Page 18 of Signs and Wonders

“You can’t be serious,” Tyler protested.

Cameron turned to him, his expression a mix of fondness and frustration. “Ty—I want to hear them out.”

Tyler swore under his breath and turned away, walking a few paces but staying close enough to come to Cameron’s defense if needed.

Cameron turned back to Seth and Evan. “All right, I’m listening. Make it good.”

4

SETH

“Start over.”Cameron sat on a chair facing the swing. Tyler stood behind him, making it clear Seth and Evan were on limited time. “Who were those guys? Why do you think they jumped me?”

Seth took a deep breath and jumped in feet first. “A hundred years ago, one of your ancestors was a sheriff’s deputy outside Brazil, Indiana. Their posse hanged a dark warlock—a real, honest-to-god wicked witch. His coven swore vengeance on the posse and their descendants. They each chose a deputy’s family. Twelve witches, twelve deputies.”

Cameron looked thoughtful, but Tyler’s expression made it clear he wasn’t buying the story. Seth knew he had to convince both men or their rescue effort would fail.

“The witch disciples created a ritual around killing the deputies’ descendants, and that gave them a big power boost,” Seth continued. “For a long time, they were careful. One sacrifice each year, rotating among the witch disciples and the descendants. Lately, they’ve started to grab more power, so no one’s safe.”

“Come on, Cam. Are you buying this shit?” Tyler protested.

“It’s true,” Evan spoke up. “I’m a descendant. I didn’t believe Seth’s story at first, either. But they blew up my apartment. I got kidnapped and dragged inside an old tunnel. I was nearly gutted, and then I saw a big hole in reality open. I figured Seth knew what he was talking about. Seth is a descendant too.”

“They killed my brother,” Seth said. “And I made him a promise that I’d stop the rituals forever. We’ve dealt with six of the warlocks. Six more to go.”

“By ‘dealt with,’ you mean—” Tyler said, unconvinced.

Seth looked up and met his eyes. “Handled.” He read Tyler as being ex-military and brought that piece of his own background full-force into his manner, just so they understood each other.

“You’re psychopaths,” Tyler snapped. “Cameron, we don’t have to listen—”

Cameron gave him a look that wordlessly cut him off. “He’s making sense, Ty. There’s stuff you don’t know—that I was hoping I never had to tell you.”

“What the fuck?” Tyler slapped the back of Cameron’s chair in anger and frustration and turned away, swearing under his breath before pivoting. “Like what?” he shot back at Cameron with a look of doubt and betrayal.

Cameron cleared his throat. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want it to be true,” he said quietly, cheeks reddening with shame. “It got drilled into me not to tell people. But what he’s saying matches the stories in my family, only they say we’re cursed and that an evil spirit kills the oldest male of each generation.”

Tyler’s expression shifted from doubt to fear in a heartbeat. “You’re the oldest.”

Cameron nodded. “Yeah. So was my dad. He was a long-haul trucker. He died twelve years ago in an accident no one could explain. I remember him saying that his uncle—the oldest—also had strange circumstances around his death.”

“Did your family ever try to stop the…curse? Call an exorcist or something?” Tyler asked. Seth figured it was a good sign that the other man had stopped mocking and was asking real questions.

“This is a small town,” Cameron said. “People here still believe D&D gets people demon possessed. I think my mom went to the next town to talk with a priest, but I got the feeling it didn’t go well.”

“It usually doesn’t,” Seth commiserated.

“Mom went to church—a lot. Methodists aren’t very prepared to deal with curses. There were crosses all over the house, and she gave all us kids St. Michael’s medallions—slayer of Lucifer and all that.” Cameron dug under his shirt and withdrew a silver disk on a chain.

“That’s actually useful,” Evan pointed out. “Silver works against a lot of ghosts and supernatural creatures. It’s probably providing a low level of protection—better than nothing—but it’s not enough to hold off the warlock.”

Evan drew out the cluster of amulets that hung from a strap around his neck. “Amulets work, but certain runes protect for specific circumstances.”

“How do you know all this stuff?” Cameron asked.

Seth didn’t usually dive right into his own painful story, but winning Cameron’s trust was going to take complete honesty.

“After my brother was killed, my parents died in a car wreck, and the house burned in a suspicious fire. I decided I was going to stop the warlocks from destroying anyone else’s family—or die trying.” Seth was surprised that he no longer felt a surge of devastating grief revisiting the details.

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