Page 15 of Thunder Road

Simon laid out what he had told Vic about the motorcycle club deaths and recounted the latest disappearance. He caught them up on what he had learned from Father Anne and the comment from the woman at his book signing.

“I don’t know what we’re dealing with,” he concluded. “And I’m worried because people are dying.”

“You did right reaching out to Father Anne,” Miss Eppie said. Even though the priest was based in Charleston, she had worked with them on other cases. “Her people at the Society have good resources.”

The St. Expeditus Society had its own compound with a church, dormitories for the monks, and a large library of esoteric and occult books. Many of the books were centuries old and exceptionally rare. Some were protected by spells and wardings.

“I thought you might know more, so here I am,” Simon concluded.

“It’s interesting that the person who contacted you today wants to reach someone at the Georgetown Light,” Miss Eppie said. “That lighthouse sits on an island that doesn’t allow visitors. It’s always been a place of power. During the Civil War, quite a few escaped slaves found sanctuary there and wove their own protections.”

“The native peoples also thought that the locations of several key lighthouses were places of natural power.” Gabriella’s power as a bruja and potioner drew on the traditions of the Latin American countries of her family heritage. “They believed there was a sentient primal essence to the land, like a genius loci but more of a creature than a nexus.”

“What kind of creature?” Simon asked. He reached for a cookie and took a sip of tea.

“The stories vary.” Eppie picked up the tale. “The people brought here from Africa were more attuned to the spirits of nature than the Europeans were. Their beliefs recognized those spirits instead of denying or banishing them. They were willing to work with natural energies. So they adjusted their rituals and turned to them for help escaping oppression.”

“It’s said that a seven-pointed star can be traced between the seven most supernaturally-charged lighthouses in North Carolina. In South Carolina, the lighthouses are in more of a straight line, and creating a magical link between them was used to protect the coast from storms, reduce the creature’s power, and bind it as much as possible,” Gabriella resumed the tale.

“And that knowledge was passed down from one lighthouse keeper to the next?” Simon asked, fiddling with the tablecloth as he listened.

“Yes. It was a solemn calling, and the keepers had magical power as well as knowledge about the sea,” Gabriella said.

“So when the lights were automated, the keepers left their posts,” Simon supplied. “Who maintained the wardings?”

Gabriella shrugged. “I’ve heard that the keepers tried to sustain the protections, but there were no new guardians chosen to replace them, and many have died without choosing an heir.”

“It would be nice to know what form this entity takes. I did some research, and there’s a pretty short list of creatures who do deals and have magic that can make people disappear,” Simon said. “I also need to figure out if it has other tricks we haven’t discovered yet.”

“That is an unusual combination,” Eppie agreed. “Which tells me it’s very old magic. I’ll see what the ancestral stories say.”

Gabriella nodded. “I’ll look into it as well and let you know.”

“Thank you. We need to figure out how to defeat or bind the entity and restore the protections around the lighthouses,” Simon added. “We might not be able to eliminate the creature, but it sounds like there were ways to keep it from running amok.”

They talked for a while about the upcoming Halloween events, the change in the weather, and the grandchildren that Eppie and Gabriella adored. Simon told them about his and Vic’s honeymoon in England and was amused at their questions about adjusting to married life.

“You know that being gay-married is just like regular-married only gay, right?” he laughed. “People are people. I lay my bets that there’s more similar than different in the whole adjustment thing.”

Gabriella chuckled. “You’re probably right about that. And neither of you are teenagers. Back in the day, we got married young and had to grow up while we figured out how to be a couple at the same time. With babies. It was quite the juggling act.”

“Lord, I don’t miss those days,” Miss Eppie said. “I was tired all the time.”

The alarm on Simon’s phone went off. “That’s my cue to go meet the lady from the garden event. Thank you for letting me come over and for the tea. Any research or ideas you come up with, please toss them my way.”

Gabriella made a shooing motion with her hand. “Let you come over? You know you’re welcome here any time, and your young man too. The tea’s just part of being sociable.”

“Don’t worry—you’ve got us interested now,” Miss Eppie added with a laugh. “We’ll dig into this like bloodhounds. I’ve already got some people in mind to talk to.”

Simon thanked them again and headed for his car.

He thought about his conversation at the botanica. Simon appreciated the different perspectives that Gabriella and Miss Eppie brought to their discussions that opened investigations up to a much broader range of possibilities.

People tend to think that the US was just a blank slate before the Europeans got here, but of course it wasn’t. There were people with their own cultures and religions who knew the land. Monsters lived here, and there were ancient places of power. We didn’t listen to the people, so we found out the hard way about the monsters and places.

Sometimes, those old creatures break loose and go wandering. Is that what happened with the bikers’ deal? And was it a side effect of the coastal lighthouse magic or a direct result?

Simon couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, even though he didn’t spot any likely culprits. He grabbed a burger at a drive-through and ate it after he parked in his usual spot near his shop. Simon scanned the lot before stepping out of his warded car, being extra careful.

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