This Present Darkness

EPILOGUE

Bane perched on the hood of the Camaro, boot heels hooked on the bumper, and smiled at Rowen as he fastened the buttons of Rowen's thick, lined denim jacket. He tugged the collar up a bit and kissed Rowen on the tip of the nose. "Don't want you to catch your death."

Rowen flashed him a teasing smile. "I didn't know you were contagious?"

Bane stared at him a moment then rolled his eyes and snorted. "Ha, ha, funny pants."

Rowen chuckled and pushed closer, slipping his arms inside Bane's open leather jacket. Beneath the jacket, he wore only a thin t-shirt. "Must be nice to be immune to the cold," Rowen grinned against his throat.

"Yeah, it's a real hoot," Bane replied dryly.

The Camaro's passenger door shoved open and Rowen's older brother, Sean, climbed out, hugging his own thick coat around him. He walked around to the front of the car and leaned against the hood next to Bane and Rowen. "So, explain again what we're doing here?"

Bane smiled and stole mini-kisses from Rowen. "I told you, I'm supposed to meet someone."

"Yeah, but who?"

"I don't know," Bane shrugged and cupped Rowen's small, tight ass in his palms and flexed his fingers.

"How can you not know?" Sean asked and scooted up on the hood.

"I'm not all-knowing." Bane kissed Rowen, their tongues wrestling. He came up for air and grinned at his friend. "So we have to wait. Enjoy the nice day."

"It's cold as fuck," Sean grumbled.

"Don't be a wimp."

Rowen laughed and snuggled closer to Bane.

"Easy for you to say." A scowling smirk twisted Sean's lips. "You fucking walking corpse."

"I take offense at that," Bane smiled wryly. "I'm not a fucking zombie." He squeezed Rowen in his arms and ravaged his neck. "I don't suck brains. That's not what I suck."

Rowen laughed and squirmed, his loins heating at the implication.

"Maybe not," Sean smirked. "But you're still sucking goo from his head."

Bane busted up.

"Nice," Rowen drawled and rolled his eyes at his brother.

Bane's laughter faded and he went still, suddenly alert as he stared at the city limit sign a few yards away. Rowen turned around. All Bane had told them was that he had to meet someone out here today. Since he didn't know who he was meeting, Rowen wasn't sure how he knew to meet them, or that they were even coming. He'd mentioned it only after visiting Sebastian and Logan yesterday. Sebastian was like Bane, and Rowen suspected they had "alternate" ways of knowing things.

Moving Rowen out of the way, Bane stepped off the hood and walked forward a few steps then stopped, eyes narrowed as he seemed to be waiting. Rowen glanced at Sean and his brother shrugged. Rowen looked at the sign then stepped back, startled, when two men materialized out of thin air right on the city limit line. Both looked older than Rowen, Sean, and Bane, and were nicely dressed in fashionable overcoats. Uncertainty and confusion masked their faces as they glanced around, their eyes coming to rest on the three younger men before them.

Bane walked forward, a warm smile lighting up his face. "Hello."

The two men held one another's hands tightly. The older of the two offered Bane a small nod. "Hello..." he seemed a little dazed and disoriented.

"We've been waiting for you," Bane told them pleasantly and held out his hand. "I'm Bane."

"Waiting...?" the older of the men tentatively shook Bane's hand.

"Yes." Bane shook the other guy's hand as well. "Just consider me your...tour guide."

When Bane just gazed at them, the older man looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. I'm Chad. Chad Timmons." He squeezed the younger man's hand and gazed at him with deep affection. "This is my husband, Linus Devereux."

"We're very glad that you're here," Bane smiled and motioned them forward. "Welcome to Blackwell."

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NOTE:  For those of you familiar with all my stories, you know who Rowen, Bane, and Sean are :) for those of you new to my books, they are characters from my short story "THE GHOST OF DEVON HOUSE". Unfortunately, reading this story first will kind of spoil the light "mystery" of that story. Sorry about that :/ lol

Sebastian and Logan are characters from another of my short stories "GHOST OF A CHANCE".

I apologize for the delay in posting these last few chapters. Thank you for your patience. I will begin posting on "Slippery Slopes" again right away. I've missed those boys a lot! :) lol

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed this...somewhat 'strange' story :)

- A.M. Snead