9

"For the record—not that many of you care about accuracy or anything that includes the truth—this was—"

"This was the punishment Elder Devil originally wanted," Keegan interjected, furious and his temper about to blow. " I , the big strong man compared to her, asked we be more lenient and give all of you—"

"You're not a man," someone snarked. "You're a fag and just as much of a bitch as—"

I popped to stand in front of the man and backhanded him with all I had, smirking when his nose exploded with blood. "The only bitch here is you, git." I glanced at Tanesha and the other shifters working with us on this. "We are no longer in the US with their rules. This is now Peru, and they allow beating of prisoners. Any slurs or bullshit may be handled as I just did."

"Gladly, Elder," one of the wolves growled, staring down a few people in particular.

Oh boy. I could only imagine the axes they had to grind listening to all the insults.

I simply snickered when the enchanters couldn't hide their shock. "You are all sheltered fools. I am not the one who will break. I am the one who would break you with a smile. And now that you've told Keegan's gentle punishment to sod off—I will."

I took the magic off the three circles I had seared into the ground so everyone could see them. Then I froze all the enchanters and started putting collars on them to tie the first third to one circle.

"Since you refuse to help, I will make you," I explained as I kept going around. "You are now the batteries to power these circles to send souls back. So you better eat to fuel yourselves. If you refuse so we cannot use your energy, you will receive a day with the power to see and interact with spirits as punishment."

"And the spirits can interact with them, right?" Hunt asked. "They can fuck with them the way they do you when you're not protected?" He threw back his head and laughed when I nodded. "Oh fuck, I knew it was going to be good, but—I would rather have had cleaning the damn vehicles magically for the rest of my life than that just from what I've seen you suffer."

"It's not fun," I agreed before sighing at what I heard. "They don't believe me that I can do it. Or will."

"Seriously, when will people stop doubting you?" Helen grumbled. "I still vote we kill them all like you promised and fuck the fallout." She sighed when I gave her a shocked look. "None of them are worth rehabilitating, Soraya. This is—you're just putting off the inevitable because they'll come after you when their sentences are over."

I shrugged. "Then they die. So what? We can now get batteries to help before they do." I snickered at the thoughts I picked up. "Fools. You keep—you really need a wake-up call. I've killed thousands of people over my years. What does it matter to add you lot?"

"And before you all think that she is the devil or it has blackened her soul," Brax started to say.

I flinched when there were at least a dozen loud laughs. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a bunch of angels in their form safe for humans. "Share the joke?"

It took a moment but the one near the front finally got himself under control. "Your soul is pure. Yes, you have some edging of blood or darkness and you know why, but at your core, your soul is pure . You've never killed—"

"It's always been justified," a different angel interjected before gesturing to the other enchanters. "Theirs are dark. Dark . They've betrayed family. You punished yours who were criminals. That is pure, honorable. But they're—none of them are going to the plane we come from. They're all going to get to know demons well."

That should have been a powerful statement coming from an angel… But fools would always be fools.

When I had the ones for the first circle, I went over to it and pushed my magic in to activate it… As I put the magic onto the enchanters to see and interact with the spirits.

And I hadn't meant to yet.

I swallowed a flinch at how easy it had been and acted like everything was exactly how it should be.

Except I saw several frowns from those who knew me well or my magic like Helen, Jerome, and Keegan. Yeah, I would have to explain that one later for sure.

I beamed as the circle activated and sent fifty spirits to where they should be. A third of the enchanters grunted as they felt something new.

"You should have taken the original punishment," I practically sang as I moved to the next group. "Oh, and I didn't do the normal time in between activating it. You are all so amazing and better than me? Good, then you can do more to repay your debt. Plus, there are over a hundred of you tied to each circle."

"She was activating that circle with more spirits all on her own," Brax chuckled. "It wasn't power that made her stop but the nausea. Since none of you…" He blinked as someone fainted.

"I expected that," I promised him, shrugging when even people on my side couldn't hide their surprise. "They are lazy gits. Or the women weren't allowed to train and still let themselves be brainwashed into this toxic mindset we don't have enough magic or—it's a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Brax nodded. "You don't train the women and then they don't know as much magic as the men. They are lacking because they have been handicapped."

