Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ice raced through Sebastian's veins. He looked from James to the others.

Hazel's eyes were wide. "Who the fuck said that?"

"I did." The door behind them burst open, and a bone-chilling wind filled the entryway.

Sebastian whirled around to find the shades gone. It was so dark outside he couldn't see beyond the front steps. It was like the world ended in a pit of blackness. At first, that was all he saw. Nothing. Then, a form materialized out of the dark.

It was no wonder he hadn't noticed it at first. The thing seemed to be made of darkness itself. A broad-shouldered figure that had to be close to seven feet tall stood on the threshold. It had no discernible features, no face or details on its body. It was like a silhouette turned solid.

The eerie voice filled the space even though Sebastian saw no mouth move. "Eleanor Ashley and Parker Hayes, Moonlight Falls has been taken. It belongs to those from Beyond. Light will never reach this soil again. You and your people should leave before it is too late."

There was a stunned silence. As far as Sebastian knew, shades had no understanding of or ability to communicate using human language. Apparently, he was dead wrong.

Eleanor stepped forward. "You know our names?" She sounded stunned as she gestured to herself and the barely conscious Parker.

"You are the leaders. Communicate to the rest that they must leave." The imposing shade didn't move but seemed to loom larger. Its words filled the space and made Sebastian's ears ache. It was humanoid, like the shade Sebastian had seen in the distance at the town center by the stone. Could it be using magic to communicate? Was it the one that had created the darkness?

"Moonlight Falls will not be forfeited to Beyond," Eleanor said resolutely. She was bolder than Sebastian. He'd never challenge a being like this. It radiated power. You could feel its tie to another world in a way you couldn't with regular shades.

"It will be," the shade said, making Sebastian's head tingle. "My magic is stronger. It has already broken yours."

Eleanor said the words for fire, sending sparks at the shade, only for the sparks to be engulfed in shadow and extinguished before they could ignite.

"We need more fire." James stepped up next to Eleanor. "Together."

They all—except Eli and Parker, who was slumped against the wall—sent sparks flying. The shade drifted slowly away from them as if it wasn't concerned about their attack. The sparks fell uselessly into the darkness and disappeared. Soon, they couldn't see the shade in the opaque blackness shrouding the front yard.

Hazel swore.

"We've got other problems." James grabbed Sebastian's hand and pointed toward the floor. Black tendrils exactly like the ones at Parker's house were creeping off the porch and across the empty space of the open doorway, inching along the invisible wards keeping everything from Beyond outside .

"It's trying to break in like it did at my house," Parker said softly from behind them.

Eleanor shut the door. Even though it didn't do more than block the view of the intrusive shadow and horrible void of darkness beyond, it allowed Sebastian to relax a fraction. "You need something to eat before we do anything else." Eleanor patted Parker on the shoulder, then walked past him down the hall.

Everyone followed her into Nora's kitchen. Eli didn't hesitate to raid the pantry, shoving anything edible in front of Parker, who'd collapsed into a seat at the dining table.

"What are we going to do?" Eli's words came out high-pitched. He didn't stop moving as he frantically piled bags of chips on the table.

Eleanor crossed her arms. "You all should leave. I'll call the state and demand assistance. They can't let Beyond claim our town. Surely, the federal government would object to an invasion." Eleanor shook her head like she couldn't quite believe the turn things had taken. She rubbed her temple. "The military must have some classified way of fighting otherworldly magic, even if general magical assistance doesn't know what the hell to do about it."

Hazel rested a hand on Eleanor's shoulder. "We aren't leaving you here."

"I'm leaving too. Holy hell, Hazel. I just need to make sure everyone in town hears the evacuation notice first. There's no need to wait for me. It looks like you five have been through much worse than me."

"We aren't leaving," James said at his most stern, leather-clad arms crossed. "Let's not waste any more time arguing about it."

Eleanor looked like she wanted to argue, her mouth set in a stern line.

"Eleanor, please." Parker swiped a hand over his face. "None of us are abandoning this town. We can help. "

Eleanor gave him a resigned look. "Fine. I can't tell you what to do." Though it sounded like she wished she could.

But they couldn't leave, and James was right. There was no point arguing with Eleanor about it. They couldn't tell her why without trapping her.

