Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The library was quiet. Not surprising given there didn't seem to be many people around the center of town.

Mila wasn't at the front desk. Rather than ring the bell, Sebastian opted to go looking for her. The shelves of neatly organized books made him smile. He hadn't enjoyed his time in Moonlight Falls when he was a kid, but a lot of his better memories had happened here. He'd participated in all the summer programs the library offered kids, and the ones he was too old for, he'd joined in as a helper to the volunteer running it.

Maybe that's what he would do with his time when it wasn't so taken up with magical crises. He could volunteer at the library.

Sebastian found Mila in the downstairs nonfiction section at a table with a stack of books. "Hi."

She glanced up, peering over the top of her glasses. "Sebastian!"

He was enveloped in a hug a half-second later, unsure how the woman had moved so fast.

"It's so good to see you in town again." She pulled back to scrutinize him, her glasses now hanging around her neck from a beaded chain .

He fidgeted. "I rented one of the duplexes in town, so you should see me more now."

Mila beamed. "That's wonderful." She clasped his hands like he might slip away if she wasn't holding on, her skin soft against his. "How are you, dear? Really."

Mila had always been someone Sebastian could confide in. He'd cried on her shoulder the first summer he was left in Moonlight Falls while his mother and sister returned to Phoenix. Things had improved after he'd become closer to his uncle and the man hadn't seemed so intimidating, but no amount of puzzles, building tree forts at Storm House, or time spent doing crafts in the library had cured his childhood loneliness.

At least in high school, once his mother had abandoned him for good, he'd been able to let go to an extent. He'd stopped hoping things would get better between them and had just been angry at her, and throughout all of it, Mila had been there. He'd needed someone outside the family, and when he hadn't had friends, he'd had her.

Sebastian met Mila's eyes. She had to be about sixty now. Time had lined her face and lightened her dark-brown hair while Sebastian had been trapped at Storm House.

He didn't want to lie to Mila. He wished he could tell her the whole truth, everything about the house and the curse. But he couldn't without trapping her, so he focused on the personal side of how he was doing, facts that would make sense with the story of him being a recluse. "I'm okay sometimes and less so the rest of the time. Life's gotten kind of overwhelming. I think I have anxiety now."

Mila nodded in understanding. "There's a lot you can do to manage that. If you need help finding resources, I'm always here."

"Thanks." Sebastian gave her a small smile. "I'm getting there."

"Just don't disappear again, Sebastian." Mila looked down at their hands. "I should have come out to the house to see you. But after Stephen died, I have to admit I was angry, and by the time I'd let go of that, I wasn't sure you'd want to see me."

Sebastian fought back a wince. "I'm sorry I didn't write to you." He'd known Mila would have wanted to hear about Stephen's passing and probably would have come to the funeral on the property, but Sebastian had been consumed by the curse, panicking and raging at his dead uncle. He hadn't been in a fit state, not even sparing a thought for Mila at the time. "I don't have a good reason for shutting you out. I wasn't in a good place, and I'm sorry I let that get in the way."

"I figured as much. I'm sorry I didn't reach out." She squeezed once more before releasing him. "Now that we've got the apologies out of the way, why don't we leave the past where it belongs?" She waited for him to nod, the tension between them lifting. She smiled. "So, has James fixed your electricity?"

Mila was one of the few who remembered that Storm House didn't have power. That particular quirk had been passed off as a choice during Sullivan's and Simon's generations to keep people from prying into the situation. Once Simon's wife passed away and visitors stopped coming to the house, things like the lack of electricity were forgotten by the general population of Moonlight Falls as Simon's generation passed on and not many people left in town had actually visited the property.

"We gave up on the rewiring," Sebastian admitted. This time he wished he could tell Mila what was going on at Storm House, not for his sake but hers. He suspected it would give her much-needed closure on what had happened between her and Stephen. Sebastian had always gotten the impression that Stephen and Mila loved each other, but Stephen hadn't wanted to pull her into the family's mess.

"Ah well." Mila raised her eyes to the ceiling. "Good riddance to that old house. I'm glad you've found somewhere else to live."

