Chapter 11
Corbin
I didn’t trust the man in black, and I couldn’t seem to change back into my human form, though I expected I could leave Sebbie’s dream if I tried to.
Although this wasn’t exactly a dream, and he wasn’t exactly Sebbie. Well, he was Sebbie, but he was also more.
But I wasn’t going to leave him here with the man in black, or with the soul standing in front of us. Not that I thought the soul could hurt him, but he seemed distressed to see it.
The mortal soul was… gray. Not hellbound, but definitely not clear and pure either.
Usually, hellhounds literally couldn’t kill souls that weren’t hellbound.
It was a free will thing. We had free will in our human natures, but our hellhound natures did not have free will.
They were predestined to kill hellbound souls, so they couldn’t do anything else.
Wilder and I had discussed it once, and he thought it was a failsafe.
No one wanted rotten afterlifers running amok, so it made sense that our powers could only be used for their specific purpose.
Of course, we could defend ourselves. We could, I suppose, also kill someone the old fashioned way, just like humans could, but it wasn’t like anyone had tried.
We didn’t want to kill innocent people. It was… repulsive to even think about.
This place was different, though. I could sense that. I had a job here, just like I did on the mortal plane. My job was to do Sebbie’s bidding.
Although that wasn’t accurate, either. I had the choice to do Sebbie’s bidding.
If he asked me to dispose of the gray soul in front of me, I could do it.
I could also choose not to do it, but I understood that would mean leaving his dream that wasn’t really a dream, and leaving Sebbie to deal with the man in front of him.
I didn’t want him to have to do that.
I felt the rightness of letting Sebbie decide this man’s fate. This soul was in his caretaking, and he could see the pieces of it far better than I could. He would decide what to do with it, and I knew that his decision would be a fair and just one.
I trusted Sebbie.
Sebbie, however, did not look happy. In fact, he looked a bit like he wanted to throw a temper tantrum, and it made me want to pull him into a hug. I growled softly, rubbing against his leg.
He looked down at me. “Well, this is a shit choice.”
I growled in agreement, then rubbed against his leg again in support.
He sighed. “Fuck.” He looked at the man in black. “You really can’t just decide for me?”
“This is your place, Sebbie. The decision is yours, as it has always been. I would not take that from you, even if you asked me to,” the man said.
Sebbie huffed and looked back at the gray soul, and then he snapped his fingers in front of the man’s face.
“Shit!” the guy said, looking frantically around him. “What the fuck?”
Sebbie sighed exasperatedly. “You’re dead. You’re also an asshole, because you were about to kill your dad.”
The man looked at Sebbie, and Sebbie banged his staff against the ground once. The man’s eyes took on a far away look, and I could see pictures of the past in his eyes—it was an eerie thing to watch.
“I was high,” he murmured. “I was high most of the time at the end. I was sober for a while, but…” he trailed off, his voice rough.
“Da tried to get me help, and it worked for a bit, but after Ma died… I guess we were both lost. We fought a lot. We fought even when I was sober. We fought even more when I drank. Then I started the drugs again.”
The man’s eyes were wet, and a single tear fell from one eye.
“You’re right. I would have killed him. I didn’t want to kill him.
I would have regretted it. But I would have done it just the same.
I was so angry. Angry about Ma dying, angry that he wouldn’t give me money, angry that he seemed to have given up on me.
I was angry that I had given up on myself. ”
Memories flowed faster and faster in his eyes, the effect almost dizzying. The man fell to his knees, an anguished cry escaping him. He sobbed openly now, shudders wracking his entire body.
He looked up, his eyes clear of memories but still wet with tears. “Thank you. Thank you for taking me instead of him.”
The words seemed to deflate Sebbie, and he heaved another big sigh.
The man in black laughed behind him. “You’re too kind and forgiving, old friend. But that has always been your nature.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled, then he pointed his staff at the man. “I’ll give you a ride, but I’m telling you right now, when you get over there, you’re telling your Ma everything.”
The man took a shuddering breath, a hint of panic appearing on his face. He shook his head in disagreement, and it was clear he didn’t want to confess everything to his mother.
“I mean it!” Sebbie said. “Every single thing. And I’ll know if you don’t. It’s either that, or this one”—he gestured at me—“will end you right now before you can even cross. And then I have no idea where you’ll end up, but it won’t be with your Ma, that’s for sure.”
The man hung his head, but he finally nodded.
“Alright, Kevin, let’s go,” Sebbie announced. “You can tell me all the good memories you have of your Ma and Da on the way over. You can tell me about the times before things went bad.”
Sebbie gave me a pat, then he led the softly crying man—Kevin, apparently—off toward the boat. I would have followed him, but the man in black put his hand up.
“Sebbie will handle it from here, and I’m not sure what will happen if you get on the boat,” the man in black said quietly, both of us staring after Sebbie and his charge as they boarded.
I growled in response. I still wanted to go with Sebbie. I didn’t care what happened to me.
The man in black looked at me. “Yes, but Sebbie will very much care, especially if what happens here has ramifications in what he thinks of as the real world. He doesn’t…
He hasn’t quite come to terms with what he is yet.
I know you’re tempted to tell him, but that would not be good for him, or for you.
Some things we must figure out for ourselves. ”
I had so many questions.
“I know you do, Baiga-hound.”
That was the second time the man in black had called me that.
He smiled. “Sebbie has chosen well. Neither of you are completely mine anymore, however, and that does make things slightly more difficult. Your Baiga heritage makes you partly beyond my reach, but I think it will serve you well with Sebbie.”
