27. James

27

JAMES

"Where are we going?" Sebastian asked James from the passenger seat of his truck the next day.

James had the entire week off work. He owed Hazel a serious vacation after all this. He just had to find a way to convince her to actually take one. Maybe he could get Eleanor to persuade her.

James threw Sebastian a mischievous look. "Can it be a surprise?"

"Hm. I guess. As long as no one is going to jump out at me screaming ‘Surprise! '"

"It's not that kind, I promise," he assured Sebastian.

"Okay." Sebastian still sounded suspicious, but he settled back in his seat and let James drive him through the east side of town. "I should probably get my expired driver's license renewed at some point, or you'll be stuck driving me everywhere, surprise or not."

"You know I don't mind, but we can sort it out when we're in Apple Valley for your follow-up appointment." James turned down Pine Street.

"Hey, this is where Eli sent his skateboard through the darkness."

"It is." James eyed Sebastian as he pulled over.

Sebastian turned away from the window. "This is that plot of land for sale."

James blushed, even if he wasn't sure why. "Yeah, a whole acre and a half. I called the realtor this morning and she said the people next door are planning on listing their house in the spring but are happy for us to come check it out today."

"Next door?" Sebastian spun back to the window. "Oh, it's a cute house. Look at the front porch. It has a swing."

James smiled at the excitement in Sebastian's voice. "I figured the house plus the extra land would give you your hobby farm."

Sebastian nodded enthusiastically. "Miss Moo will love it, and it's so close to town. I can even see the neighbors."

"I'm glad you like it already."

Sebastian unbuckled his seatbelt. "It might actually be perfect. The forest is just over there, but not too close. I can plant my fruit trees and have a huge garden, though we'll need that hedged in for privacy."

"We will?"

Sebastian grinned slyly. "I thought we could have a repeat of our last garden romp."

Heat settled low in James's belly as he remembered that particular idle day in the sun at Storm House. "I like where your head is at. As long as we're switching positions. I haven't been able to get that dream out of my head."

Sebastian patted James's cheek. "Don't worry about that, babe." He glanced out the window again. "We're definitely far enough from the neighbors. They won't hear you scream my name."

"Oh my god, it's a good thing the realtor isn't here yet." James willed his blush to go away.

Sebastian cackled with glee.

Once the realtor arrived, she walked them through the four- bedroom house. Sebastian bounced along, bursting with energy. He liked the layout of the house and the size and already had all kinds of ideas for renovations. He'd redo the kitchen, add a sunroom out back. He even declared a need for more outdoor storage and James caught him looking up prefabricated sheds and barns on his phone.

"I can see you're interested," the realtor hedged. "The owners said they were open to shifting their moving plans forward if you wanted to buy before the spring."

"Excellent. Do you have a business card?" Sebastian asked as he inspected the largest bedroom's en suite.

She handed one over and went outside to give them a bit of space.

"This shower really isn't big enough," Sebastian mused. "I'll need to expand to fit a tub in here anyway, so I might as well redo the shower while I'm at it."

James took in the standard, well-looked-after bathroom. "I feel like you're recreating your Storm House bathroom."

Sebastian shrugged. "What can I say? I've gotten used to the clawfoot tub, and you need to be able to fit in the shower with me."

"All good points." James followed Sebastian into the bedroom, down the hall, and through to the open-plan living and dining area. "Your piano would fit well in here."

"That's a great idea." Sebastian walked across the dining space. "I don't need a big table. There's room in the kitchen for a small one and outside for a large picnic table." His brow wrinkled.

"What is it?"

Sebastian looked down at his bandage. "I wasn't thinking about playing piano when I cut my finger off. I'm going to have to relearn how to play. Damn, I wish I'd thought to use one of my toes."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. "

Sebastian looked up, his expression surprisingly light. "Don't be. I'll still be able to play. It's just going to take practice."

James smiled. "I love watching you at the piano."

