For the first time since Selene had shown her brother in, Lucas smiled.
“Interesting.” Lucas turned back to him. “You need to awaken your powers.”
“You said we had until the next full moon. Why are you here now?” Selene asked Lucas.
“To help him awaken his powers.” Lucas looked at Scott.
“What powers?” Scott shook his head, then turned to Selene. “Like Selene has?”
“No,” Lucas said firmly. “You are… more.”
“Which means?” he asked, feeling a pit in his stomach.
As an answer, Lucas stood up from the barstool and turned into a large black wolf dog. It was so massive, its fur nearly touched the ceiling.
“Mia can do that too,” Selene said, and the wolf/dog’s yellow eyes turned to Mia, who nodded.
“Show me,” Lucas, or rather the dog, said firmly.
Mia set down the mug of coffee she was holding and shifted before their eyes.
They both stared at one another for a moment before turning back into themselves.
“Don’t your clothes get ripped off?” Scott asked, suddenly feeling stupid when he realized he’d asked that question out loud. He cleared his throat. “I mean, you just shifted into furry dogs.”
“Hellhounds,” Lucas corrected.
“Seriously?” Mia asked. “I’ve always thought of myself more as a dog.”
The corner of Lucas lips curved up almost into a smile.
“It takes three of us,” Lucas said. “Now I know who the third is.” He nodded to Mia.
“So, I am needed.” She smiled as she picked up the mug and then walked over and handed it to Selene.
“And Selene is our ticket to hell,” Lucas said, taking the other mug of coffee from Selene.
“So, what? I’m just supposed to deliver the three of you to the Beyond,” she said firmly, “and watch you wake up the devil?”
“Not the devil. In sense. I mean…” Lucas actually looked irritated or… embarrassed. “Yes, his name is Hades, but no, he’s not the devil in Western mythology or religion. Think of him as… the gatekeeper to the destruction of everything.”
“Then why wake him?” Scott asked.
“Because there is a rip in the gates. A leak. One that only he can mend,” Lucas explained.
“Okay, so…” Mia leaned on the counter. “Hades is a good guy?”
“Yes and no. Once we wake him, we will need to get out of there quickly. Selene will deliver us three, we will wake him, then change into…” He motioned with his hands.
“Hellhounds,” Mia supplied.
Lucas nodded. “And let Hades find and fix the leak.”
“How do you know there’s a leak?” Selene asked.
Lucas eyes moved to her. “Because that is how our parents escaped.”
Selene frowned. “Right.”