Page 18 of The Cursed Sebastian Storm

“But—” Sebastian couldn’t move. That didn’t make any sense.

James stuck out his hands and inched forward. Just a few steps past the smashed front end of the truck, he hit an invisible barrier.

James surged forward, feeling the solid air. He followed the invisible barrier, running his hands over it. They were standing in the road at the edge of town, not too far past the last houses. The invisible wall spanned the road in both directions and continued off the shoulder and into the trees beyond.

Before James was out of sight, he turned back. Sebastian hadn’t moved from next to the truck.

“What the fuck?” James gestured at the invisible wall in disbelief.

“I don’t know,” Sebastian whined. He kicked the barrier, and pain shot through his foot.

This. Wasn’t. Happening. Had the universe heard his hope for things to go well and laughed in his face? He kicked the barrier again.

“Careful. Kicking it is only going to hurt you.” James grabbed Sebastian’s hand and pulled him off the road, leading him away from the barrier. They stopped in a patch of grass and looked at each other. James swallowed. “What if we didn’t actually escape the curse?”

Sebastian shook his head. That wasn’t a reality he was willing to accept. “But we did.”

“Then where did this barrier come from?” James gestured at the wreck in the street. “It would explain why breaking the secret-binding isn’t working. The curse still has us, but the area it’s trapping us in has grown. That’s why it’s been able to rebind our tongues.” He stopped talking abruptly, face paling.

“Meaning we’ve trapped Eli, Parker, and Hazel by letting them break the binding and telling them the secret,” Sebastian finished, his stomach dropping.

There went his hope for Moonlight Falls being where he found his people. They were all going to hate him.

“Shit.” James ran his hand through his hair again. “Maybe we’re wrong,” he added desperately. “Why would the area expand? And the secret-binding is definitely weakened. That must mean something. Maybe the others aren’t trapped.”

Sebastian hoped not, but things never went his way. This was only proof he couldn’t have anything good in his life without it turning to shit.

He pushed his self-pity to the side. It wasn’t helping. “We need to find out if the others are trapped. It might help us figure out what the fuck’s going on.”

James pulled out his phone and called Eli. “Have you left Moonlight Falls today?” After waiting for a reply, he shook his head, indicating Eli had stayed in town. “No, never mind. It’s just— Can you meet us at the south end of Willow Road? Right before the highway.” A pause. “No, now. Um. Don’t worry. I’m okay, but I crashed my truck.”

James winced at Eli’s reaction. After James assured Eli that he and Sebastian didn’t need an ambulance or even a first-aid kit, he hung up, eyes traveling to Sebastian’s. Their shared gaze was one of mutual hopelessness.

They waited in silence for Eli to arrive.

Sebastian mentally ran through the transfer spell they’d performed. The fuel cell was definitely feeding the imbalance on his property. His magical ability returning to normal proved that. He’d never have been able to summon fire while the curse was allowing the veins to feed on him. But standing next to a new barrier, there was no doubt they hadn’t been released from the curse like they’d thought.

Eli’s compact car pulled up behind James’s truck with its hazards on. He jumped out, wearing a frantic expression. “Are you guys all right?” He rushed over.

After assuring Eli they were uninjured, minus some bruising that was bound to appear where the seatbelts had caught them, they explained what happened.

Eli’s eyes got wider and wider until it looked like they were about to pop out of his head. “So if you’re still trapped, am I?”

Sebastian tried to be hopeful but couldn’t manage it. That flicker of light had died. “We don’t know.”

James showed Eli where the barrier went off the side of the road and into the trees. Eli came forward and pressed his hand to it. He pushed against it but was unable to get through.

“Fuck.” James looked at Sebastian in horror.

“And you think this barrier goes all the way around town?” Eli asked, much more calmly than Sebastian would have expected, almost like he couldn’t help being fascinated.

“I have no idea where it goes. I guess we can check, though we’ll have to be careful if we’re driving.” Sebastian gave the barrier another kick. “It will probably encircle us in some fashion. I doubt it’s just a wall stopping us from going south that we could get around if we found the end.”

They all gazed into the trees off to the west.

“We have to talk to Parker and Hazel,” James said, his mouth disappearing into a tight line. Sebastian’s stomach twisted with a fresh wave of guilt.

“Yeah, I’m not going to lie. This isn’t ideal.” Eli shook his head. “I may have changed my mind about Moonlight Falls, but I wasn’t planning on never leaving.”

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