Page 70 of The Cursed Sebastian Storm

“You are the leaders. Communicate to the rest that they must leave.” The imposing shade didn’t move but seemed to loom larger. Its words filled the space and made Sebastian’s ears ache. It was humanoid, like the shade Sebastian had seen in the distance at the town center by the stone. Could it be using magic to communicate? Was it the one that had created the darkness?

“Moonlight Falls will not be forfeited to Beyond,” Eleanor said resolutely. She was bolder than Sebastian. He’d never challenge a being like this. It radiated power. You could feel its tie to another world in a way you couldn’t with regular shades.

“It will be,” the shade said, making Sebastian’s head tingle. “My magic is stronger. It has already broken yours.”

Eleanor said the words for fire, sending sparks at the shade, only for the sparks to be engulfed in shadow and extinguished before they could ignite.

“We need more fire.” James stepped up next to Eleanor. “Together.”

They all—except Eli and Parker, who was slumped against the wall—sent sparks flying. The shade drifted slowly away from them as if it wasn’t concerned about their attack. The sparks fell uselessly into the darkness and disappeared. Soon, they couldn’t see the shade in the opaque blackness shrouding the front yard.

Hazel swore.

“We’ve got other problems.” James grabbed Sebastian’s hand and pointed toward the floor. Black tendrils exactly like the ones at Parker’s house were creeping off the porch and across the empty space of the open doorway, inching along the invisible wards keeping everything from Beyond outside.

“It’s trying to break in like it did at my house,” Parker said softly from behind them.

Eleanor shut the door. Even though it didn’t do more than block the view of the intrusive shadow and horrible void of darkness beyond, it allowed Sebastian to relax a fraction. “You need something to eat before we do anything else.” Eleanor patted Parker on the shoulder, then walked past him down the hall.

Everyone followed her into Nora’s kitchen. Eli didn’t hesitate to raid the pantry, shoving anything edible in front of Parker, who’d collapsed into a seat at the dining table.

“What are we going to do?” Eli’s words came out high-pitched. He didn’t stop moving as he frantically piled bags of chips on the table.

Eleanor crossed her arms. “You all should leave. I’ll call the state and demand assistance. They can’t let Beyond claim our town. Surely, the federal government would object to an invasion.” Eleanor shook her head like she couldn’t quite believe the turn things had taken. She rubbed her temple. “The military must have some classified way of fighting otherworldly magic, even if general magical assistance doesn’t know what the hell to do about it.”

Hazel rested a hand on Eleanor’s shoulder. “We aren’t leaving you here.”

“I’m leaving too. Holy hell, Hazel. I just need to make sure everyone in town hears the evacuation notice first. There’s no need to wait for me. It looks like you five have been through much worse than me.”

“We aren’t leaving,” James said at his most stern, leather-clad arms crossed. “Let’s not waste any more time arguing about it.”

Eleanor looked like she wanted to argue, her mouth set in a stern line.

“Eleanor, please.” Parker swiped a hand over his face. “None of us are abandoning this town. We can help.”

Eleanor gave him a resigned look. “Fine. I can’t tell you what to do.” Though it sounded like she wished she could.

But they couldn’t leave, and James was right. There was no point arguing with Eleanor about it. They couldn’t tell her why without trapping her.

“They’re using the veins to create the darkness somehow,” Eli said as he passed a sandwich he’d quickly made to Parker. He went on to explain to Eleanor what he’d learned at the boundary.

“Could that be how that—that thing got here?” Eleanor pointed back toward the front of the house, her composure cracking for a second. “From the point where the vein disappears into Beyond.”

“No,” Eli said like this was obvious, but from the looks on everyone’s faces he was the only one who thought so. “Shades need the magical space created by shifting veins to pass between worlds. The end of a vein isn’t a gateway for anything but raw energy.”

“Right.” Eleanor scowled. “I need to pass all this on because I am not even remotely equipped to handle this.” She marched out of the room, and Hazel followed.

“We can’t stay here long,” James warned.

Parker nodded, swallowing the last of his sandwich. “If that shadow breaks the wards here like it did at my house, I won’t be able to repair them easily. I don’t know how the protections on this building were constructed. It will take too much time and effort for me to work it out and fix them, and wiping out what’s here for new wards will be even harder.”

“Yeah, and you need to rest. Not do any of that.” Eli handed him a banana.

“You’re taking great care of me, gorgeous. I’ll be fine.” Parker smiled at Eli, but he seemed exhausted. His arms were smeared with dried blood from the shattered windshield, and his T-shirt had holes burned into it. He needed more than food and first aid to recover. Eli was right. Parker needed rest.

James paced back and forth across the small kitchen. “We have to find somewhere that giant shade-thing isn’t likely to find us and hide.”

Parker rubbed his brow, adding, “Somewhere I know the wards would be ideal, so I can fix them if necessary.”

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