Authors: Cambria Hebert
“But it’s the truth. There’s nothing between us.”
“We might not be together, but nothing has changed. I’m still in love with you.”
Gemma’s face softened for a moment, but then she turned away.
“Wait,” I said, coming farther into the room. “I need to apologize. I invited her here to stay… I thought Cole wouldn’t have to spend so much time with her.”
“It’s fine, Heven. This isn’t your fault.”
“But I’m the one that told her you were in love with someone else.”
He pinched his nose with his thumb and finger.
“I didn’t tell her who it was. I guess she could see it.”
“I’m going to go,” Gemma said, her voice hoarse.
Cole looked like he wanted to ask her to stay, but he didn’t say anything.
“I’ll be in touch to see what Riley learns when he goes back to hell,” Gemma told me.
I nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she replied, and then she was gone.
Cole looked like he wanted to punch something. “Damn,” he said to no one and then he turned to me. “I better go talk to Kimber.”
He went into the kitchen and out the back door into the yard as Sam stepped into the room.
“Where’s Riley?” I asked warily.
“Stuffing everything he can find into that bag of his.”
“He’s out, Sam,” I said. “Beelzebub is out.”
“We don’t know that for sure.” He hedged. I gave him a look and he sighed, holding out his arms. I stepped into them.
At least he didn’t try to tell me it would be okay. We would have both known he was lying. I closed my eyes and pressed myself closer to him, wondering what Beelzebub was going to do to my family next.
Riley
I hefted my newly stocked backpack over my shoulder and glanced into the living room. Sam and Heven were in there, being all touchy touchy, so I figured that was my cue to leave. Before heading out the back door, I grabbed a soda from the fridge and popped the top.
Halfway down the porch steps, I paused when I heard the crazy one screech.
“You better tell me right now you are not in love with that… that…
fallen
angel.” She wailed. “I mean, seriously, Cole. I’ve never seen her in anything but jeans and boots.”
“Calm down, Kimber,” Cole replied and I grinned, taking a seat near the big bush at the bottom of the steps. I wasn’t in a hurry and eavesdropping was fun.
Especially when you eavesdropped on crazy. And Kimber was c-r-a-z-y.
“Do you have any idea what I’ve been through tonight?” crazy said. “She invited me to stay here and then she toasted my car! It’s completely undrivable!”
“Well, what did you do to her?” Cole asked.
“Always taking up for Heven,” she said, and I snickered, glancing around the bush to see her throw her hands up in the air. The red curls on her head bounced around with her movements.
“I’m not always taking up for Heven,” Cole said wearily. I kind of felt bad for the guy. I mean, he was essentially caught between three women. Clearly the guy didn’t have a clue to the rules every guy knew about the ladies.
Rule number one: never let them know you got other ladies.
Rule number two: if the ladies find out about each other, make them each believe they’re the most important.
Rule number three: distract them by telling them they’re beautiful. Even if it isn’t true.
“I know having your car ruined must’ve been hard. How about I help you find a new one after school tomorrow?”
“You will?” she said, forgetting about Heven.
“Sure. You can get one as stylish as you are.”
“My bug was stylish,” she growled.
I peaked around the bush again, hoping she’d dangle him in the air by his toes. He stepped closer to her. “Well, sure. But personally, I always thought you shouldn’t drive a red car because it paled in comparison with your hair.”
I rolled my eyes. Maybe he wasn’t too bad at dealing with the ladies after all.
Kimber smiled. “I do have good hair.”
He nodded and I bit back a laugh. That dude was so whipped. Something in my backpack shifted and I hoped whatever it was didn’t crush the box of Ho Hos I grabbed for Ana.
“About Gemma,” Kimber said, bringing up the real topic of the night.
Cole sighed. “Don’t worry about Gemma. We aren’t together.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “But you want to be?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” Cole said. “She doesn’t want me.” I could hear the frustration in his voice and I winced. If
I
could tell he wasn’t too happy about Gemma’s decision, then crazy Kimber would pick up on it in seconds.
But she surprised me by not calling him out. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed herself against him. I thought about getting up then, busting up the moment. I didn’t want to watch them make out.
“Just proves she doesn’t deserve you,” Kimber said and then leaned up on tiptoe—I never noticed how short she actually was—and pressed her lips to his.
