1
Sebbie
“I’m not sure this is a good idea,“
Dexter mumbled.
We all ignored him. Toby was too busy looking around while trying to pull his carry-on luggage, and if Dexter hadn’t had an arm to steer him, I think he would have walked into about four people already. Or run over their toes. (He had run over Dexter’s toes. Twice. Dexter hadn’t said a word.) The rest of our luggage had been checked and would be delivered to our staterooms, but Toby insisted on keeping his carry-on with his computer with him.
It had been pretty easy to get checked in and stuff, and now we were on the boat, walking down a hallway to find our rooms. It was a lot less crowded than the main part of the ship, so everyone’s toes were probably safe now.
Not that I blamed Toby. Neither of us had ever been on a cruise ship before, and it was… Wow. Nothing like my little boat by the lake.
“Do you think I could get a cruise ship to cross people over?” I asked.
Corbin was holding my hand, and he gave it a little squeeze. I looked over, and he was smiling at me.
“I’m not sure you’d want to fill a cruise ship,” he said.
“Ah, good point,” I agreed.
Because, you know, they’d all be dead people. Because apparently I was a ferryman, and I was also a grim reaper, and I was also a mortal soul. All tied up in a neat little package of sunshine and joy. Tada! What did that mean? Aside from the fact that I could make my cloak pink, I was still figuring the rest of it out.
One of my besties, Toby, who was an ordinary human but an extraordinary writer, had found this last minute deal for great balcony rooms on an RNJ Cruise to the Bahamas. We’d always wanted to take a cruise, and so of course we dragged our boyfriends along. They were both hellhounds, which meant they could go all fiery and turn into actual hellhounds. Oh, and they killed people, but only really bad hellbound people. Meanwhile, I killed all sorts of people, since I was the grim reaper. Although, really, I think they were already gonna die and I just collected them? I still wasn’t sure on the rules.
“We’re here,“
Dexter mumbled, and I noticed that we were indeed at our room, and their room was the one right next to us.
All our luggage was waiting outside, as promised, which was pretty cool. I used my key card thingy to open our door, and Corbin and I went in. Dexter and Toby followed us.
“Your room is next door,“
Corbin pointed out.
“Oh, it’s tiny!“
Toby commented, leaving his carry-on by the door. He was already heading over to look at the balcony, and I didn’t blame him.
Because, wow, a cruise ship.
Toby exclaimed over the view and the size of the balcony.
Dexter just stared at us. “I’m still not sure this is a good idea. We could still get off. Take a train or something.”
“You can’t take a train to the Bahamas,“
Toby cut in, walking back into the room. He grabbed onto Dexter’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “Besides, Liam vetted the entire cruise passenger list and didn’t see any hellbound souls. He’d sense them through the computer with his hellhound mojo. Plus, you guys are both hellhounds, so if there’s trouble, it’s not like you wouldn’t be able to take care of it.”
“A little hard to explain dead bodies on a cruise ship,“
Dexter countered.
Toby waved his hand and made a psshh sound. “Don’t be silly. You’d just burn them up in hellfire. No dead bodies! Besides, Corbin did a reading, and didn’t you get all good cards or something?”
Corbin nodded. “The four of wands, which is usually interpreted to mean it’s a good time to take a break and celebrate. It’s a very positive card. And because I wasn’t sure I trusted the deck, I asked a second time, and I got the nine of cups. That usually means wish fulfillment, which made perfect sense, since you guys really wanted to go on a cruise.”
Toby leaned up and gave Dexter a peck on the lips. “See? All good things. Let’s go check out our room, and then I wanna walk around the ship and see everything.“
He walked out the door, adding, “It’ll be fine. What could possibly go wrong?”
Dexter rolled his eyes and Corbin groaned. Even I knew that was the worst statement to make—it was just tempting fate. As a writer, Toby should’ve known better. Dexter followed him out, though, and then Corbin came over and snuggled me into a hug.
I leaned against him, tucking my head into his chest. He smelled so good, and I could cuddle him forever.
Although it felt like we’d been together forever, and he’d basically moved into my house, our relationship really wasn’t that old. Like, less than a year. Okay, less than six months. Okay, less than that. Yes, we’d been through some crazy shit together, and we were apparently soulmates, but that didn’t necessarily mean we’d travel well together.
This was our first vacation, and I was nervous.
Vacations could be the death knell to a relationship. I’d heard stories. I had my own stories to tell. People didn’t like the same things. Or they had totally opposite vacation styles. Or they had no common interests outside of daily life.
Sure, we were soulmates, so that shouldn’t matter, but still… What if we were awful at vacationing together and we had to take separate vacations for the rest of eternity? Because that would suck, and I would totally miss Corbin.
As if to remind me that I would also totally miss her, I heard a tap on our balcony door and saw Crow sitting there waiting. I went to pull away, but Corbin gave me a squeeze.
“She’ll wait a minute. What’s got you worrying?“
he asked, rubbing my back.
I sort of shrugged, but he tilted my head, making me meet his eyes.
I sighed. “I guess I’m just worried we won’t like the same things on vacation or something.”
Corbin didn’t laugh or blow me off. He searched my eyes for a minute, and then he leaned down to kiss me softly on the mouth. Before our kiss could get heated, he pulled away, whispering, “Little reaper, I like you, and I’m confident we’ll have a fantastic vacation together.”