Page 38 of The Heart of Moonlight Falls

“At least Parker warded the stone.” James stared at the rock, hoping the protective spell would stop the shades from doing the dance that had brought on the darkness.

Eli hadn’t had a chance to test if the stone had any magic, and there was no warding the veins. Who knew, even without the stone, shades might be able to work their spells on Moonlight Falls when their leader returned.

The few shades in the center of town didn’t seem interested in the stone. One darted swiftly across the circle from the diner toward town hall, completely ignoring it. As James watched the shade, he noticed a figure standing on the sidewalk shrouded in shadow because the light in front of town hall hadn’t been fixed yet.

James stood from the bed. “Look.” He approached the window, followed by Sebastian.

“It’s a person,” Sebastian said in disbelief.

The shade simply hovered in front of the person for a few moments, then darted back the way it’d come. At first, James wondered if the figure might have been the humanoid shade, but it definitely wasn’t. The person didn’t seem very tall and moved much more normally than the otherworldly being had. At least the shade had left the person alone.

James and Sebastian watched as the person headed in their direction. As the figure passed under a streetlight, James let out a grunt of annoyance. “It’s William.”

“What the hell is he doing in town at night?”

“Nothing good.”

“That’s a given.” Sebastian snorted a dry laugh.

William continued down the sidewalk until he was out of sight. Maybe he’d been at town hall late to avoid people after ditching work and was parked around the corner. James turned his attention back to the shades. A few were peering in the closed diner windows, not unlike what they’d often done at Storm House.

Around eleven, James was too tired to keep watching. The shades had disappeared and nothing seemed to be happening. He and Sebastian settled into bed, Sebastian falling asleep almost instantly. James eventually drifted off too.

He jerked awake suddenly, not knowing how long it had been. He swore he’d heard a noise. James strained his ears, and there it was again, flowed by a sound like a door closing.

James sat bolt upright. Was someone or something in the duplex?

“Sebastian.” He gently shook his shoulder. “Wake up.”

“Hm?” Sebastian blinked at him in the dark.

“Something’s in the house.”

Sebastian sat up in alarm. Simultaneously, they slid out of bed. Sebastian gabbed a hoodie to put on over his boxer briefs, but James didn’t bother.

There was a creak downstairs.

“A shade wouldn’t make any noise,” Sebastian whispered. “And the duplex is warded.”

Then what the hell was it? Had their protections been broken while they’d slept?

The bedroom door stood open. James moved through it quickly and as quietly as he could. At the top of the stairs, he peered down but couldn’t see anything in the stairwell.

James pointed down the stairs, indicating he was going to check the ground floor. Sebastian nodded, following close behind. Luckily, the stairs and bedroom were carpeted, muffling their steps. James heard another creak from the room below. He held a wind spell in the back of his mind, ready to use it and strike out at anything they came across to knock it back.

He was two steps from the bottom when a figure appeared in front of him. William. The man froze in the dark like he was startled to see James and Sebastian standing there.

“What the hell?” Sebastian shouted.

James abandoned wind for light. His spell flared, and William squinted dramatically.

“Hey,” he grunted, covering his face as if having a light shone in it was unreasonable.

“Hey? You’re in my house,” Sebastian growled.

William backed up a step, and James and Sebastian pushed forward. As they exited the stairway, the rest of the living room came into view, revealing three other men. One lunged for the front door and threw it open.

“Stop!” Sebastian shouted, but the guy was gone.

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