Something hot coiled in my stomach as I watched her kiss him and I didn’t really know what it meant other than the fact it was time for me to leave and I stood up. Cole wasn’t exactly returning her kiss, but he didn’t pull away either. A few long moments passed when he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back.
“We’re just friends now, Kimber. We aren’t getting back together.”
Kimber didn’t respond. She just walked away from him, back toward the house, and I watched as he wiped her kiss from his mouth.
“We’ll see about that,” she murmured as she went past me up the steps.
Cole pulled his truck keys out of his pocket and looked at me. “You need a ride?”
It beat walking. My Jeep ran out of gas down in hell and I had yet to refill the tank. “Mind if we stop at the gas station so I can get some gas for my Jeep?
“No problem,” he said and climbed in the truck.
When we pulled onto the main road, I looked at him and grinned. “So you and Kimber, huh?” I have no idea why I asked. It’s not like I cared.
He made a sound. “No. Definitely not. I’m in love with Gemma.”
“Be still my heart,” I mocked, putting a hand over my chest.
“You’re so lame, dude.”
“You’re the one that was kissing the one who isn’t Gemma.”
“You’ve met Kimber. If I would’ve pushed her away she would’ve turned the house upside down. Literally.”
“Good luck with that,” I said, smirking.
“I feel bad for whoever ends up with her for the rest of his life. That dude’s gonna need all the help he can get.”
I grunted. At least he wouldn’t be bored.
We pulled into the gas station and I filled up five of their largest gas jugs and loaded them into the back of Cole’s truck. Then he drove me to the portal and helped me set the jugs in the grass beside the fountain.
“How are you going to get all those through with you?” Cole wondered.
“I’ll take what I can through now and then come back for the rest. I have a couple Marbles in my backpack.”
“What’s it like being down there all the time?”
My thoughts went to Ana. I pictured her light wheat-colored hair and her vibrant green eyes. I remembered the way she licked the white cream of the snack cake off her finger and smiled in delight. I cleared my throat when I realized he was waiting for an answer. “Hot.”
He didn’t ask any more questions, so I said, “Thanks for the ride, man.”
“I wasn’t doing anything anyway,” Cole replied.
“Hey, Cole?” I asked and he looked back. “I’ve known Gemma a long time. I think she blames herself for Callum’s death,” I said, thinking about the grandfather I never knew. “Getting through her walls isn’t going to be easy, but I think you can do it.”
Cole seemed surprised I would say something like that, that I would offer something more than a sarcastic comeback. “Thanks,” he said after a minute.
I grinned. “Sure. But if I were you I’d keep her away from crazy.”
He didn’t even ask me who crazy was because he knew exactly who I was talking about. I was still laughing when he drove away.
* * *
Hell was hot. It hadn’t been a lie when I said it to Cole. It was the sneaky kind of heat, a dry heat, the kind you didn’t really notice until you were so dehydrated you were dizzy and your clothes were wet with sweat.
I managed to get all the gas jugs into hell in two trips. Then I went to where I left the Jeep and filled up the gas tank. I wasn’t surprised it was still where I left it and also intact because everyone on Beelzebub’s land knew it was mine and they knew I’d kill them if they messed with it. I wasn’t sure how many “people” I had to kill to instill the correct amount of fear of me, but I stopped counting a long time ago. Killing wasn’t that hard for me. I wasn’t like Sam; I didn’t feel bad about the life I drained away. I didn’t think about the people that were left behind. I always thought it was the curse that made me that way.
But maybe it was just me.
In my opinion, if I didn’t kill them, it would only give them the opportunity to kill me later. It was good time management.
With the gas tank full, I threw the almost empty jug into the back and got in. I left the rag top up because it was so dusty here and drove to where I left the other cans. When I pulled up there were three hulking demon’s fighting over the jugs sitting out in the open.
I ran them all down with the Jeep.
When I jumped out to get what was mine, one of them peeled themselves off the granite and lunged at me. I flung the can at him, keeping hold of the handle but letting loose some of the liquid. He was doused in seconds and then I pulled a lighter out of my pocket, struck a flame, and lit him on fire. He ran off through the empty landscape of hell, his screams echoing through the ashy air.