Chapter 4

The gate was locked again.

James couldn't believe it. Barring the entrance made sense in light of Parker's claim that Sebastian wanted no contact with the rest of the town, but Sebastian had known James was coming back today, which made locking him out feel deliberate and unfriendly.

"It's not like I'm here trying to disturb his peace for no reason," James muttered to himself.

He got out of his truck and slammed the door. There was a persistent drizzle that afternoon, meaning the wall would be slippery. He should have left but couldn't stand the idea of Sebastian living out here with no one around, in a house without basic amenities.

James grabbed his toolbelt and buckled it before tossing his jacket back into the truck and pulling on an old hoodie. He wouldn't be able to carry all his tools over the wall. He'd have to drag Sebastian down here so he could get his truck inside.

As he climbed the wall, James thought of a few choice things to say to Sebastian about locking him out. Shouldn't the guy be desperate for someone to fix his stupid old house? There was no way James was putting up with this sort of nonsense for the duration of the job.

The same anxious feeling from the day before hit James the moment he was over the wall. Pissed off and on edge was never a great combo. Even the manicured lawns didn't brighten the atmosphere around the place. It was miserable, shrouded in mist, and James was sure he caught a flash of movement in the shadowy trees behind the house.

The porch steps creaked under his boots. He hadn't noticed that yesterday. There seemed to be something else different about the house too, but James couldn't put his finger on it.

Just as he was about to knock, the door opened.

"Oh, hello." Sebastian grinned at him, eyes going wide. He was wearing the same outfit as yesterday, though there was now a black shirt underneath the robe. His red hair looked significantly more tangled than before, like it hadn't been brushed.

"Yes, hello." James crossed his arms. "You locked me out again."

"Huh?" Sebastian peered past him, down the driveway. "Oh. Well, I wasn't expecting you here so early."

"It's the afternoon."

Sebastian rubbed his eyes. Had he been sleeping? "Sorry. Sorry. I swear I didn't do it on purpose." Sebastian didn't sound very sorry. He seemed too happy about the whole situation, and James wondered if he was lying. "Come inside. It's gross out here."

James entered the house, putting off getting his truck until he absolutely needed it. The front door closed with a thud. The entry was even dimmer than yesterday, and looking around, James figured Sebastian had all the candles for light rather than playing up the spooky aesthetics.

"Did you manage to find the electrical plans?" James asked.

Sebastian yawned. "Plans?"

James ran a hand through his hair. "The plans for the house. You said you might have them."

"Plans for the manor, right. I totally forgot we talked about that." Sebastian shrugged and made a cringy oops face. "We can go look for them now."

James wasn't sure how something like that had slipped Sebastian's mind. It was as if he wasn't that concerned about getting things fixed, which didn't make sense at all.

"Is that really what you want me doing? I charge hourly," James said as a not-so-subtle way of reminding Sebastian that paying him to help look for the plans wasn't the best use of anyone's money.

"Makes sense." Sebastian showed no concern. He turned away and began walking up the grand staircase. "Payment won't be a problem. Come help me."

James didn't have much choice but to follow. He wasn't thrilled about going farther into the darkened house, but he'd have to get to know it eventually.

As he climbed the steps, James noticed a row of books on the floor off to the right. They were on a step about halfway up the staircase and tucked to the side. Not exactly a tripping hazard, but a strange sight, given there was no other clutter. It looked like they'd been placed there deliberately, bookends and all. They were just as sloppily displayed as the ones on the entry table.

James glanced over his shoulder. The books that had been next to the oil lamps yesterday weren't there. Had Sebastian moved them to the stairs?

"You coming?" Sebastian called from the top landing.

James walked past the books, deciding not to ask about them. Any explanation Sebastian gave would probably annoy him.

The stairs ended at a carpeted landing. Green again. An unattractive choice in James's opinion. The landing surrounded the stairwell on all four sides, complete with a dark wooden railing to keep you from falling. If there hadn't been skylights above the stairs, it'd have been unmanageably dark. There were no other windows, only doors leading to the upstairs rooms. Opposite the stairs was an open arch that looked like it led to a sitting room, though from what James could see, all the drapes were shut.