"Yeah, but you'd watch me do anything."

James rolled his eyes. "I would, but I especially like hearing you play. You're very talented."

Sebastian's cheeks tinged pink, and he was almost bashful during the rest of their time in the house.

Back in the truck, Sebastian turned to James. "Is it too impulsive to buy the first house I look at?"

"I don't know if it's impulsive. You've thought about what you want. If you're sure living in Moonlight Falls is for you, and you like this house and land as much as you seemed to, I don't see why you shouldn't go for it. You've waited long enough."

"I have waited long enough, haven't I? I think I'm going to do it. I know I want to be in Moonlight Falls. There's no question about that, and this house is pretty much perfect."

James wondered what Sebastian would do with Storm House. He figured the question could wait for another day. It was nice focusing forward. There was no rush to do anything with the old property.

James's phone buzzed and he checked the incoming text. "Eli wants us to meet him in town."

"Sounds good." Sebastian buckled his seatbelt, and James pulled onto the road. "I want to go talk to Mila anyway. I'm going to see if she needs a volunteer for the library."

"I'm sure she does. They've been talking about bringing back the after-school programs, though I don't know if they've been able to get anyone to run them."

"Oh yay. I loved the kid stuff they used to do. I feel like I'd be good at dramatic readings of picture books."

"I feel like you would be too." James paused, grinning as he pictured it. "Is that what you want to do? "

"I think so, at least for now. I don't exactly need a paycheck. Nelson Power is going to keep me and any future Storms fed and clothed for a while."

James pulled into the parking lot behind the diner. He liked the idea of future Storms. He let himself imagine having a family with Sebastian, and the possibility tugged on his heart. Sebastian would be a wonderful father.

They found Eli by the stone, a familiar portable magical energy flow meter in his hand.

"Hey, guys." Eli waved them closer. They maneuvered around the signs and flowers on the grass to reach him.

"You don't let anything keep you from studying, do you?" James teased.

"No." Eli gave him a look like, why would I? "I had the longest video call with my supervisor last week, explaining the veins and everything I couldn't tell him before. He thinks I should change my enrollment and transfer to a PhD. I have more than enough for a research proposal at that level now."

"Wow, that's great." James clapped him on the shoulder.

Eli brimmed with excitement, smiling widely. "I'm going to do a complete study of the vein intersection and see if I can publish an article on the imbalance. There's so much to do. I'm testing out a new theory now."

Sebastian eyed the magical flow meter. "Is that why you wanted to see us?"

"Yeah." Eli gestured to the stone. "I was trying to see what the deal was with this."

James frowned at the large rock, unable to quell his suspicion. He'd never see it the same way after the shades used it in their attacks on Moonlight Falls. "Does the stone have magic?"

"No, it doesn't have any of its own, but I think it can conduct magic."

"Like how some things conduct electricity?" James asked .

"Yeah, I guess." Eli shrugged. "The vein running below the stone must make contact with it. I'd love to dig and see how deep the stone goes, but it seems like it's conducting magical energy from the vein, bringing it to the surface. I've been able to detect trace amounts in the air around the stone, which is something you wouldn't normally see. Vein energy is always contained within the earth."

"Huh." James frowned more severely at the rock, Sebastian doing the same.

"But that's not my theory."

James returned his focus to Eli. "What's your theory?"

"You know how everyone says they can feel the magic of Moonlight Falls?" Eli waited for James and Sebastian to nod. "Well, maybe they can. If the stone brings the veins' magic to the surface, people could very well be feeling it. And I'd bet money that it being magic from a fixed vein intersection with a rare straight formation makes it special. That's why Moonlight Falls feels like nowhere else."

"So the stone is like a beacon?" Sebastian asked. "That actually makes a lot of sense. People aren't the only ones drawn here. One of the shades said they'd been called. What if the stone bringing the unique magic to the surface attracted shades as well as people. They may have been able to sense it through the gateway."

