Twenty-One

After Hobie fell asleep, I found myself a touch tired too, even though I"d slept the whole night and didn"t usually require much.

Since Nala and Tarika weren"t back yet, I decided to take a nap as well, but was quickly woken up by the sound of the boat. They were back, and since they"d brought the boat with them—they"d left it anchored at the town port the last time they went to the human town—I assumed they"d found the bastard.

I glanced down at Hobie"s sleep-relaxed face, and sighed. I didn"t want him to have to face the person who hurt him, but he"d said he wanted to, so I couldn"t keep it from him either. I"d just have to be there by his side to support him when he did.

But before that, I needed to go see this human myself, if only to make sure I wouldn"t let my anger get the better of me in front of Hobie.

Carefully, I slid out of bed, covering Hobie with the blankets and pressing a kiss to his forehead before getting to my feet. Collecting my clothes from the floor, I quickly got dressed and snuck out of the room without making a sound.

I found Nala and Tarika on the patio, and they both scrunched up their noses as I approached.

"Ew, dude. Haven"t you heard of a shower?" Nala grumbled, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Shut it," I said, before turning to Tarika, who was giving me a dirty look that I easily ignored. "So? Where is he?"

"Er, about that," Nala said, sharing a glance with Tarika.

"What happened? Did you not find him?" I asked. I couldn"t sense its exact location—unlike Hobie, whom I could sense right where I"d left him because of the bond we shared—but I knew the human was somewhere on the island.

"We found the human, all right. It"s just that, well, it"s not a him. It"s a woman," Nala said, and I blinked.

"What?"

"Apparently, she used blindfolds and a voice modifier app to make Hobie think she was a man," Tarika explained, and I shook my head. I hadn"t expected that, and yet it explained why Hobie had no sight memories, why he only remembered sounds and all the pain she"d caused him. She"d kept him blindfolded to hide not just her face, but also the fact that she was a woman. Why? Why would she hurt someone like Hobie?

I knew better than to think I"d ever be able to understand her reasons—because there were none, at least not sane ones—but what I could do was make sure she never had the chance to hurt another human again.

"Where is she now?" I asked, and Nala pointed toward the water.

"She was knocked out cold, so we left her tied up in the boat," he said, and I nodded. The boat was docked right in the middle of our houses for easy access, but it was still far enough from Hobie. Actually, I wouldn"t mind if that woman ceased to exist in this world altogether, but Hobi wanted closure, so I"d need to keep her alive for just a little longer.

"Don"t tell Hobie yet. Let him wake up. Then we"ll have breakfast, and then we"ll tell him," I said, and Nala and Tarika nodded along. Hobie had missed dinner again last night—hot chocolate didn"t count—and I wasn"t going to make him skip breakfast too.

"I"ll start cooking," Tarika said, getting to her feet and walking into the house.

"Let"s go check on the human. I need to see her before I bring her in front of Hobie," I said, and Nala nodded, jumping to his feet and then leaping off the patio. I took the three stairs instead, then followed him through the sand, knowing even before we reached the boat that something was off.

There were footprints in the sand. Two sets of prints walking away from the boat...and another single set imprinted over them, as if someone had tried to hide their footprints inside Nala and Tarika"s.

"Shit!" Nala swore, and we raced toward the boat, quickly realizing it was empty. Rope lay on the sand by the boat, its edges frayed like they"d been sawn through.

"She isn"t here," I said, my voice utterly devoid of emotion because that was the only way I could keep myself from blowing up. It wasn"t Nala or Tarika"s fault. I"d underestimated the human too simply because she was a human. She wasn"t supposed to be able to do anything on an island with three supes around, and that had made us lax.

"Hobie," I murmured before turning around and racing back toward the house. Oh, please, don"t let me be too late again.

I"d woken up to find myself alone in bed, but I could hear Eben"s voice through the window, though I couldn"t figure out what he was saying. I figured he was on the patio with Nala and Tarika, so I slid out of bed, smiling when moving around made my ass ache. Just thinking about what we"d done earlier made me blush, and a glance at my chest showed me all the places Eben had left his marks on me.

Shaking my head, I quickly picked up my underwear and pants from the floor, sliding into them before glancing around for my shirt. I chuckled when I spotted them crumpled in a heap near the bathroom door and walked over to pick it up. A sound behind me caught my ear, and I turned as I was pulling the shirt down.

"My shirt"s all wrinkly," I complained to Eben as I adjusted it, then looked up, freezing when I realized it wasn"t Eben.

Someone had climbed in through the window, a woman. She had her back to me, and she definitely wasn"t Tarika.

