He clasped his hands between his knees and looked serious. “So there’s a heaven and a hell, and neither one is really good or bad. There are angels and demons, but there are also other creatures, like hellhounds. A long time ago?—”
“Hellhounds and other creatures left hell, and they’re known as first generation, and some of them had kids, and they’re second generation. I don’t know if there’s a third generation yet, because I’m a little behind on my reading,” I answered.
Corbin tilted his head, looking at me curiously.
“Toby’s books? The ones about hellhounds?” I said.
“Toby wrote about…” Corbin trailed off, like he couldn’t quite grasp the whole thing.
“It’s Toby. Of course he wrote about it. He’s a writer—that’s what he does. I bet he got most of it right, too. Not that he’d give away any hellhound secrets or anything.”
“I can’t believe he wrote about actual hellhounds,” Corbin said, looking a little dazed.
“I can’t believe that apparently none of you have read his books. Aside from being a really good writer, why did you think he’s always interviewing and interrogating everyone? Plenty of things I’ve said have ended up in his books. It’s kind of cool, actually.”
A crow cawed outside, although I didn’t think it was Crow. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I did. It must have snapped Corbin back on track, too, because he focused on me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have. I should have explained everything about myself, and I’m very sorry.” He took my hands in his.
“It’s okay,” I answered.
“Sebbie, it really isn’t,” he countered.
“It is. I think I kind of knew. I mean, I’m shocked, but I’m notthatshocked. And, like, I should be freaking out a little more, right? But it feels like something I kind of knew already. Maybe I sensed it, because I have this dream with you in it, and you turn into a hellhound in my dream,” I said.
Corbin looked decidedly uncomfortable. His hands released mine, and he pushed his hair back in a nervous gesture. Corbin wasnevernervous.
“What?” I asked. Because there was something, that was for sure.
“It’s… Sebbie, that was me,” he finally said.
“What was you?” What the hell was he talking about?
He cleared his throat. “In that place. That wasactuallyme.”
I was just staring at him, because I still had no clue what the heck he was saying.
“The man in black, and Crow, and the river, and dealing with the not nice people, and the guy in the woods encased in rocks. I was there. For all of it.”
Oh.
Huh. Did that mean Corbin was like a dream walker or something? He was a witch, so I guessed that was entirely possible. Hehadtold me to act like it was the real him in one of the first dreams he’d shown up in. He’s also told me to call for him if I ever needed him in my dreams. Not that I needed to call for him, because he was always there.
I was glad he was always there. I didn’t want to be alone anymore.
I didn’t know where that thought came from, but this weird sense of sadness flowed over me. It felt like… I don’t know, almost like my life was desolate and full of grief. Like my heart was broken and I was all alone. I had the urge to cry, and I had no idea why.
“Sebbie? What do you need?” Corbin asked, grabbing onto my hands again.
“I feel sad, and I don’t know why. I feel like it was so lonely, but that doesn’t make sense, because I don’t feel lonely. At all. I have tons of friends. Even in my dreams, all these people I knowshow up, and I’mneveralone. But I just… I feel so sad, Corbin, and I don’t know why.”
A tear overflowed from my eye, running down my cheek—I’d hardly been aware that I was tearing up. Corbin moved next to me on the couch, pulling me into his chest and wrapping his arms around me.
“You’re not alone, Sebbie. You’ll never be alone again. You have me, and you always will. No matter what that means, you’ll always have me. Do you understand?”
I nodded my head against his chest.
He pulled my chin up, forcing my watery gaze to meet his eyes. How had I never noticed that he had actual flames dancing in them? It was beautiful.
