Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Sebastian and James rushed into what felt like the pre-dawn morning and hurried over to Gray Electrical.

Hazel was already at the shop, seated at her desk in the back, glowering. "It's the fucking apocalypse." She gestured out the window unnecessarily.

James seemed to be getting more worried by the second. He'd run his hand through his hair three times since leaving the house, and they'd only walked across the street. "Did the sun just not rise? " he asked in a tone that suggested he was personally offended by the situation.

Sebastian followed him past the counter into the work area of the electrical shop. "That's not possible. Because of, you know, physics." He waved his hand in a circular motion. "The earth didn't stop spinning."

"Then what's happening? Even if it isn't as bad as the sun not rising, whatever is going on out there isn't good." Hazel glared at James, who returned the look with equal intensity. "Eleanor is going to let me know if she hears anything, but sitting around waiting might kill me first."

Sebastian perched on the edge of James's desk. "You talked to Eleanor already?"

"Yeah." Hazel's eyes flashed, her scowl dropping for a split second. "I wondered this morning if the darkness had to do with the magic last night, and she agreed."

James narrowed his eyes like he was trying to decipher something. "Hazel, did you?—"

"Not now." She waved at him impatiently. "Focus."

James grunted, shaking his head, and went to turn on the coffee maker in the corner.

"The weird shadow thing was coming from the sky last night," Hazel continued, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. "So when the sky was dark today, I wondered if it could be connected."

"But James and Parker banished that thing in the yard," Sebastian argued.

"Maybe." Hazel didn't look convinced. "When we were fighting the shadow in the house, it kept breaking off. We know it retreated when the thing in the corner caught fire, but what if part of it splintered off and stayed up in the sky. It was too dark last night to see if anything like that happened."

Sebastian and James shared a look. Hazel had a frighteningly good point.

"I should call Eli." James pulled out his phone. "I wonder if Parker has gone home yet."

"Hope his house is still there." Hazel stood and grabbed a mug from under the sink next to the coffee station.

James was already talking into his cell. He hung up after a few quick words. "Parker's house is fine. He's at work, and Eli is heading over here now." James's stomach growled audibly. "Sorry, skipped breakfast."

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "Too freaked out to eat?"

"Uh…" James hesitated, a faint blush staining his cheeks .

"Why don't I go make you something?" Sebastian hopped off the desk. "Want some eggs? I'll just run home."

James's stoic expression melted. "That'd be wonderful, sweetheart."

Sebastian's heart thudded. He blushed in what had to be a much more obvious display than James's subtle coloring. His cheeks were on fire. Hearing James call him sweetheart in front of someone else was another claiming. He had to tear his eyes away from James's soft expression before he combusted. "You want anything, Hazel?"

"No, thanks." She raised her coffee mug. "This is all I need after the morning I've had."

Sebastian hurried across the street. He wished he could ignore the unnaturally dark sky. He wanted to bask in James's affection without distractions. It was a good thing that dealing with insurmountable magical problems was what he and James spent a lot of their time doing together. At least they were used to it.

He made scrambled eggs and pan-fried some of his fresh bread. He didn't have a toaster and might not bother buying one. He preferred the crispiness that a dash of olive oil in the pan provided.

With silverware tucked in the pocket of James's leather jacket, Sebastian headed back across the street carrying two plates. James beamed at the sight of Sebastian and the food. He swapped Sebastian a plate for a mug of coffee, and they ate at James's desk, Sebastian perched on the edge next to James's chair, his plate in his lap.

"Mm. This is amazing." James hummed as he chewed a large bite of eggs and bread.

"Glad you like it." Sebastian preened. He loved feeding James. It brought together all his favorite things.

"Ugh. You guys are so fucking cute." Hazel rolled her eyes, half her face hidden by her mug, but Sebastian could have sworn a smile lurked there.

James blushed but did nothing other than continue to eat like it was the best meal ever. Well, maybe not the best meal. Sebastian's ass had already claimed that title.