I tapped my nose and blew him a kiss for the backup as I kept moving through people. Two more enchanters fainted from the sensation of sending spirits back—even their tiny part working together—and two vomited.

Lovely.

"They're fainting from panic," Hunt warned me under his breath. "You froze them and they're seeing something terrifying. It's not just the magic."

And that made him uncomfortable. That was the line of torture for him.

Not me, but my pet was a moral man. I nodded and took off the magic to freeze them. "Shoot them if they try to touch me while I'm doing this. They can't use their magic, but someone is always stupid."

"I don't think this time," he said but still pulled out his gun. Something was in his eyes, so I paid better attention to the thoughts around me.

And was relieved. People were finally breaking and realizing that they were fucked and this was happening.

I wouldn't throw a party just yet because I'd heard a lot of that when I'd originally rounded them up and we'd ruled on their punishments. People became brave and stupid once they were left to their own devices.

And gathered. The damn toxic mob mentality worked overtime most days.

But being able to see spirits was terrifying. That would change a lot of minds to not have to do it again.

I glanced around after I had the second group done and tied to the circle, shaking my head.

"What's wrong, sunshine?" Brax asked.

"I'm jealous. They won't have to suffer with it tomorrow. They're crying and fainting because they have to do it for one day. And they know what happened." I realized I was blinking back tears and quickly wiped them. "I was a child when this happened to me and I had no idea. I hated Victor for lying to me that Rue died and…"

He grabbed me when I turned away. "What? Why do you always react weirdly when you say that name or your younger years are brought up with that coven?"

"You're a bit dense," Isaac cut in and moved his hand to Brax's arm, signaling to let me go. "She wants to ask if her friend is in the good place. I already figured that out a while ago. Hell, I struggle with not asking as well."

Brax let me go but obviously wanted to hear it from me. I gave a swift nod and cleared my throat before going back to my task.

Michelle of all people answered my unasked question, and I hadn't even known she was there. "Rue is at peace in a nice afterlife."

I spun around so fast to look at her that I almost fell on my ass. "Truly?"

"Yes, she is—" She shot several angels a shit look when they tried to interject. "Do not lecture me about this rule when it is my role. And who are you to lecture me, you sexist fools? Remember our ranks."

"I agree," Brax said coldly, staring down the four angels specifically. "I admit Gabriel and I are a bit sexist at times, but it comes from a place of love and desire to protect our younger sister. Some of you are just sexist. Do not disrespect her position again." He waited until they nodded before focusing on Michelle. "But I am surprised you answered. That is unlike you."

She sat with that a moment. "Normally, I think it unfair to answer, and it is not even my budding… Friendship with your intended. She can see the souls and does—she rides the line. If anyone should know more and have some answers, it is the ones who help us. Plus, she was cursed with pain because her friend died to save her. That is…"

"Traumatic," I offered, nodding when Michelle did. Then I shocked everyone there and hugged her. "Thank you. I don't know if you made the call, but Rue tried so, so hard. I knew she made mistakes and wasn't always good but she…"

"I know," she breathed in my ear.

So she did make the call. Fuck, that almost made me forgive Michelle for trying to kill me. Truly.

I had loved Rue that much.

"I will crush you," Brax growled from behind me.

I spun to find him holding an enchanter and sighed. "He made a move?"

"Yes," he hissed, shaking the fool. "While you were with my sister of all people."

"You just doubled your sentence," Keegan announced. "Keep up this stupidity and you will all spend your immortal lives repaying your debt. We will not allow what you want! Letting you keep everything and expelling you from society isn't a punishment when enchanters were so fucking toxic. Only because you were all so sheltered.

"Now you know you will be saved unlike before. That's not a punishment. That's the best of both worlds and not paying any price for your crimes. And these are just the ones we can punish you on. We know you've committed more wrongdoings! Selling your own family is wrong . They are not property. Forcing them to give up their virginity for your benefit is disgusting—"

"I won't be lectured by a faggot," someone snapped, shocked he was able to talk.

I smirked. "I took off the magic. And you just got another day getting to see and interact with spirits."

"And that was nothing," Brax chuckled darkly. "They didn't know Soraya was here or the circles. Only the ones close could sense them. Now the hordes are approaching."

Sure enough, two more fainted after screaming.

Lovely.

I finished with the rest and then the others revealed the camping equipment. The horrified looks I got were even better when I put out the porta potty trailers.

