Chapter 8

James finished disconnecting the wires on the first floor and moved to the second. There was no power in the hallway or landing, so he started with the sitting room he'd seen from the stairs.

James circled the room. There were no switches, no light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, and no outlets. "Did they not run power to this room?"

Sebastian shrugged. "It's only on the first floor."

James ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Why not tell me that before now?"

Sebastian didn't say anything. He didn't even shrug or dismiss the question, just ignored it.

"Why wouldn't they install power up here?" James pressed, trying to get a reaction.

Sebastian continued to stare. It was freaking James out.

"I just want you to fix it," Sebastian said after a while, his voice quiet. It didn't sound teasing or annoyed. It was like he was upset. But about what?

"Yeah, all right." James rubbed his eyes. "That's the plan, and it hasn't changed." He would take care of Sebastian, even if he didn't understand anything about the man's actions.

James went back downstairs, trailed by his silent host. He wished they hadn't lost the banter from that morning and didn't know how to get it back. Sebastian's playful happiness was nowhere in sight. James reminded himself that he wasn't here to figure Sebastian out, but the strange turn had James worried.

Since he couldn't do anything about Sebastian, James decided to install the new circuit breaker panel. He selected a new location, in the mudroom off the kitchen rather than outside. He'd have to cut a hole in the wall, so he measured, marking things out in pencil.

Sebastian watched from the doorway, arms crossed.

James ignored him for now. He grabbed his reciprocating saw and flicked it on. Nothing happened. This time, James's annoyance was tinged with unease. He looked back at Sebastian, who only stared, unmoving.

The saw shouldn't be dead. James knew it had been fully charged when he'd left the shop that morning. He disconnected the battery pack and tossed it in his toolbox, then grabbed the one off his drill. All his tools were the same model and had interchangeable batteries, but this one was dead too. Just to be sure the saw itself wasn't the problem, James hooked the battery pack onto the drill. It wouldn't turn on either.

James put the tools down and faced Sebastian. "Why does nothing work?"

Sebastian didn't answer the question. Instead, he fixed his gaze on James with fierce concentration, like he was trying to see inside him.

"Why are all my batteries drained?" James couldn't keep the strain from his voice.

Sebastian made an annoyed sound. He closed his eyes momentarily.

James gave in to frustration. "Can you not speak all of the sudden?"

"I can speak," Sebastian snapped, his eyes almost bugging out of his head when they flew open.

"So what aren't you saying? What the fuck is up with all my tools? My phone?"

"I hired you," Sebastian said slowly, almost like it pained him. "To fix things for me."

"And I'm trying to." James took a breath. "But it doesn't seem like you've told me the extent of the problem."

Sebastian's eyes flashed. His scowl turned into a grin. It was manic and really not helping James feel good about the situation.

James began to gather his things, leaving the bits for the circuit board where they were. "I'm going to go back to town, get some battery packs with full charges, refill the generator, and be back."

"Sure." Sebastian didn't seem to care. All of his intensity was gone.

James stalked to his truck and put his things in the back. He got in the cab and pushed the ignition button on the dash. Maybe he should have seen it coming, but he couldn't quite believe it when the truck didn't start.

He pushed the button again, irate at what the day had become.

James got out of his truck and slammed the door. Sebastian watched from the porch steps, looking almost eager. James popped the hood of his truck and scoped out the battery with his magic. He should have detected a near-full charge, tons of magical energy stored inside. Instead, it was completely drained.

Everything was dead, but how could that be? James checked every device he had, every shade-light. Nothing would turn on. What the hell was going on today?

He thought back to his previous visits. He hadn't actually used more than a screwdriver before, and his truck had been outside the gated property. James couldn't remember checking his phone on the property before today, other than when he'd gone to use the calculator app and the phone had been dead.

He turned to find Sebastian watching him like James was down to the last second of an important race, anticipation etched into Sebastian's fine features as he waited to see how it would end.

James narrowed his eyes. "You knew this would happen."

Sebastian didn't respond to James's tight words.

"Something is draining all the power out of everything. That's why you don't have a generator." James scowled as it all fell into place. "It's this fucking house. This property. It's sucking everything dry."

Sebastian let out a loud whoop and his hands shot into the air like his team had just won. He jumped off the steps, hopping around like this moment was everything.

James's mouth fell open in shock.

Sebastian began to laugh hysterically, and it freaked James the fuck out. He didn't think Sebastian was completely well and probably shouldn't be out here all alone. Isolation wasn't healthy. Sebastian needed help, something, someone other than James to address whatever was going on.

Unless he was wrong and Sebastian was fucking around playing games with him for his own amusement—in which case, screw this—but it really did seem like Sebastian's behavior was something he couldn't help. In that case, it would be better for James to be kind right now than to bite the man's head off for luring him here and lying about what was going on. At least until James knew if there was anything malicious behind Sebastian's actions.

"Sebastian." James took a step toward where Sebastian was doubled over laughing.

"Fuck." Sebastian sucked in a lungful of air and straightened, sweeping his long curls back from his face. "Want some lunch?"

"I—" James felt hopelessly lost. Were they not going to discuss any of this? "I should probably get my trucked towed back to town."

"Oh." Sebastian giggled. "And how are you going to do that? How are you going to call a tow truck? Via bat signal? Telepathy?" He dissolved into wheezing laughter.

"Fuck." James growled and kicked his truck's tire in a dramatic display he wasn't proud of. Sebastian was right. There was no way to contact anybody, let alone a tow truck that would have to come all the way from Apple Valley. "You knew my truck would die. You let me get trapped in this damn place on purpose."

Sebastian's laughter died. "You're not trapped."

"No? How am I going to get home then? I can't walk. That road is dangerous. There's no shoulder, and we're way too far from town." James's heart skipped at the thought of walking along North Road and potentially getting hit by a logging truck or someone driving too fast.

"I know it's dangerous," Sebastian said more softly, all traces of laughter gone. It made James wonder if Sebastian knew his parents had died on that damn road. He must because he was looking all pitying now.

"Why didn't you tell me this was happening?" James pleaded.

Sebastian's posture sagged, seeming suddenly tired. "I kept the gate locked, didn't I? You wanted it open today. Stop getting mad at me for doing what you asked."

"But you hired me to rewire a house when that's not even the most pressing problem. What is this place? Some sort of dead zone as well as haunted? Why not tell me everything here gets drained? Would the new lights and things I installed have worked, or would Storm House just suck the power right out of the grid?"

"I hired you to fix a problem," Sebastian corrected, ignoring everything else. "I never said anything about wiring when I contacted you." As if this were a completely reasonable justification, Sebastian turned and walked back into the house, leaving James behind.