Page 72 of I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell

“Usually, almost always,” Beliar boasts. “But not right now.”

“My brother”—Luke nods, finally meeting my eyes—“is the devil.”

Shock reverberates through my chest at the confirmation. “The devil,” I echo, feeling hollow.

Beliar laughs, the sound deep and pompous. “The devil. Say it again and he might just appear.”

Luke keeps his eyes on Beliar, but his hard expression flickers at my words. “This doesn’t change anything.” He inclines his head toward the women. “Remember what we’re here for.”

Despite the arrow wound, he’s as swift as ever as he crosses the foyer to attack Beliar, who expects it, twisting out of his reach and pulling a weapon that looks medieval from where it hangs on the wall. A giant axe-like thing with a curved blade. He swings it and Luke narrowly dodges him.

I’m so mad I can barely breathe. If Luke’s brother is the devil, what does that make him? Now it makes sense why he kicked Luke out. Why he could. Luke said only the devil could pardon people from hell. I hadn’t connected the dots, but I should have.

So many questions with no time for answers. But this is still a rescue mission. And it’s up to me to see it through.

Krystal and the other women have inched their way to the front door, as I hoped. With Beliar distracted, no one stops me from opening it. Together, the five of us stumble into the night.

I realize my fatal mistake too late: I forgot about the statues guarding the front.

They spin toward us at the commotion. Bows raised and arrows notched, they let them fly. I twist to avoid them. The movement throws Poppi and Madeline into Krystal and they tumble to the ground, taking the woman whose name I don’t know with them.

Dagger in hand, I lunge before the statue closest has time to ready another arrow. I expect the blade to scrape against its stone facade, but it sinks in as if he’s made from as much flesh and blood as me. My mouth parting with a gasp, I stare straight into his golden eyes as he explodes into shadows.

“Brie!”

The weak rasp of Krystal’s voice pulls my attention to the second statue already sporting a ready-to-fly arrow aimed at me. Before letting it rip, a fire poker beats his arm, making him falter.

Madeline stands beside him, swinging the poker with reckless abandon. Swiveling from me to her, he releases the arrow. It skewers the center of her chest, its metal tip shining red as it appears through her back.

“No!” I scream. I chuck the dagger as hard as I can. It sinks into the statue’s abdomen, clattering to the ground a moment later as he dissipates.

I dive for Madeline. She collapses to the ground at an awkward angle, legs bent under her, arms splayed, torso twisted, thanks to the arrow protruding from her back.

“Madeline.” Her name is a sob ripped from my chest. She stares at the sky, eyes blank.

“You have to go.”

Luke stands above me, framed by the swirling twilight clouds above. Pain is painted across his face as Krystal, Poppi, and the third woman cling to him. All four of them look ready to keel over.

My heart aches for Madeline. I can’t even take her body with us. Resting her head on the ground, I grab my dagger and sprint with Luke down the steps, wiping my eyes as we go.

“How could you not tell me that your brother is the devil?” I yell at him, anger fueling me forward and burning away the grief. “How—”

“I know,” he cuts me off. “I’m sorry. Just like you, I was running from my past. I didn’t know how to tell you, but I should have.”

“No shit—”

“You are not running from me!” Beliar bellows.

Luke pauses, glancing back. Beliar stands at the top of the steps, beside Madeline’s body. He holds the menacing weapon in one hand and looks at the sky. Glee dances in his eyes when he trains his sights back on us. “The Reckoning is coming. My archers will return and hunt you down. I needed four for the sacrifice, and four I will get. Your hours are numbered.”

“We have to go,” I urge Luke, trudging onward through the maze of shipping containers.

“No.”

“Yes!”

Ducking behind the nearest container, he gently offloads Krystal and the other women, leaning them against the siding. Taking off his backpack, he drops it at my feet.