Page 60 of The Heart of Moonlight Falls

James was at his side. “See.” He helped Sebastian stand, and together, they watched the hole shrink.

“It’s still not closing all the way,” Sebastian groaned in despair, burying his face in James’s neck as tremors shook his body.

The hole was smaller than before, but maybe only by another eighth, and it didn’t look to be closing any farther. “We haven’t put all the pieces back,” James said as soothingly as he could, given the circumstances. He ran a blood-flecked hand through Sebastian’s hair. “There’s three more to go.”

Sebastian raised his head, eyes wide. “You mean Sullivan, Simon, and Uncle Stephen?”

James nodded grimly. “Selma’s spell made you all stand-ins for the missing piece of the veins. It doesn’t seem like death released anyone from their connection. I’d wondered if it had—if your predecessors could have left the property after death to be buried in town—but I’d wager they couldn’t have. The veins aren’t about life and death. The three Storms who came before you are still a part of the veins. They might not have been able to lend more energy to the imbalance after death, but nothing has released them from being part of it all.”

Sebastian, who was already frighteningly pale, went paler. “A blood-and-bone connection. Meaning we have to get blood and bone from each of them to finish this.”

“I’m sorry.” James cupped Sebastian’s cheek.

Sebastian gave him a half-smile. “Don’t be sorry, James. You’re brilliant. You figured this out. I’m not the only piece. I never would have guessed that.” Sebastian braced against James to stand up straighter. “Besides, I can’t really say that digging up my dead relatives will be the worst part of the night. I cut off my own fucking finger.”

James pulled Sebastian into a quick kiss. He couldn’t help himself. Sebastian was so brave that not even this night had beaten him down. “How are you doing? I wish I could do more for how much pain you must be in.”

Sebastian grimaced. “How about we head to the hospital once this is all done? Seeing as the imbalance should be restored and we shouldn’t be trapped anymore.”

“Good plan.” James led Sebastian back through the trees. He didn’t want to linger by the hole. Things may be calm, and the imminent explosion might have been stopped, but a shitload of shades had just come through the gateway, and James wasn’t going to assume they wouldn’t come back. It didn’t seem like the beasts were giving up on their plan to take over Moonlight Falls. James just hoped they had time to dig up three graves before they were attacked again.

In the barn, James piled shovels and a hoe into a wooden cart. Sebastian seemed to regain a bit of his strength and James was beyond impressed. He didn’t know if he would still be standing.

“I can’t believe there’s more than one piece,” Sebastian said as they reached the cemetery.

“Some blood-and-bone magic is irreversible.” James dumped the shovels on the ground and picked up the hoe. “Eli hinted at it when he said he didn’t think that you could ever truly transfer the curse from yourself and could only pass it on through the transfer the way you’d pass it on to any blood relative. Once the curse made you a part of the veins, there was no undoing it.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Sebastian whispered.

James gripped his shoulder. “I know, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be free. You would have always been part of the veins, but you returned your blood and bone to them, and once we put all the missing pieces back, the original void in the veins that Sullivan and Nelson created will be filled, releasing you all.”

James found Sullivan’s headstone and brought the hoe down on the earth. “Apologies,” he muttered to the dead man.

“It’s too bad Sullivan never figured this out,” Sebastian mused. “The Storms could have avoided all of this.”

James worked at loosening the topsoil. “Selma must have thought it was impossible. It doesn’t seem like anyone realized her spell linked you all to the veins so completely.”

“Yeah.” Sebastian picked up a shovel, stabbed it into the earth, and leaned against it. “I don’t think Sullivan or anyone else knew they could harness the veins as I’ve been doing. They didn’t realize the connection went both ways and that we really were part of the vein system. If they had, they might have figured out they could put it all back together.”

James hacked at the earth in silence for a few minutes before swapping the hoe for a shovel.

“I should help,” Sebastian said from where he watched.

James glanced over at him. “You don’t have to. These are your relatives. I imagine it would be hard to disturb them like this.”

“Can’t be easy for you either.”

James grunted. “I’m trying not to think about it.”

Sebastian made an understanding sound. “Same.”

James scooped piles of earth onto the ground in front of Selma’s headstone, which sat beside Sullivan’s. Sebastian brought his shovel next to James and dug it into the earth. He let out a yelp of pain.

James paused his digging. “Are you okay?”

Sebastian shook out his hand. “My finger. Ow, shit, that hurts.”

“You don’t have to help. It’s probably not good to get the wound all dirty.”

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