Chapter 15
Corbin
I was no longer in my hellhound form, and I was wearing sweatpants again, which shouldn’t have been possible.
When I changed back into a human, my clothes didn’t make the transfer.
They burned up in the shift, but apparently, that wasn’t the case here.
I wasn’t sure why that, of all things, was the most surprising to me right now.
Sebbie’s hand grabbed onto mine, and I squeezed it and shifted closer to him. He didn’t exactly look upset, but he didn’t look thrilled, either.
“What is it, Little Reaper?” I asked.
Sebbie was staring down at the scattered broken stones in the spot where Aiden’s grandfather had stood.
The body was completely gone—not even ash remained.
I hadn’t expected any sort of fight or trouble, because I knew he was a regular mortal soul here in Sebbie’s world—I could feel it.
Any immortality he’d had was gone in this place.
I had expected to have to dispatch of his body, however, much like in the regular world.
Dealing with hellbound mortals could be messy and wasn’t always quick.
Only I supposed his body wasn’t really here.
At least I didn’t think so? This was where souls went to cross into the afterlife, and perhaps also where Sebbie kept the souls he’d reaped.
I wasn’t exactly sure, and I didn’t think Sebbie knew, either.
What I had realized was that there was no physical body, and my hellhound fire had consumed his soul and sent it on to hell.
Sebbie was still quiet, and I pulled him into my arms. He went easily, turning away from the spot where the man had been and cuddling into my chest. I rubbed his back and held him, giving him time to process what happened.
“He was a very bad man,” Sebbie finally said.
“He was,” I reassured him, kissing the top of his head. “You wouldn’t have wanted him crossing the river.”
Sebbie shivered a bit in my arms. “No, the thought of him on my boat is… awful.”
I hummed in agreement.
“He shouldn’t have been here, though. I mean, it’s always only nice people here. Then there was that guy from the house who was trying to kill his dad, and now this guy who was trying to kill Aiden. I don’t like that not nice people are showing up.”
I rubbed Sebbie’s back. I wasn’t sure what I should and shouldn’t say.
It seemed that he had unlocked his reaper power, and I supposed he needed to deal with the souls he took.
Unfortunately, the only people he’d reaped seemed to have been pretty awful people.
Unless the people who went on his boat had always been people he’d reaped as well?
I wasn’t sure, and trying to figure it out wouldn’t solve the immediate problem.
Sebbie didn’t like dealing with bad people, but if I had to guess, he wasn’t done with that.
I had assumed that the person inside the stone would be the woman from the cult house—the Nephilim who was basically immortal.
Sebbie had somehow managed to kill her and forget about the whole thing.
I’d forgotten about Aiden's grandfather. I guess Sebbie had killed him, too.
I thought back to the room. There was a man there as well, but I was pretty sure the Nephilim had killed him before Sebbie had killed her. Then there was the fact that maybe Sebbie had killed us. But we hadn’t been here. Had we?
I wasn’t so sure now. I wasn’t really sure of anything, and if I was confused, I hated to think how Sebbie must feel. I hugged him tightly again, wondering if I should mention that there was a very good chance the Nephilim woman was somewhere in his forest as well.
I smelled the air. There was no odor of rot.
There was nothing but forest and earth and river.
I’d smelled the rot of Aiden’s grandfather, but I smelled nothing now.
But I hadn’t smelled anything the last time I’d been here, and Aiden’s grandfather had been here.
Perhaps the Nephilim was so firmly encased in stone somewhere in the forest that no sense of her rot could leak through.
Or perhaps she wasn’t here. I really had no clue.
Whichever was the case, I didn’t think Sebbie was ready to deal with talking about her. I wanted to make him feel better somehow, though.
I pulled back and looked into his eyes. “I’m sorry that not nice people are showing up, but I’m glad that I was here to help deal with it.
If you ever want my help, call for me. Or call for Crow, and I will do everything in my power to get here.
And if you can bring me here, then do it. I will always come for you, Sebbie.”
He smiled at me, his eyes looking a little wet, and then everything was fading away into darkness.
I didn’t wake up right away. I knew I slept a bit, and when I did wake up, Sebbie was gone.
I had a moment to feel panic, but then I sensed him in the kitchen, along with Thea.
I smiled at the thought of them. Thea was a bit snarky and rough around the edges, but Sebbie had definitely adopted her as a “bestie.”
I got up and pulled on sweatpants, heading out to see what those two were up to. I heard their conversation as soon as I opened the bedroom door. (Jude and I had done some… upgrades. We didn’t need to hear each other in our bedrooms, and a little bit of soundproofing went a long way.)
