Extinguish (17 page)

"Yep," he said, nudging her with his elbow. "Surprised I remembered?"

Before she could respond, the air around them sparkled as Samuel shifted, taking on his full human form. A man walking out of the coffee shop startled, alarmed, dropping his drink as Samuel appeared right in front of his eyes. Samuel glanced behind him at the man, casually nodding. "What’s up?"

Serah hissed through clenched teeth. "What are you doing? People can see you!"

"So?" He shrugged. "We can’t drive this bad boy unless we materialize. It’ll draw too much attention with
nobody
behind the wheel."

"Drive it?" She gaped at him. "We can’t drive, Samuel."

"Why?"

"Because it’s against the rules!"

"Oh, get off it," he said. "Tell me which one of the commandments it breaks."

"Thou shalt not steal."

"We’re borrowing it. See? The keys are already in it for us. Not stealing."

Serah gazed at the keys. "Thou shalt not covet."

"We're not coveting. We're driving."

Serah sighed. "I don’t know how to drive."

"How do you know? You’ve never tried." He waved his hands, motioning toward the car. "Come on. I look crazy, just standing here talking to myself."

She stared at her brother, contemplating. "Are you sure
about this?"

"Absolutely, little sis," he said, conviction in his voice setting her at ease. He rubbed his hands together. "Let’s do this."

Serah glanced around suspiciously, hoping no one was looking as she materialized beside her brother. He grinned at her as he ran toward the car, leaping into the passenger seat. Serah walked around to the driver’s side and opened the door, timidly sliding into the seat. She put on her seat belt, earning a dramatic eye roll. "We can’t get hurt."

"No, but there’s a law about seat belts," she said, "but go ahead and keep yours off if you want a police officer to pull us over."

Samuel shrugged. "Eh, would certainly be interesting."

Serah started the car, a smile overtaking her lips as it came to life, the car vibrating as the engine purred. She tried to recall what it was mortals did as they drove and checked her mirrors, adjusting the seat to reach the pedals better. She put on the blinker to signal and looked around cautiously, making sure nothing was coming as she pulled out into the street.

Samuel glanced around the vehicle, opening up consoles and looking in cubbyholes. "Ha!" he yelled after a moment, snatching a pair of sunglasses out of the glove compartment. He lounged back in his seat as he put them on, casually leaning his arm against the door. "All right, sis. Gun it."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"Press the gas."

"I am."

Samuel craned his neck to look at the speedometer. Serah looked down at it: 20 miles per hour. "Give me a break. What race car driver goes this slow?"

"I’m not
really
a race car driver," she said incredulously.

"Pretend," he said, cocking an eyebrow at her. "Hit the gas or I will."

Serah slammed her foot down on the gas pedal, knowing her brother would do as he warned. The car jolted, roaring loudly as it accelerated rapidly down the street. They approached stoplight after stoplight, each one peculiarly turning green right before they reached it. Serah peeked over, seeing her brother casually flicking his finger, changing the lights for her.

They sped all over Chorizon and out of the city limits, weaving down winding back roads, passing not a single other car along the way. The Pontiac, despite being nearly fifty years old, ran smoothly, not a hiccup as it automatically shifted gears, roaring every time she pressed the gas harder. The speedometer inched upward farther and further—65, 75, 85,
95—as wind whipped Serah’s long hair, sending it swirling madly in the air around them. Samuel reclined back, grinning as he watched her drive for the first time.

He reached over
and clicked on the radio, twisting the dial and scanning through stations until he got one to come in. 30 Seconds to Mars blared from the speakers as Samuel turned it up as loud as the volume would go, singing along to the words of "Kings and Queens."

Serah drove them back toward Chorizon, listening to her brother’s melodic voice as passion poured from his chest to the music. The song came to an end as soon as they reached the city limits again. They cruised through town going 35 miles per hour, and Serah pulled the car back in its spot along the curb in front of the coffee shop. She smiled, pushing her windblown hair from her face as she cut the engine.

Samuel glanced over at her. "Am I the best brother ever, or what?"

"You are," she agreed. "That was the greatest moment of my existence."

"So far. You’ll have many more just like it, if not better, in the future." He smiled, reaching over and nudging her playfully under the chin. "We both will, sis. I just know it."

Samuel apparated out of there, vanishing from the car as Serah once more shifted, invisible to anyone who walked by. She sat there gripping the wheel, not knowing, as she savored the moment, that it had been the last time she’d ever lay eyes on her brother’s immortal form.

"Cinderella, dressed in
yella'

Went upstairs to kiss her fella'

Made a mistake and kissed a snake,

How many doctors did it take?"

Nicki and her best friend Emily jumped rope as they sang harmoniously, beginning to count when they reached the end of the verse. Serah watched them in a daze.

"Ugh, what a ghastly song," Hannah said, plopping down on the swing beside Serah. "Let me guess—it’s just another silly childish rhyme, right?"

Serah slowly shook her head as the words ran through her mind. "It might be about Lucifer."

Hannah scrunched up her nose. "
Really? Satan?"

"And me," she whispered as the little girls started over again, singing the rhyme from the beginning.
Made a mistake and kissed a snake. . .
"Was it?"

"Are you okay?" Concern laced Hannah’s voice. "You’re worrying me, Serah."

