Page 52 of Thunder Road

“Is there a way I can contact you? Simon is firming up those details. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes to pull this together.”

“You have Chad’s number?” Vic shook his head. She read out the digits. “Call Chad. He knows how to reach me, and I’ll call you back.”

Vic understood her caution. She probably had plenty of bad experiences with cops. He could work around that. “It’ll be in the next day or two, so stay close.”

“Sounds like it’s going to be one hell of an adventure.” Maret gave a cocky smile. “Nice talking with you, Detective.”

At that, she got up and walked out as if daring him to detain her. Vic understood why she and Samuels were a pair. They suited each other, both full of piss and vinegar.

Vic headed back to his office and his now-cold coffee.

“Well?” Ross asked.

“We’ve got ourselves a coven of motorcycle witches.” Vic guzzled the coffee and refilled the cup, pausing to savor the smell of the warm brew.

“Congratulations?”

Vic shrugged. “Simon and the others are messing around with primordial energies between the troll and the natural power wellspring that the lighthouses feed into. It’s a big deal to try to use magic to harness those forces. Maybe a little hubris, even. I’m in favor of anything that helps tip the scales in their favor.”

Vic did his best to project confidence, and the addition of the coven was a definite win, but he couldn’t shake his worry. He remembered stories his grandmother used to tell about the ancient heroes daring to try to bend the gods to their will or take control of power never meant for mortals to wield. Those stories rarely went well, and the victories were hard won.

This time around, Vic sincerely hoped the old myths were wrong.

9

SIMON

“So that’s North Island,” Simon said to Father Anne as their boat neared the destination. “I never thought I’d set foot there.”

“It must have been a cool place to live back in the day,” she replied.

The Georgetown Lighthouse, unmanned for decades, stood tall above the trees. The now-shabby keeper’s house and several storage buildings remained, as well as a long pier used only by the Coast Guard for maintenance.

“I understand cutting costs, but there are times when I wouldn’t mind running a lighthouse and not dealing with the rest of the world,” Simon confessed.

Their chartered boat rode out the waves, forcing Simon to hold onto the railing. Cool spray hit their faces and wet their hair.

“You mean like the days when you go up against an ancient monster?” Father Anne teased, despite the danger of their mission.

“Among others.”

“Glad we have someone on the inside to get us access,” Father Anne said. “I hate to think what the media would dowith a collection of witches and psychics getting arrested just as they’re about to do an occult ritual before Halloween.”

Simon shuddered, something that had nothing to do with the cold sea air. “Yeah, that would be bad.”

He had gotten a call from Steven Hardin, the Navigation Aides Officer for the Georgetown Coast Guard office. Teag somehow tracked the man down and explained the situation.

Hardin had just returned to duty after a serious illness and knew the wardings needed to be strengthened. Once he found out about the effort Simon had put together, the officer had thrown his full support behind them, clearing the way for them to have access, privacy, and assurance that they would not be charged with trespassing. Hardin also arranged for a chartered boat to take them to and from North Island and volunteered to go along, together with the person he was training as his successor.

Simon promised not to leave any evidence of their presence or post any photos and agreed to share the incantation so Hardin could help maintain the protections in the future.

Now a protected wilderness, North Island no longer had any human inhabitants. Long ago, wealthy planters built summer homes and lodges there, but that ended after the Civil War. Since then, the land had become a nature preserve and home to the lighthouse. Simon wondered if any of the people who once lived there sensed the power of the land.

“Can you feel it?” Father Anne asked, and Simon nodded, knowing she meant the island’s connection to the larger genius loci that ran along the coast, dotted by the other lighthouses.

“Yeah. There’s a ripple of ancient energy just under the surface. Faint until you know what to look for, and then it’s unmistakable.” Sometimes it amazed him how many things people without supernatural abilities were blithely unaware of in their surroundings.

Out here on the water, Simon sensed the raw energies around them, both from magic and the powerful ocean current.

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