AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter One
Autumn Arcane wasdrowning.
How that was happening, she had absolutely no fucking clue. It seemed impossible, but there she was, literally submerged in a deep pool that seemed to have no bottom. The problem was she hadn’t been anywhere near water a few seconds ago.
Drowning had always been on her top ten list of ways she didn’t want to die. That was the main reason she avoided beaches, even when she was on vacation. Just being near the ocean was enough to make her a little nervous. While she could handle staring at a pretty lake or wading into the shallow end of a swimming pool, deep water was a big nope.
Now that her fears had been realized, drowning had definitely moved up to the number one spot on her list. Being afraid of the unknown was one thing, but actually experiencing it was a whole different level of nightmare-inducing terror. At least, she wouldn’t have to worry about nightmares once she was dead.
And wasn’t that a horribly morbid thought…
Unwilling to just give in and accept her doomed fate, Autumn struggled to get to the surface. She fought with all her might but was so turned around and confused that she had no idea which way was up. She forced her eyes open to search for some sign of a possible escape route, but all that did was make her contacts float away.
Damn it, now she was essentially blind.
Silently cursing, she squeezed her eyes shut again. As sheer panic began overwhelming her senses, her pitiful excuse for a life flashed before her eyes. No, that wasn’t an accurate description. While most people would consider her existence pretty basic, especially when compared to other supernaturals, she loved her life, no matter how boring it was.
To her, even a normal life was a blessing.
A few minutes ago, Autumn had been working in the back kitchen area at The Sweet Spot, the bakery she co-owned with her partner and best friend back in Mystic, Colorado. She had been alone in the kitchen, so there had been no warning and nothing she could do to protect herself when the attack had occurred. Actually, she wasn’t sure it could even be described as an attack. One second, she had been transferring the last batch of cookies she’d baked onto cooling racks, and the next, she had been teleported directly into the large pool of water.
Hell, she was even holding the damn spatula in her hand still.
Although teleporting wasn’t a skill she possessed, she’d hitched a ride with friends often enough that she knew exactly what it felt like. Autumn was a witch with very limited magical abilities, so living in the Human Realm wasn’t a hardship since it was almost like she was one of them. However, even with her lack of skills, she was able to put her magic to good use at her bakery.
Could that be why she’d been brought to…wherever the hell she was now?
Sprinkling a little magic into a batch of cookies or cupcakes to help her customers forget their worries for a brief moment and brighten their moods was pretty much the extent of her powers. Nothing she did could be considered harmful or dangerous, but perhaps it had been enough to piss off the powers that be anyway. It wouldn’t surprise her since she knew how unfair the Supernatural Council could be.
She just didn’t understandwhyshe’d been punished.
“This is a gift, not a punishment. And while I agree with you that the council is a bunch of useless assholes most of the time, they have nothing to do with this,” a deep voice said dryly, ringing out loud enough to reach her underwater. “Now, relax. You are making all of this much harder than it has to be. Trust that you aren’t in danger, and you will be fine.”
The sudden sound of the stranger’s voice disrupting the charged silence was startling, and his slightly mocking tone was cutting enough to break through her panic. It was annoying, yet undeniably effective. But what kind of crazy circular logic was he spouting at her? While his words didn’t make a whole lot of sense, she believed him. She didn’t understand why, but his words were the lifeline she had desperately needed to snap her back to reality.
It was difficult to convince herself to remain placid and relaxed since she wanted to get the hell out of the water with every fiber of her being, but she fought her instincts and tried to remain calm. Since she wasn’t in any immediate danger, she concentrated on pulling herself back together. She forced herself to stop moving until she was simply hovering in place as if held by invisible hands.
Only, it didn’t feel like she was floating in water anymore.
It felt like she was flying.
That weightless feeling was strange enough to make her open her eyes again. Without her frantic movements churning up the water, she could finally see that she wasn’t surrounded by cool blue water. Instead, she found herself floating in a shimmering sea of pale silver liquid.
Even without her contacts, her vision was perfectly clear as she watched the last bit of the silicone and metal spatula in her hand disintegrate into nothing. Considering that could happen to her next should have made the panic kick in again, but strangely, it didn’t. Imagining it still made her shudder a little, though. She took a deep, stabilizing breath that turned into a wheeze of shock when she realized that she was breathing as easily as she did in the open air.
That was a whole new level of fucked up.
Good gods, had she somehow turned into an aquatic animal? No, that would be crazy. She was half human and half witch, so there was no way she could have morphed into some kind of shifter. Worrying about that seemed irrational at best, so she pushed it aside. She had more important matters to focus on, like where in the six realms was she and why had she been brought there. Even as she pondered those questions, suddenly everything became clear.
Autumn was in the Celestial Realm, and somehow, her ass had gotten drop-kicked straight into the Merit of Godhood Trials.
The Celestial Realm and the Hell Realm were both home to most of the powerful immortals within the magical community, but only the high gods and reapers were truly considered the top of the supernatural hierarchy. Not much was known about reapers as they were some of the most secretive beings ever to walk the realms, but the high gods loved flaunting their superiority and were quite boastful about how powerful they were.
That meant people feared them.
Envied them.
And also aspired to be one of them.