That was all well and good, but what was I supposed to do?
“For now, I think it’s time you woke up,” the man in black said, and then he snapped his fingers.
My eyes popped open. I was sitting on Sebbie’s comfy couch, his feet in my lap, my hands lightly resting on his legs. He was still sleeping. Crow cawed from outside, and I looked over to see her peering in a window.
“I’m not sure if you should come in,” I answered.
She fluffed her feathers and shook her head, and I could sense the disdain pouring off her. Of course Sebbie would want his favorite crow in the house, was her very clear thought.
I figured it was better to ask, however, and she settled her feathers and begrudgingly agreed.
I wasn’t sure how much longer Sebbie would be sleeping for, and I was even more unsure what to say to him when he woke up.
The man in black had specifically said not to tell him what he was.
That didn’t sit right with me. I didn’t want to keep anything from Sebbie.
On the other hand, I understood the man in black’s point.
I’d seen it happen with many of my brother’s mates—they ignored what was right in front of them until they were ready to process and deal with it.
Far be it from me to rush Sebbie’s process and possibly harm him by doing so.
Still, I would not lie to him. If Sebbie asked me, I would tell him the truth. I would not volunteer information he wasn’t ready for, however. I wouldn’t pressure him, but I would be here if he wanted to talk. That seemed like a fair compromise.
The man in black was another enigma. I thought he was more than likely the King of Hell.
Who else could claim hellhounds and grim reapers?
Or the ferryman? Although all of that was a little unclear to me.
I knew my own nature well, and I understood why he had said I wasn’t all his—my witch side did not originate in hell.
That was separate from my hellhound nature.
Sebbie stirred beneath me, dragging me from my thoughts. He yawned and stretched, opening his eyes. He blushed when he saw me.
“You stayed.” His voice was surprised.
“Of course. I told you I would watch over you. I intend to do just that,” I answered.
Sebbie stared at me seriously, but the moment was interrupted by a caw.
Sebbie hopped up and skipped over to the window at the sound, his natural joy evident.
“Oh! Is that your crow? Crow, I mean? Does she want to come in? She can come in, if she’d like,” he said, and he looked outside and waved hello to Crow.
Crow cawed at me, almost as if to rub my nose in the fact that she was correct, and of course Sebbie welcomed her in the house. Sebbie opened the window, and she flew over and landed on the sill. I could see his face, and he looked like a delighted kid.
“You’re so pretty, Crow. And so smart, too. You’ve been coming to see me, haven’t you? I always see you in my yard. In fact…” Sebbie blushed suddenly, his eyes darting over toward something on his bookshelf.
I followed his gaze—ah, yes, the stuffed crow. She’d brought him that. He cleared his throat, and his eyes darted around the rest of the items on his shelves.
“I expect she’s brought you some treasures,” I stated.
Crow cawed again and flew into the house, settling on the back of the couch where Sebbie had been sitting as opposed to behind me.
Traitor, I thought at her good-naturedly.
She fluffed her feathers and turned to look at me from one eye. I could read her expression. You weren’t going to let me in the house. He did.
“Yes, she has,” he said, looking over at us both unsurely.
I patted the couch beside me. “She won’t bite. She likes you, maybe even better than me. I’ve been wondering where some of my stones have gone from my workshop, but I should have known.”
“Oh! Some of these are yours! Well, of course you can have them back—” Sebbie started.
I held up my hand. “They’re gifts. I only thought to refine them more, perhaps make them into jewelry or little carvings, but Crow obviously thought they were suitable as they were. They’re yours now, and they look lovely on your shelves.”
He smiled, coming to sit down beside me. He was scooted much closer to me in order to give Crow room, like she needed the whole seat and not just the back. I certainly wasn’t going to correct him, because it felt wonderful to have him close.
Sebbie’s body was cooler than mine. I thought perhaps that was a part of his other nature, but he didn’t feel cold or unwelcoming. It was almost like I had been standing in a very hot room, and he was a light breeze of cool air gently caressing my skin. It was refreshing and invigorating.
He looked at me. “You can do that? Carve little figures out of stone?”
“Yes. I’ll make you one.”
He blushed and looked pleased, then he turned his body toward Crow, putting his back to me and tucking one leg up on the couch.
Crow cooed softly at him, fluffing her feathers. She took a little hop toward him, and he leaned into me. I put an arm on his shoulder, resisting the urge to hug him close to me. I could be patient and go slow, I reminded myself.
“It’s okay. You can pet her, if you’d like,” I told him.
He turned to look at me again, a huge smile on his face. “Really?”
Crow cooed again, I laughed, and Sebbie bounced a little in his seat, his joy at being able to pet Crow apparent.
“Who’s a lovely, beautiful girl? Hmm? You are,” he said, tentatively reaching his fingers out.
Crow was apparently not as patient as me, because she hopped forward and ducked her head down, basically petting her neck herself with Sebbie’s fingers.
Sebbie laughed lightly, and the sound made something inside me ease. He continued to gently talk to Crow, and she cooed at him. I watched them both, feeling more peaceful and at ease than I had before.
I still had questions and concerns, but I could enjoy this moment with Sebbie. He was a gift, and I would treasure every moment of getting to know him.
Yes, there was a lot to deal with, but Sebbie was sunshine and light. We would figure it out together, and his light would lead the way. And if he needed protection… Well, that’s what I was good at.
I wouldn’t let him down.