Chapter 21
Corbin
I mulled over the man in black’s cryptic statements for the next week, but I had no answers.
He was obviously an afterlifer, and I had a very strong suspicion that he was Lucifer.
His comments about neither of us strictly belonging to him and his statement about being the opposite of creation made me think that we were talking to the devil himself.
That still didn’t explain how he had created anything, or how he’d made Sebbie what he was.
I thought I knew what Sebbie was, even if he didn’t know it about himself, but I wasn’t sure if that meant what I thought it meant. It was all, as Sebbie had said, cryptic. And if Crow had any ideas on what was going on, she wasn’t sharing.
The next week felt like we were in a weird kind of holding pattern.
Sebbie got up and went to work each day, and I muddled around trying to distract myself by making jewelry or hunting hellbound souls.
I drove him to work and brought him home, and then we fell into bed together each night.
We spent his days off together, then we repeated the pattern when he had work again.
We were back on another stretch of his days off, and we had come to my place to have lunch with the crew.
I enjoyed every minute of my time with Sebbie, and we did spend practically every minute together.
We laughed, we cooked, and he tried out carving stones in my workshop.
We hiked the property, went food shopping, and ran errands together.
I had the pleasure of touching Sebbie each day, and I loved getting my mouth on his cock again.
He had exuberantly returned the favor; he was passionate and joyous when he sucked on me, and I hadn’t lasted very long in his mouth.
We hadn’t spent a single night apart, and I wasn’t going to call attention to that fact. I was hoping to just subtly move in without him realizing it. So far, that plan seemed to be working fine. I just kept bringing more things to his house, and he didn’t seem to notice.
It was all very normal, aside from the fact that most nights we visited Sebbie’s river, I disposed of rotten souls, and he ferried good souls to their destination.
Even that became a level of normal, but still…
It felt like we were waiting for something.
Like something was coming. The feeling had only gotten stronger as the days passed.
It felt like that stillness in the air that came right before the wind picked up and a storm came on—the darkening skies, the heavy air, and the whisper of danger ahead.
The feeling was so strong for a moment that I stopped what I was doing, which was helping Jude prepare lunch, and looked out the window.
There were sunny skies and a slight breeze based on the ruffling of the leaves.
“You good?” Jude asked.
I heard Sebbie and Thea laugh from the other room, where they were gossipping about fashion choices from the latest award show. Something eased in me at the sound.
“Yeah,” I answered.
Jude stared at me, raising an eyebrow. “Your witchy senses are tingling—I can tell. What’s up?”
I hadn’t mentioned the river or the man in black to anyone.
I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps because it felt like Sebbie’s secret?
But Jude was a good sounding board. I succinctly filled him in, explaining as simply as possible.
Sebbie’s “dreams” weren’t as important as the man in black’s statements.
That was where the feeling of incoming danger came from.
Jude hummed when I was done, clearly thinking. “I think you’re right and that it’s the devil. But I don’t know if that’s even relevant. The way I see it, there are two main concerns.”
I stared at him, waiting for him to share what those two major concerns were.
“First, there’s the cult lady. You said yourself that you think she’s probably somewhere there, and at some point Sebbie will probably have to deal with her. And although that’s a concern, I don’t think that dealing with her is the real issue.”
I agreed with Jude. She felt like a danger, but not the real danger.
“The man in black warned you not to tell Sebbie what he was. Sebbie himself is blocking it out. There must be a reason for that. Will something happen if he remembers?” Jude asked.
I pondered that, and Jude went back to mixing the pasta salad he was working on.
We had a fair amount of food prepped, but we expected the whole crew to arrive, so there was never going to be too much food.
We hadn’t all gotten together as a full pack recently, and it was like some kind of internal message went out that it was time.
We knew everyone would show up today for lunch.
I continued making sandwiches for a minute, but eventually I stopped and just stared out the window.
“Talk it out,” Jude told me.
“Sebbie seems to know he’s a ferryman, even if it’s only in his dreams. He loves doing it.
