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“This is a window to the forest near where you grew up. It is the best I could do,” Persephone whispered, coming to stand beside him. “If I could give you the actual forest, the cabin, I would.”
He whirled to face her.
“Why?” he demanded with more force than he meant, his voice a crack of thunder in the near- silent room.
Devon felt his chaotic emotions threatening his control again.
She simply tilted her head, taking him in, the loud demand doing nothing to disturb her calm. Devon genuinely wanted to know why she, a stranger, and a Goddess, would concern herself with someone like him. Did she do this for every poor human in the afterlife? Or did she take pity on him after throwing him into the eternal unknown? She must have ulterior motives. He couldn’t trust her, even if he didn’t really hate her. He’d never trusted anyone, and he wouldn’t start now.
Especially not with someone who spent their time among the dead.
“Why are you doing this for me? Anything for me?” He pressed.
Her brow furrowed with a look of pure confusion, as if he had just asked her the secrets of the universe.
“Because you deserve to feel some happiness, Devon. Humans either deny themselves simple happiness or overindulge. So rare to find someone who is balanced.” She grimaced as she said that last word, as if it left a foul taste on her tongue. She gestured toward the woods. “I can only hope you can find some peace here.”
Peace. He turned the word over in his mind.
He did not explain how after he left for the government service, his dad had died, and the land foreclosed on, gone forever from his family. The place he’d returned to after his hellish missions was a mirage.
It hurt again, the loss of his home, even as he stood in its replicant. He had planned to move back after his enlistment was up to marry and raise his children.
The loss had led down the road to mercenary work. His dream had been ripped out from under him, along with the only person who really cared about him. Yet, he felt like this woman, this Goddess, gave him a small piece of his dream back.
Had she been human, he would never accept the gift she had given him. He could feel some part of himself that was lost and drifting come back to him. Something in his mind was moving into place, something long lost to the darkness and sins of his thoughts and deeds.
Something that felt a lot like salvation for his soul.
Chapter 7
Devon paced his new bedroom, thinking through everything the Goddess had told him. His anxiety was a real and tangible thing as it moved alongside him as if part of his own shadow.
He needed to know what he was up against as far as the Goddess and his new powers. Yet, despite his best efforts, his overwhelming thoughts held no resolution to his problems. The only logical thing to do in his current state was to regroup after a hot shower. He couldn’t think straight covered in his grimy clothes stiff from his own dried blood.
Looking around the room again as he pulled off what was left of his tattered shirt, he had to admit that he felt a bit more grounded here in this replica of his childhood room.
Like he could breathe again, even if the room was a ruse to trick him into compliance.
Outside of the window, he caught sight of a doe running through the woods. The lithe grace almost reminded him of the Goddess, bringing him an instant overwhelming feeling of joy. Memories of watching the forest creatures as a youth while he sat out on the front porch speaking with his father, learning his letters, and reading.
Years, so many years since he had seen this view. He allowed himself a moment to think of how much he needed this after years of darkness and self-hatred. Finally, he could go back in his mind and visit the man he was before the mercenary. Maybe the Goddess had created this illusion on purpose to give him a false sense of calm, but he could finally breathe.
Devon had died, and instead of going to a dark place for eternity, he was here. Looking through a window to his childhood forest, reliving his past, and realizing this was a fresh start.
He could either rail against everything just to make himself miserable, or he could find out what he was capable of and move forward. He had never been one to act out in a situation just because it did not work for him at the moment. He was a problem-solver, and right now, he could make this situation work for him.
This was his chance to, maybe not undo his sins, but move forward with a moral and just purpose.
Something inside his soul called out for that. The darkness had been stifling and caging some part of him. No longer. He would work with the Goddess, and once he knew what he could do, he would plan out a road to a new future.
He wished death had not been the catalyst for his life change, that he had been alive to have this revelation, but dwelling on the past would do him no good.
Devon snapped back to reality when he caught a shadow move in his peripheral. He turned to see what had cast it but found nothing and no one in the room with him. He closed his eyes, recognizing a lot had happened today, and his mind was tired, creating literal shadows where there were not any.
He needed to stop thinking and take a shower. Check out his new home, grab a drink, and then sleep until someone came to check his pulse.
After all, dying and coming back to life was exhausting.
