23. Sebastian

23

SEBASTIAN

Irritation flared in Sebastian's chest. He was so damn sick of shades.

The night had been too much, and saying goodbye to Stephen like that had been harder than he could have prepared for.

Sebastian wanted this done. Now.

He shot sparks at the shade and it burst into flames. Without hesitating, he stooped to push the next coffin into the veins. "Rest easy, Simon."

The coffin fell away.

Out of nowhere, something swiped at Sebastian's legs and knocked him off his feet. He was yanked backward by the ankle as the edge of the hole receded, closing farther. He scrambled in the dirt, trying to stop himself as he was dragged into the trees. He couldn't get enough leverage to flip over and his hand hurt even worse than before, making it impossible to grab ahold of anything for long.

" James! " Sebastian shouted but got no answer. Shit! Where was he?

Sebastian was dragged deeper into the trees, away from the clearing. His hoodie rode up, leaving his stomach and chest vulnerable to the rough forest floor. His side slammed into a tree. Sebastian grunted in pain but managed to grab the slim trunk with his uninjured arm. He pulled against whatever was dragging him, but its hold on his legs was too strong.

Sebastian managed to twist around and landed on his back, letting go of the tree. Instead of weakening his captive's grip, it seemed to do nothing. Sebastian looked down at his feet. Black tendrils wound around his legs from ankle to mid-calf.

The tendrils extended into the forest, disappearing into the dark. Most likely, the rest of the writhing mass of shadowy feelers was somewhere beyond. Sebastian didn't know if this tendril-thing was a creature or some sort of shadow magic created by intelligent shades. It seemed to be treated as expendable by the humanoid shade before, like a layer of defense, and Sebastian feared the humanoid shade was lurking somewhere in the dark.

He was hauled deeper into the woods. The tendrils holding him wound farther up his legs until they were at his knees. He shot sparks at them, desperate to escape and find James, who was nowhere in sight.

One of the sparks caught, setting fire to a tendril and causing it to scream. Sebastian let out a shout of his own, hot fire now wrapped around his leg. The burning tendril broke away from the rest of the vine-like feelers and burst into smoke, leaving Sebastian's jeans singed.

Another tendril replaced the vanquished one almost instantly.

"Fuck," Sebastian muttered. He was so tired. Everything hurt. But he was so close to finishing this, to fixing the veins and rendering his family's cure moot. He was so close to freedom.

The tendrils ceased their dragging and Sebastian lay still. Part of him didn't think he'd be able to move. He wished he could go to sleep and deal with all this when he recovered. But he couldn't let pain or exhaustion stop him. He pushed himself into a sitting position and squinted into the dark forest .

Movement in the trees beyond caught his eye, but he couldn't make anything out. He was wasting time trying to see through the shadows. Sebastian conjured a light and pushed it forward to illuminate the forest.

The mass of tendrils was only ten feet away, pulsing and writhing, hovering above the forest floor. To the right, James was bound by shadowy feelers, his arms clamped to his sides and his whole body tightly wound. A tendril wrapped around his face, gagging him. He thrashed, his eyes wild.

Rage filled Sebastian. The feelers binding his legs continued to wind up his body until he was wrapped tight to the waist. These shadowy creatures from Beyond didn't belong in this world. They weren't allowed to ruin everything for him and James when they were so close.

Close but not there yet.

Sebastian's whole body flashed cold and clammy as a horrible realization hit him. What if something happened to Sullivan's coffin while he was tied up like this? What if his remains were destroyed or stolen and he couldn't be returned to the veins?

Sebastian released a cry of fury and pain. He let all the anger and sadness he'd harbored throughout his life—and over the course of this night—come pouring out of him, giving him energy and burning like a fire in him.

Sebastian reached for the veins' power and it came like a well-trained dog. He directed it with a wave of his injured hand and cut the tendrils binding him off at the base of the writhing mass hovering before him. Sebastian didn't even hear their screams. He shot power at the mass, letting raw energy cut across the writhing shadows until it found its center and the whole thing exploded into nothing.

