Wolfe crossed the street and entered the gas station mart through a sliding glass door where only one half opened. A huge woman, close to six tall and probably nearly three hundred pounds, was ‘working’ the front counter. She gave him the eye as he entered, but he ignored her and headed to the back, pushing into the bathroom.

The inside was trashed, and the mirror shattered, but the faucet poured cold water. Wolfe ran it over his face and hands, mostly trying to clear the smear of blood across his face. His results were somewhat mixed, and his shirt was a total loss, but he could pass for ‘not the chainsaw murderer,’ he was fairly sure.

He walked back out of the bathroom and grabbed a six pack of Yuengling Lager and took it up to the lady running the place. The clock above her head declared it was nearly two in the morning, and Wolfe grimaced.

He put the beer on the counter. “Give me a pack of Marlboro Red’s too. And a lighter, please.”

The lady complied, and Wolfe fished the mangled bills from his pants to pay before heading outside.

Wolfe lit a cigarette up as Shel came over to him. She was pressing her fingers together and not meeting his eyes. Wolfe sighed. It was gonna be something else, he just knew it. Why am I the one everyone is going to right now? It did his ego good, but it was putting his stress levels into the fucking stratosphere.

“Umm… I just got a call from Kevin.”

“What did he do now?” Wolfe asked, almost beyond the point of caring he was so exhausted.

“He got arrested for driving while high. He’s in jail now… and your car is impounded.”

“Lovely,” Wolfe said, smoking. “At least the fucker will stay put now.”

“Umm… he was asking if we can bail him out,” Shel said, still pressing her fingers together and letting her strawberry blonde hair hang down in front of her face.

Wolfe stared at Shel. There was something about her innocence, her character, her fundamental goodness that made him want to help her out. He ought to be enraged, he knew, but he did want to give her a hand.

But he was done being stupid about it—Kevin was the most aggravating person he knew.

“I’ll bail him out, but as soon as we get into the car, I’m going to put the little fucker in handcuffs. I’ll fucking cuff him to whatever furniture exits where we stay as well. He’s not running on me a third time. Can you handle that?” Wolfe asked.

Shel nodded vigorously. Her beautiful green eyes were hopeful as she stared at him.

“And then, once he’s purged the drugs and he’s clean, I’m putting him on a damn plane out of here, to be gone from this life—and, more importantly, mine—forever. Fair?” Wolfe asked.

Again, Shel nodded vigorously. An incredulous smile started to form at the corner of her mouth—Wolfe was almost positive she knew he was being ridiculously nice to her and she hadn’t expected it.

Wolfe continued. “After that, you’re going to get out of this all as well, right? Follow your brother to safety?”

Shel’s happiness collapsed, and she raised a hand, nervously fiddling with her hair. “Do I… have to?”

Wolfe took another drag of his cigarette as he contemplated this development. “What?”

“Do I have to go? What if I wanted to stay and help you?” Shel asked, her green eyes now boring into his.

“Shel…” Wolfe hesitated before continuing, gathering his thoughts. “This life isn’t for you. If Sorenia were out of the deck right now she’d be encouraging you to get out of here. You’ve got an angel deck, your smart, you’re pretty… but you’re also soft. This life is the kind of thing a good man would protect you from, not involve you in.”

“Because I’m a woman?” Shel asked.

Wolfe frowned at her. “No, because you’re you. I don’t try and save the drugged-out whores, or the girls obviously looking for a walk on the wild side, or the people like good ol’ Julia, that crazy coroner lady with the rats, that got involved to make some extra money. I believe in Big Man Grimm’s rule, deeply. The ones that got involved for selfish reasons, or because they’re idiots, were all adults and they can save themselves.”

Shel was listening, rapt, as he talked.

“But you… well, you got involved to save someone. Well, once you’ve saved said someone, you’ve got no reason to stay. So get the fuck out while you can.”

Shel was silent a bit longer.

“Will you come with me?” She asked.

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Wolfe was so surprised he half-sucked his cigarette in and then choked and spit it out onto the concrete parking lot they were standing in. After a few moments of hacking, he stared at her from watery eyes like she’d grown another head. “What? Go with you where?”

“Away from here,” Shel said, waving her arms around the nighttime city street like that explained a damn thing.

“You don’t have anywhere,” Wolfe said. “That’s why I was giving you some extra cash!”

“I just meant… out of this life,” Shel said.

She walked a step closer and threw her arms around Wolfe, her head pressed up against him, her strawberry-blonde hair covered head pressed up under his chin. “Whatever happened when you were a kid, you’ve paid enough, Wolfe. You don’t belong here. You can leave, now.”

Wolfe sighed and stroked her hair. He was tempted, he truly was. “Look, Shel… I haven’t been feeling this damn life, lately. I can remember when I was younger and fresh from his sentence in juvie, I was keen to fight the street wars.”

“Why?” Shel asked.

“Because I was clearly tainted, but I was also bringing down other people that were evil. I thought that in a weird way, I was still doing good, kinda. But the whole time I was also working for Big Man Grimm, a man I deeply respect.”

Shel’s voice was muffled against his chest, but Wolfe could still understand her as he stared over her head at the night time streets around them. “Because he helped you?” she asked.