"I don’t know," she said quietly. "I don’t know about anything anymore."

The girls started over for the third time, but Serah didn’t stick around to listen. She left Hannah without saying goodbye, teleporting to the field in Heaven. As soon as she appeared, an alarming sensation swam through her. With a deep breath, a succulent sweetness entered her lungs, the perfume of the countless wildflowers blanketing the land. She plucked a handful from the ground and brought them to her nose. Inhaling, she was taken aback by the fragrance, so strong a bitter tang tickled the back of her throat.

That alone broke the doubt she’d had in her mind.

She headed for Hellum Township, rushing through the gates and running straight into Hell, no hesitation in her footsteps as she burst through the force field, flowers still in hand. She sprinted for the tower, hurrying down the corridor, and burst through the wooden doors into the meeting room.

Lucifer sat in his throne, appearing slightly worse for wear but still in one piece as he frivolously overturned cards with a flick of the finger. His expression was hard, his eyes clouded with a faraway look as he avoided her gaze. Across the room from him, in the chair Serah had occupied day after day, sat a skinny, trembling man. He looked over at Serah with terrified eyes. "Please help me," he whispered, imploring her. "Angel of the Lord, I beg for your mercy."

Before Serah could even think of how to respond, Lucifer raised his arm, methodically closing his hand into a fist, stealing the voice right from the tortured soul. The man continued his pleading, his lips frantically moving, but no sound escaped. He grasped his throat, horror spiking in his expression as his eyes darted back to
the King of Hell.

"Play," Lucifer barked.

The man quickly flipped over the next card on his meager stack.

"As you can see, I’m busy, so speak your piece and leave."

Serah held her hand out. "Here."

Lucifer glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "You brought me flowers?"

"Take them."

"No."

"Smell them."

"
You
smell them."

"I did," she said. "Just a moment ago."

His brow furrowed slightly as he gazed at her. Serah waited for him to react, for him to press her for an explanation, but he simply turned away after a moment, going right back to his game as if she weren’t even there. Slowly, she lowered her hand, still grasping the flowers, as anger surged through her at being disregarded.

She spun around, facing the terrified man. "He cheats, you know. He’s such a spineless coward that he can’t even play fair."

"Enough," Lucifer spat through clenched teeth.

"He thinks I find him pathetic, but really,
I’m
the pathetic one," she continued. "Pathetic because I thought maybe there was more to him than this. Maybe he wasn’t hopeless. Stupid me, right? I actually thought for a second that Satan—"

Lucifer stood up, a crack of unexpected thunder ripping across the ceiling and cutting her off mid-rant.
All of the candles extinguished in a whoosh, leaving them in the dark. The floor near Serah suddenly opened up, fire raging from the crack as Lucifer threw the man into it, his screams cut off as the floor sealed once again. Lucifer stalked forward, heading straight for her, stopping when they were toe-to-toe, towering above her, his chest pressed against hers. Rage radiated off of him as he glared down at her, his eyes ablaze in the dark room, his nostrils flaring. "You have some fucking nerve."

"Why?" she demanded, refusing to back down. She thrust the flowers at him, punching him in the chest with them clenched
tightly in her fist. "What’s happening to me?"

"What’s happening to you, angel, is that you’re finally starting to realize this perfect world you live in isn’t as perfect as it’s made it out to be," Lucifer said, snatching the flowers from her. "You’re starting to realize
Daddy
isn’t all He’s cracked up to be."

"Blasphemy."

"You can curse me all you want," he continued. "It doesn’t make it any less true. The signs are all there."

"You’re wrong."

"Am I?" He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Tell me you don’t feel the chill in the air, that you can’t feel my breath on your skin." He reached over, running the back of his hand along her pale cheek. She shivered at the sensation, tingles running down her body as his hand ran down her neck, trailing along her chest, between her breasts. "Tell me you feel nothing from that. I fucking
dare
you."

She smacked his hand away. "You’re disgraceful."

"But I’m right."

"You’ve done this," she accused. "This is your fault."

"Oh, I haven’t done anything to you, angel." He leaned forward, his lips near her ear as he whispered, "Yet."

Lucifer stepped back as the candles once again ignited, his eyes trailing the length of her slowly, before he turned around and stalked back over to his throne. He sat down and kicked his legs out, waving for her to take a seat, but she didn’t move.

"We’re a lot alike, you and me," he said, "whether you want to believe it or not. I feel things. I taste things. I’ve always wanted more. Fuck, I can even cry, too."

Her eyes widened. "You cry?"

He scoffed. "I said I
could
, not that I do."

"Then how do you know you can?"

"I’ve shed a few tears a time or two," he admitted. "Hitting the gate hurts like a son of a bitch."

"I saw," she said. "Yesterday."

"I know."

"You shouldn’t have come after me," she insisted. "You couldn’t have stopped me."

He laughed dryly. "That’s where you’re wrong. I could’ve stopped you at any time. You left because I let you leave."

Her brow furrowed
. "Then why did you put yourself through that? Why didn’t you just stop me if you could?"

"I told you—I’m not in the business of taking away free will. I wanted you to choose to turn around, to choose to come back. But you didn’t, even after the reapers attacked me. Message received, angel, loud and fucking clear."