Sebastian squirmed. James content and eating his food after Sebastian had satisfied him with his body made Sebastian feel like he was bubbling over. Without his doubts weighing him down, he was just so happy. It should have scared him. Good things always did. But not this time. James would never take this away from him.

Eli arrived as James rinsed the plates in the sink. Eli hadn't heard more than they had about the strange darkness. Parker was working the breakfast shift that day and promised to call if anyone came into the diner with news.

The flyers about the light-resistant shades and the possessed bear had made the rounds over the weekend. Eli said the few people he'd run into were taking the darkness as another escalation of the shade problem.

"Makes sense," Hazel agreed. "If it's dark and we can't use light to fend them off, the shades will have free rein. And after what we saw last night, with the shades and the shadow working together, it's hard to think it's a coincidence."

"True, but the darkness outside looks nothing like the shadow that attacked Parker's house," Eli argued. "It's normal, except for the fact that it should be light this late in the day."

"Well, whatever it is, Eleanor reported it. So someone equipped to deal with it should be on the way." Hazel sounded reassuring, but her pinched expression gave her away. It was hard to imagine what anyone could do about this.

Eli turned to face Sebastian. "Let's head out to Storm House. I need to collect my data."

"Yeah, I've got to feed the chickens." Sebastian glanced at James. "It'd be good if you came too. It's dark enough that shades will be out and about." Sebastian was weary of dealing with them on his own, especially after the size of the horde that had attacked when they'd been transferring the curse to the fuel cell. "My magic seems back to normal, but I haven't tried to use it at the house yet. I don't want to assume it will be fine and then it not be."

"Of course I'll come." James stood from his desk. "You good here, Hazel?"

"Yeah. I'm not doing anything. I doubt we'll have customers today, with everyone panicking. I'd come with you, but I want to stay by my phone in case Eleanor has news."

"No, that's a good idea." James led Sebastian and Eli toward the door. "We'll meet you back here after we're done."

As they exited the shop, Eli turned to Sebastian. "What do you mean your magic is back to normal?"

"When the curse tied me to the veins and they started feeding off me, my magical ability diminished. I'm not that strong to start with, so I couldn't actually do much magic while I was trapped at Storm House. It tired me out too much." Sebastian pushed memories of dark, candle-lit nights away. His loneliness in the dark had been unbearable a lot of the time.

Eli's brow furrowed like he was trying to puzzle something out. "But I thought James linked to you to borrow power for the unbinding spell."

"He did." Sebastian glanced at James, who didn't seem to know what Eli was getting at either.

Eli frowned. "Just doesn't seem like you'd have enough power to lend if you couldn't do magic with the veins sucking you dry."

"Well, it definitely worked." James opened the driver's door.

Eli stopped short of the car. "Why didn't your magical ability diminish after you got trapped?"

James shrugged. He and Eli turned their attention to Sebastian .

"I don't know." Sebastian wracked his brain. "I hadn't even thought of that."

"Hm…" Eli didn't appear satisfied by the lack of answers. "It doesn't seem like Parker or Hazel have had any issues with their magic since the curse claimed them either."

Sebastian gave Eli a helpless shrug.

They all climbed in the car. Eli leaned forward from the back seat. "It must be something to do with Sebastian being in line to inherit the curse and the rest of us only getting caught up through the secret. We must not be tied to the veins the same way you are, Sebastian."

"That's good." Relief rippled through Sebastian. He may have let go of his guilt for trapping the others, but knowing they might be better off than him still eased something inside him. "Maybe it will be easier to untie you all."

Eli leaned back and buckled his seatbelt. "If we're trying to free ourselves by correcting the imbalance, I don't think it will matter. We should all be equally free when the veins are restored."

The drive north was quiet after that.

Returning to Storm House in the near-darkness gave Sebastian a spike of anxiety. As he unlocked the gate, a primal part of his brain told him he shouldn't be out on the grounds, even though he hadn't spotted any shades. The thought of going inside the house, even the kitchen, made him feel even worse. With the darkness shrouding the property, it was too much like all the nights he'd been trapped here.

