biting her, the hellhound licked her cheek with its long tongue before lying down and curling its large body around her. Well, the cat, not her. She mentally shuddered as the big beast’s eyes closed and he let out a snort of smoke from his nostrils as he fell asleep.
This really was turning out to be the strangest day.
She felt an odd sensation, like something was trying to push and pull her at the same time. Even though she couldn’t move, she found herself curling up against the scary hellhound. Her head felt like it was going to explode, and her ears were going to pop from extreme pressure, then the impression slowly dissipated.
“Uh oh,” Devon groaned. “We put Oreo to sleep while your soul is inside of her, but I think she is trying to wake up. She and Snix like to nap together in front of the fireplace, and I think she senses his presence.”
“Then we better get to the point,” Braxton announced. “I’m not sure how long we can keep her soul inside the cat before they start to fight one another for dominance.”
That did not sound good.
“Okay, shit. Now, I feel pressured. Let me give you a quick recap. The Realm of Souls, or the Hell Realm, isn’t the horrible place that people think it is. All of the souls within the six realms end up here to go through a reprocessing cycle. While some souls are immediately reborn, others are punished for what they have done in their previous life,” Devon explained.
