Page 38 of The Cursed Sebastian Storm

Sebastian was beginning to realize how slow the process of solving the imbalance would be. Even collecting data to get started would take a while, but no one else seemed too concerned, or if they were, they were hiding it well.

Eli and Parker helped Sebastian raid his pantry and pack up as much of the kitchen as possible. It was surprisingly easy to convince them to help harvest the ripe vegetables in the garden.

“I really need to pick the apples.” Sebastian gave the trees a guilty look.

“Want some help?” Eli stole a quick glance at Parker. “We could do it now.”

Sebastian tried to bite back his surprise. “You sure?”

Eli nodded eagerly. “This place is actually pretty cool. Other than the creepy house.”

Sebastian laughed. “Thanks. But I don’t think we have room in the car for the apples along with everything else.”

“I can drive your stuff to town and then come back,” Parker offered.

“Oh.” Sebastian squirmed. “You don’t have to.”

“I know.” Parker shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “But I don’t have anything pressing to do today, and I’d rather do this than help Eli type up his spreadsheets.”

“Hey.” Eli shoved Parker playfully on the shoulder. “You know you’re going to have to help. There’s thousands of data points already.”

“I know. But apples seem more fun. I think we deserve to enjoy ourselves before getting into the rest of the work.” He smiled adoringly at Eli before looking expectantly at Sebastian.

“Okay. You’ll need the key to my place.” He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. “Just dump everything in the living room.”

Parker grabbed the key. “Will do.”

Sebastian and Eli started picking the apples, and luckily, it didn’t rain. Time flew. Eli was easy to talk to, partly because he was extremely chatty and seemed happy to carry most of the conversation. He told Sebastian all about magical veins of power and the project he’d originally been doing when he’d moved up here at the start of fall.

It was cold and dreary, but Sebastian couldn’t complain. He was almost able to forget his problems. He’d never imagined spending time with people here, enjoying himself and making a new friend. It was happening anyway, and it made Sebastian think about how different being trapped at Storm House would have been if he’d had friends to visit him or people who hung around for more than a minute.

Maybe Sullivan and Simon didn’t think being trapped was such a big sacrifice because they weren’t alone, and that’s why they were—apparently—so accepting of being the protectors of Moonlight Falls. It could also be part of why they hadn’t tried to find a better solution to the imbalance.

Or maybe there had been no better solution back then, but like with the fuel cell, now there was some new magical advancement that could help them.

Sebastian hoped there was. As Eli talked, he intermittently mentioned going back to LA to finish his degree and graduate. It was almost like he’d forgotten that, at the moment, making a trip down south wasn’t possible. None of the curse’s three new prisoners had tried to leave Moonlight Falls since getting trapped. Parker’s and Hazel’s lives seemed to revolve around the town, and they must have been happy here. But Sebastian knew the day would come when the curse started to impede all their lives.

Hopefully they would have a solution before Eli needed to return to LA. However, Sebastian couldn’t help thinking that four and a half months didn’t feel like very long.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

That evening, James picked Sebastian up from the duplex to head over to Parker’s.

Sebastian had sent Parker home with a crate of apples as a thank-you for helping, but he didn’t want to show up empty-handed tonight. He grabbed two jars of jam and a bottle of wine he’d swiped from the Storm House cellar and placed them in one of his reusable bags.

That should be enough, right? James mentioned he was bringing a side dish, but no one had asked Sebastian to make anything. He was nervous, even though he was generally comfortable with James’s friends. So far, the only time he’d spent with them had to do with the curse. This was the first purely social thing he’d be joining the group for.

As he met James at his front door, Sebastian tried not to wonder how much Parker or the others really wanted him there.

James kissed Sebastian in greeting, his serious lips transforming into a gorgeous smile. “How was your day?”

“All right.” Sebastian stole another kiss. He’d have liked his day more if he’d spent the whole thing with James, but he wasn’t saying that aloud. He was resisting being clingy as best he could. “How was your swim?” He gave James a mischievous grin so James knew he was imagining him in a Speedo.

James shook his head in friendly exasperation. “It was good. I still think it’ll be boring for you to come and watch me. It’s not like when I used to do races.”

“Yeah, I didn’t care about the competition aspect so much.”

James snorted. “So you were just ogling me?”

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