James placed a hand on the small of his back. "You okay?"

"Not quite, but it'll be fine. I've got to get through this." Sebastian leaned into James, who encircled his waist with a steady arm.

"You can face anything, sweetheart," James murmured into Sebastian's hair.

Sebastian straightened. "Yeah. With you, I know I can."

James's arm tightened around him .

Eli held back under the guise of getting his backpack out of the car. Sebastian was grateful for the moment with James. His feelings for Storm House were so tumultuous. He never quite knew what coming to the property would do to him.

"Being here in the dark is freaky," Eli whispered as they walked up the driveway.

No one disagreed. They quickly fed the confused chickens and collected their eggs. Sebastian gave some attention to Miss Moo, who was munching the hay set out for her near the barn.

Now that they were deeper into the property, shades floated overhead. The beasts didn't seem to take much notice of the three of them as they made their way around, so at least there was that. Sebastian was surprised he hadn't seen any lurking around the house. They'd always been looking in the windows and waiting outside the doors. It was like they knew Sebastian wasn't home and had lost interest.

The thought gave him chills.

More shades drifted through the forest as Sebastian, James, and Eli walked along the path to the clearing. Sebastian wished he had one of his oil lamps so he could see better. The shadows were deep and dark under the trees.

As the path opened into the clearing, they all stopped. Shades lurked everywhere. Half a dozen circled the fuel cell in the middle, running their hands over it. Others sat in the trees, their onyx eyes fixed on Sebastian and his companions.

"You want to keep going, Eli?" James put his hand on his brother's shoulder, not taking his eyes off the infested clearing.

Eli chewed on his bottom lip. "We have to. I need that data, and who knows how long this darkness will last."

"If we try not to startle them, it might be okay." Sebastian took a step forward. "The shades here were never more than a nuisance unless I messed with the magic in the veins, and we aren't doing magic. Just grabbing pieces of paper."

"Exactly." Eli sounded more confident. He and James followed Sebastian into the clearing. "Sebastian, will you write down the times as I get the papers?"

"Sure." He took the notebook and manual-wind pocket watch they'd been using to check the time on the property as Eli unearthed his folders from his backpack.

James watched the two of them as they worked, his focus on the shades. The ones preoccupied with the fuel cell didn't seem to notice them, but the ones sitting in the trees tracked their movements.

As Eli lifted the tarp-covered crate off the first mechanism, a shade drifted down from its perch in a nearby tree. Sebastian tensed, but the beast didn't come too close, staying out of arm's reach. It watched like it had been curious what lay beneath the warded crate.

Sebastian and Eli gathered the paper and recorded the time, then moved on to the next mechanism. More shades appeared in the clearing. The atmosphere was tense even though the shades kept their distance. Sebastian wasn't looking forward to getting to the mechanism in the center of the clearing. He didn't want to have to disturb the shades worshipping the fuel cell.

As they got to the fourth mechanism, the shade wearing Sebastian's purple robe drifted into the clearing from the dark forest beyond.

"Hey," Sebastian hissed at it. The shade spun around, robe swirling, almost like it was taunting him. "Little shit. I can't believe you still have my robe." The purple fabric was dirty and ripped in places, making Sebastian irrationally upset.

James pressed in close, keeping his voice low. "Why is it wearing your robe? Since when do shades care about human clothes?"

Sebastian gritted his teeth against the urge to steal the garment back. "I don't know. I saw it in town too."

"Is it the same one that stole it? Do you think it recognizes us?" James paused briefly. "It must, or else why would it be staring like that?" The shade eyed them, swaying the long sleeves of the robe back and forth. "It's weird that it stuck around. I thought shades were transitory."

"They are," Eli hissed. "But it's only been a few days since you escaped. Staying in one area that long isn't unheard of."

"Except I lost my robe two weeks ago," Sebastian muttered.

