Page 29 of Thunder Road

“Better?” Vic asked as he tossed the bundles into the trash.

“Uh-huh.” Simon floated in a post-orgasm haze and wasn’t in a hurry to lose the moment.

“Good.” Vic licked a stripe up the middle of Simon’s chest with the flat of his tongue and then kissed him on the lips. “If that didn’t distract you, we can try again. I have a few more tricks.”

“Mmm. Definitely did distract me, but I won’t turn down your tricks.” Simon knew he sounded spent.

Vic got up and went to the bathroom, then returned with a warm, wet washcloth and wiped Simon down and then himself, and lobbed the cloth toward the doorway. “Shower in the morning?” His voice was a low rumble that made Simon want to go again, despite his sated body’s desire for sleep.

“Definitely. After round two,” Simon pulled Vic in for another kiss.

“Promises like that could make me into a morning person.”

“I can make that happen.” Simon did his best not to lose the afterglow, keeping his thoughts in the here and now and pushing aside anything to do with lighthouses and trolls.

In the morning, after a spirited round of wake-up sex, Simon fixed scrambled eggs and bacon while Vic showered.

“Anything going on at the shop today?” Vic poured them both cups of coffee.

“Things always get busy in the lead-up to Halloween.” Simon plated the eggs and brought them to the table. He settled inacross from Vic and smiled when Vic’s first bite yielded a pleased moan.

“I’m still looking for the details of the protections that lapsed when the lighthouses were automated.” Simon paused to dig into his breakfast. “Once Mrs. Brighton finds her uncle’s journal, I was wondering if you’d take a road trip with me to check the South Carolina locations.”

“Certainly.” Vic made short work of his eggs, nibbling at the last piece of bacon. He refilled their cups as Simon worked through the food on his plate. “What are you hoping to find?”

“From the journal, clues about the old protections and rituals and what it would take to activate them again without full-time lighthouse keepers. From the road trip? I’m not sure except that sometimes you get a lot of information from the feel of a place, even when you think you’ve read everything about it.”

“Worst case, we don’t find anything paranormal and we have a nice day driving up and down the coast. Works for me,” Vic assured him.

Simon’s schedule of readings and séances kept him busy most of the day. In between customers, he mapped out the route to the lighthouses and searched for nearby sites that might dampen or amplify supernatural power. They might not be able to check out everything in one trip, but Simon wanted to try to take as many factors into consideration as he could.

For fun, he also noted possible restaurant stops and nearby roadside attractions to break up the drive.

Most of his appointments that day related positive news to clients, either from his psychic read of their situations or from the ghosts contacted in the séance. Simon preferred days likethat to times when the interactions did not go as smoothly, or the connections shared disappointing information.

Still, a full calendar of doing psychic readings or using his abilities to contact spirits left Simon tired by the end of the afternoon, despite Pete’s diligence in bringing him coffee with cream and sugar throughout the day to keep up his energy.

More than once Simon got up and glanced out the shop window, looking up and down the street.

“Expecting someone?” Pete asked.

Simon shrugged, a little out of sorts because he couldn’t articulate what prompted his actions. “Not really. I just can’t shake the feeling of being watched.”

“You think someone is staked out to keep an eye on us?”

“That’s just it—I haven’t seen anyone suspicious loitering around. So my imagination might just be getting to me,” Simon admitted. “But it doesn’t change the way it feels.”

“Go with your gut,” Pete replied. “I’ll refresh the wardings, just in case.”

Simon’s last client had just left when Mrs. Brighton arrived. “Sorry to catch you late in the day, but I thought you’d want to see what I’ve found so far.”

Simon ushered her to the table as Pete flipped the sign on the door and started closing the register.

“My uncle considered being a lighthouse keeper a holy obligation, like the priesthood,” Mrs. Brighton said. “I would follow him around whenever we visited and ask questions. He never seemed to mind.”

“I know the decision to automate the lighthouses was out of your uncle’s control. But do you think your father would have followed in his footsteps if the lighthouse had not been automated?” Simon asked.

“Oh, no,” she replied. “My father made it clear early on that he had other plans. He went to college and only came back forholidays. It’s not something most folks are cut out for. More of a calling.”

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