He has fun. He doesn’t like ‘not nice people’ at his river, but I’m there now to deal with them.
So although he opened that box, it seems to be taken care of.
We have a routine, and I’m there to deal with hellbound souls. ”
I thought about that for a minute. “But I shouldn’t have to deal with hellbound souls. They die, and they should go straight to hell.”
Jude hummed in agreement.
“Sebbie is reaping them.” I had known that, but I hadn’t grasped the scope of what that meant. “Whatever he reaps, he holds onto. And I think there’s something about his reaper side that he can’t or doesn’t want to face. That’s when he zones out and loses memories. Around reaping souls.”
“What could happen if he discovers he’s a reaper? What does it even mean to be a reaper?” Jude asked.
“I’m… not sure,” I said hesitantly. “He can kill anyone and anything, even immortals. I’m not sure if that’s true of all reapers or not.”
A voice spoke from the doorway. “It’s not.”
Wilder had arrived, and I’d been so lost in thought that I hadn’t noticed. I realized Josh was in with Sebbie and Thea, and they were all chatting.
“What do you know of reapers?” I asked Wilder.
“Not much. There are many, and they do not usually exist on this plane. They’re something similar to ghosts.
They are easily forgotten, and afterlifers do not see them.
Those of us that originated in heaven or hell also don’t see them here on Earth.
They left the underworld when so many of us did, and as far as I know, they do not perish, nor do they create new reapers. ”
“So Sebbie is an anomaly as a new reaper?” Jude asked.
I stopped what I was doing, shock running through me. The man in black had not ‘created’ Sebbie. He was an amalgamation.
“Sebbie isn’t a new reaper. He’s a mix of human, reaper, and ferryman. And I think the reaper and ferryman sides already existed before Sebbie did. I think they were all mixed together,” I said.
Wilder nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense. And it explains why he seems to have abilities that most reapers don’t have.”
“But why would it be a problem for him to know what he is?” Jude asked. “Can’t we just tell him? Why keep it a secret?”
“Ferrymen do not exist on this plane. Reapers do not exist on this plane,” Wilder stated.
My heart dropped. “If Sebbie remembers… Does that mean he’ll have to carry out his jobs and won’t exist on this plane anymore?”
“I don’t know, Corbin,” Wilder said gently.
Jude came over and put a hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll go with him,” I said without thought. “If he has to exist forever at his river, I’ll be there with him. I’ll be his personal hellhound, ready to do his bidding.”
Wilder sighed. “Yes, I know. Which is why I hope I’m wrong. We would miss you both too much.”
Jude, Wilder, and I all stood in silence for a moment, but before long the front door was opening, and I heard the rest of the pack shuffling in.
I would worry about what would happen later. As sad as it was to think of leaving my pack, my place was with Sebbie. But for now, we could all enjoy a meal together.
I was resting my arm on the back of Sebbie’s chair, watching as he animatedly talked with Q about lemon as a cake filling.
Wilder and Josh were cuddled up together across the table, Toby was jotting down plot ideas, and Aiden was occasionally commenting on the lemon debate and casually petting Fluffy, since apparently Atlas wasn’t in a chatty mood today and had shown up in his wolf-dog form.
Liam, Thea, and Dexter were all on clean-up duty, bustling about and clearing the table.
If Jude’s sheriff were here, the pack would truly be complete.
Jude was here, although he’d snuck off a few minutes ago.
I wondered if he was sad that his mate wasn’t here, and I wondered again what he was waiting for to claim the sheriff.
Although I supposed I knew better than anyone that everything had a time and a place.
As if my thought had conjured him, I heard the sheriff’s car coming up the driveway.
I wasn’t the only one, because all of the hellhounds had a moment where we looked toward the front of the house.
A brief pulse of a siren interrupted everyone, and even the human packmates realized what was happening.
“Jude, what did you do?” Josh asked, and he had the tone of voice of someone who was dealing with a rambunctious three-year-old. Which was actually a rather apt description of Jude sometimes.
