Nick had the rare occurrence of sitting in the passenger seat of the van. It was usually Tyler sitting here, but it was strangely empty. Empty except Evelyn sitting in the back, looking at her phone.

  “I’m used to it being so much louder in here,” Nick said, glancing over his shoulder.

  “Yeah. Well, it will, once we get to Cal’s tent,” Derek said. “Hey, are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” Nick said. He still hadn’t told Evelyn, and the side-eye he gave Derek meant he didn’t want to talk about it, either. Though he did talk to Mr. Morgan, and his boss was more than happy to write a check for his paycheck for him to cash. He also called Walt, because he could hear that conversation. He braced himself for it to be an argument, but Mr. Morgan also had a way with Walt that they could talk without it exploding into an argument. Perhaps Mr. Morgan was hoping for a more gradual change. Nick would be gone in April, though, no matter what rat-infested apartment he’d have to survive in.

  Nick rubbed the back of his neck. “Hey, how are you? How is the play? Are you… in it?”

  “Most likely, it’s just a matter of what character I am. We had callbacks after school today, and the cast list will be posted tomorrow morning. There’s a lot of great people for the beast, so I’m pretty confident that if I don’t get Gaston, I’ll have some smaller part.”

  “Oh. You want Gaston?” Nick asked.

  “Emma had a stellar tryout, from what I heard. Despite being a diva, she does have an amazing voice. I… can’t be around her. She might remember Pippa, and the kidnapping, and everything else,” Derek said.

  “Ah,” Nick said.

  Evelyn shook her head. “Keep that woman protected, please.”

  “Of course.” Derek pulled off the side of the road. “Yeah. I don’t even want to think about what might happen if we kiss again.”

  Nick opened the door. “Man, this is quite the convoluted situation.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Derek said as they headed toward the tent.

  Before they got to it, the tent door opened, and Tyler walked out, smiling. “Hey, guys.”

  “Tyler! I thought you wouldn’t be here until tomorrow,” Derek said.

  “Oh, I had a special reason to show up this time.” Tyler glanced around. “Though, Rafael’s not here. I might have to-”

  “Oh, forget it. I can lie to my dad,” Evelyn said.

  Tyler flinched. “That man has the ability to sniff out a lie that I do not want to underestimate again.”

  “Okay, but if we stay out of town, you really should be safe,” Evelyn said. “Also… I’m really glad you’re okay.”

  Tyler nodded. “Same. It’s good to see you two, as well.”

  Evelyn glanced down, studying the floor as Tyler smiled at Nick. “Can I have a word with you?”

  Nick blinked, staring at Tyler. “Yeah. Yeah, sure. What’s going on?”

  Tyler pulled out his phone. “So, you know how you wanted to keep what Walt did to you private, but you had Derek promise to tell me? And then I ignored his plea to not tell other people when I happen to know a multibillionaire?”

  Nick’s mouth went dry, then he glanced at Evelyn, then at Derek. Derek was pressing his lips together to hold back a smile. “Uh… yeah. Yeah, I guess I did forget about Neal.”

  Evelyn glanced up curiously. “What… did dad do?” She sounded afraid.

  “Nick’ll tell you. After he has this phone call,” Tyler said, phone to his ear. “Sure, I thought Walt was a jerk before, but this is probably the closest I’ll ever get to a revenge plot.” Nick glanced at Derek again, still confused, when Tyler spoke again. “Hey, Neal. Is now a good time? I’ve got Nick here.”

  Nick felt his stomach drop. Neal. Nick had never met the man, but Tyler was talking with the founder of Choice, Chance, and Consequence like they were buddies.

  “Perfect. Here he is,” Tyler said before handing Nick the phone.

  Nick stared at it, almost going cross-eyed, before he grabbed the phone and placed it to his ear.

  “Hello?” Nick asked as Evelyn gave Tyler a questioning look.

  “Hello! Is this Nick Larsen? The teenager with the shitty father?” the voice came on the other end.

  “Uh, yes sir,” Nick said.

  Neal chuckled. “Hey, Nick. Tyler told me what happened. It sounds like, while under the influence of Chaos, you got in a crash. And your father stole the funds of your future to pay the bills.”

  Nick’s throat was closing in on itself. “Yes, sir.” He tried to keep his voice steady. Tried not to betray his fear, but he had spent two days figuring out what to do, casting safety nets where he could.

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  “Alright. In order for this all to make sense, I need to let you know how Chaos affects me,” Neal started to say. “I remember for a good year afterwards that there are people here from the Shrouded Domain. The next year my memory fades. I need you to understand that, so you know that I am setting up a five-year fund for you for your rent. I can only guarantee it for a year, year and a half tops. The next three and a half years are not guaranteed, depending on how bored I get with glancing through my finances.”

  Nick stared at the ground. He should say something, but he couldn’t be sure what to say.

  “I’ll give all the information over to Tyler. He’ll get everything set up with one of my finance people, and all you need to do is give Tyler the address of where you’d like to rent in April. Then your landlord can take the money out of these funds for your rent.”

  Nick was silent. He couldn’t even make unintelligent gibberish. This had made him speechless. “I… sir, I…”

  “Do not turn this down. Please. This is all my fault. I’m the reason you have your characters here in this world. The reason Chaos hurt you. Your characters are taking on so much, and the very least I can do is make sure you don’t need to stress about finances. In fact, I’m already in talks about getting all of you full ride scholarships. You’re entire group.”

  Nick now started making unintelligible noises.

