“Needs?” He watched her closely. “For what?”
“A ride, basically.”
“To?” He knew her well enough to understand she was still trying to process things and trying to keep him from freaking out at the answer.
“Hell,” she said softly. So softly that he almost missed it.
“What?” He shifted to get a better look at her.
“The Beyond. It’s… hell,” she said a little louder.
He thought for a moment then busted out, “The place you’ve been going to all your life, the place you use as your…”—he air quoted— “you time, is actually hell?” He was practically screaming now.
“Apparently.” She shrugged.
He turned back around and looked out the side window until he got his breathing under control. “What did you tell him?”
“No,” she said quickly.
He turned back to her. “Why not?”
“Because my brother wants to wake the devil.” She rolled her eyes.
“He…” At this point, Scott’s brain stopped working. Like, how could you even think after someone just told you something like that. It took him a few minutes of silence to get his thoughts back. “Why? Why does Helios, your brother…”
“He goes by Lucas, and we’re triplets,” she reminded him.
“Okay.” He rubbed his forehead. “Why does Lucas want a ride to hell to wake the devil?”
Selene pulled over into a gas station, parked on the side of the building, and shut off the car.
“Because he thinks that by waking him, we can stop the end of the world,” she said softly.
“Your brother is going to stop the end of the world by waking the devil?” he asked, not understanding. “Didn’t you just save the world from your parents last night?”
“No, I mean, yes, we did. And my brother isn’t going to save the world alone.” She turned to him. “He says that you have to be there too.” He eyes locked with his.
He shook his head. “What?”
“He wants me to take the two of you to hell so he can wake the devil and you can stop him. That is why I said no.” She started to get out of the car, but reached over and held her still.
What she was saying was impossible in so many ways. First, hell. Second, if he traveled to hell, wouldn’t that mean he was dead? Third, how was he supposed to stop the devil? He didn’t have powers like Selene and the rest of her family and new friends. He was just… Scott. Boring, office-working Scott.
“There’s more to it, isn’t there?” he asked, feeling tired.
“Yes, but right now, I need to pee.” She climbed out of the car.
He watched her walk into the store, waited for her to come back out. But after she used the bathroom, she strolled down the aisle and grabbed a bag of chips and a couple of candy bars. For as long as he’d known her, she’d loved junk food.
She was standing in line to pay when a large man dressed in black rushed in. He’d been paying so much attention to Selene that he hadn’t noticed the guy until the gun was shoved in the clerk’s face.
Just as he reached for the door handle to run in and help, Selene gripped the man’s wrist. Within seconds, the man was on his knees. The gun flew from his hands as he cried out in pain.
The clerk had ducked behind the counter the moment the gun had appeared.
While the man continued to cry on the floor, Selene set some money on the counter, talked briefly to the clerk over the counter, and turned and walked out.
“What…” he said, when she got in and started backing up.