Sebastian led James to the left, where the hall extended beyond the landing, leaving the minimal light behind. He'd never seen so many shadowy corners in his life. It didn't even look like there were light switches or fixtures along here. He would have to put some in.

James was led into what looked like an office. It smelled musty and was, of course, dark and unwelcoming. Sebastian went straight to the opposite end of the room and threw open the dark drapes, which helped a bit.

"So I'm thinking the desk is a good place to start." Sebastian sat behind it. "There's also lots of papers, folders, and shit over on that shelf." He pointed behind James.

"You really want me going through your personal stuff?"

"It's not my stuff." Sebastian yanked open a drawer without much care for what looked like a quality piece of vintage furniture. "This is all previous Storm junk."

"Still…" James hesitated. "It doesn't feel right to poke around."

Sebastian plopped a pile of papers on the desk. "Your polite intentions have been noted."

"As has your sarcasm." James didn't smile, but Sebastian huffed a laugh anyway. "There's nothing wrong with respecting people's privacy."

Sebastian leaned back in the desk chair, stretching his long legs. "I don't want my privacy respected, so let's just get that out of the way now. Okay?" He batted his lashes.

James turned away, directing his attention to a shelf housing piles of old flat files. "You're impossible."

"Thank you." Sebastian sounded genuinely pleased.

James pushed images of Sebastian's smile from his mind and opened an old folder that seemed ready to fall apart. It was full of letters. He quickly flicked through them without reading.

"This is useless. It's all correspondence with the lawyer," Sebastian complained after they'd been looking for about ten minutes. "Why did they insist on keeping everything? How could decades-old cash withdrawal receipts be important?"

"I'd say they were important at the time." James set aside more letters and picked up another folder.

"There's too much junk in this house."

"Why not clear it out now that it's yours?" James chanced a glance at Sebastian and found him scowling.

"It's not my job to clean up the previous generations' messes. Just because it was left here doesn't mean I'm obligated."

"Okay." James turned away. Not like he was going to argue. What did he care? All he wanted to do was get his job done.

James grabbed a few more folders and something clinked at the back of the shelf. He reached in without thinking and pulled out a glass jar full of small white—oh hell! With a gasp of surprise, he dropped the jar on instinct. It clunked on the thick carpet and thankfully didn't break.

Sebastian appeared at his side, so close their elbows brushed.

"Why the fuck do you have a jar of human teeth laying around?" James asked through tight lips. He wished he hadn't reacted like a squeamish kid, but he couldn't take it back now.

"They aren't my teeth," Sebastian said like this somehow made the situation less creepy, which it didn't. "Looks like some great-great—I think it's only two greats—Grandma Storm nonsense."

"She lived here?" James looked away from the teeth, focusing on Sebastian instead.

"Her sons built this place, and she lived here with them. Doubt they're her teeth. They look like baby ones, don't you think?"

"Sure." James poked the jar with his boot. It turned, revealing a faded label on the top bearing two names: S. Storm and N. Storm. "Why save them?"

"Grandma was into some intense magic, according to Sullivan's journals. Blood and bone, and all that." Sebastian pulled a handkerchief out of his robe pocket and threw it on top of the jar, leaving it on the floor.

Did he not want to touch it? The kind of magic Sebastian had mentioned wasn't anything to joke about or mess with. Dabbling in spells that linked people to magical forces through blood or bone was dangerous.

They stared at the covered jar. James wondered what Sebastian was thinking. He'd never considered the possibility that Storm House had such a haunted atmosphere because of a spell the family had cast or dark magic that had gone wrong. But if the Storm ancestors had saved teeth for spells, anything was possible.

Sebastian picked up the covered jar and placed it back on the shelf. He put the handkerchief back in his pocket, then reconsidered. "Maybe I should wash this off."

James wasn't sure what washing it would do, magically speaking, but he didn't argue. "Is that thing monogrammed?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Sebastian dropped the handkerchief on a side table. "Yeah. Blame Simon Storm for that, not me." He grabbed another folder from the shelf and thrust it into James's hands.

James barely glanced at it, a thought occurring to him. "Was the stationary you used to write to me his too?"

Sebastian shook his head, messy curls getting in his face. "I think my Uncle Stephen ordered the stationary."