"They're using the veins to create the darkness somehow," Eli said as he passed a sandwich he'd quickly made to Parker. He went on to explain to Eleanor what he'd learned at the boundary.

"Could that be how that—that thing got here?" Eleanor pointed back toward the front of the house, her composure cracking for a second. "From the point where the vein disappears into Beyond."

"No," Eli said like this was obvious, but from the looks on everyone's faces he was the only one who thought so. "Shades need the magical space created by shifting veins to pass between worlds. The end of a vein isn't a gateway for anything but raw energy."

"Right." Eleanor scowled. "I need to pass all this on because I am not even remotely equipped to handle this." She marched out of the room, and Hazel followed.

"We can't stay here long," James warned.

Parker nodded, swallowing the last of his sandwich. "If that shadow breaks the wards here like it did at my house, I won't be able to repair them easily. I don't know how the protections on this building were constructed. It will take too much time and effort for me to work it out and fix them, and wiping out what's here for new wards will be even harder."

"Yeah, and you need to rest. Not do any of that." Eli handed him a banana.

"You're taking great care of me, gorgeous. I'll be fine." Parker smiled at Eli, but he seemed exhausted. His arms were smeared with dried blood from the shattered windshield, and his T-shirt had holes burned into it. He needed more than food and first aid to recover. Eli was right. Parker needed rest .

James paced back and forth across the small kitchen. "We have to find somewhere that giant shade-thing isn't likely to find us and hide."

Parker rubbed his brow, adding, "Somewhere I know the wards would be ideal, so I can fix them if necessary."

Sebastian couldn't help thinking that didn't leave many options. Maybe Parker's house, Parker's parents' place, or the diner. Sebastian absently chewed his nails. He pulled a finger out of his mouth. "It's going to hunt us down, isn't it? No matter where we go. I mean, the shades are targeting us, right? It knew your name, Parker. You aren't even a leader of the town. Not like Eleanor is. How does it know anything about us? Has it been watching us?"

"It can't be a coincidence that my house was attacked when no one else's was." Parker let out a grim breath. "It must be able to tell I have some of the most powerful magic in Moonlight Falls, and that's why it assumed I was a leader."

Sebastian thought about all the shades on his property. Could this have anything to do with him? Why were there so many shades hanging around his house? Was their group being targeted because of something to do with Storm House, not just because of Parker's power or Eleanor's leadership? Did it have to do with the veins?

"We need a new vehicle if we're going to get anywhere." James grabbed a set of keys off a hook by the fridge. "I hope Nora had more than one car, and this one is still here."

"I have my car." Eleanor reentered the kitchen. "Though we won't all fit."

"Any luck?" Sebastian gestured to the cell phone in her hand.

"We'll see. My message is being passed on. I don't exactly have the governor or any military officials on speed dial."

Hazel stuck her head into the kitchen. "There's a minivan in the garage. "

Eli began stuffing his pockets with granola bars. "But where are we going?"

"I should try and get to my office." Eleanor led the way down the hall, and everyone followed. "I can use my work computer to send an emergency alert text to everyone in the area. Then we really should get out of here."

Sebastian and James shared a look. There was no getting out of here. Sebastian didn't particularly want to stick around and see how the government handled an invasion from Beyond, but military rescue was better than being left behind completely.

They climbed into the minivan, with Hazel driving. Sebastian leaned close to James, who reflexively wrapped an arm around him. "Mila said it was hard for more complex beings, like intelligent shades, to pass through into this world. How do you think that thing got here?"

"I have no idea." James sagged against him like he was letting himself feel an exhaustion he'd been fending off. "Who knows how long it's been here. This could have been brewing for months."

"Yeah," Eli agreed from the back seat. "The shade that attacked me was different. And that was close to two months ago."

This invasion could have easily been brewing since then or even earlier. Over the last few months, the number of shades at Storm House had increased, but Sebastian hadn't thought much of it until recently when the numbers had skyrocketed. But looking back, it made sense if this thing had started slowly, and once the darkness set in, Beyond made its move on Moonlight Falls, and all the shades came pouring in.

Hazel opened the garage door with a remote she found tucked into the sun visor. The door rolled upward, revealing black tendrils of shadow covering the doorway like a second wall. Sebastian watched one near the roof poke through into the garage. It was breaking in .

