It wasn’t until I was settled into bed and texting Toby that it occurred to me to wonder exactlyhowCorbin had knownabout my nervousness about a goodbye kiss. I didn’t think I had beenthatloud when I talked to Toby. In fact, I’d thought I was whispering. I didn’t think I’d left any windows open, but maybe I had?
That must have been it. Otherwise, there’s no way he could have heard me from outside.
That settled in my head, I snuggled into bed, trying hard not to think about how warm Corbin would be snuggled up next to me.Small steps, Sebbie, I told myself. I really liked Corbin, and I wanted to see him again, but I definitely didn’t want to push him too fast.
For the first time in a long time, I felt really hopeful about a relationship.
Chapter 13
Corbin
I was beginningto think that Crow might like Sebbie better than me.
I couldn’t really blame her. Sebbie was adorable. He was joyful and sweet, and the way he talked about his work showed how compassionate and caring he was. I’d seen that side of him in his “dream” as well. He truly cared about people.
I’d gone to bed last night hopeful that I would be pulled into his dreams again, but it hadn’t happened. I wondered if proximity had something to do with it. If so, perhaps I would need to find a reason to stay over with him. I knew it was too soon to talk about moving in together—I wasn’t as clueless as my hellhound brothers when it came to relationships.
Still, maybe I could find an excuse to spend a night or two at his place. Or maybe more than a night or two.
I suddenly had a lot more sympathy for what the rest of my brothers had gone through. When you found your mate, it was hard not to spend every moment with them, especially when it was new and you were getting to know them. I’d been ready to take things slow, but now I couldn’t wait to see Sebbie again.
It was like kissing him had unlocked something inside of me. And it wasn’t about sex, either, although of course I wanted tobe intimate with him. It was like I had let him in and he’d gotten inside my skin, and now I wanted to be close to him all the time.
Which brought me to my current situation—waiting impatiently for Sebbie to come by. I didn’t even have Crow to keep me company, because she was at Sebbie’s, hanging out outside his house. Which is also how I knew he hadn’t left yet.
I sat on my bed, shuffling through my mother’s tarot deck. I thought of Sebbie, and I chose a card from the deck.
The reversed Ten of Swords.
A man lay on the ground, ten swords embedded in him. There was darkness, but the sun was rising and bringing light. There were no flowing wounds on the man, despite the injuries. It was a fitting card, symbolizing both death and rebirth, and didn’t that sum up Sebbie’s true nature? He was both a reaper and a ferryman. He was death, but he was also new beginnings.
I wasn’t surprised it was reversed. He hadn’t accepted his nature yet.
I put the card back and continued to shuffle, wondering about my role in Sebbie’s journey. A card fell out of the deck. A sassy deck for sure—it couldn’t even wait for me to do a drawing. I looked at the card.
The High Priestess.
I huffed a laugh. The priestess was intuition and spiritual knowledge; she was a balance between light and dark, a reminder to trust your heart and that things were not always what they appeared. I had no doubt that I would serve as a guide to Sebbie, reminding him to trust his inner voice.
I picked the deck up and chose my own card.
Justice.
Interesting. Justice was balance and truth, karma, and logic. It seemed in opposition to the High Priestess, but the two cards worked well together. They were their own balance. Karmic balance. Wasn’t that my very purpose as a hellhound? To bringabout justice? And perhaps I was more mystical than many of my brethren because of my other side.
I wondered if I was the object of justice in his world, as it had seemed when I’d been a hellhound in his dream. Was my role solely to follow his lead in that place? Or was I also to serve as a form of spiritual guidance, helping him to make the decisions?
My thoughts were interrupted by Crow, who let me know that Sebbie was almost here. I’d asked her to let me know when he left, and I let my exasperation flow through our bond. She always had a bit of an attitude, but she was definitely being mischievous lately. Both Crow and the tarot deck were apparently meddlers.
I got off the bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. I needed to get my clean laundry from the laundry room. I had no problem walking around naked, and neither did Jude, but Thea stayed here sometimes. She wasn’t here at the moment, but we’d gotten into the habit of wearing clothes so that we didn’t make her uncomfortable if she stopped in. We’d found out rather early on that she didn’t appreciate seeing “our junk,” because according to her, “Eww, you’re like my brothers.”
To be fair, it was usually only after we shifted, first thing in the morning, or late at night. Because who wanted to wear clothes to sleep in? Well, Jude apparently did, but I didn’t. I agreed with Atlas on that one—clothes were itchy, at least when you slept.
I was halfway to the laundry room when I felt Sebbie’s presence and detoured to the front door. I sent a silent growl at Crow in my mind, because that was not “close by,” that washere.She only sent back amusement.
I opened the door. Sebbie was holding a bag and rifling through it.
“I brought some trail mix and stuff, although you probably have snacks—” He looked up and stopped talking abruptly, his mouth open a bit.
