Page 55 of The Cursed Sebastian Storm

“You’re right.” Sebastian straightened. “I know. It’s like I’m still waiting for everything to fall apart. I can’t help it.”

“Even if things fall apart, it will be okay. We’ll figure it out together.” James held Sebastian’s gaze until he nodded in agreement. “Go see Mila. She’s missed you and will be happy to see you. There are a lot of people who care about you, Sebastian, and we’re all on your side. It’s all of us against the curse and anything else that dares to get in our way, and I’ll keep reminding you of that for as long as I have to.”

Because Sebastian was James’s to look after and protect, even from himself. The unsaid words burned between them. Sebastian pressed on the bite marks covered by his shirt collar. James watched, the gleam in his eyes saying mine as clearly as if he’d spoken the word.

They were in this together. No matter what.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The library was quiet. Not surprising given there didn’t seem to be many people around the center of town.

Mila wasn’t at the front desk. Rather than ring the bell, Sebastian opted to go looking for her. The shelves of neatly organized books made him smile. He hadn’t enjoyed his time in Moonlight Falls when he was a kid, but a lot of his better memories had happened here. He’d participated in all the summer programs the library offered kids, and the ones he was too old for, he’d joined in as a helper to the volunteer running it.

Maybe that’s what he would do with his time when it wasn’t so taken up with magical crises. He could volunteer at the library.

Sebastian found Mila in the downstairs nonfiction section at a table with a stack of books. “Hi.”

She glanced up, peering over the top of her glasses. “Sebastian!”

He was enveloped in a hug a half-second later, unsure how the woman had moved so fast.

“It’s so good to see you in town again.” She pulled back to scrutinize him, her glasses now hanging around her neck from a beaded chain.

He fidgeted. “I rented one of the duplexes in town, so you should see me more now.”

Mila beamed. “That’s wonderful.” She clasped his hands like he might slip away if she wasn’t holding on, her skin soft against his. “How are you, dear? Really.”

Mila had always been someone Sebastian could confide in. He’d cried on her shoulder the first summer he was left in Moonlight Falls while his mother and sister returned to Phoenix. Things had improved after he’d become closer to his uncle and the man hadn’t seemed so intimidating, but no amount of puzzles, building tree forts at Storm House, or time spent doing crafts in the library had cured his childhood loneliness.

At least in high school, once his mother had abandoned him for good, he’d been able to let go to an extent. He’d stopped hoping things would get better between them and had just been angry at her, and throughout all of it, Mila had been there. He’d needed someone outside the family, and when he hadn’t had friends, he’d had her.

Sebastian met Mila’s eyes. She had to be about sixty now. Time had lined her face and lightened her dark-brown hair while Sebastian had been trapped at Storm House.

He didn’t want to lie to Mila. He wished he could tell her the whole truth, everything about the house and the curse. But he couldn’t without trapping her, so he focused on the personal side of how he was doing, facts that would make sense with the story of him being a recluse. “I’m okay sometimes and less so the rest of the time. Life’s gotten kind of overwhelming. I think I have anxiety now.”

Mila nodded in understanding. “There’s a lot you can do to manage that. If you need help finding resources, I’m always here.”

“Thanks.” Sebastian gave her a small smile. “I’m getting there.”

“Just don’t disappear again, Sebastian.” Mila looked down at their hands. “I should have come out to the house to see you. But after Stephen died, I have to admit I was angry, and by the time I’d let go of that, I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me.”

Sebastian fought back a wince. “I’m sorry I didn’t write to you.” He’d known Mila would have wanted to hear about Stephen’s passing and probably would have come to the funeral on the property, but Sebastian had been consumed by the curse, panicking and raging at his dead uncle. He hadn’t been in a fit state, not even sparing a thought for Mila at the time. “I don’t have a good reason for shutting you out. I wasn’t in a good place, and I’m sorry I let that get in the way.”

“I figured as much. I’m sorry I didn’t reach out.” She squeezed once more before releasing him. “Now that we’ve got the apologies out of the way, why don’t we leave the past where it belongs?” She waited for him to nod, the tension between them lifting. She smiled. “So, has James fixed your electricity?”

Mila was one of the few who remembered that Storm House didn’t have power. That particular quirk had been passed off as a choice during Sullivan’s and Simon’s generations to keep people from prying into the situation. Once Simon’s wife passed away and visitors stopped coming to the house, things like the lack of electricity were forgotten by the general population of Moonlight Falls as Simon’s generation passed on and not many people left in town had actually visited the property.

“We gave up on the rewiring,” Sebastian admitted. This time he wished he could tell Mila what was going on at Storm House, not for his sake but hers. He suspected it would give her much-needed closure on what had happened between her and Stephen. Sebastian had always gotten the impression that Stephen and Mila loved each other, but Stephen hadn’t wanted to pull her into the family’s mess.

“Ah well.” Mila raised her eyes to the ceiling. “Good riddance to that old house. I’m glad you’ve found somewhere else to live.”

Sebastian huffed. “Me too.”

Mila leaned in close like she was about to tell him a secret. “You and James are together, right?”

Sebastian’s cheeks heated. “How did you know?”

Mila shook her head in exasperation. “Dear, you’re walking around town in his jacket. Before you turned up wearing it at town hall the other night, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him without it. I’d recognize it anywhere. It’s like that man’s second skin.”

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