The van's high beams flooded the area, but the shadow didn't retreat.

Hazel looked around at everyone. "Think it's a bad idea to drive through it?"

"Floor it, babe." Eleanor rested her hand on the back of Hazel's neck. "We'll fight off anything that sticks to the van if we need to."

"You heard her." Hazel gave them all a devilish grin through the rearview mirror. "Buckle the fuck up."

"Oh god," Eli whined.

Tires screeched as Hazel sped out of the garage. The shadow stretched like rubber, tendrils groping the sides of the van, then burst, allowing them through as it sprang back and continued to attack the house.

The pit of darkness had disappeared from the front lawn, so at least they could see. Hazel braked in time to turn onto the street and not roll the van. She took off in the direction of town faster than you should normally drive in a neighborhood, but not so recklessly that Sebastian worried they'd die in an accident rather than a shade attack.

As they drove, shades appeared out of the darkness like they'd been waiting for them. They followed the vehicle, keeping pace and peering in the windows. None of the beasts attacked or tried to block the windshield as they had before. It was almost like they were escorting the van so they would know where it was going.

James took hold of Sebastian's hand. "We're never going to be able to hide."

He was right. With so many shades around unaffected by artificial light, there was no way to shoo all the beasts away without draining themselves. They'd never escape every single pair of onyx eyes watching them. And if the shades were watching and reporting back to the large shadow being, they were doomed.

Several other cars passed them on the road, going in the other direction, but the shades paid no attention to anyone else. Their vehicle was the only one with an otherworldly tail. When Hazel pulled in front of town hall, the shades did nothing more than hover in the street, watching the minivan from a distance.

Eleanor placed her hand on the door handle. "We should go inside."

There was an alarming number of shades gathered at the center of town. Sebastian had never seen such a big crowd around the stone. There probably hadn't even been that many humans there during the town's popular summer festival. As Sebastian watched out the window, even more shades drifted into the circle.

Eleanor opened her door and marched across the sidewalk and up the steps of town hall like there wasn't a huge swarm of shades a hundred feet away.

"I'd still rather go somewhere I know the wards," Parker mumbled.

Hazel turned off the van and climbed out. "We're not leaving here without Eleanor."

"Never said we should," Parker called after her.

Sebastian tore his eyes off the still-growing crowd of shades and got out of the minivan. James and Eli helped Parker, who still seemed worryingly weak. He'd used way too much power banishing all those shades with fire.

The four of them hurried into the empty town hall. The shades kept their distance but closed in once Sebastian and the others were over the threshold. It felt like they'd never get out again. If the shades decided to attack when they exited, they'd be overwhelmed.

Sebastian wandered past the empty reception desk and down the hall. He spotted Eleanor in her office, the door left wide open, with Hazel standing beside her. He stopped. There was no need to intrude, so he turned back to the entry where the others had stayed .

Parker sat on a bench in the reception area as Eli fed him and gave him little paper cups of water from a cooler in the corner.

James came to stand beside Sebastian and leaned against the wall. "What the fuck do we do now?"

"No idea."

James gave a tired nod.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sebastian reached out just as James slumped and slid down the wall. Sebastian caught him and lowered him to the ground. "James! What's wrong?"

"It just hit me." He blinked up at Sebastian. "I might have used a bit too much magic helping Parker with the fire."

"But you seemed fine." Sebastian gripped James's shoulders, his chest tightening.

James leaned his head back against the wall. "Must have been adrenaline keeping me going."

"Fuck." Sebastian jumped up and got James some water. Once he was sipping from the small cup, Sebastian rushed over to Eli. "How much more food do you have?"

Eli's eyes went wide. "Is James okay?"

"I don't know." Sebastian tried not to sound like he was panicking. He'd fucked up. He should have taken better care of James, but he'd been distracted.

"Here." Parker handed him a handful of granola bars.

Sebastian rushed back to James's side and passed him the food.

"Don't worry, sweetheart." James squeezed his hand.

"Impossible," Sebastian protested. "I'll only stop worrying about you when you figure out how to not worry about me. You're my whole world, James. I need you."

James tugged Sebastian against his side. "And you've got me. I just need some rest. It will all be okay."

Sebastian nodded even though things were far from okay. They were trapped in a town that was slowly turning into a nightmare.