Chapter 21

They had everything they needed for the ritual. A knife, a metal—not wooden—bowl, Selma's instructions, and a cow.

Sebastian had the smaller items gathered on the table in the entryway next to The Magical Tales, which he'd discarded there after James had figured them out.

A single lamp cast a flickering glow on the scene. It was late, close to midnight. Selma's instructions said the transfer spell needed to be performed on the land directly above the intersecting veins of power and should be done at night to lessen the chance of passersby coming across the magic.

James wasn't going to argue about the location if it impacted the spell's function, but he had issues with the timing. They shouldn't be out at night when the shades were at their strongest. They'd be busy enough doing the transfer and didn't need distractions or complications.

Sebastian disagreed, explaining the need to avoid anyone passing by Storm House and encountering the spell wasn't about secrecy but safety. It was best to do the spell when no one was likely to be driving down the remote, winding section of North Road, which cut close to the edge of the property where the veins intersected.

Sebastian pulled his robe tight around him. "I don't know if midnight is late enough. We need that dead time, closer to three in the morning. Just in case." The timing seemed to be stressing Sebastian out, but not in the shade-related way that had James concerned.

"If you say so." James was fine deferring to Sebastian on this since he'd been part of the ritual before. There was no need to add to the tension by arguing about the shades. Sebastian knew they could be a problem just as much as James did.

A light flashed across the entryway. In unison, they turned toward the front door, startled.

"What?" Sebastian muttered as he hurried to the window.

James followed, peering out into the darkness. "Someone's here," he said in disbelief as the car headlights illuminating the gate went out.

"Shit." Sebastian ran a hand through his hair. "See, they could have been driving by as we did the spell. What the hell is someone doing here this late?" He swung the front door open and marched across the porch like he was about to yell at the visitor to get off his lawn.

James grabbed the lamp and followed. A shade swooped in behind him. He turned and swung the light at it, and the thing backed off.

"Hello," Sebastian called into the dark.

Flashlights bobbed on the other side of the gate.

"It's just us," said Eli's familiar voice.

Sebastian unlocked the gate and yanked it open. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" He was furious, his words harsh and unforgiving.

"Thought we'd come by after work when we saw James wasn't home again," Parker replied from beside his boyfriend.

"Got your delivery," Eli added, pulling a box from his trunk and setting it inside the gate. "That way, I don't have to come back tomorrow." Parker retrieved a second box and set it by the first.

"But you never make deliveries this late," Sebastian protested, nearly shouting.

James didn't understand why he was so rattled. The last time Eli had come looking for him it had been late at night. It made sense when he was working the closing shift at the diner. Sebastian's agitation had to be due to the spell they were about to perform, but the instructions hadn't detailed any specific dangers to passersby who might detect the spell from the road, so James couldn't help wondering if Sebastian was overreacting.

"I just wanted to check my brother was still alive," Eli shot back, matching Sebastian's anger.

"I'm fine," James said, trying to interject some calm into the situation.

Sebastian all but cut him off, ignoring his words. "Don't come out here when you're not supposed to, Eli."

"Why?" Parker pointed his light directly in Sebastian's face. "What are you hiding?"

Sebastian flinched away from the glare but didn't say anything.

"I don't get what you're still doing out here," Eli said to James. "Why haven't you been home? You're screwing Hazel over, leaving her all the work at the shop. I thought you loved having Gray's reopened." When James didn't reply, Eli went on, anger rising. "I don't know how you can stand being out here. Driving this road, being in these trees, makes me think of nothing but Mom and Dad dying in this awful place."

With that punch to the gut, Eli climbed back into his car. Parker waited a second longer as if giving James time to respond. When he didn't, Parker turned toward the car.

"Stop coming here at night," Sebastian shouted as the doors slammed shut. The car drove off and was soon out of sight around the bend.

"Is it that big of a deal?" James grumbled, his mind stuck on the pain in Eli's voice. He'd thought Eli had been doing better with his grief and the hatred he harbored for Moonlight Falls.

"Yes, it is," Sebastian snapped. "I won't do the spell if someone could get caught in it."

"Why?" James stared at him, unable to read his expression in the dark. "Would they get trapped by the curse?" There was nothing in the instructions to indicate that, but he couldn't think of anything else that would freak Sebastian out so much.

"No, they wouldn't. You'd have to be on the property for the curse to tie you to the land." Sebastian closed and locked the gate. "Messing with the veins is dangerous, even to transfer the curse. My family might have been knocked on our asses that night, but a lot worse could happen." He picked up one of the boxes like that was the end of it.

James grabbed the other without replying. He hadn't realized the power surge came from the veins and not the spell itself. How did Sebastian know a lot worse could happen? Was it something his uncle had told him?

