It wouldn’t matter, though. It would be too late for the sheriff.
Corbin was looking at the scene, horror on his face.
He moved forward and tried to pull the knife out of the man’s hand, but the man might as well have been a concrete statue. He tried to shove Paul next, but that didn’t work either. I watched, sadness running through me.
“We can’t exert any influence on the mortal plane,” I told Corbin. “We can’t stop what’s about to happen.”
“But he can’t die. He’s Jude’s mate,” Corbin said. “We have to be able to save him.”
“That isn’t how it works.”
How did it work, then? Corbin stared at me, like I had all the answers. I probablyshouldhave all the answers, since I was the reaper, after all, only I didn’t.
“There are rules. I know that, although I’m not sure how I know. Reapers exist here, and they cannot influence the mortal realm. They can only reap souls that are near death. They sever the last connection between the physical body and the spiritual one. Reapers cannot bring anyone back, and they cannot choose to let someone live who is supposed to die,” I stated.
Corbin looked at me. “But you’re not a normal reaper, are you?” he asked.
No, I supposed I wasn’t. “IknowI can’t save him, but Corbin, Ifeellike I can save him.”
“Then you can,” Corbin said simply.
I wanted to laugh at his confidence in me. “I have no idea what I’m doing. I didn’t even know all this alternate plane stuff until we were here, even though I’ve apparently been here before. I’ve blocked out almost everything to do with being a reaper, even though most of the time I was reaping people who I cared about so I could take them on my boat.”
Okay, well, I hadn’t really known that until I’d just said it. But it made sense. No one unfamiliar ever appeared to go on my ferry.
“You’ve saved people before, little reaper,” Corbin told me.
I sighed, exasperated. “Yes, but you guys weren’t supposed to die in that basement. Really, no one was supposed to die, I don’t think. I made the decision to reap their souls anyway because of what they were doing. I shouldn’t have even been able to dothat. So I wasn’t really saving you guys from death, because you weren’tactuallysupposed to die. I just put you back where you belong.”
“No, Sebbie. Not that time,” Corbin said, coming over and taking my hand.
I looked at him curiously, not understanding what he was talking about.
“The woman and the baby, Sebbie. The woman and her baby in the hospital. You told me they were going to die, and then they didn’t.Yousaved them. Somehow, you saved them, and you’re going to save Paul, too,” Corbin assured me.
Well, talk about putting pressure on a guy. I blew a breath out, even though the air didn’t move and I didn’t even think there was really oxygen here.
How the hell had I saved the woman and baby?
I had no idea, and if I couldn’t remember, then Sheriff Paul was going to die.
Chapter 29
Corbin
Sebbie was pacingback and forth, and I could feel the stress emanating from him. Crow cooed and ruffled her feathers, and I agreed. We needed to comfort our little reaper.
I sat down on the floor, and I pulled him into my lap.
“It’s okay, little reaper—we’ll figure it out,” I said.
He leaned his head back against me.
“I have no idea how I saved the pregnant lady. In fact, all I can really remember is swinging my scythe and taking her life. But she didn’t die, so I must not have done that.”
We both sat and thought, contemplating the possibilities. We couldn’t move things here. If we went back to the mortal plane, there would be no time to warn anyone or do anything. It seemed like we were utterly powerless in this realm, and I understood Sebbie’s frustration and sadness with being here.
But Sebbie wasn’t just a reaper. He was a ferryman and a mortal, as well. I wasn’t sure what his mortal side had to do with anything, but surely his ferryman side…
