I started to say something, but then I held back. It wasn’t my place to correct Sebbie’s memories.
Sebbie walked around the stones, his hands trailing along them. “She wasn’t… human, was she?”
“She was Nephilim. It’s the offspring of an angel or demon mating with a human. It doesn’t happen anymore, but it did very long ago, and the descendants still exist. She was one of those descendents,” I told Sebbie.
“Why did she kidnap me?” He stopped and looked at me. “You know, it’s funny, but I never really asked why all that happened. I mean, I knew it had to do with Aiden’s family, but she wasn’t Aiden’s family, was she?”
“A group of Nephilim was apparently trying to achieve immortality, and she was their leader. They chose mates based on Nephilim characteristics, and they were using a weapon to try and drain immortality from others.”
Sebbie’s face showed utter disgust. “You can’t cheat death.”
“No. No, you can’t. And she found that out,” I said.
“She didn’t look right. I’d forgotten that part. I thought it was a costume, but it wasn’t, was it?” Sebbie asked.
“No. She had wings and horns, although they were… incomplete. She was an abomination,” I said.
The smell was getting stronger, and the cracks were growing on the rocks. Sebbie stopped walking around them and came to stand next to me.
“She doesn’t belong on my boat,” Sebbie said.
“No. She doesn’t. I’ll take care of her,” I assured him.
With that, the rocks cracked further, and Sebbie and I both stepped back as they tumbled to dust. What they revealed was more hideous than I remembered. Her eyes were black, her teethpartly rotten. She was emaciated, and her wings were bare in many patches, no feathers to be seen. One horn was broken off, and the other looked brittle. She hissed at us like a wild cat, her hands coming up defensively.
I shifted into my hellhound without a thought, ready to send her soul to hell. Before I could pounce on her, she surprised me by taking flight. I jumped to reach her, but she was already gone, traveling across the gray sky. Her flight was erratic, dipping and rising, and I almost thought she’d crash into the trees.
She was heading toward the river, and panic flowed through me. What would happen if she made it there? What would happen if she was able to fly across it?
I looked at Sebbie. He was wearing his cloak and had his staff in hand, although both were bright pink and bejeweled. He didn’t look the least bit worried, which eased something in me.
He sighed. “Of course she’s gonna be difficult. Let’s go, then.”
I trotted along at his side as we walked the path back out of the forest. Crow came and landed on my back, and Sebbie rested a hand on my shoulder as we walked, heedless of the flames. He didn’t seem in a rush, and I followed his lead. This was, after all, his place.
We made it into the clearing, and I could see the woman up ahead, pacing along the bank of the river. She tried to take flight once or twice, but she was unable to.
“Duh,” Sebbie murmured when he saw her try again.
Apparently you couldn’t fly over the river.
As we approached, the woman heard us, turned around, and hissed again.
“Um, hi,” Sebbie said, and he sounded like an exasperated customer service agent. “So, you can’t fly over the river. You’re dead. Sorry about that. Well, actually,notsorry about that, because you were, like, really awful apparently.”
“I cannot die. I am immortal,” she hissed out, turning to fully face us.
“Well, I guess you can,” Sebbie snarked. “That’s the river that leads to the underworld, and the only way to get across it is with me. And I’mnottaking you on my boat. Like, hell no.”
She looked at Sebbie, seeming to weigh her thoughts. “You were the human I kidnapped.”
“Yeah, well, apparently I’m not so human after all,” Sebbie answered, spreading his arms and holding his staff out. “Kind of freaky, but I’m dealing with it. Also, there’s hellhounds and stuff.” Sebbie stroked my back. “He’s gonna be the one to give you a one-way ticket to hell. Usually, I’d feel bad about that, but you’re an awful personandyou’re rude. So, I’m thinking you’re gonna get exactly what you deserve.”
I took that as my cue, and I started forward toward the woman. She smiled evilly, and then she turned her back and strode into the water. I went to follow her, but I was suddenly unable to move. My limbs were paralyzed, although my head wasn’t, and I could breathe. I turned my head to look at Sebbie, but he was looking at the woman. She had stopped wading into the river, and she was standing there, knee deep in the water.
“You chose the harder path,” Sebbie told her.
She turned toward his voice, but… she looked lost. Confused. Her face was slack. She looked down at her legs, like she was unsure how she’d gotten into the river.