"Gone are your nice apartments. If you are going to act like savages, you will live like them. And before you think it cannot get worse—it can . I will leave you to forge the land and live off fruit. The collars are tied to the boundary spell on this land. You try to run and you'll drop at the spell.

"You do and your sentence is doubled . I let you fuckers have a chance to rehabilitate and learn some humility as you were punished, but you took things too far and embarrassed us. Again . We are the joke of both the human and supe worlds that we sell our own children. Warlords were disgusted and commenting that our community is trash.

"So test me. I dare you. Today will seem like a fucking cakewalk." I stared them all down. "If you pass out, the collar will stop using your chi to power the circles. You get nine hours as a break at night to sleep. That can go away if you continue to fuck with me and mine. This problem with the veil didn't happen overnight.

"Even once we're out of immediate danger, it will take a century to truly fix. So I can keep you here forever to continue making sure balance is achieved. Right now, I have demons powering the other circles. You think spirits are terrifying? I will trap demons here for you to be near and witness. I will go that far to punish you and break you.

"Do not test me again, or I will have demons here tomorrow to prove I will not be the one to bow out of this test of wills you seem to think we're in. You're idiots because you are caught, sentenced, and you just haven't accepted your part in this. You will while serving your time or I will end you for being a threat to all enchanters, myself included."

Just as I finished up, their delivery of food arrived. I mocked the people awake that they better eat up or… I gestured to the ones who'd fainted.

"Or you could do more circles so they're sending more," Helen suggested, laughing when over a dozen sent her death glances. "Children, there are so many ways to make this worse and I vote for all of them. And apparently, I'm becoming an elder as well, so good luck with that because I'm twice as harsh as Elder Devil."

I wasn't sure if that was true normally, but these people had upset me, so that was when Helen was a beast.

She and Jerome promised everything was handled and begged me to go back to my mini-vacation. I nodded but had a few stops first. We'd pissed off a lot of police departments by not getting the cruisers done like we'd said. So I jumped around to several of them and not only cleaned the vehicles there but the whole building.

Brax told me he would have one of his siblings each take one on the list to help if I would just relax. Yes, it was beneath an angel, but they needed some humbling as well.

I thanked him and checked on the demons, seeing several were sent back and charms were lit up that some were back on this plane.

So I summoned them into traps, smirking when they lost their shit. Fuckers.

Lastly, I checked on the ciemny tygrys situation, wincing when I found Gabriel there in charge of it. I moved up next to him but didn't say anything.

"I kept my blinders on," he said under his breath. "Too much has happened and we've lost loved ones to this side. Clearly, you've figured that out. It wasn't ever supposed to happen like that, and as the one mostly in charge, it weighs too heavily on me. Focusing on what we could do instead of smacking demons back in line when…"

He was traumatized. He put his head in the sand and tried to block it all out. I hated him a little less and wanted to forgive him, having done that myself too many times.

Except millions of souls suffered in Hell when they shouldn't have because he put blinders on. That shouldn't just be brushed off because of trauma or issues.

"You should have stepped aside and let someone else take charge if you couldn't handle it," I told him, ignoring when I felt his rage boiling over. "You should have healed so you didn't make mistakes like this." I turned to face him, ignoring the seething anger and desire to smack me in his eyes. " I have ."

That took the wind out of his sails.

Somewhat.

But it was true. I'd stepped aside on a lot at times and let Helen take over. Jerome. Keegan even.

Yes, I'd still been at the top, but that was to protect them. I'd been the shield and the one people would come for first. I let them handle the rest because it was too much for me.

Too much for any one person even.

They were almost done getting all the souls to the holding plane to be cleansed. Some were in really bad shape and practically shredded from being in Hell so long. It hurt to hear that, but I needed to. I needed to know the truth.

I just had to stop laying it at my feet. It wasn't my fault.

Now if I could just convince myself of that for real.

By then it was well after lunch, and I enjoyed a lovely time with Brax at the villa.

And yes, there was sex included in that, but I had to curb him, apologizing, but saying he would want me fully ready for his present time as well when it happened. He chuckled but was accepting, seeming to want the closeness with me more than anything.

We had that.

We had fun just swimming and teasing each other. It was great. A great break.

A desperately needed break even if it was too short.