Page 26 of The Heart of Moonlight Falls

Hazel rushed to Eleanor as Parker sent another ball of light at the stag’s face, ushering it into the stag’s open mouth. The stag thrashed, then froze as the light forced its way deeper inside. Black wisps of shadow flowed from its fur and burst into nothing.

James and Parker let their lights go out. The stag blinked and took off, running toward the forest like a scared animal, no longer possessed. The rest of the possessed deer melded back into the woods, probably not wanting to stick around and be banished back to Beyond.

Eleanor approached the group, Hazel at her side. “I’m glad that worked.”

“Me too.” James stared at the now-empty park. He hadn’t wanted to kill a bunch of deer, but maybe that was why the shades had chosen them as their hosts.

Sebastian stared off in the same direction. “What do you think they were doing?”

“Who knows.” Parker joined them in scrutinizing the trees as if they had answers. “They definitely seemed to be up to something.”

“Regrouping for another attack on the town?” James suggested.

No one responded, but everyone had matching grim expressions as if they all feared the same.

“Why don’t you come inside and get something to eat?” Hazel slung her arm through Eleanor’s and the two women disappeared inside the diner.

James was about to suggest they follow when he noticed Sebastian’s attention had shifted to the stone, a deep furrow in his brow. “What are you thinking?”

Sebastian crossed his arms. “There’s something about this rock.”

Eli, who’d come out of the diner when the deer fled, came to stand next to Sebastian. “Like what?”

“I swear it was glowing when the shade was preparing for its sacrifice. And when I was fighting off the darkness, it seemed like it exploded with light.” Sebastian shook his head. “Does it have magic?”

James frowned at the tall stone. “It’s just a rock, isn’t it? A symbol?”

Sebastian turned to face him. “But the shades dancing around it before the darkness set in had to be them doing magic. It all centered around the stone. Why do that if it’s just a rock?”

“It is strange now that I think about it,” Eli said as he wandered closer to the stone. “It’s right above a vein, but I’ve always thought it was just a rock too.”

Parker came up behind Eli. “Can you check using your instruments to see if it has any magic of its own?”

“I can try.” Eli bit his lip like he did when he was thinking hard.

“Maybe we should ward it,” James suggested. “Sebastian’s right. Shades dancing around it had to mean something, even if they were using the veins to create the darkness and it’s nothing but a convenient rock.”

“It wouldn’t hurt,” Parker agreed. “I need to eat some more and rest before doing another ward since I’ve already done a few today.”

“Yeah, I don’t want you straining yourself.” Eli turned away from the stone, looking at Parker with concern.

“You’ll look after me.” He smiled down at Eli, and the two headed back into the diner.

James turned to follow when someone called out, “Sebastian!” He turned to find the librarian, Mila, waving at them from across the street.

Sebastian grabbed James’s arm. “Was she in the meeting?”

“I didn’t see her, but it was crowded. She could have been up near the front.” From where Mila stood, it looked like she’d just come out of town hall.

“Shit.” Sebastian set off across the street at a hurried pace, pulling James along.

11

SEBASTIAN

Sebastian approached Mila in front of town hall, James at his side. Maybe he should have forced himself to stay as the meeting let out to get a better look at who was there. If he’d known Mila had been among the crowd, he’d have gone to her.

“I’ve been trying to talk sense into people,” she said by way of greeting.

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