“I don’t believe you,” Sebbie stated. “You can’t be serious.”
“Yup,” Thea answered.
“No freaking way. You’re lying.” Sebbie sounded disbelieving and anxious.
I sped up, walking into the kitchen. It was late afternoon and still light out, and Thea and Sebbie were sitting at the table with mugs in front of them.
Sebbie was facing away from me, but I could see he had a death grip on my mug and his shoulders were hunched up.
Thea was just sitting there, smiling smugly.
What the hell? If Thea had upset my mate… But why would she do that? She cared for Sebbie. I walked over behind Sebbie and placed a kiss on his head, shooting Thea a dirty look.
She raised her hands up in a placating gesture, and I realized I was growling. Just a little bit.
Sebbie turned around, his look one of pure outrage. Shit. Had I overstepped? I knew Sebbie could take care of himself, but I didn’t want him upset.
“She doesn’t like Dirty Dancing,” Sebbie stated, and the outrage and disbelief was evident in his statement. “How can someone not like Dirty Dancing?”
Huh? I looked over at Thea, confused, but she just continued smirking.
“Aside from the fact that they’re both totally hot, there’s so much chemistry. And Patrick Swayze! Omg. You cannot say that he isn’t amazing,” Sebbie continued.
“Eh,” Thea said.
“Then what about Jennifer Grey!”
“Too skinny,” Thea answered, taking a sip of her drink.
“But the final dance!” Sebbie demanded.
Thea shrugged. “I mean, yeah, it was a cool scene, but ‘No one puts Baby in a corner.’ Really? What the hell is that? First of all, what woman who’s into civil rights and world justice in that time period goes around by the name Baby?
And second of all, the corner seat is the best seat!
Your back is to the wall, no one can sneak up on you, and you can see the whole room!
Who wants to sit in the freaking aisle? It doesn’t even make sense. ”
Ahh. They must have been talking about a show. “Is this a tv show or a movie?” I asked.
The two outraged looks that were suddenly pointed my way made me want to back up a foot.
“Are you serious?” Thea asked.
“You haven’t seen Dirty Dancing?” Sebbie gasped, his hand going to his heart. “Who hasn’t seen Dirty Dancing?”
“Well, to be fair, a lot of younger people probably haven’t. If you weren’t such an eighties fan, you probably wouldn’t have seen it—it was before your time. But Corbin doesn’t have that excuse,” Thea chimed in.
I shot her a look, and she stuck her tongue out at me.
Sebbie turned back toward Thea. “Corbin isn’t that old!”
Thea snorted and coughed a bit, but she didn’t contradict him.
“Besides, we can remedy that. Tonight.” Sebbie looked at me. “You have to see Dirty Dancing.”
I smiled, putting my hand on Sebbie’s shoulder. An excuse to hang out with my mate? I nodded my head. “Yes, we’ll definitely have to watch it.”
Thea snorted again, rolling her eyes. I could practically see a thought bubble above her head saying Sure, you’ll just watch a movie together. I shot her another look.
She just shrugged. “It’s an okay movie. Typical 80s. Not my favorite.”
“I bet you liked Labyrinth. Or Gremlins. Ohhh, I bet you were into The Breakfast Club,” Sebbie said.
“Don’t forget Heathers,” Thea added.
And then, in some sort of creepy show of unity, they both said, “Fuck me gently with a chainsaw,” then started laughing and giggling together.
Okay then. I was saved from having to answer by the sound of the front door opening. I’d realized that Dexter and Toby were nearby, but I hadn’t expected them to pop in.
Toby appeared first, and he had a surprised look on his face. “Oh! Sebbie! I didn’t know you were here!”
Dexter was right behind him, and he looked confused. “But I told you he was here.”
Toby gave Dexter a light elbow to the ribs, and then he looked at me and smiled. Then he looked at my hand on Sebbie’s shoulder. Then he looked at Sebbie, then he looked at my hand, then he looked at Sebbie again, all while sort of raising his eyebrows and making his eyes wide.
It was… odd.
Sebbie was still sort of giggling, and Toby’s look only made him giggle harder.
“For fuck’s sake,” Thea mumbled.
Toby cleared his throat expectantly. Sebbie was still giggling, Dexter looked just as confused as me, and Thea looked both mildly amused and mildly annoyed.
Toby cleared his throat again, then he looked at Dexter.
“Oh,” Dexter said, as if he suddenly realized he had lines. “My mate wants to know if you two had sex.”
“Oh, dear god, that is not what I said!” Toby grumbled, elbowing Dexter again.