James dropped to the ground.

Sebastian slowly crawled toward him on all fours, his breathing heaving. He didn't think he could stand. His energy flagged as a new pain in his head threatened to steal his consciousness.

James staggered over to him. "That shade is back."

Sebastian growled. He seemed beyond speech, like he'd gone into some feral survival mode. He let his light go out, plunging them into darkness. His regular magic was almost completely depleted, but he still felt the crackle of the veins under his skin.

"I saw it over here." James helped Sebastian stand. "Fuck, I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm useless against these beasts."

Sebastian wanted to say it was okay but couldn't form words.

James conjured a light and sent it in the direction he'd mentioned seeing the shade. There was nothing there.

"Let's get back to the clearing." James helped Sebastian along. He seemed alert, gaze scanning the dark forest around them. At least one of them was.

They were almost at the tree line when James stopped abruptly. Ahead of them, the humanoid shade stooped over the cart and the remaining coffin. The lid was open.

Sebastian's rage came back with a vengeance. He and James might have defiled his relatives' graves by digging them up, but this beast had no right to go poking around.

This shade was leaving the human world and not coming back.

Sebastian could feel the vein intersection humming in the center of the clearing like he never had before. He'd let the power go too quickly when he'd banished the humanoid shade before. Now, with the power buzzing in his body, he could feel the passage between worlds. It was faint, as if it was closing along with the hole, but it was there.

Stepping away from James, Sebastian moved out of the cover of the trees. "I thought I told you to leave."

The shade's blank face snapped up as if to fix its nonexistent gaze on Sebastian. An eerie laugh echoed in Sebastian's head.

He ignored it, instead focusing on the gateway. As one of its keepers, he found he could command it just like he commanded the raw power of the veins. Instead of sending the blue fire sparking at his fingers to banish the shade once more, Sebastian used the gateway to call anything from Beyond back to where it had come from, forcing the shifting energy between worlds to act like a magnet.

The humanoid shade staggered backward, away from the open coffin, and let out a hiss.

Something whizzed past Sebastian and flew into the hole. Another dark shape came careening in from the other side of the clearing.

"They're shades!" James exclaimed, bewildered.

More shades from the surrounding forest were sucked back into Beyond. Sebastian could feel the magnetic pull within his own body, making him dizzy. It didn't hurt like it did when he directed the veins' raw power, but the strange sensation threatened to steal his consciousness all the same.

The humanoid shade braced itself on its knees, straining against the gateway's pull as lesser shades flew past it and disappeared into the hole.

Sebastian didn't have time for this. He staggered forward, closing the coffin lid as he passed. The shade was dragged back a foot but still resisted the pull of the gateway. Sebastian took a deep breath and braced himself. He released one more blast of blue power, hitting the shade in the face. It jolted and, unable to resist the pull of the gateway any longer, was sucked backward, disappearing into the darkness of the void.

Sebastian released the veins' power, pushing it violently away from him. "The coffin," he gasped, not sure if his vision had gone or if he'd closed his eyes.

There was a scraping sound and a grunt of exertion from James. "Done."

An arm wrapped around Sebastian's waist. He leaned into James and blinked the darkness from his vision in time to see the hole shrinking. It closed until it was only about a foot across, then stopped.

James went stiff beside Sebastian. "Why isn't it closing all the way?"

Sebastian stared at the hole. He wanted to cry. They'd put all the pieces back. Four generations of Storms had held this intersection together and returning their bits of the missing piece should have been enough. What more could they give?

"What are we missing?" Sebastian whispered, his throat hoarse.

"I don't know." James began to tremble. "You made your sacrifice. There's nothing left."

"You're right. I don't think I have to give up my life for this, but we're missing something. One more connection to the veins."

"Selma?" James suggested in desperation.

Sebastian shook his head and immediately regretted it. He took a deep breath. "No, she never tied herself to this," he gritted out.

"Then what?"

Through the pain, something clicked, and Sebastian smiled. "Nelson."