Page 4 of The Heart of Moonlight Falls

“How much quicker is the fuel cell draining?” James asked as he rubbed Sebastian’s back.

“It’s hard to say.” Eli didn’t sound confident. “It’s a bit all over the place.”

James’s hand paused on Sebastian’s back. “Let’s go out and take a look.”

Sebastian forced himself to sit up.

James caught his eye, a tender smile pulling at his lips. “You can stay here if you want.”

It was a tempting offer. Sebastian no longer felt it was solely his reasonability to fix all this or that he had to solve problems to keep people happy with him so he wouldn’t be abandoned, but he wouldn’t be able to relax and rest if he stayed behind. He might as well go.

Sebastian stood. “I just need some painkillers, and then let’s head out.”

James caught his arm. “If you aren’t feeling well, you should go back to bed.”

“I’m not going to be able to sleep. All I’ll end up doing is wondering what you all are seeing in the clearing.”

James nodded in understanding, concerned gaze raking over Sebastian. “What hurts?”

Sebastian rubbed his brow again, even though doing so wasn’t helping. “My head.”

James pressed a gentle hand to Sebastian’s cheek. “Do you think it’s from the magic you did?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” Sebastian followed James to the downstairs bathroom, where James opened the medicine cabinet. “Using the veins made my head feel like it was splitting open. This feels nowhere near as bad.”

James handed over a bottle of painkillers with a strained expression. “Will you let me know if anything else feels off?”

Sebastian swallowed a pill. “Definitely. I really hope there aren’t any lasting effects from using the veins.” Fear that he’d hurt himself in some irreversible way hit Sebastian for the first time. He hadn’t had a chance to worry about it before.

James brushed a stray lock of Sebastian’s hair from his brow. “I hope not too, but I’ll look after you either way.”

“Thank you,” Sebastian murmured, his heart aching.

James squeezed his shoulder, affection radiating out of him in everything from his touch to the set of his brow. “I’ve got you, Sebastian. You’re mine, remember?”

“Yeah.” Sebastian returned James’s soft look. “But I still like hearing that it hasn’t changed.”

“Your truck is back.” Sebastian paused as he and James entered the garage. He hadn’t thought he’d be so pleased to see the familiar vehicle.

“Good as new.” James patted the hood before climbing in.

“I’m taking it as a sign of good things to come that we’re returning to normal.” Sebastian climbed into the passenger seat. “James in his jacket, driving his truck.”

James shook his head. “Thought you might want the jacket back.”

That was a good point. “True. In that case, things are returning to a better version of normal.”

James snorted. “Fuck, I love your optimism. You don’t stay down long.”

Sebastian’s cheeks heated at the admiration in James’s tone. “I guess I’ve had a lot of practice pushing through the worst.”

James squeezed his knee. “True, but now you’ve got me to help you. We’ll figure this out. We’ll get through it.”

“I sure hope so.” Sebastian leaned back in his seat. He closed his eyes in an attempt to rest his head as James drove.

Despite everything, it felt good to face things with James and not have any secrets between them. It was ridiculous what a difference trust made, even when his faith in James was the only thing Sebastian was sure of. Everything else was up in the air and likely to be a disaster, but Sebastian knew he wasn’t facing it alone.

They would take care of each other.

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