Chapter 37
Thirty-Seven
Isabella
Sebastian nudged me forward with his palm as we stood at the bottom of the steps. I gave him a reluctant gaze over my shoulder. I blinked, then tried batting my eyes at him.
“It’s okay, Izzie,” he reassured me, but I wasn’t sure.
“She might not have meant it,” I tried to tell him.
He shook his head. “Nope. She meant it. The witch knew about us, Harvest, and the choices I’d have to make.
Everything. She doesn’t seem like the type to say something she didn’t mean.
” Walking ahead of me, he latched onto my wrist and pulled me up the steps with him. “Come on, I’m right here with you.”
Now, that did reassure me. I smiled and let him lead me.
A week had gone by since Sebastian had come home for good.
The last seven days had been complete and utter bliss.
He still had to go into the human world every day, but now that things were somewhat back to normal, he took me with him.
It was still strange to see him deal with death, but it felt like he was taking me on an adventure every day and I loved that.
There was so much to being a Reaper and I suddenly admired them, especially my sloth.
I never cared to learn about them before, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without this one.
Nine months?
I refused to believe that was all the time I had left with him. And Sebastian even saw the truth himself in his very bones with glimpses of the future, and yet, he refused to believe it too.
He thought there might be a way for hope. I prayed he was right because I no longer wished for dreams. He gave me a beautiful reality, so I’d keep hoping for our future.
“Isabella,” I stopped when I heard Melinda’s voice at the top. I relaxed the moment I saw the tranquil expression on her face. One could say she was somewhat pleased. “We’ve been waiting.”
I looked to Sebastian just as he looked to me. He grinned. “Told you.”
I smiled, and we hurried up the steps.
The possibilities of a coven and sister witches greeted me every step of the way.
◆◆◆
“You’ve tamed the darkness, I see,” Melinda whispered as she seated us at a table. She had introduced me to several witches, and I found myself growing more and more excited.
“Still deadly,” I told her as I held up my gloved hands. “But yes, no one has the power to control me any longer. Not ever.” I bit the last word out rather darkly.
She glanced at Sebastian and nodded. “You did good, sloth.”
“But not enough… In nine months—”
“I am aware,” she informed him.
“Then, you know of a way—”
She kept interrupting him. “It’s out of your hands, you can do nothing else.”
“I won’t accept that,” he hissed.
“There’s always a way, you’re just not it.
Your and Isabella’s fate was to start it, now there will be a chain of events that will happen from here on out, but even I don’t know what the outcome will be.
” Melinda slid her hand across the table and placed hers over Sebastian’s.
“But, if anything, I have faith that if anybody can prevent it, the Reapers can.”
“Me too,” I said, casting a quick glance at Sebastian.
“These are only rumors, so I don’t know,” Melinda sat back in her chair and straightened like she was about to say something good.
Sebastian leaned forward against the table.
“The entity that can cause plagues and calamities with the snap of his fingers also has the power to heal and nourish those same things.”
Sebastian frowned. “Is that supposed to mean anything?”
She smiled at him. “If the end starts again, why wouldn’t you want someone that can heal what will be brought onto the world?”
She had a point. Sebastian sat and stewed. “That doesn’t help us, there are only two entities it can be. Fear’s power is, well, fear, so of course, it’s not him. If it’s Harvest, it’s pointless, to begin with.”
“His power is harvesting the power of others,” I said quickly. “I’ve never seen him start a plague. If he could, he would have wreaked havoc all over the place already.”
“You’re right, so that leaves…” His eyes flashed toward Melinda. “Jackal? No one’s even seen him for how long?”
“And why would he help us?” I asked. “He’s probably just as bad as Harvest.” I shuddered at the thought of him being worse.
Sebastian stood. “Well, it won’t hurt to try. I’ll talk to the others tonight.”
“You’re welcome to stay longer, Isabella,” Melinda told me as I got up.
I gave Sebastian a smile. “Stay and do your witchy business. I’ll stop by when I’m back from the human world,” was his response to my smile.
Running up to him, I placed a kiss on his lips and watched him fade away. When I turned, I caught sight of Melinda’s rather odd smirk… was that an impish rise in her eyebrows.
I just wondered what she was looking so mischievous about?
“So, what do you want to do first?” she asked me.
I grinned. “Everything.”