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 therealdanger.
“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. Soalthough 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 tobea 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 alreadyexisted 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?”
