Page 19 of The Cursed Sebastian Storm

“We’ll fix this,” Sebastian promised, the horrible feeling inside him growing exponentially.

Eli grimaced like he wasn’t confident in that. Sebastian couldn’t blame him. He’d been screwing this up from the start, and now his curse had spread to more people. Yes, being trapped in Moonlight Falls was nowhere near as bad as being trapped at Storm House, but they were still prisoners, even if the cage was larger.

How had Sebastian messed up this badly? No wonder no one chose to keep him in their lives. He was a disaster. Everyone was better off without him. That much was clear. It was one thing wondering if James would want him forever when he thought they were free, now there was no hope. James wouldn’t want someone who was not only the source of his past trauma but all his present problems.

Sebastian was a liability, a curse that spread to everything he touched.

“I just don’t get it,” he pleaded to no one in particular.

James shrugged. Was he annoyed? Of course he was. Sebastian was lucky James wasn’t furious and yelling like he had been when he realized he couldn’t leave Storm House.

Eli seemed deep in thought, chewing on his bottom lip. After a moment, he turned to Sebastian. “What if the transfer spell was never able to release you? What if it can only spread the curse to someone new, as it’s intended to do in case the Storm bloodline dies out, and it can’t release the current holder of the curse.”

Sebastian frowned. “But what about Kira? They transferred it to me, freeing her.”

“She was never trapped,” Eli said, like Sebastian had just proven his point. “The curse never had her. She was just next in line. It would make sense for the transfer in that scenario to be complete, but not in yours or James’s case.”

“Then how do we fix it?” Panic gripped Sebastian’s chest. This was his responsibility to solve, but he desperately wanted someone to come in and rescue him.

Instead of telling Sebastian there was no we and he should clean up his own damn mess, Eli considered the question seriously. “Maybe the only way to escape, now that we’ve all been caught, is to correct the power imbalance. The curse’s purpose is to feed the imbalance. If the imbalance no longer exists, the curse can’t tie us to anything. Because we’re tied to the veins, not the Storm property. Surely, that’s what the expanded barrier means. You must have been tied more tightly to the intersection before now, and the fuel cell loosened the leash, so to speak.”

“Okay.” James nodded encouragingly as if this was somehow good news. “Do you know anything about imbalances in veins of power?”

Eli scrunched his nose. “No,” he admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t figure it out. I need to take a look at what we’re dealing with. See exactly what’s happening at the vein intersection. Then, I can use my remote access to the university library to research the problem. I can look up practically any study published on this sort of thing through our online archive. Even if the secret-binding prevents me from asking anyone for advice, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out.”

“Damn, we are lucky to have you, Eli.” James clapped his brother on the shoulder, shining with pride.

Eli went pink. “Library access isn’t that impressive.”

“It’s not just that. You’re smart,” James insisted. Eli seemed pleased with the praise and didn’t argue further. James turned his attention back toward town. “Should we head out to Storm House before meeting the mayor? I don’t get why linking the fuel cell to the curse expanded the area we’re trapped in. We need to figure out how that happened.”

“No,” Sebastian blurted out in alarm. “We can’t look at the veins now.”

Eli and James stared at him.

He swallowed audibly, trying to calm down. “I mean, we need to stop and think. Make sure we aren’t going to do anything to make this worse. If there’s one thing we know, it’s that we have no fucking clue how this curse works.”

“Isn’t this us stopping and thinking?” James asked.

“What?” Sebastian’s insides twisted. “No. We need to make sure it’s not dangerous poking around the veins.”

James didn’t look concerned. “Dangerous, how? As long as we aren’t messing around at night when the shades are there to get riled up, I don’t think we have to worry.”

James thought hordes of shades were the worst-case scenario. Sebastian needed to tell him the truth. James and Eli deserved to know, but he couldn’t find the words.

He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t see why we have to rush out there now. What if we get caught up investigating and miss the meeting? Besides, we have to warn Parker and Hazel that they’re trapped. We can’t risk anyone else trying to drive through the barrier.”

James scowled. “True. We should tell the others before we do anything else.”

Sebastian was overcome with relief.

“All right,” Eli agreed reluctantly. “Let’s call a tow truck, and I’ll drive you two back to town.”

James made the call while Eli retreated to his car to sit and look at his phone as they waited. A car drove past, only to pull over and ask if they were okay. James assured the driver that they were fine, and they continued on, heading to Apple Valley to pick up their teenager from the high school. Watching the car disappear proved the barrier wasn’t something that affected everyone, not that any of them had expected it to.

James put his arm around Sebastian. “You don’t have to come to Storm House with us.”

Sebastian cringed. James seemed to think his hesitation about looking at the veins was anxiety-based and was trying to protect him. Sebastian wondered if his guilt would eat him alive until there was nothing left. “I know I don’t have to come, but I want to be there.” He had to be there. He couldn’t let everyone else deal with this while he hid. The fact that they were still willing to help was already more than he deserved.

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