Eighteen

Tarika"s shriek had been full of anger, and as Hobie and I dressed hurriedly, I hoped she and Nala were okay.

For half a second, I debated asking Hobie to stay here, but then decided against it. He"d be safer at my side, no matter who or what we were facing.

"I"m ready," Hobie said, and I nodded.

"Stay close." I wrapped one tentacle around his wrist before rushing out through the patio door, Hobie close at my heels.

Tarika"s voice had come from the beach near her place, so that"s where we headed, racing through the sand in slippers that I kicked off halfway down the path because they were annoying to run in. A cold wind pushed against me, and I hoped whatever this was got resolved soon. I didn"t want Hobie to catch a cold.

I relaxed a little when I spotted both Tarika and Nala standing with their backs to us, looking relatively unscathed.

"They don"t look hurt," Hobie echoed my thoughts.

Then I realized they weren"t alone, and stopped short, wrapping a few more of my tentacles around Hobie so I"d be able to pull him behind me if needed.

"Tarika?" I called out, and some of the stress left her body. She leaned forward to say something to the newcomers before turning around and stalking toward us.

"Who is it?" I asked, trying to peek past her.

"Two males. They say they know you. One of them is a pretty boy with a white streak in his hair," Tarika said, a scowl on her face. "Do you know them? Or should I give them some new memories and leave them on some deserted island?"

Hobie made a horrified sound at my side, and I turned to him. "She"s joking."

I shot Tarika a glare when she opened her mouth to refute me, and she rolled her eyes.

"I know them." I relaxed my hold on Hobie without letting go completely. "They"re good."

Tarika huffed, then followed us as we walked over to where Nala waited with the two men.

Nox looked exactly like he had the last time I"d met him. Maybe a bit more relaxed, with his smile a touch brighter and his shoulders not so stiff anymore. Retirement from being the Keeper of the Chasm seemed to be agreeing with him. The last time we"d met, Nox had promised me he"d find my mate for me. I"d laughed him off back then, but now...

At his side, his mate Harlan made an imposing figure with his black hair, calculating blue eyes, and bulky figure. He"d been a warlock when he was still alive, but he had managed to hold on to some of his magic even in the afterlife, which I"d discovered when he"d put a ward around me to keep me from "escaping" after I got infected with dark magic. I hadn"t told him I could"ve escaped with little effort if I"d wanted to. While he was strong, he wouldn"t be able to stand against me. Not many would.

"Nox, Harlan," I greeted them with a nod, and Nox grinned, giving me a big, happy wave.

"Hey, Eben! Long time no see," Nox said, then leaned forward to peek around me. "Hello, there. You must be Eben"s mate. I"m Nox, and the handsome man with me is my mate, Harlan."

"Uh, hi," Hobie murmured, apparently unsure how to react to Nox"s cheer. "I"m Hobie," he added after a moment, and Nox grinned.

"Hobie! That"s a great name. It"s nice to meet you!"

"You too." Hobie glanced at Harlan, who gave him a nod. Harlan was a man of few words, or at least that was the impression I"d gotten from the few times we"d met.

"What brings you here? How did you even find this place?" I asked, raising a brow at the grinning man. The few times he"d come looking for me, I"d been in the water, and I"d assumed the magic I used to keep random people from finding my island worked on him too.

"Well..." Nox drawled, giving me a sheepish look. "I followed you."

"Followed me? I haven"t left the island in months." To say I was confused would be an understatement.

"It was the last time you went out."

My brows furrowed. The last time? Did he mean the day I brought Hobie here?

"Explain," I demanded, and Nox sighed.

"You can"t tell anyone I told you this. I"d get in big trouble if you do," Nox warned, as if I didn"t already know the rules. I wasn"t supposed to know about the existence of Otherworld and the other realms, places where people went after they died in the human—and faerie—realm.

"I know. I won"t, and neither will anyone else."

"All right! So! As soul collectors, Harlan and I aren"t allowed to save anyone"s life. People who are supposed to die do die, and we can"t meddle in that," Nox said with a sad smile, and I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. "But I made a promise to you, so when I saw a certain name on the list of souls to be collected, I had to do something."

