Page 5 of Signs and Wonders

“Improper paperwork, tax issues, not following the rules,” Parker replied. “I just found that piece, so I’m still looking into it, but it made me wonder if he had a hand in the other groups instead of just being associated.”

“Be careful,” Evan cautioned, and Seth knew his partner was walking the line between appreciating Parker’s contributions and protecting his little brother from a very real threat. “Don’t do anything that would attract attention to yourself.”

“I won’t.” Parker sounded patiently put-upon. “I promise.”

“Keep us posted. We’ll be in Pittsburgh for a little bit before we head for West Virginia.”

“Got it. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve got something to report.” Parker paused. “You two watch your backs, okay? Don’t get hurt.”

Seth shifted his weight to ease the ache in his shoulders. Evan moved to take pressure off his bruised hip. “We will,” Evan promised. “Talk to you soon.”

The call ended. Seth and Evan exchanged a look.

“Thoughts?” Evan asked.

“He’s good,” Seth said. “Let’s hope that he knows enough to fly under the radar. But if his hunches pay off, some of our friends might be able to dig into other sources to find even more information. Swain and the warlocks have had a century to learn how to cover their tracks. There’s a reason no one’s untangled this whole mess before now.”

Seth and Evan had been searching archives for photos of Fletcher Swain under his various aliases without much luck. The best image was from 1900, the year Swain gained immortality. It showed a tall, thin man with light hair and sharp features. Later pictures tended to be blurry or a hat obscured the face, something Seth knew couldn’t be completely accidental.

“Lucky us.” Evan winced as he put pressure on sore muscles.

“Actually, yes.”

Evan raised an eyebrow with a skeptical expression.

“I mean, first off it’s how we met.”

“I’ll give you that,” Evan admitted.

“And we’ve built a network of friends with special skills so we’re not doing this alone,” Seth pointed out. “That makes a big difference. And the payoff is that when we’re done, no one else loses someone they loved to the coven’s fucked up rituals.”

They dozed on the couch before the movie was over and shuffled stiffly to the bedroom.

“I have one good hand,” Evan offered with a smirk. “Wanna fool around?”

Seth groaned. “Yes, I want to. Not sure whether the rest of me is onboard, but I’m always in the mood for you.”

“Slow and easy.” Evan rolled onto his unbruised side and reached for the waistband of Seth’s sweats. Seth’s cock clearly was unaffected by the ache in his shoulders and woke quickly.

“Two hands are better than one,” Seth murmured as he got the lube from the nightstand, slicked his palm, and reached into Evan’s sleep pants to pull out his hard dick. Wrapping their fingers around both cocks together created delicious friction. Despite the dangers of the day, it didn’t take long to push both of them over the edge.

“Best part of today.” Seth cleaned them up with tissues from the box beside the bed. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” Evan sounded sleep-drunk and sated. “Rest up. I’m all for round two in the morning.”

2

SETH

“If there’s evera zombie apocalypse, Pittsburgh would be pretty easy to defend,” Evan mused as Seth drove into the city. “So many bridges and roads that cut through cliffs with high ground that have a perfect sniper view. Not to mention the rivers. Can zombies swim?”

“Do they have to? Couldn’t they just sink to the bottom and walk across?”

Evan gave him a look. “Like in the pirate movie? I guess so. If there are slow and fast zombies, are there swimmers and sinkers?”

“I really hope I never have to find out.” Seth maneuvered the Silverado through the narrow streets, grateful that they left the RV parked at a campground south of the city.

“Never hurts to be prepared. Didn’t they shoot that George Romero zombie flick here?”

---