I opened my mouth to ask who she was and what she was doing here when she turned around. My voice caught in my throat when I saw her face, panic filling me as memory after memory crowded into my head.

It was her. It was her. I remembered now. It"d never been a man.

The last day she"d had me, my blindfold had slipped, and I"d seen her. That was why she"d thrown me into the sea.

She"d said...she"d said...

"Uh-oh, the toy isn"t supposed to see me," she said now, mirroring the words she"d said that day. Bile rose up in my throat, and I swallowed it down as I pressed my back against the wall. I"d moved away from the bathroom door when I was putting the shirt on, and I wished now that I hadn"t. If I could"ve locked myself in the bathroom, I could"ve called for help. Eben would"ve saved me.

Eben!

I opened my mouth to call him, but my voice refused to work. My heart was beating erratically, and sweat clung to my brow. I stiffened as she started walking toward me, glancing toward the exit. Could I make it there before she reached me? Could I even move?

Before I knew it, she was right in front of me, that blank look on her face. If I didn"t know what she"d done, who she really was, she"d look almost beautiful with her dark eyes and brown curls. But I knew better. I knew that a monster hid behind that pretty face.

"Shhh..." she murmured, backing me into a corner of the room as I stumbled backward to get away from her.

My voice still wouldn"t come, and I cursed myself for my weakness. Eben could only protect me for so long. I had to try to protect myself too. Why couldn"t I just shout? Scream? Even if I was weak, it was okay. All I needed to do was call out to him, and I couldn"t even do that.

The door to the room slammed open, and she grabbed me, whirling us around so she was stuffed in the corner with me in front of her, shielding her. I stiffened when I felt the sharpness of a blade pressing against my neck and met Eben"s eyes as he stalked into the room, Tarika and Nala close at his heels.

"Stay back," she warned, the blade pressing into my skin. I felt a warm trickle down my throat, and Eben"s face twisted into an angry mask that I"d never seen on him.

"Eben," I murmured, and the look disappeared as he met my eyes, his gold eyes warming up.

"I"m here, sweetheart," he said softly, then turned to look at her. "Let him go."

"Wh-what are you?" she asked, a hitch in her voice, and it took me a moment to realize she was referring to his tentacles. To me, they were a part of him, but I"d forgotten that they"d look strange to someone else.

"I"m going to be the man who kills you if you don"t let Hobie go," Eben threatened.

"Don"t move!" she shouted, and I realized Nala had been trying to come at her from the side, but he froze mid-step, glaring at her. Tarika was nowhere to be seen, but I was sure she was trying to help in some other way.

"He"s a toy. Toys who see me need to be destroyed," she said in a reasoning voice, as if she believed that if she explained it well enough, Eben would let her kill me.

"Stop fucking talking and get away from my mate," Eben growled, then threw a tentacle forward, clamping it around her wrist. I knew he had more than enough strength to pick her up with just one tentacle, but with how tightly she had the knife pressed to my throat, I knew he wouldn"t risk it.

"I can"t. He needs to be destroyed," she said, and then she jerked her hand against Eben"s grip, slicing the knife through my neck.

"No!" I shouted as Hobie fell to the floor, using my grip on her to throw her across the room before rushing to Hobie"s side.

Blood spilled out from the long gash across his neck, and I shook my head as I wrapped a tentacle around his neck to staunch the bleeding.

"No, no, no," I mumbled as I pressed my forehead to his and sent every ounce of healing magic I possessed into him. Please, please let him be okay. I couldn"t lose him. I couldn"t.

"Eben," Hobie whispered, his voice barely audible even to me.

"Don"t talk. We"ll get you all patched up soon," I promised, and I heard the boat start up in the distance. One of them must have been going to get a doctor.

Fuck, why weren"t we closer to the humans? We should"ve moved into town when Hobie started living with us.

"It"s okay," Hobie murmured, and I shook my head, wishing I could slow his racing heart down somehow. It was making him bleed out faster, despite how tightly I"d wrapped my tentacle around him.

"What the fuck are you talking about? It"s not okay. But it"ll be. I won"t let you die. You can"t leave me, Hobie. I love you," I said, and I wasn"t surprised when tears spilled down my cheeks and onto Hobie"s.

Even as I said the words, I could hear the way Hobie"s heart was struggling to keep going. He couldn"t leave me. Not again.

"We"re going to see the world, remember? I promised you I"d take you anywhere you wanted to go," I reminded him as he blinked up at me, his eyelids moving slower than before.