"That's a great point." Eli pulled a notebook out of a backpack, discarded the bag on the ground, and began writing. "I can't wait to record all the unique properties of this vein intersection. Even with the imbalance fixed, it's an extraordinarily rare magical formation."

James caught Sebastian's eye, surprised to find Sebastian frowning. "What's up?"

"I was just thinking about my connection to the veins." Sebastian rubbed his head absently. "It'll be totally gone, right? I mean, I know it felt like it was ripped away that night, but I don't trust anything I was feeling. There was too much pain and confusion."

James had assumed the connection was gone, though he supposed they didn't know for sure. "Do you want to check?"

"Kind of." Sebastian studied the stone. "I was still able to use the veins after making my sacrifice, but now that the veins are restored, that connection should be severed."

"I'd say you're right," Eli cut in. "The energy at the intersection looks normal now. I've been monitoring it. The veins are behaving how I'd expect now that the missing pieces have been returned. You'll no longer be part of the unit."

Sebastian closed his eyes. He concentrated for a long few minutes before he opened his eyes and smiled. "Yeah, it's gone," he said in relief. "Thank fuck for that. Now I can just be drawn to the magic here like everyone else and leave my link to Moonlight Falls there."

"As it should be." Eli patted Sebastian on the shoulder.

James eyed the rock beside them once more. "Hearing you talk about the stone makes me feel like a moth flying into a flame."

Sebastian laughed. "I'm going to think of that every time someone talks about being drawn to the magic here. Moonlight Falls, calling us home like moths to a flame. Aren't we all clever?"

James snorted, shoving Sebastian playfully in the shoulder. "So clever."

"Or you could think of it as fate. I mean, it is magic . Maybe we were all meant to be here." Eli shrugged, his cheeks going red. It was the closest James had ever heard Eli come to admitting he believed in the mystical side of the citizens' connection to Moonlight Falls.

"I like that." James slung one arm around Eli and the other around Sebastian. "We were all meant to be here, together."

"Agreed," said Sebastian, and Eli seemed pleased .

James gave them each a squeeze before releasing them, turning to Sebastian. "Should we go find Mila?"

"Actually, I want to talk to the museum curator first."

"Princeton?" Eli tucked his notebook away. "He should be back at the post office. He stopped by to talk to me earlier about getting all my research displayed. I said he might need more space, at least when I'm finished."

"You're interested in sharing your research?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah. He asked me before, and I was inclined to blow him off, but I feel like people here will really like it. And if everything I learn is as unique as I think, it'll be of interest to a lot of people outside Moonlight Falls too."

Sebastian seemed excited by the idea. "I agree, and I might have some more questions for you about displays later, but we'll leave you to it for now."

"Okay." Eli nodded happily before turning back to his notebook.

James followed Sebastian toward the post office. "What do you want with Princeton?"

"I want to see if he'd like a new museum. A couple rooms attached to the post office isn't much."

James stopped in his tracks. "You mean Storm House?"

Sebastian shrugged, a hint of shyness in the motion. "Yeah. It'd be good to do something with the house. Have people out there again. And if Princeton wants to do the town history, what better place to display it than the property where the vein intersection lies? He can put the details of the Storm curse on display, let people see the house, and fill the many rooms with interesting stuff like natural history or the story of the town's founding or whatever. Not to mention Eli's research."

"That's a wonderful idea." James glowed with pride for Sebastian. It was a perfect and rather healing end to Storm House. "Princeton is going to be beside himself."

"This means you'll have to finish rewiring Storm House, you know," Sebastian added in a conspiratorial tone. "Now that the power-draining issue has been solved, I can't expect a museum to function without electricity."

"Way to bring it back around, Sebastian." James looped an arm around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss on the cheek. "But I'm dragging Hazel out there with me this time, just to be safe."

"That's probably for the best. I hope she and Princeton like green."