Eli didn't seem to know what to say to that. "Come on. Let's get the last set of data and get out of here. I want to come back again tonight. Collecting data twice a day works better since I have to type it all up."

The day before, Eli had gathered a second round of data with Parker while Sebastian had loaded apples in the car. Sebastian didn't doubt Eli would collect the receipts every few hours if it weren't such a pain to come all the way out here.

The three of them inched toward the mechanism next to the fuel cell. All the shades swirling around it froze.

"Shit," James grumbled.

"Maybe when they see we aren't after the fuel cell, they'll relax," Eli offered hopefully.

Sebastian thought that sounded like wishful thinking. "Why do they care about the fuel cell?"

"Fuck if I know," Eli muttered with grumpiness worthy of his brother. "Come on. Slowly."

They crept forward. The shades tracked their progress.

It wasn't guaranteed these ones were light-resistant. If the same shades had been lurking around the property for ages—as Sebastian suspected despite Eli and James's insistence that the beasts were always transitory—light would work against them just fine. Sebastian and James could fight them off. There were nowhere near as many as the night James almost drained himself to death.

Eli crouched next to the last covered crate. He gingerly lifted it off the mechanism. Sebastian held his breath. As Eli set the crate aside, the shades beside the fuel cell drifted closer. They all peered at the mechanism with unwavering intensity. One reached out a hand, but Parker's warding kept it from getting anywhere near the spindly structure.

Eli tore off the receipt paper, and the shade hissed.

Sebastian quickly scribbled down the time in the notebook. "Let's go."

Eli covered the mechanism with the crate and stood. As he went to tuck the paper into the correct folder, the closest shade lunged forward. It tried to snatch the paper, but Eli was quicker, ducking out of the way with an expression that said he would protect his data at all costs.

James sent a spark at the lunging shade, and it ignited, fire banishing the beast in a puff of black smoke. The other shades next to the fuel cell hissed. Eli hastily shoved his folder in his backpack as shades swooped in on him, trying to grab him and the bag.

Sebastian and James sent sparks flying. Some found their mark, making quick work of the shades, but others fell to the forest floor.

"Fuck." Sebastian stamped on the sparks before they could ignite the fallen leaves. It was a good thing it had been so damp recently.

James conjured a ball of light, sending it toward the shades. They retreated. Sebastian was right. These ones weren't light-resistant. It was a small relief.

They hurried back to the car, with the shades from the clearing following closely. Luckily, James's light kept them back, and they didn't try to fight it. It was almost like the shades were escorting them off the property, content to see them go.

Back at Gray Electrical, Eli settled at the counter with his laptop. Sebastian offered to help enter the data they'd collected and was tasked with reading the numbers out as Eli typed. It took forever. Sebastian had never been so aware of how many minutes there were in a day and was dismayed to learn they'd have to go through every entry again, this time with Eli reading out and Sebastian checking what had been entered.

"It needs to be accurate," Eli said, not at all phased by the monotony. "Parker will be happy I've gotten someone else to do this set with me though."

The sky didn't change as the day dragged on. James and Hazel were both restless. A few cars stopped by the pumps outside, but other than that, the shop had no customers. From periodically glancing out the window, it didn't seem like many people were moving through town.

Everyone was probably sitting tight, waiting to see what would happen, just like they were.

The ring of Hazel's phone pierced the relative silence of the shop. Sebastian stopped reciting numbers, and Eli looked up from his laptop. James migrated away from the window, where he'd been glowering at the sky.

"Eleanor." Hazel seemed to sigh into the phone. "I'm fine. Yes, really. You?" A pause. "Mm, yes, I agree— Stop it. Everyone's listening in. Uh-huh. You're kidding me?"

Eventually, Hazel hung up. She turned to face the rest of them. "The sun did rise, just not for Moonlight Falls."

"Meaning?" Eli asked impatiently.

"There's a darkness encasing the town. Eleanor's driven through it. Everything is bright as day outside of town. She's found the southern, eastern, and western limits but hasn't driven north yet. She was trying to contact Carson to see if his crew is in the dark before she heads that way."