I felt Nala"s presence close by. Then he was kneeling beside me, his palm on my shoulder a heavy weight.

"Tarika"s getting you a doctor, Hobie. You"re gonna be just fine," Nala murmured, but we"d both seen too many humans die to believe that.

I could see it in Hobie"s eyes that he didn"t believe Nala either, but when he looked at me, he smiled even as he coughed, blood coating his lips. "You—you"ll find me "gain." His voice wasn"t even fully there, but I could tell from his lips what he was trying to say.

I shook my head. There was no way I was waiting another few centuries for Hobie to return to me. I was tired of waiting, of always being left behind.

If Hobie was going to leave, then I was going with him.

As his eyes fluttered shut, I pressed my lips to his, wrapping my tentacles around him and holding him close as his heart got slower and slower.

"I"m coming with you, Hobie," I murmured against his lips before pulling back and glancing around us.

"Show yourself. I know you"re there! I won"t let you take him away," I growled, and for a moment, there was just silence as Nala watched me with tears trailing down his cheeks. Then,

"Ebenezer," a familiar voice said, and I turned to Nox, flashing him a glare.

"Did you know? When you told Nala about her, did you know this would happen?" I demanded, and he shook his head.

"I didn"t. I assure you. But I told you the universe would find a way to correct what I did," he murmured as he walked closer and knelt beside me.

I grabbed his wrist when he went to touch Hobie, and he pulled it back.

"Sorry, Eben, but I need to take him to Otherworld. If he stays here too long, he"ll turn into a wandering spirit, a ghost," he murmured, and I turned my gaze to Hobie.

"You"re not taking him alone. I"m coming with him," I murmured, and continued speaking before he could argue. "I"ve lived for too long already, and now that I"ve bonded with Hobie, I can"t wait for him to reborn again. I just can"t."

Nox didn"t say anything, and I glanced up at him, blinking at the look on his face.

"You"re not going to stop me," I realized, and he shook his head.

"What?" Nala broke in, and I realized he"d been banking on Nox deterring me. That was why he hadn"t reacted.

Then another realization struck, and I almost smiled. "My name"s on the list, isn"t it?" I asked, and Nox nodded.

"Good," I said, then glanced at Hobie"s still form before swallowing hard. Even knowing I"d see him again soon...

Turning my head away, I got to my feet just as Tarika tumbled into the room, her hand flying to her mouth as she spotted Hobie.

Turning around, she pushed the human doctor back the way they"d come before he could get a look inside and then reappeared a moment later, walking straight to me.

"Eben, I"m so sorry," she murmured, and I shook my head.

"Not your fault," I said as I made my way to the dresser. "I"m leaving this place to you two, so you can do with it as you please."

"Leaving?" Tarika asked, and Nala answered for me.

"He wants to go to Otherworld with Hobie," he said, and Tarika was silent. "Don"t tell me you agree with him!"

Tarika sighed as I rifled through my dresser drawer. I knew I"d put it here somewhere when I first moved in here. There!

I pulled out the cloth-wrapped dried fruit, unwrapping it and eyeing the little thing that was poisonous enough to take down a kraken. My mother used to carry it with her because she"d been determined not to get captured and taken back by the fae. The day she"d told me to run, she"d given it to me and made me promise that I wouldn"t use it unless it was the only way.

"Would you stay here if I died? Knowing that I was waiting for you on the other side?" Tarika asked, and we all knew he wouldn"t.

Walking back to where the others were crowded around Hobie, I picked him up and carried him to the bed, placing him on the sheets we"d made love in just this morning.

"What would you like us to do with her?" Tarika asked, pointing to the human heap in the corner.

"I promised Hobie I"d feed her to the sharks," I said, and Nala cleared his throat.

"Consider it done," he said, then stepped forward to pull me into a hug. Tarika joined us, and I breathed in deeply as I hugged my friends. We"d meet again someday, but hopefully not anytime soon.

"Okay," I said, pulling away from them. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I stuck the fruit into my mouth, the loud crunches filling the silent air.

"They"ll be okay," Nox assured Nala and Tarika, and they nodded slowly, Nala leaning into Tarika for support.

The fruit acted fast, and as I started feeling woozy, I lay down beside Hobie.

"Would you please put us to rest in the sea?" I asked, and Tarika nodded as Nala turned away and buried his face in her chest. "Thank you."

Turning to Hobie, I wrapped my tentacles around him the way I did every night, pulling him into my chest and holding him close.

"I"ll see you on the other side, sweetheart," I murmured as my eyes grew heavy, and then there was only darkness.