Was he saying what I thought he was saying? Was Hobie supposed to... No, I couldn"t let myself think that.

"Harlan and I went to the place where the soul was to be collected from ahead of time, and since we couldn"t interfere directly, we—I—merely caused enough chaos to change the boat"s route and send it your way. As I"d hoped, you saved him just in the nick of time!"

Hobie shifted closer to me, and I wrapped my tentacles tightly around him. I"d known he was dying when I"d saved him, known that he"d have been gone if I"d been even a minute late. Yet knowing that his name had made it into Otherworld"s list of the dead was something else entirely.

"We wouldn"t be telling you this," Harlan spoke for the first time, "but we needed you to know so we could warn you."

"W-warn us?" Hobie asked hesitantly, and I pulled him in front of me, wrapping my tentacles and arms around him securely and resting my chin on top of his head.

"Yeah. There"s a possibility that you might be in danger for a while longer. You know, the magic trying to correct the error to maintain balance and so on." Though Nox tried to make light of the situation—probably for Hobie"s benefit—I could see the seriousness in his eyes. Hobie truly was in peril.

"I"ll keep him safe." I"d promised Hobie I"d protect him, and I"d meant it. It didn"t matter to me if I was protecting him from a human or the magic that made the world work. I would die before I let him be taken from me.

I was supposed to be dead.

I shivered, and I couldn"t tell if it was because of the cold weather, or because of that thought.

I"d known that, of course. The day I"d woken up on this island, I"d known that I"d be dead if not for Eben. And yet, knowing it and hearing it said this way were two very different things.

I didn"t understand everything Nox had said. I had no idea what soul collectors were, but from the context, I"d gathered that Nox and Harlan weren"t just normal supernatural beings. They were something different, maybe something from another world altogether.

I"m supposed to be dead.

"You"re sirens, right?" Harlan asked Tarika while Nox and Eben continued talking in low murmurs, their conversation now about two people called Tharion and Celeste.

"Yes," Tarika answered curtly, eyeing Harlan with unabashed mistrust.

"You look a lot like another siren I knew. Well, half-siren," Harlan said, and Tarika blinked, her face going carefully blank.

"A half siren?" she asked, taking a step closer to Harlan, a strange waver in her voice I"d never heard from her before.

Something about it caught Eben and Nox"s attention too, and they turned to look at her.

"Uh, yes. He"s my best friend"s mate."

Tarika"s hands clenched at her sides, and Nala stepped closer to her, sensing her growing distress.

"Could you tell me his name?" she asked, the sharp edge all but gone from her voice.

Harlan"s brows furrowed, and he seemed to debate with himself before letting out a sigh. "Sure. His name is Jules."

Tarika gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as she sank back into Nala, who wrapped his arm around her.

I shot Eben a worried look, and he shook his head, telling me without words that nothing was wrong. Jules…why did that name sound so familiar?

"Uh, what"s going on?" Nox was apparently as confused as me.

When Tarika didn"t say anything, Nala spoke up instead. "Jules is Tarika"s son. She didn"t know where he was or even if he was alive."

"He"s alive," Harlan said, "and very happy with his mate. You don"t need to worry."

Tarika nodded, then cleared her throat. "Could you tell me where he is? I"d like to see him sometime."

Harlan didn"t answer right away, giving Tarika a weighing look. "He lives in a town called Mistvale. The dragon who watches over that town is very protective of his clan, so be careful."

A dragon? Then again, I was mated to a kraken, so could I really be surprised? Of course things like dragons existed. One of these days I was going to ask Eben to give me a list of all the supernatural beings so I"d know what"s fact and what"s fiction.

"We"ll be careful. Thanks for the info," Nala said, and Harlan dipped his head in a nod.

"Okay, we really didn"t intend to stay long, so we should get going," Nox said, and Eben gave him a look before nodding.

Nox turned his gaze on me, a smile lighting his face. "It was nice to meet you, Hobie. I"m glad you"re doing well."