Jude smiled, threw the dish towel in his hand over his shoulder, and headed toward the door. Of course, we all followed.
Sebbie leaned into me as we walked to the front door, asking, “Why doesn’t he just ask the sheriff out?”
“Some mysteries of the universe are beyond even my grasp,” I answered, making Sebbie snort in amusement.
We all piled out the front door just as the sheriff was getting out of his car. He looked like he was pissed off, but I could also sense the exasperation and perhaps a tiny bit of amusement underneath his facade of anger.
“Walrus! We just finished lunch, but I saved a plate for you!” Jude called out, smiling like the sheriff had been expected all along. “Come on in!” he added, shooing us all back into the house and waving the sheriff forward. He didn’t wait for Paul to follow before he went back inside.
The sheriff sighed, but he followed us inside. If he wanted to talk, I supposed he didn’t have much of a choice.
Once we were all back in the living room, we took our seats, trying to look casual. The sheriff looked more resigned than mad, and Jude looked positively giddy. He brought a plate over and handed it to the sheriff. It had two sandwiches, some chips, and pasta salad.
The sheriff stared at it like it might contain a bomb, then he looked back up at Jude.
“It’s turkey—your favorite,” Jude smiled.
“Jude,” the sheriff sighed out, putting his plate on the counter.
Jude’s smile only got bigger. All of us were waiting to see what outrageous thing Jude had done to get the sheriff to come here, because it was definitely far too simple for him to just ask the man to come to lunch.
“Jude, you cannot call the precinct and tell them you’re torturing someone in the basement and that you need the sheriff to come arrest you,” Sheriff Paul grumbled. “That’s filing a false police report, and it’s illegal.”
“Oh, but I was torturing someone in the basement,” Jude answered gleefully.
Josh groaned from his chair, Dexter snorted in amusement, and I could practically hear Q roll his eyes.
“Jude,” the sheriff huffed.
“Don’t worry, I disposed of the body and all evidence. But feel free to arrest me anyway,” Jude said, holding his hands out in front of him like he was ready to get cuffed.
“Lord save me from idiots,” the sheriff mumbled under his breath. He didn’t realize half the room had exceptional hearing, and we all tried not to chuckle. It didn’t even faze Jude, though.
“Don’t worry, Walrus—he was a really bad guy. I wouldn’t go torturing and killing nice people or anything.” Then Jude winked at the sheriff.
The sheriff was saved from figuring out how to reply when Liam gave Jude a light smack on the back of the head. “Idiot,” he mumbled.
“Sorry about that, Sheriff Paul,” Josh said. “Jude is obviously a little…” He trailed off, because really, how did you finish that sentence?
“Have some lunch, anyway,” Q cut in. “I promise he didn’t poison it or anything.”
The sheriff snorted at that, and everyone went back to their conversations, taking the focus off the sheriff. It would be nice if he stayed and ate something—he was pack, even if he didn’t know it yet.
Liam wandered over to the sheriff, casually asking about the newest surveillance equipment the department was apparently interested in. The sheriff ended up asking tech questions, and almost without thought, he started eating when Jude handed him the plate again.
I sighed, putting my arm around Sebbie. He leaned his head against my shoulder, and we sat quietly and enjoyed our crew all being together. I didn’t sense anything until the sheriff had finished eating and was wiping his hands on a napkin.
“I appreciate your expertise on the tech stuff,” the sheriff told Liam. “And lunch. Thank you.” He didn’t look over at Jude, but he was beaming anyway. “I have to get back to work, though. I have actual crimes to investigate.”
“Oh,” Sebbie murmured softly next to me, and I felt his body stiffen. I looked at him, but his eyes had a far away, dazed look to them.
The sheriff walked out the front door, calling his goodbyes out. I mostly ignored that to focus on Sebbie, because something was wrong. The sheriff was gone before Sebbie turned and looked at me.
“I don’t want the sheriff on my boat,” Sebbie murmured, and then he passed out in my arms.