Page 71 of The Cursed Sebastian Storm

Sebastian couldn’t help thinking that didn’t leave many options. Maybe Parker’s house, Parker’s parents’ place, or the diner. Sebastian absently chewed his nails. He pulled a finger out of his mouth. “It’s going to hunt us down, isn’t it? No matter where we go. I mean, the shades are targeting us, right? It knew your name, Parker. You aren’t even a leader of the town. Not like Eleanor is. How does it know anything about us? Has it been watching us?”

“It can’t be a coincidence that my house was attacked when no one else’s was.” Parker let out a grim breath. “It must be able to tell I have some of the most powerful magic in Moonlight Falls, and that’s why it assumed I was a leader.”

Sebastian thought about all the shades on his property. Could this have anything to do with him? Why were there so many shades hanging around his house? Was their group being targeted because of something to do with Storm House, not just because of Parker’s power or Eleanor’s leadership? Did it have to do with the veins?

“We need a new vehicle if we’re going to get anywhere.” James grabbed a set of keys off a hook by the fridge. “I hope Nora had more than one car, and this one is still here.”

“I have my car.” Eleanor reentered the kitchen. “Though we won’t all fit.”

“Any luck?” Sebastian gestured to the cell phone in her hand.

“We’ll see. My message is being passed on. I don’t exactly have the governor or any military officials on speed dial.”

Hazel stuck her head into the kitchen. “There’s a minivan in the garage.”

Eli began stuffing his pockets with granola bars. “But where are we going?”

“I should try and get to my office.” Eleanor led the way down the hall, and everyone followed. “I can use my work computer to send an emergency alert text to everyone in the area. Then we really should get out of here.”

Sebastian and James shared a look. There was no getting out of here. Sebastian didn’t particularly want to stick around and see how the government handled an invasion from Beyond, but military rescue was better than being left behind completely.

They climbed into the minivan, with Hazel driving. Sebastian leaned close to James, who reflexively wrapped an arm around him. “Mila said it was hard for more complex beings, like intelligent shades, to pass through into this world. How do you think that thing got here?”

“I have no idea.” James sagged against him like he was letting himself feel an exhaustion he’d been fending off. “Who knows how long it’s been here. This could have been brewing for months.”

“Yeah,” Eli agreed from the back seat. “The shade that attacked me was different. And that was close to two months ago.”

This invasion could have easily been brewing since then or even earlier. Over the last few months, the number of shades at Storm House had increased, but Sebastian hadn’t thought much of it until recently when the numbers had skyrocketed. But looking back, it made sense if this thing had started slowly, and once the darkness set in, Beyond made its move on Moonlight Falls, and all the shades came pouring in.

Hazel opened the garage door with a remote she found tucked into the sun visor. The door rolled upward, revealing black tendrils of shadow covering the doorway like a second wall. Sebastian watched one near the roof poke through into the garage. It was breaking in.

The van’s high beams flooded the area, but the shadow didn’t retreat.

Hazel looked around at everyone. “Think it’s a bad idea to drive through it?”

“Floor it, babe.” Eleanor rested her hand on the back of Hazel’s neck. “We’ll fight off anything that sticks to the van if we need to.”

“You heard her.” Hazel gave them all a devilish grin through the rearview mirror. “Buckle the fuck up.”

“Oh god,” Eli whined.

Tires screeched as Hazel sped out of the garage. The shadow stretched like rubber, tendrils groping the sides of the van, then burst, allowing them through as it sprang back and continued to attack the house.

The pit of darkness had disappeared from the front lawn, so at least they could see. Hazel braked in time to turn onto the street and not roll the van. She took off in the direction of town faster than you should normally drive in a neighborhood, but not so recklessly that Sebastian worried they’d die in an accident rather than a shade attack.

As they drove, shades appeared out of the darkness like they’d been waiting for them. They followed the vehicle, keeping pace and peering in the windows. None of the beasts attacked or tried to block the windshield as they had before. It was almost like they were escorting the van so they would know where it was going.

James took hold of Sebastian’s hand. “We’re never going to be able to hide.”

He was right. With so many shades around unaffected by artificial light, there was no way to shoo all the beasts away without draining themselves. They’d never escape every single pair of onyx eyes watching them. And if the shades were watching and reporting back to the large shadow being, they were doomed.

Several other cars passed them on the road, going in the other direction, but the shades paid no attention to anyone else. Their vehicle was the only one with an otherworldly tail. When Hazel pulled in front of town hall, the shades did nothing more than hover in the street, watching the minivan from a distance.

Eleanor placed her hand on the door handle. “We should go inside.”

There was an alarming number of shades gathered at the center of town. Sebastian had never seen such a big crowd around the stone. There probably hadn’t even been that many humans there during the town’s popular summer festival. As Sebastian watched out the window, even more shades drifted into the circle.

Eleanor opened her door and marched across the sidewalk and up the steps of town hall like there wasn’t a huge swarm of shades a hundred feet away.

---