Page 52 of The Heart of Moonlight Falls

“We have to use magic,” James said as he pushed someone off him. He seemed to catch Parker’s eye, and the two nodded at each other. Simultaneously, they sent wind rushing outward. The gust burst forth, knocking everyone who wasn’t holding on to James or Parker down.

Parker caught Hazel, and Eleanor managed to steady Eli. Everyone else tumbled down the steps or was thrown back into the town hall behind them.

It wasn’t enough. People got up, looking madder than before. It didn’t look like anything short of injury would deter them.

A shriek came from the other side of the circle but half the people seemed to ignore it.

Sebastian looked over his shoulder and swore, pulling James away from a person making another pass at him. “Shades!” They’d stayed in town too long, and the beasts were back.

Shadows stirred in the park. A mass of shades rushed out of the woods, flooding the street. Shouts rang up from the mob, but they were no longer full of anger. People panicked. Perhaps they’d missed the emergency alert about shades powerful enough to be out in broad daylight and hadn’t believed James’s warning.

The swarm of shades circled the stone. Sebastian almost thought they’d ignore all the people in favor of their obsession with the rock, but onyx eyes fixed on them. Sebastian could have sworn they’d fixed on him specifically.

Some of the shades raced across the street toward town hall. The mob ran, abandoning him and Eleanor. A few people reached the door to town hall and pulled on the handle, but it must have been locked. Jay was nowhere to be seen, so perhaps he’d hidden inside.

William knocked into Sebastian. He seemed to be struggling to follow the others. William looked over his shoulder at the approaching shades and fear flashed across his face before it disappeared. He stepped away from the rest of the mob, which was now running around to the back of the building.

Sebastian shook himself. “We have to run,” he called to the others. The charging shades had followed the mob, but that didn’t mean they weren’t coming back.

James guided Sebastian down the steps toward the shades around the stone, but they had to go that way to get to their vehicles. None of the beasts had attacked, so maybe they were content to chase everyone out of the town center.

Something gripped the back of Sebastian’s hoodie, causing the collar to choke him as he was pulled backward, hand slipping from James’s grip.

“I don’t think so,” William rasped in his ear. There was something wrong with his voice.

Sebastian wrenched his hoodie out of the man’s hands, spinning around to face him. Two shades floated on either side of William. Sebastian balked at how close the beasts were and the fact that William not only showed no signs of fear but hardly seemed to notice.

“I can’t let you out of my sight,” William rumbled.

“Sebastian, come on.” James was at his side, trying to pull him away. “You aren’t imprisoning Sebastian at Storm House, William. Just lay off.”

William blinked and his eyes went black, whites completely gone. He smiled, showing razor-sharp onyx teeth.

20

SEBASTIAN

Sebastian’s head pounded as he held the shade’s stare. He’d never heard of one possessing a human before.

William’s deadly smile turned to a sneer. James staggered back in shock.

“I don’t want you at Storm House,” the William-shade said, solid black eyes glinting. “I want you where I can keep an eye on you.”

William’s human motives with the mob had been clear. This wasn’t. Why would the shade possessing him want to keep an eye on Sebastian?

Sebastian had lost track of Parker and the others. James seemed stunned where he stood, like the possessed person was too much to process. Sebastian needed to get James the hell out of there. He stepped toward James, but William’s hands clamped down on Sebastian’s right arm, yanking him to the side.

He stumbled, and the shades beside William swooped in on James. Sebastian tried and failed to pull free from William’s vice-like grip. William had him off-balance, and with a shove, Sebastian found himself on the ground.

William’s face leaned in close as he twisted Sebastian’s arm behind his back. “We will not let you make the sacrifice necessary to bar us from this world,” he hissed in a voice that didn’t sound human. “We have been called, and we will claim this place as our own.”

“W-what?” Sebastian sputtered, momentarily forgetting all his fear as confusion overtook him.

William yelled in pain and his face disappeared from Sebastian’s sight. Sebastian’s arm was released, and he pushed himself up.

Parker held William by the hair. He kicked the possessed man in the back of the legs, and he crumpled forward, knees hitting the pavement.

James stood beside Parker, breathing hard. Blood dripped from a scratch on his cheek. The two shades that had attacked him seemed to have been banished.

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