Prologue
The Hell Realm, Guardian’s Gate…
“So, I havea new idea I want to discuss with you.”
Braxton Lightbringer, God of Souls, Prince of Hell, and newly discovered Death of the Four Horsemen, wanted to groan at his beloved mate’s declaration. He wasn’t a male who was scared of much. He’d survived being stabbed, poisoned, and tortured, all while literally being raised in the fires of hell, but those simple words had enough power to make him extremely nervous.
There was no use denying that Devon was a certified genius who often came up with brilliant ideas. However, all of her recent brainstorms ended up with him being roped into doing things he would rather avoid. Like having dinner with his psychotic family at least once a week. Or joining the Supernatural Council as a temporary member. Then, there was the latest scheme she had convinced him to do, which involved sending dead souls back in time to be reborn so they could claim revenge against the people who wronged them.
He had to admit that was a pretty fucking cool concept, but he was also surprised that it had actually worked. They’d had help putting the whole thing together from the Goddess of Revenge and her mate, but finding the deserving souls worthy of being sent back was something only Braxton could do.
Of course, it made more sense once they discovered that sending people back in time to alter their own deaths was actually one of Braxton’s unique Horsemen powers. Being the new Death of the fabled Four Horsemen was something he was still figuring out, but, thankfully, the return of War and Conquest made that a whole lot easier.
The first attempt at sending someone back had turned out well enough, although discovering that it had happened before he even knew it was a possibility was sort of a mind fuck. Their initial test subject, Seneca, had successfully been sent back before her untimely demise. While she had been trying to change her fate, she’d met her mate, an ancient reaper named Killian Black. Together, they had figured out how to alter the events that had originally led to her death and earned the right to remain in the new timeline.
Braxton had known Killian for years, so that had helped him believe them when the couple had confessed what had happened. It made his fucking head pound just thinking about everything that could have gone wrong by messing with the past. If they had fucked up Braxton’s life or gotten in the way of him meeting his mate, he would have gleefully murdered them.
Thankfully, everything had worked out well in the end.
He and Devon had become good friends with Killian and Seneca over the past few months. They always had a lot to talk about since they were part of a small group of people who knew that Seneca had been reborn. Over the past year, Killian and Seneca had done their best to make sure they didn’t interfere with the flow of current events. However, even if some things had changed, fate had a funny way of making sure that some important matters weren’t interrupted.
Now, Killian and Seneca were in charge of dealing with the group of bad-tempered reapers who had recently woken from their magical stasis. That was a relief for Braxton since he had been worried that duty would have fallen in his lap. It wasn’t like he didn’t have enough shit to do already.
Being a god definitely had its perks, but it could also be a pain in the ass.
Despite his new status, he was still far too young and inexperienced to rein in a bunch of ancient reapers. Not onlywere they extremely pissed off at being trapped by a powerful sleep spell, they weren’t exactly willing to listen to someone they didn’t know. Catching up on centuries of current events was a long, annoying, arduous process, and they needed a guide they could trust to help them adjust to their new lives. Because of that, Braxton was grateful someone else had taken on the task.
He was even more relieved that someone wasn’t his father.
The King of Hell wasn’t particularly helpful or trustworthy, although he liked to claim differently. Hell, he’d almost started a war with one of the newly awakened reapers on the first day they’d woken up because of a simple misunderstanding. Lucifer might have been friendly with some of the reapers, but leaving their education and care in his hands would have been a monumental mistake. Thankfully, becoming the reapers’ caretaker wasn’t something that interested him.
And that was best for everyone involved.
Unfortunately, what did interest the King of Hell was helping his daughter-in-law with whatever crazy ideas she came up with. Braxton was grateful his father and Devon got along so well, but sometimes the two of them could be downright scary whenever they joined forces.
The truth was, no matter what she wanted to do, Braxton would agree to help without hesitation. He’d do anything to make Devon happy, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t bitch and moan about it. In fact, it would be odd if he didn’t complain, at least a little bit for form’s sake. Then again, everyone already knew his sweet little mate had him completely wrapped around her little finger, so there was no point in prevaricating.
He didn’t bother pretending to wince when she elbowed him in the side. Although his mate could pack a decent punch now that she had god powers of her own, she could never bring herself to actually try to hurt him.
Besides, he was pretty indestructible these days.
Clearly, his mate had been listening to his silent ramblings. Since they were in each other’s minds so often now that it was as natural as breathing, it wasn’t surprising that she’d heard what he was thinking.
“Yes, I heard you complaining,”Devon confirmed in a teasing tone through their bond.“And don’t worry, my new idea doesn’t really require your participation this time.”
“You are the best mate ever.”
She laughed lightly.“I’m glad you think so.”
Rather than focusing on the platters of food that had just been served by the talented pixies who lived on the property, Braxton had been busy braiding some of Devon’s long pink hair with his own silver strands while he had been ruminating. It was a silly habit he had developed shortly after they had met, and he often found himself doing it without realizing it.
They usually had a lot of guests at their table for the Sunday night dinners they hosted at their palatial home known as Guadian’s Gate. Their family members always made an effort to join them, as did their good friends from Aegis Academy, who often stopped by to spend the weekend. Lately, everyone had been unusually busy, so the only other people currently sitting at the table were Seraphina, the Goddess of Fire, and her mate, Felix, a God of Fate.
Seraphina was an ethereal beauty with a mass of gold and silver hair and glowing silver eyes. She seemed far too young to have a son Braxton’s age, though looks could clearly be deceiving, especially when it came to the gods.
Braxton’s relationship with his mother and stepfather had greatly improved since they had reconciled, and they were now regular visitors despite being from the Celestial Realm. He still had years of misunderstandings and resentment to deal with, but Devon was quite fond of both of them, which meant he was making an effort to work through his issues.
Although growing up under the dubious care and guidance of the King of Hell hadn’t been easy, he couldn’t really complain too much. Sure, Lucifer was pretty extra on the regular, but Braxton had never doubted that his father loved him. Maybe a little too much. Because of that, it was best to deal with him in small doses. Luckily, Lucifer was missing this week’s gathering since he was busy dealing with an urgent issue that required his attention.