"But where did it come from?" James crossed his arms. Sebastian wished James was wearing his leather jacket so he could see the material flex and pull over his shoulders. "Do you still think it's part of the shadow from last night? I've been watching the sky and haven't seen a single flowing tendril. Nothing like we saw at Parker's house."

"There's no word on where it's come from." Hazel plugged her phone into the charger at her desk. "Apparently, the official who drove up here won't come into town."

Eli's mouth dropped open. "You're kidding."

"No." Hazel frowned. "Eleanor is pissed. The guy said he isn't venturing into the shadow without proof it's safe."

Sebastian looked around at them all. "But we're all fine."

Hazel shrugged. "The official said that if people are concerned, they can leave, but no one is rushing in to check things out."

"We can't leave," Sebastian muttered, the ghost of his previous fear everyone would resent him rearing its head.

"We wouldn't even if we could." James rested a hand on Sebastian's shoulder.

"Of course not." Hazel looked annoyed by the very suggestion. "If no one's going to help figure this out, we'll have to do it ourselves. Probably best that way, honestly."

The question of how seemed to float menacingly in the air.

"I wonder if anything like this has happened before." Sebastian glanced at Eli hopefully, even though he didn't study this sort of thing.

Eli made a who-knows face.

"I tried looking it up online." Hazel made her way over to the coffee maker and scooped fresh grounds into it. "No luck."

Sebastian stood. "Maybe I should go to the library. See Mila. I bet she's already looking into it, along with the stuff about light resistance."

"That's a good idea." James took Sebastian's seat. "I'll help Eli finish."

"I wonder—" Eli hesitated, not turning back to his laptop. " Where do you think the exact spot the darkness stops is, going south?"

Hazel looked up from the coffee. "Eleanor didn't say."

Eli tapped the counter with restless fingers. "What if it's confined by the same barrier trapping us. Maybe we should head to where you crashed your truck, James."

"We could." James's brow furrowed as he frowned at the idea. "But why would the darkness have anything to do with the curse trapping us?"

"I don't know." Eli sighed. "I'm just trying to think of something . The darkness probably doesn't have anything to do with the veins. It just seems odd that there's a clear boundary in both cases, but what do I know."

"Wait, hang on. Maybe the darkness does have to do with the veins." Sebastian reflexively tugged James's leather jacket, pulling it tight against himself. "How many different invisible barriers can be surrounding this town? It's probably the same one. The simplest solution is usually right. I must have missed something changing in the veins. Maybe the fuel cell isn't holding up as well as we thought. Maybe?—"

James stood from his seat. "Slow down." Sebastian's gaze found James's. "More than one thing can happen at a time. I checked the indicator on the fuel cell this morning. The power reserves look fine."

"But the boundary." Sebastian's heart sank. He felt guilty, like he'd done this unknowingly. He knew it wasn't true, and he shouldn't feel that way, but a horrible ache consumed him anyway. What if his escaping Storm House had done this?

James pulled Sebastian into him. Sebastian hunched to rest his forehead on James's shoulder. "This is not your fault," James said in a firm but soft tone. "It's probably not connected, and even if it turns out it is, it still won't be your fault."

"You're right." Sebastian straightened. "I know. It's like I'm still waiting for everything to fall apart. I can't help it. "

"Even if things fall apart, it will be okay. We'll figure it out together." James held Sebastian's gaze until he nodded in agreement. "Go see Mila. She's missed you and will be happy to see you. There are a lot of people who care about you, Sebastian, and we're all on your side. It's all of us against the curse and anything else that dares to get in our way, and I'll keep reminding you of that for as long as I have to."

Because Sebastian was James's to look after and protect, even from himself . The unsaid words burned between them. Sebastian pressed on the bite marks covered by his shirt collar. James watched, the gleam in his eyes saying mine as clearly as if he'd spoken the word.

They were in this together. No matter what.