Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

James helped Sebastian gather some things he'd need for his new house in town. They packed a box full of cookware and utensils and another one of food from the pantry before taking them to Eli's car.

They returned to the house, this time to get some items from Sebastian's room. James opened the front door, and Sebastian stopped, frozen in the middle of the porch.

"I don't want to go in." Goosebumps erupted on his skin. "I didn't mind the kitchen, but I always liked spending time in there." He peered through the open door from where he stood several feet away. They'd gone in and out through the mudroom before, and Sebastian hadn't ventured past the kitchen. "I fucking hate this house."

James gripped his shoulders. "Of course you do."

"But I was just saying how I want to come here and garden. I'm a goddamn mess. Do I hate this place or not? It doesn't make sense to feel panicked by one thing and long for another."

"It makes sense to me," James said plainly. "The house was a prison, especially at night. You escaped outside, where you could do things you enjoyed and shape your life as much as you were able to. Your garden and the rest of the property are beautiful. The house is dreary and full of old shit that reminds you of everyone else who was trapped here before you. Even I don't like the idea of going back through this door, and I wasn't here long at all."

"The house did feel like more of a prison than the grounds." Sebastian sagged as some of his tension disappeared with James's understanding. "Even though I was trapped on the property, at least being outside, I could breath."

"I'll go get some things from your room for you." James squeezed his shoulders. "Go grab Hazel and send her in here to find me. She can help me pack."

Sebastian met James's stare. "Thank you."

His serious features tugged up in a smile. "Of course, Sebastian. It's nothing when doing this doesn't cost me anything."

But it wasn't nothing. Kindness might not always cost, but that didn't make it meaningless.

Sebastian returned to the clearing, relieved he'd never have to set foot in the main part of the house again if he didn't want to. He still thought it was ridiculous that he couldn't let go of the garden, but he wasn't going to obsess about it. He had to take what felt good and run with it. That way, he could keep going.

In the clearing, Hazel seemed excited to go find James in the house. "I'm not pretending I haven't wondered what it's like inside." She was off down the path without any more prompting.

"Feel free to poke around," Sebastian called as she headed toward the house. "And if there's anything you want, grab it. James will help you steer clear of the creepy shit."

She let out a snort of surprise. "Okay."

"Come check this out." Eli waved Sebastian over from the other end of the clearing. He and Parker were crowded around one of the mechanisms.

Sebastian approached and looked down at the thing .

Eli was practically vibrating where he sat in the dirt, a wide smile on his face. "It's working."

"Of course it's working." Parker huffed with good-natured exasperation. "I don't do shoddy spellwork."

"Definitely not," Eli beamed up at him. "But look, Sebastian, it's recording the amount of magic flowing through the vein below us."

The spindly structure held a pen suspended by a string. Beneath the pen was a roll of what looked like receipt paper. Numbers were being recorded on it in a neat line, the pen twitching as the paper slowly unrolled itself.

It was an impressive bit of magic, but Sebastian could see why modern technology had some advantages over this older method. "What if it rains?"

Eli didn't miss a beat. "We've cast moisture-repelling spells. As long as things don't get left out too long, it'll be fine. But if it starts pouring, I might need to rush out here."

"We'll rush out here together," Parker corrected.

"Right, right. That's what I meant." Eli laughed. "But that's not all." He pulled a map out of his back pocket and unfolded it so he could spread it out on the ground.

Sebastian knelt. "It's a map of Moonlight Falls."

"And the surrounding area." Eli pointed to a hand-drawn line going through town. "This is the vein I was studying for my master's thesis. It's in a straight formation, which is rare." He pointed to a section of the map north of town. "This is your property, see the lines marking it? And this is where the clearing is. My vein in town is going northeast, and so is the one here. At exactly the same angle and they align. Meaning, this vein going through your property connects to the one running through Moonlight Falls. In a perfectly straight line."

"Oh. Huh. I had no idea." Sebastian scratched his head. This information seemed significant to Eli, but Sebastian wasn't sure if it was relevant to the problem they were trying to solve .

"It's fascinating. I wonder how far past the clearing it stays straight. I wish I knew where the other vein went and if it's straight or not." Eli looked wistfully off through the trees.

"Feel free to explore." Sebastian stood as Eli folded the map. "I don't have a diagram of the veins. If there's one in the house, I haven't come across it."

Parker brushed a stray leaf off Eli's sweater as he stood. "Did your relatives record much about the veins?"

"Nothing technical like this. They wrote about them, vaguely, in journals and stuff. But I don't have anything detailing exactly what Sullivan and Nelson did to fuck everything up."

"That's too bad." Eli frowned. "It would make my job easier to know how the imbalance was created."

"My ancestors really did not want to make anything easy," Sebastian said bitterly.

"Hm." Eli scowled, an expression that made him look a lot like James.

With everything set up, they walked back to the cars, where they found Hazel and James loading a trunk into Hazel's van.

Eli and Parker were heading back to town since Parker was working the dinner shift at the diner. Before they left, Eli plugged Sebastian's new number into his phone.

"I want to check on things tomorrow," Eli said as he climbed into the driver's seat. "I'll text you if you want to come?"

Sebastian shoved his hands in his pockets. "Sounds good."

Eli smiled like it was the answer he'd hoped for.