  “I’m hoping to get it done to pay off some of Tyler’s loans, too. He’ll get an email soon. But you five, I don’t want you worrying about this stuff. Focus on stopping this apocalypse, and then I’m making sure your next few years are set financially. All of you are getting full ride scholarships to whatever schools you choose, as long as colleges exist next fall. And you don’t have to go right away. Tyler said that too, about you wanting to take a year off. As soon as you’re ready, you contact one of my people and they’ll set you up with the scholarship.”

  Nick couldn’t speak. The ability to go to school and not get into debt. Nick didn’t realize he still hadn’t spoken when Neal sighed again. “I wish I could do more. I honestly do. I’ve tried. The first group of people whose characters came to earth, I felt so guilty about it that I gave them each a million dollars and pretended they won the lottery. But… it was a little too chaotic and Order went about fixing it. All of them are dead, from muggings or murders. They didn’t survive past the eighties. It was a warning to me. I wish I could set you all up financially for life, but Order and Chaos need to be respected too. I can give you enough security for the first few years. To get you back on your feet as you recover from this.”

  “It’s… enough, sir. More than enough. Thank you,” Nick said, almost in awe. Did Neal realize what he was giving? Security. A future. Nick could go to college. Live on campus somewhere. Still have at least a year’s worth of rent he wouldn’t have to worry about. It was everything.

  “There’s one more thing, kid.”

  Nick couldn’t possibly figure out what more he could get, but he wasn’t about to interrupt, either.

  “I’ve got a group of lawyers here, looking over your case. Your dad is one sneaky bastard. Despite the harm he’s doing, there’s nothing lawbreaking about what he’s done. However, document everything, just in case. If he so much as backhands you, take a picture of the welt in five different angles with a calendar and a clock in the background and send it to me. I want to know if that man pulls out even one strand of your hair, because then we’ll have him.” Neal hesitated. “Okay, we might need more than a single strand of hair, but I hope you get my point.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” Nick said. Maybe he was being overly formal, but he didn’t dare drop it, either.

  “I wish this didn’t have to happen to you kids. But it did, and we’ve got to work through it the best we can. Focus on stopping the apocalypse, I’ll make sure everything else is ready for you when you succeed.”

  Nick felt his throat close in again, but he managed to get the words out. “Thank you.” Tears burned his eyes as the two days of fear and uncertainty disappeared. It was going to be okay. Walt wouldn’t hang finances over his head anymore. He could breathe.

  “You keep in touch. Let me talk to Tyler once more,” Neal said.

  “Okay. Thank you again, sir,” Nick said. He handed the phone over to Tyler before he felt the first of the tears fall. He wasn’t sure he’d expressed his gratitude enough. He didn’t know if he could. A year’s worth of rent at least. College. Dorm. Everything.

  “Nick?” Derek asked.

  He covered his face, aware of the tears as Tyler glanced at him as he talked to Neal.

  “Rent. He’s… taking care of my rent once I move out. For at least a year.”

  Derek let out a sigh of relief as Tyler finished the call and hung up.

  “Nick, that’s great!” Evelyn said.

  “Full ride scholarships. For everyone,” Nick said, almost breathless.

  Derek’s eyes went wide. “Shut up! Really?”

  Nick nodded. “You too, Tyler. You’re getting one, too.”

  Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Oh, sweet! I didn’t expect that.”

  Nick let out another sigh, feeling like the dark, depressive nightmare started to disappear. “As long as we survive this, Neal’s got things in place to give us financial security for the next few years.” Nick felt himself smile for the first time in days. A genuine, happy smile. He hadn’t thought about it, but this would be a huge burden lifted from Alejandra and Rafael, too. He knew Rafael was scrambling to gather all the scholarships he could to even afford college. Now he wouldn’t have to worry. Nick’s smile grew, aware that he was happy for Rafael.

  “So… are you going to tell Evelyn what prompted Tyler to pull some strings with a multibillionaire?” Derek asked.

  That caused the smile to disappear for a moment. “Right.” Evelyn furrowed her brows in confusion as Nick met her gaze. “So, um… dad used my savings to buy the car.”

  The furrow disappeared, and Evelyn’s eyes bulged out. “He did WHAT!”

  Clarissa poked her head out of the tent. “Are you guys okay?” she asked.

  “Dad did that? To buy the car! Are you serious! Oh, my god. Oh my god I hate him. I hate him so much. How dare he!”

  “And it’ll be okay,” Nick said, placing his hands on her shoulder. He could already feel her trembling. “I’m going to be fine.”

  “God, I hate him. What the hell,” Evelyn said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because I was afraid you’d react like this and…”

  “Punch dad again?” Evelyn asked.

  “Uh, yeah. Yeah, pretty much,” Nick said.

  Evelyn grumbled, placing her fingers against her head, then she dropped them. “Thank you, Tyler. Thanks for looking after Nick.”

  “Yeah. Anytime.”

  “In a reckless need to do something against my father’s wishes, I hope you’ll let me do what I’m about to do,” Evelyn said, walking over to him and throwing her arms around him.

  Tyler seemed surprised, as he was in the process of putting his phone in his pocket when she did that, but he chuckled and patted her back. “I mean… okay? Thought you were going to do something worse in defiance of your dad, but this is alright.”

  “Ugh, I wouldn’t do that to you,” Evelyn said.

  “I appreciate it,” Tyler said, with a smile. “I may want revenge on Walt, too, but holy hell, no thank you. You’re like my sister.”

  Evelyn smiled. “I know. Also… I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “Yeah. I’m fine. After all, I have you to protect me from your dad,” Tyler said.

  Evelyn shook her head and headed toward the tent. “God, I hate that man.”

  Nick chuckled, happy he had the capacity to chuckle. He let out another breath, remembering Neal’s promise. As long as they stopped the apocalypse, everything else was set up for them. They wouldn’t have to worry about getting scholarships on top of saving the world.