There was an awkward pause.

James had an urge to fill the silence and keep Sebastian talking. He didn't seem to mind chatting, which James thought a reclusive person might. "You've all got S names?" He almost smiled at the idea. He'd always liked the name Sebastian.

Sebastian didn't seem pleased by James's question and turned away. "Everyone but my darling sister, Kira." He sounded bitter.

James wasn't sure why and wanted to be encouraging. "Family traditions like that are kind of cool."

Sebastian stiffened, pausing as he looked through the folders on the shelf. "No, they're not." He seemed to be getting upset about something. Maybe he didn't like talking to James after all.

"Sebastian is a much prettier name than Kira. Rolls off the tongue better." James spoke before thinking, only wanting to cheer Sebastian up. His insides fluttered, and he knew it would have been better to keep quiet.

Sebastian turned away from the shelf, a piece of paper falling out of the folder he was holding. "Did you just give me a compliment?"

James squirmed. Sebastian didn't have to make a big deal out of it. "Yeah, I like your name. So what? I compliment people."

"You've never complimented me." Sebastian put a hand to his chest.

James frowned, and for some reason, it took more effort than usual. "Well, when would I have? You keep locking me out of your property. It doesn't put me in the most complimentary mood."

Sebastian seemed to ignore this, the glint in his eye turning devious. "I like the way my name rolls off your tongue too, now that you mention it. I could get used to hearing you say it." He took a step closer.

"Okay." James cleared his throat. "Now that we've established we both like your name, can we find this map?"

"Map?" Sebastian was biting his damned lip again, no doubt holding back laughter.

"Not a map. The plans. You know what I mean." James refused to admit he was flustered and turned his attention to the papers he held. He didn't look up again.

They found the house plans a short time later in a folder with more letters from the Storms' lawyer, or at least their lawyer from eighty years ago.

"Looks like we only have the first floor." James rifled through the rest of the accompanying papers, but none were helpful.

Sebastian flopped onto the couch beside them. A plume of dust wafted up from the cushion. "That might be all there is."

"No problem. Better than nothing." James studied the plans. "I can go around disconnecting everything on the second floor by finding the switches and power points, but having this gives me a better idea of how much work there is. And it might be good for you to take a look and tell me where you want extra outlets put in."

Sebastian wrinkled his nose at the dust still fluffing around him, shooing it with his hands. "I hadn't thought of adding more than what's already here."

It didn't seem like Sebastian had thought of much in relation to this project.

"Homes this old weren't laid out to support all the electrical devices we use now. How about you have a think about what you'll need while I go under the house?"

Sebastian made a face. "Why do you want to go under the house?"

"I don't want to." James handed Sebastian the plans, which he took reluctantly. James pointed to several lines on one of the depictions. "Some of the wiring has been run under there, and it could be good to lay the new stuff down there too, to avoid winding through so many walls in such a big house."

"Right." Sebastian gave him an apprehensive look. "The thing is, I'm pretty sure there are shades in the crawl space. The manor is warded, but I don't think the spells extend past the floorboards. Underneath is technically outside."

Of course there were shades. Damn this place. "I've got my shade-light." James patted the special light on his belt.

Sebastian didn't look convinced.

"I'm not saying you have to come with me," James assured him.

Sebastian's lip curled. "I wasn't going to. Those shifty bastards are territorial."

That struck James as unusual. Shades were transient creatures. They moved between this world and Beyond and didn't stay in one place for long. Moonlight Falls had its fair share of shades, but they were only ever passing through.

"Do the shades give you trouble? You could extend your wards," James suggested.

Sebastian frowned. "Eh. I don't know if they can be extended. Unless you're offering to do the spellwork?"

James wasn't. Warding wasn't his specialty, and tackling magic like that, in a place where the energy was all wrong, was a daunting prospect. Extending a warding spell on a house this size would require a lot of energy, maybe more than one person could supply.

Now that James was thinking about it, he realized the anxious sensation he got on the property was absent inside the house. The wards here must be strong, even if they didn't cover the crawl space beneath the house.

That was a relief. James couldn't imagine Sebastian enduring the haunted atmosphere all the time. At least he was saved from some of Storm House's unpleasantness while inside its walls.