“‘I don’t want the sheriff on my boat.’ That’s what I said. Does that mean the sheriff is in danger? We have to save him, Corbin. He can’t die. Not now. Things have changed. I don’t even know what that means, but he can’t die.” Sebbie looked at me, panic in his eyes.
“We won’t let him die, little reaper. We’ll save him.”
I wasn’t sure how, or even where the danger was, but I knew Sebbie was right. Sheriff Paul couldn’t die. He was Jude’s mate.He was pack. He was ours, even if he didn’t know it yet, and none of us would let him die.
Death wasn’t an option.
Chapter 26
Sebbie
I wassome mythological guy who ferried souls across a river. I was still trying to wrap my brain around that, even while I was snacking on cheese and crackers.
We were back at Corbin’s place, and most of the “pack” was here. Liam, Q, and Aiden were huddled over by the computers, and Fluffy-slash-Atlas was in his dog form next to Aiden. Wilder and Josh were bustling around the kitchen and bringing snacks out, and Dexter was on the phone, apparently with Jude. Toby was listening in to that conversation, and occasionally he’d insert some random statement that sounded slightly insane.
“No, Jude, you can’t tranq him. Don’t you people readanybooks? When someone is going to die who isn’t supposed to die, and you do something to the timeline to change it, that’s usually what actually kills them!” Toby said, sounding super exasperated.
Huh. Not that he was wrong. I’d totally read that in a book. Or seen it in a movie? I couldn’t remember which one, though.
“You and Thea just watch him. Watch him and protect him. That’s all we can do for now. We’ll figure this out,” Dexter said into the phone, and then he hung up, going over to talk to Wilder.
Toby headed toward me. Corbin and I were sitting on the couch, and Corbin kept feeding me assorted snacks. It was actually really sweet. It was like each hug, each soft kiss, and each snack he handed me erased some of the sadness from the river.
Because, yeah, that had been awful.
I really hadn’t known that the river could do that. That had always been a happy place for me, and journeying people—or souls, apparently—had always been fun and joyous. But as soon as she walked into the river, it was like the memory came to me. I knew it would do horrible things to her, and I knew it would be horrible to watch.
I could have stopped her. I’d stopped Corbin from moving forward, and I could have stopped her. I could have walked into the river and gotten her out, too. I somehow knew that.
But I hadn’t done any of those things. I’d let it happen.
I felt guilty about that, but I also felt guilty that I didn’t feel as guilty as I thought I should feel. I wasn’t even sure if that made sense, but it all gave me an icky feeling and made me sad and uncomfortable.
But Corbin was helping. Just by being here and cuddling me on the couch, he was helping. And the icky, sad feeling was fading away. And occasionally, if I got tense or sad looking, Corbin would whisper in my ear, “It’s not your fault.” And each time he did, a little more of that icky feeling slipped away.
Toby sat down next to me, and I turned to face him. Corbin automatically wrapped an arm around me so my back was leaning against him, and I put one leg up on the couch to get comfy.
Toby rested a hand on my knee for a moment. “You okay?”
“Well, if you mean am I okay learning that hellhounds are real and that I’m apparently some mythological beingandthatthe life of a guy we know might be in danger, then sure. I’m doing great,” I answered.
Toby snorted in amusement, then he grabbed a cracker with cheese off the plate on the coffee table. “Well, I gotta say, we didn’t peg you as a ferryman. So that was a cool plot twist.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said. I looked over my shoulder at Corbin to explain. “A while ago we were all drinking and talking about how people always died around me, and we were trying to guess what supernatural creature I was. I think we guessed angel and demon.”
“Vampire might’ve gotten thrown in the mix,” Toby admitted. “Plus, I think we wondered about you being The Chosen One.”
I snorted at that. “I am definitelynotthe chosen one, because there’s no harem surrounding me.”
“Exactly!” Toby said, pointing a finger at me. “Can’t have a chosen one without a harem!”
We both giggled at that. I reached out and grabbed Toby’s hand, suddenly so thankful to have him as a friend.
“I love you, Toby.”
Toby’s face softened. “I love you, too, Seb.”
Josh must have come over, because he reached his hands over the couch, putting a hand on each of our shoulders. We both turned to him, and practically in unison, we said, “Love you, Josh.”
