Page 45 of The Beyond
Selene took his hand, and he realized that statement wasn’t completely true. She’d been there with him through it all.
“I had my suspicions. It’s the reason you’re meant to help stop him,” Lucas said.
“So, the god of doom and the devil are supposed to fight?” Mia asked.
“No, the legends say that Prometheus saved mankind from Moros with the gift of hope in the form of the goddess Elpis. Elpis is the essence of hope. However, some legends are wrong. The one where Moros overpowers Elpis, his sister, and locks her away in Pandora’s box, whose location can only to be revealed by the three Fates. She isn’t really locked in a box somewhere. Instead, Pandora will unleash Elpis somehow, so she can fight her brother.”
Selene got a shiver down her spin and leaned into Scott, who wrapped his arm around her.
“The three Fates?” Scott asked.
“Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. The three that are one who spin the thread of human fates. At death, they cut the life threads.”
“Where are they?” Selene asked.
“Where does Mia come into all this?” Scott asked. “I mean, I get it, she can turn into a…”
“Hellhound?” Lucas added.
“Dog,” Scott countered, and Selene watched her brother’s lips curve. She now understood that this was his smile, or the only hint of one that he had.
“She is more complicated.” Lucas turned to Mia.
“As a djinn, it’s my life’s work to help those in need,” she said firmly.
Lucas made a noise and then cleared his throat. “For now, we’ll just be thankful she is here.” He turned to Selene, and she understood. It’s what their parents had said. What everyone in Hidden Creek understood. She and Scott were connected. And so were Mia and Lucas.
Still, she kept that bit of information to herself.
“So now that I can do what I can do, what’s the plan?” Scott asked.
She noticed that he was slurring his words. They had skipped dinner, and he was on his second glass of wine. She’d only ever seen him drunk twice and figured he was due tonight. They all were. They had achieved what they had come here for.
She knew how to take them all with her to the Beyond, and Scott could now transform into a dog, along with Lucas and Mia.
“Now, we wait. The next full moon is less than a week from now.” Lucas poured himself more wine.
Mia stood up and walked into the kitchen. She came back with a bag of crackers, some cheese, and a jar of jelly. She returned a second time with chips and salsa.
Everyone scooted around the coffee table and snacked, drank, and plotted.
“Why is Moros talking to us?” Scott asked sometime later. “Why now?” He shook his head, needing to understand.
“Your power has grown today,” Lucas answered. “You’re getting attention now. The three of us, four,” he corrected with a wave of his glass, “are very powerful.”
Selene glanced around. “Tara…” Everyone turned to her. “The others. They said that everyone in Hidden Creek had drawn attention because of their joined power. She called it a pulse that can be felt by those of power.”
A pulse. That’s what the four of them were. A heartbeat moving at the same pace towards the same goal—keeping the world alive.
The next day, they all trained together. They took turns sparring, three on one. When it was Mia’s turn, Lucas was the only one who actually touched her. Not that he hit her. He just stopped inches from her nose and playfully tapped the end of it with one finger, which seemed to piss Mia off.
Suddenly, the two of them were fighting one another while Scott and Selene watched from a distance.
“Do you think they know?” Selene whispered to him.
“Hm?” he asked, trying to keep track of who was winning.
“That they like one another.” She nudged his shoulder.