As the car drove away, Sebastian turned to the others. "Thanks for grabbing my stuff." James and Hazel had already transferred his boxes from Eli's car to the van.

"No worries." Hazel closed up the back. "If you want any furniture, we'll have to come back. It's too bad we don't have James's truck when we need it." She elbowed James, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"There's some furniture at the place already." Sebastian didn't want to ask too much of them. Not to mention, he had mixed feelings about moving into the duplex and wasn't itching to fill it with things. "I'll lock up, and we can go."

He didn't have much of a reaction to driving away from Storm House this time. Hazel had music playing from her phone through her van's speakers, and Sebastian closed his eyes to listen.

Back in town, James and Hazel helped Sebastian bring the boxes and trunk into his new home. James used magic for the trunk since it was horribly heavy and no one wanted to drag it up the stairs.

Once everything was inside, the remaining boxes sitting by the front door, there was an awkward pause.

Hazel gestured over her shoulder to the van. "I'm off to my sister's tonight. So—I'm gonna head out."

"Thanks for helping," Sebastian said again. He wasn't sure if he'd conveyed his gratitude enough.

"Any time." She smiled, and it seemed like she meant it.

James glanced between them, a contemplative frown in place. "Want me to leave you to settle in, Sebastian?"

He hesitated. "I don't know." Sebastian figured he should do this on his own, but he didn't want to. He didn't think he'd ever choose to be alone again, which was somewhat at odds with his social anxiety when there were situations that he needed to escape and would rather be alone than deal with.

James turned to Hazel. "Why don't you head out. I'll walk home if I need to."

"All right. Keep me updated on Eli's progress, and I'll see you tomorrow night." She closed the front door behind her with a quiet click.

"What's tomorrow night?"

James cracked a grin. "Parker does Sunday dinner at his place. We barbecue when the weather is nice enough. "

"Cool." Sebastian wondered what they barbecued, probably some sort of meat. He'd been vegetarian most of his life.

"You're invited." James nudged Sebastian's arm with his.

Sebastian was surprised and not surprised. They were all so welcoming. It was like his childhood wish for friends in Moonlight Falls had been granted. "I don't really eat meat."

James seemed to bite back a smile. "I'm sure Parker can accommodate that. He makes great veggie burgers."

Sebastian's cheeks heated at the idea of Parker considering him enough to make him something specific. "In that case, I'll have to bring him some jam."

For some reason, the statement prompted James to kiss him on the cheek. "He'll like that. Now, come on. I'll help you unpack."

They went upstairs and made the bed with sheets and pillows from the trunk. Towels and all Sebastian's toiletries were in the trunk as well, and of course, James had added the books Sebastian had kept in his bedroom.

James pulled a first-aid kit out from under more of Sebastian's clothes. "How's your wrist doing?"

"Okay." Sebastian flexed it. "Doesn't hurt at all."

James set the kit on the bed. "Should I take a look at it for you?"

It was probably unnecessary. Sebastian had been keeping it clean and changing the bandage, but James's need to take care of him was probably about more than the wound. "Yeah, if you don't mind." He offered his arm.

James took it gingerly and did a thorough inspection of the bite.

Sebastian suspected James took care of people, in part, to express his affection for them, but that he also needed to look after the people he loved to remind himself he wasn't losing them. Giving James the reassurance he needed made Sebastian feel like they were taking care of each other. It reminded him he had the potential to be who James needed, and it was almost like he belonged to the group of people James loved.

After James deemed Sebastian fine and healing well, Sebastian hugged him.

"What's that for?" James asked, lips brushing Sebastian's ear.

"No reason." Sebastian gave him a kiss on the cheek before pulling away. He didn't actually think James loved him, not even in the way he loved Hazel or Parker, but James seemed to have a whole lot of feelings for Sebastian, and Sebastian had just as many for him.

James had shown Sebastian how much he'd cared today, even in the face of something hard. Maybe things would turn out okay if Sebastian could trust James without his fears getting in the way. Sebastian didn't know what it would take for him to truly stop believing everything good was temporary, but he wanted to figure it out so the two of them could have the chance to fall in love.

James leaned in and kissed Sebastian on the lips. Stubble scratched his cheeks. James's five o'clock shadow appeared much quicker than Sebastian's. He liked that, especially when he felt that rough scrape in intimate places. Sebastian felt so good when they were together, and he was able to stay in the moment.

The kiss didn't turn hearted, and Sebastian got the impression James was waiting for him to decide what was coming next. Eventually, their lips parted, and they pulled back.

Sebastian decided to take a necessary but unpleasant plunge. "I think I want to stay here on my own tonight." He didn't have to explain to James why this simple thing was important to him or why he needed to do it. James would get it.

He nodded, not looking disappointed at all. "Okay. You always know where to find me."

"Yeah, I've got a phone now." Sebastian smiled.

"I'm glad." James looked disproportionately relieved by the reminder for some reason .

Shaking his head, Sebastian walked him out. Then he was alone.

It wasn't as bad as his first day alone in James's house, but it was unsettling. Sebastian had had no life at Storm House, no future, but he'd rarely felt as aimless as he did now. He supposed it was because he didn't have to work so hard to survive anymore. He could be lazy without consequence, but he liked to be busy. He just had to figure out what to do with himself.