Page 35 of The Heart of Moonlight Falls

Sebastian leaned forward, feeling like the explanation he needed was just out of reach. “If they were scientists, why was there no information on the veins at Storm House? Wouldn’t they have kept records? I never found anything technical.”

“Nelson took a lot of it when he left. The rest Sullivan burned, according to my father.” Samantha shrugged as if the burned records didn’t matter. “Sullivan—my grandfather—was never secret-bound, so he could have told my brother and me everything just as Selma had done before him, but when Dad decided we shouldn’t know in case we tried to escape our duty, Grandpa Sullivan got rid of anything that might hint at the problem so there would be no stumbling across the truth.”

“What were they doing to the veins when they created the imbalance?” Sebastian fixed his mom with a hard stare. “Was it an experiment trying to extract power? Did they take energy out?”

Samantha looked surprised. “It was an experiment, yes. Dad said he’d been excited and wanted to watch, but they wouldn’t let him. He was only six.”

Sebastian didn’t really care about the young Simon Storm right now. “What did they do?”

“They didn’t take energy,” Samantha said. “They weren’t able to harness the raw power at all. They took a piece of the vein itself.”

14

SEBASTIAN

“A piece of the vein?” Sebastian shot a confused look at James, who seemed just as surprised. “Like a physical piece?”

“That’s what Dad said.”

Sebastian shook his head. This couldn’t be right. “How is that possible? A vein is a fluid system, like a river. You can take energy out like you can take water, but you can’t take a piece like it’s a pie.”

Samantha raised her hands, as if to say what do you want from me. “I’m just telling you what Dad told me. A piece of the vein. They thought it could be used as an energy source. Instead, it broke the natural order of the system, causing the energy at the intersection to go haywire. I don’t know the scientific details, but the veins couldn’t maintain themselves without the missing piece.”

“What happened to the piece?” James asked.

“It got destroyed,” Samantha said to Sebastian’s dismay. “As soon as they extracted it, it began to deteriorate.”

“So we can’t put it back?” Sebastian asked desperately.

“There’s nothing left of it. It’s been gone for eighty years.” Samantha narrowed her eyes. “Why does it matter?”

“Because if we don’t fix the veins, they’re going to blow.” Sebastian fisted his hands in his hair, pulling hard. Fuck.

“So get the hell out of here, Sebastian,” his mom said as if he was being obtuse.

“We can’t get out of here,” Sebastian growled. James placed a comforting hand on his back. “I’m not trapped at Storm House, but I’m still stuck. And it’s not just me.”

Samantha’s eyes widened. “If you’re still tied to the veins, why are they at risk of exploding?”

Sebastian didn’t feel like explaining. “There has to be a way to solve this. We have to be able to restore the veins.”

“Selma did,” his mom reminded him. “She created a stand-in for the missing piece.”

Sebastian turned desperately to James, only to see his own fear reflected on his face. This problem had no better solution. What had been broken couldn’t be put back together. The key to it all had been destroyed the moment this problem had begun.

They were doomed.

“Sebastian, what exactly is going on?” his mother’s words cut through his panic.

He turned back to her. “Moonlight Falls has a lot more problems than potential explosion. Did you know the vein intersection is a gateway?”

“What?” She looked genuinely shocked. “To Beyond?”

“Fuck.” None of this was helping. Sebastian kicked the table leg, not bothering to answer her.

James remained calm. He seemed to be studying Samantha. “What do you mean Selma created a stand-in for the missing piece?”

“How can I be clearer than that?” She frowned at James in pure annoyance. “The person trapped by the curse does what the missing piece can’t. The person makes the system whole by supplying energy and allowing the veins’ energy to pass through them.”

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