As they returned to the house, James wished he hadn't been so distracted by Sebastian's agitation and had tried harder to talk to Eli. He hated the wretched feeling the encounter had left him with, but hopefully, it wouldn't matter after tonight. He'd be able to get back to his life and make up for his behavior.

Back inside, he and Sebastian took their time putting the delivered items away before making coffee. Sebastian's nerves were rubbing off on James. He couldn't sit still, and all the tension in the room was giving him a headache.

"Three should be good," Sebastian said like he was reassuring himself. "If those two just checked on us, no one else should be coming out. And the loggers won't be on the road before five."

James didn't argue.

When the pendulum clock in the hall struck three, Sebastian stood from the table and wordlessly led the way out of the kitchen. He slipped the instructions into his pocket and picked up the lamp, leaving the rest of the supplies for James to carry.

They made their way outside. A shade floated over to investigate as soon as they closed the front door. Sebastian shooed it away with a flapping sleeve of his robe. The shade hissed but didn't get aggressive.

The grounds were quiet. Even the rustle of branches in the wind and the sound of nightlife seemed absent. Sebastian roused Miss Moo in the barn and tied a rope to the bell slung around her neck, gently coaxing her outside. The cow followed along happily until they reached the edge of the forest. She planted her hoofs and wouldn't move a step farther.

"She knows there are shades in here," Sebastian explained. "But she shouldn't care. The bell on her neck is warded. Come on." He tugged on the rope.

James took a few steps down the path into the trees. "Should we care?"

"We don't have a choice." With one more tug, Sebastian got the cow moving.

The path wound through the trees. James couldn't see much beyond the illumination of the oil lamp. They didn't come across any shades, but James had a feeling they were lurking just out of sight. Watching.

They stopped in a dirt clearing. Redwood forests didn't have a lot of undergrowth, but in this spot, you could tell the lack of vegetation was unnatural. The earth had been turned over in the center like someone had been digging it up.

Sebastian guided the cow to stand on the disturbed earth. "We'll link our power like we've done before, then I'll follow the ritual and transfer your curse to Miss Moo."

Earlier, they'd discussed the fact that they couldn't transfer the curse from both of them to the cow. Energy theory didn't support that working. It was a life for a life, even though the curse usually only trapped one person at a time.

"You sure you want to free me?" James reached out and cupped Sebastian's elbow. "You've been here longer."

He shook his head. "This is my family's mess. I'm not leaving you here alone. This way, you can help me find a way to escape after you get out. Like I was originally hoping you would. Besides, we can just get a second cow and do this all over again. I won't have to wait long." He gave James a thin smile.

James nodded in acknowledgment. It was the best plan they had.

They shrugged off their shirts. This time, Sebastian picked up the knife. As he performed the linking spell, mixing their blood above their hearts, the sensation was nothing like it'd been in the ballroom. The absence of charged sexual desire left room for something else. The link between their magics hit James like a wave of warmth, the sensation of fear completely absent this time.

James grabbed hold of Sebastian, fingers digging into his waist. He trusted Sebastian to use his power well, not to drain him or overdo it. He was starting to trust Sebastian with a lot more than that, with more fragile things—like his heart. That had to be why the magical connection felt like baring a piece of his soul.

Sebastian leaned down and brushed a kiss against James's lips. "Let's get you out of here," he whispered.

How could James not trust a man willing to save him at his own expense? Sebastian cared about him.

James wanted to say he'd never leave Sebastian, but he didn't mean in relation to the house. He meant personally, as a partner. Not that they were even partners. It was a ridiculous thing to think, so he kept quiet, only nodding.

Hopefully, soon he'd get the chance to see what he and Sebastian could be together.

Sebastian gently took James's hand and cut his forearm. He recited Selma's spell, the words blurring into a haze of sound around James, making him lightheaded even though Sebastian wasn't taking much blood. James had to concentrate hard on not dropping the bowl he was holding as magic pulsed through him. That had to be good. It had to mean it was working.

Next, it was Miss Moo's turn. Sebastian used magic to numb a small area on her shoulder to keep her from feeling the cut and bolting. The cow's blood mixed with James's in the bowl. He could feel his magic being expended through the link he shared with Sebastian in a steady pull, and when Sebastian got to the last stage of the spell, James's heart rate sped up.

Sebastian painted symbols on the cow's face and bled her again so she would accept the magic of the curse. When the incantation was finished, both James and Sebastian stood frozen, waiting.

There was no surge of power. Miss Moo seemed bored and tried to pull away, back toward the direction of the barn.

"Did it work?" James whispered.

Sebastian looked between him and the cow. "I don't know."

James's heart sank. Something wasn't right. The magic that had been running through him was gone, leaving him with the sense of hanging in between. But before he could relay this to Sebastian, the ground shuddered beneath his feet.