“Partially. But that’s not all. Big Man Grimm is evil, I know that—I’m not a fool. But he is a genteel and honorable evil, one that keeps the evil confined to the shadows and to people that have decided to play in our world.” Wolfe laughed. “He is a devil that only comes when summoned. Sure, if you call him you’re liable to get burnt. But I honestly believe, even now, that he made the streets less dangerous than they would have been if he wasn’t there.”

“By selling drugs?” Shel asked, half pulling back and staring up at Wolfe.

“By selling them with, until recently, almost no violence. Someone is gonna do it. He does it less… horribly,” Wolfe finished.

“Even if that’s true, why can’t you leave?” Shel asked. “ I mean, most of that speech makes it sound like you want to go now, anyway.”

Wolfe chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I wasn’t selling ‘staying.’ But the point is, I’m still tainted, Shel. I’ve killed a dozen guys in the last couple days.”

“They were bad people,” Shel said.

Wolfe sighed. “The gods themselves let me know, Shel. The Infernal chose me to receive a deck. Everything I touch turns to crap or dies—I belong in this world.”

Shel pulled back again, and reached up and touched the side of Wolfe’s stubble-roughened cheek with one delicate hand. “Wolfe… you’re not evil. You’re just an anti-hero.”

Wolfe laughed again so abruptly he was glad he hadn’t relit a cigarette—one going down his windpipe would probably remove the last tiny shreds of his health. “What?”

“The Infernal didn’t pick you, Cerberus did,” Shel said. “I’ve seen pretty much your entire deck at this point, right?”

Wolfe nodded.

Shel spoke with intensity. “Well, Cerberus keeps people out of hell… but he also keeps the demons in. Your companion, your mantle… they’re all made to fight other Infernals. I looked up the Infernal lords, Wolfe. Beelzebub gives decks to corrupters, that use the desires of others against them. Aeshma gives decks to the violent. Asmodeus to rapists and those that use woman’s sexuality for their own gain. Every infernal lord, nearly, gives decks to evil people. But who does Cerberus give decks to?”

Wolfe didn’t know, but he could guess. “People that hunt down bad people?”

Shel shrugged while still touching the side of Wolfe’s face. He took her hand and pressed it down slowly, not to reject her but because he felt that her holding her hand up to his face was starting to look awkward.

“I don’t know, actually,” Shel said. “There are almost no Cerberus cards out there. But it stands to reason.”

Wolfe thought about it for a moment, but ultimately, there was still one core truth about him that stood in the way. “Shel, once all of this war is done I’ll think about it, okay? I’ll ask Big Man Grimm. Hell, maybe he’ll retire at the same time, he’s getting pretty damn old. But until this war is done, I can’t leave. I’m sorry. I’m genuinely loyal to those that had my back. Whatever other flaws he has—and there’s plenty—Big Man Grimm absolutely had my back when I needed it most. I can’t just leave him now, or I really will be evil. But once this is done I’ll try.”

Shel nodded. “That is… more than I thought you’d say. I thank you, truly.”

“Okay, but until then, I need to know you’re okay. I need this one thing to go right.”

“Why is it such a big deal?” Shel asked.

Wolfe hesitated. “look… I told you about my mother and sister, right? What happened with my dad?”

Shel nodded. “Yeah. Yesterday, I think. Or maybe this morning. It’s all a big blur at this point, a blur of odd schedules and terror.”

Wolfe laughed. “It has been pretty fucking wretched, hasn’t it?”

Shel nodded, smiling. “It’s had its moments though.”

Wolfe sobered again. “Look… the story with Dad ended terribly across the board. After I killed that abusive molester, well… Mom and Sis hated me for it.”

“What?” Shel asked, her eyes widening. “Why?”

“They were so programmed, or used to it, that they didn’t even see the horror. That’s the best I can guess, anyway, but I never found out for sure. Them hating me was the one outcome I never expected. The first night I was in juvie they came and told me that I ruined their life, and killed the one man that took care of them.” Wolfe’s face twisted. “That I killed the one man that loved them. He had programmed them so well that they didn’t even want to be rescued… and the money dried up really fast as well.”

“They never forgave you? Or tried to reconcile?” Shel asked.

Wolfe exhaled through his nose. “Maybe they would have, I don’t know. But they died in a car accident less than two months later, before I was released. That conversation, in the jail, was the last I ever heard of them. But my Mom had hated me so much she even changed the will so I got nothing… so I think they still hated me when they died.”

“I’m so, so sorry,” Shel said quietly.

An old red Volkswagen pulled up to the curb and honked.

“Our Uber?” Wolfe asked.

Shel nodded.

“Well, there you go,” Wolfe said, staring at the car but nor moving. “The last tiny bit of Wolfe’s story. No more secrets, no more crazy events in my life. You know it all, Shel. Something only Big Man Grimm has ever heard before in its entirety. But that’s why I need you to go once you can. I must save someone and have it go right for real. Just once.”

“I’ll leave, Wolfe, so long as we get my brother out. But promise you’ll try and follow.”

“I’ll try, you have my word. Once I’ve seen this through for Thad.”

“Thad?”

“Big Man Grimm,” Wolfe clarified, then waived to the car. “Shall we go get your dumbass brother?”

Shel nodded and laughed. Even she couldn’t argue her brother was a dumbass, Wolfe figured.