Sebastian huffed. "Me too. "

Mila leaned in close like she was about to tell him a secret. "You and James are together, right?"

Sebastian's cheeks heated. "How did you know?"

Mila shook her head in exasperation. "Dear, you're walking around town in his jacket. Before you turned up wearing it at town hall the other night, I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him without it. I'd recognize it anywhere. It's like that man's second skin."

"Oh right." Sebastian laughed, his hands reflexively going to rub the material of the jacket's sleeves.

Mila leaned in close again. "James came in here asking about you a few weeks ago. I figured something had to be going on. He seemed intrigued, and that boy never dates."

"That's because I've never tried to get his attention before." Sebastian tried not to sound too smug and failed.

Mila laughed. "You'll be keeping him on his toes, that's for sure."

Sebastian didn't deny it, just grinned like a menace. He cleared his throat. "What were you reading when I interrupted?"

Mila turned back toward the table, her expression frustrated. "I was trying to learn about light-resistant shades. There isn't much out there."

"But you found something?"

"A few mentions." Mila picked up a book. "They all suggest that typical shades can't gain strength or abilities without outside help."

"Outside help?" Sebastian inspected the other books on the table, but the titles didn't give much away.

"Like enchantments," Mila explained. "Someone could cast a spell on a shade to make it immune to light, but I doubt that's what's happening. Why would anyone in Moonlight Falls do that? The only other explanation is in this book on the classification of shades." She passed it to Sebastian. "There are different types, though only the ones we're familiar with usually come from Beyond. It's harder for more complex beings to slip between worlds. They aren't as malleable as the shades we know, that can easily shift in and out of their physical form."

There were different kinds of shades. It made sense that people might not know that if only one type generally visited this world. Sebastian handed the book back. "But these other beings can get through? It's not impossible?"

"Sure. The only way we'd know other types of shades exist is if they've visited our world at some point. Humans can't go to Beyond. That's why we know so little about it and don't know what else might be lurking there."

"Great." Sebastian ran a hand through his hair. "So the light-resistant shades are a more complex being. Does that mean they're smarter?"

Mila perched her glasses on her nose and opened another book. "The more complex shades are thought to be more intelligent, but that doesn't mean all the light-resistant ones we've seen in town are. They could still be regular shades that have been granted extra abilities."

Maybe, but the shade that had bitten Sebastian had seemed different. It could very well have been one of these other shades. The humanoid one he'd seen by the stone in town and possibly at Parker's was even less like the shades he was used to. It had to be some other kind of being from Beyond.

"There are records claiming some of the more intelligent beings have magical abilities much more like ours and can cast spells, but the original sources are all very old," Mila continued.

Sebastian frowned. "How old?"

"Nineteenth century."

That surprised Sebastian. "It's been that long since intelligent shades have come to our world?"

"As far as humans have noticed. Unless more recent incidents weren't recorded in the places I have access to. Not everyone who interacts with shades is part of the scientific community. I'm sure there's all kinds of information outside of scientific publications from all around the world, but finding it isn't a quick or straightforward task."

"We'll just have to go off what's been happening around town. I think I saw one of these intelligent or more complex shade-like beings." Sebastian described what he'd seen around the stone in the town center.

Concern lined Mila's face. "That sounds way too organized for regular shade behavior. To have a large group working together like that. I don't like it."

"Yeah, the groups of shades I have around Storm House have never acted anything like that." The hordes were animalistic. Whatever had happened in town wasn't.

Mila glanced toward the library entrance and where the stone stood in the circle beyond. "I wonder what they were doing?"

Maybe it was magic. Dancing and manipulating shadow wasn't how human magic worked, but Sebastian had no clue how an intelligent shade-like being harnessed power. "I don't know. But the fact that we're sitting under a cloud of darkness could have something to do with it. I need to go find the mayor."

"That's probably best." Mila patted his arm. "If I come across anything helpful, I'll let you know."

They exchanged phone numbers and Sebastian hurried toward the exit.

"Oh!" Mila called after him. "Remind James that the book on countermagic he checked out is overdue."