Page 16 of The Heart of Moonlight Falls

“She might know more about how the imbalance started. Her dad was alive at the beginning of all this. Yeah, he was a little kid, but he had to have known something happened or had his own suspicions and insights about what his parents and grandmother were doing over the years. I have no idea how much he passed on to my mom and Uncle Stephen before he died. I’m not going to assume Stephen told me everything he knew.”

James’s frown cut deep lines around his mouth. “Do you think your mom will tell you if she knows anything?”

A surge of anger coursed through Sebastian. His mom had refused to help him before, in even the smallest ways. “I don’t know. I can’t make her talk, but I’m not above manipulating her if I have to. She’ll be worried about Kira when she hears I’ve escaped. Maybe I can use that.”

A muscle in James’s jaw ticked. “Whatever you need to do, I’ll support you.”

Sebastian squeezed James’s knee. His support meant everything. Sebastian pulled out his phone. He had his mom’s number memorized unless she’d changed it in the last six years. Before he could think too hard about what talking to her would be like, he dialed and listened to it ring. The voicemail picked up, and he heard Samantha Storm’s voice for the first time in years.

“Hi, it’s Sebastian. Call me.” He left his number and hung up.

Sebastian figured giving almost no information would be the best way to try and get his mom to respond. A nasty part of him wished he could see her face when she got that message. She’d be shocked at the very least, maybe even scared not knowing how Sebastian had contacted her.

James took Sebastian’s hand. They sat for a few moments in silence before he said, “Eli wants to read over anything you have about the veins and any letters or notes you have from Selma, Sullivan, or Nelson.”

Sebastian gripped the silent phone. “That’s a good idea. Eli might catch something I missed. Hell, I might even read everything over again too. We’ve got nowhere else to look for answers.”

“Eli and Parker are going out there again later this afternoon. If you have the letters and journals somewhere easy to find, they can grab them. Or I can go out and search.”

“They’re in a box in the library. I gathered up everything I could find and dumped it all together.”

James unlocked his phone and began texting. “Great. I wasn’t looking forward to searching for more papers, if I’m honest.”

Sebastian snorted. “No, me either.”

James tucked his phone away after he was done relaying everything to Eli.

“Have you heard anything from Eleanor and Hazel?” Sebastian asked.

James nodded. “They checked whether Eleanor was trapped yesterday. She’s stuck behind the barrier with us. Hazel checked too, for good measure, and she’s still trapped.”

“I know it’s what we expected, but dammit.” Sebastian rubbed his temple as a twinge of pain started behind his eyes.

“Yeah,” James agreed with a tired sigh. He stood from the bench and stretched. “What are you up to for the rest of the day?”

Sebastian got up. “I might go back to bed.”

James put his hands on Sebastian’s shoulders and looked him over. “Are you feeling okay?”

“My head aches a bit, and I’m tired.” Walking one whole block to the park had worn him out. Sebastian needed to be careful with himself since he didn’t know what the veins’ power had done to him. If his body wanted sleep, he would listen and hope to have more energy when he woke again.

“You should eat something too.” James took his hand and began walking back toward the duplex. “I’ll bring some of the food Parker left at my place over to yours.”

“Thanks, James.” A breeze swept fallen leaves across the sidewalk that crunched under Sebastian’s feet. “What’re you going to do with the rest of your day?”

“I should probably go to work.” James threw a sideways look at him and smiled.

Sebastian grinned back. “Yeah, you should. You’ve been lazy.”

James shook his head, squeezing Sebastian’s hand.

As they passed the bar on the corner of the town center, William came out of the post office across the street. He glared at them, making a sneering, degusted face before turning toward town hall.

“I really don’t like that guy.” Sebastian stared after him. “What was that look about?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never liked him either.”

Sebastian pushed William from his mind, trying not to let the strange look trigger his insecurity. He didn’t need to dwell on the opinions of random people in town. He had bigger problems to deal with.

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