"You too," I murmured, still not fully comfortable with anyone who wasn"t Eben, Nala, or Tarika.

"Come on," Eben murmured, herding me back toward the house as his tentacles tightened around me, keeping me warm despite the cold wind.

If Eben thought I missed the look he shot Nala just before he turned us around, he was sorely mistaken. I wondered what it was about, but didn"t ask. If he wanted to tell me, he"d do so sooner or later. Right?

Back inside the house, I turned to Eben, the question burning on the tip of my tongue. What had he told Nala without words? Did it have something to do with me?

Before I could decide if I wanted to ask after all, Eben pulled me into his chest, his arms and tentacles going almost too tight around me. He pressed his face into my hair, and I placed my hands on his hips, hugging him back as much as I could with my arm practically pinned to my sides.

"Are you okay?"

Eben huffed into my hair. "Shouldn"t I be the one asking that?"

"I"m okay, but you look more affected by their visit. Who were they anyway?"

Based on Tarika"s reaction, I"d guess people finding this island was not a common thing. But everything Nox had said... it"d implied he was something stronger than even Eben, or maybe strong wasn"t the right word. He had more...abilities?

"Come on, let"s get into bed and I"ll tell you everything."

I thought about protesting before stopping myself. Eben wasn"t suggesting a cuddle because he thought I needed it. No, he was asking for one himself. I wasn"t going to say no to that.

Once we were in bed, I snuggled close to Eben, his tentacles keeping me from shifting away from him. I"d never thought of his tentacles as something restraining, though. They were always guarding me, protecting me, and I loved them, just like I loved the rest of Eben.

"Okay, so this is a long story," Eben warned, and I smiled.

"I have time."

He chuckled softly. "Fine, fine." He dragged out the words, and then started telling me.

I"d at some point or other wondered what the afterlife looked like, but the way Eben described it sounded fitting. When a person died, their soul went to either Otherworld or, if they were evil, straight to the Burning Chasm, where they burned until they were ready to redeem themselves. In Otherworld, the person could either choose to stay and work as a soul collector to bring other souls to Otherworld, or move on to Afterworld to live a peaceful life until they were ready to be reborn.

It all sounded pretty simple and not at all mysterious. I didn"t know how to feel about suddenly having knowledge that so many people constantly debated over.

"So Nox and Harlan are soul collectors?"

Eben hummed. "Until recently, Nox was the Keeper of the Chasm and watched over the Burning Chasm, but he "retired,"" Eben said, and I could hear the air quotes in his voice. "I met them when someone tried to infect me with black magic."

"They did what?" I jerked back so I could look up at him. Eben gave me a soft smile, reaching up to push my hair away from my eyes.

"I"m okay, Hobie. The magic wasn"t strong enough to hurt me, and I managed to get rid of it on my own, but that was when I met Nox and Harlan. Then for some reason Nox decided we were going to be friends, and now I"m stuck with him." While his voice had a disgruntled note, I could tell he didn"t actually mind. He liked having Nox as a friend.

"Is he the one who told you about Otherworld?" I wondered why Nox had told him. Since he hadn"t been "allowed" to tell us about my "death," I"d assume this was also something he wasn"t supposed to tell the living.

"No, not him." Eben"s voice went soft. "Have I told you about how I came to be in the human realm?"

I shook my head. I knew that all the other krakens lived in the faerie realm, but I didn"t know why Eben didn"t. I"d sensed a story there, but also that it wasn"t something Eben liked talking about, so I hadn"t pried.

"Well, I"d like to tell you now, if you"d like to know."

I glanced up at him, giving him an encouraging look. "Tell me," I said softly, pressing my palm against his chest, then sliding it under his shirt so I could touch his skin.

Eben smiled down at me, a soft look in his gold eyes, and gave a long exhale. I shifted closer to him, pressing as much of myself against him as I could. It was clear this wasn"t easy for him to talk about, but I wanted him to know, to remember I was here, that I wouldn"t let him get lost in the past.