"I have and I feel stupid, man. I do, but I hear things. I fucking hear things and..." His mouth slammed shut, eyes going wide. Okay. Okay. He was so not letting Poe think he was a frigging looney.

  "Yeah? I knew a lady in Louisiana once who heard her late great-grandma." Okay, maybe Poe was the loony.

  "I just... I probably just need a Coke or something." Something. Anything.

  "Okay. We'll stop here up the road. The map says there's a bait shop or gas station or something." Poe took a kiss, hard enough to make him blink, make him forget for two seconds.

  Oh. Man.

  Maybe he'd wrap himself up in Poe for, oh, a few hundred miles.

  The dreams had been getting worse -- blood baths, demons eating entrails, a shining jewel that turned the sunlight bloody and raw. Like meat.

  God.

  The ache in his belly hit him again, harder.

  "Shit, babe. I can feel that." One big hand settled low on his belly. "Come on, let's get someplace and rest. There might be a lodge. Would you like a real bed?"

  "Yeah. Yeah, somewhere inside." Somewhere out of the wind. He thought maybe even Poe heard that.

  "Sure, Cam. Sure." He'd heard Poe's humor the lunatic voice. This wasn't it. This was sympathy and care.

  "Thanks." Cam closed his eyes, took a deep breath.

  He dozed, on and off, listening to the way the tires buzzed on the highway, the way the wind wrapped around the Jeep, tried to get in to touch them, chatter at them.

  When the Jeep stopped again it went quiet, jerking him awake. "Look, babe. Cabins."

  He blinked over, nodding. Buildings. Real buildings with real walls and doors. "They look fine."

  Solid.

  Quiet.

  Like maybe he could rest in them.

  "We'll have some soup and some of those canned biscuits and a bath and maybe one channel on the TV..." Poe chattered, guiding him out of the Jeep and up to the side of one of the cabins, wandering over to the office to get them registered.

  He had his duffle and his wallet and he handed Poe a card to hold the place, the wind picking up, all of the sudden, almost screaming.

  The old man at the office frowned, looked up and out. "Storm."

  Poe nodded. "Yeah. Saw it coming. Needed a place to hole up. Thanks, old timer." Poe had a key. Oh, yay.

  "Anytime, boys. Watch that ditch there. It warshes out in the storms."

  Like they were going anywhere but inside.

  "Gotcha." Hauling him along, Poe headed for the end cabin, which thrilled him no end. If they made noise, no one would hear.

  "You think it's out here? The dragon?" The words sort of escaped him as they walked, without him really wanting to say them.

  "You mean your stone?" Shrugging, Poe opened the cabin door, ushering him in out of the wind. "Yeah."

  "Yeah." Yeah, he thought so too. Thought it was out there, sort of... waiting on someone to find it. Her? Him? Whatever. He needed a nap.

  "You need a shower first? Some food?" Had he said the nap thing out loud? Or was Poe just in tune?

  "A shower." He put the duffle down, rolling his shoulders. Having the walls there between him and... whatever... made it easier.

  "Oh, good!" Bouncing, Poe grabbed him, started stripping him. Yeah. That was the way. That made him think of one thing, and it wasn't the wind.

  He found himself laughing -- a real, honest sound that actually caught his attention when he heard it. He helped Poe, fingers working buttons open, zippers down. Bless him, Poe took such joy in the simple act of getting naked. Even if it wasn't sexual at all. It was like a two year old shouting, "Nakie time!" They were both still laughing as they headed into the bathroom, leaning into each other, arms wrapped around each other's waists.

  The water was hot, the shower clean enough, and the piney-lemony soap Poe used smelled so good, waking him right up. It was good, normal and right, sort of settling him and he let himself play, grab the soap and lather up, the bubbles tickling his skin.

  Poe was right there with him, getting soap everywhere, sliding against him, fingers digging into his ribs. "Hey, you."

  "Mmm. Hey, man. Hey." It was like he'd been asleep, dreaming for days.

  "Yeah, there you are." Laughing right out loud, Poe kissed him, the taste of soap mixing with the flavor of man.

  He went up on tiptoes, the kiss going deep for a second before he backed off, started touching again. He got plenty of touches in return, Poe washing the suds off before soaping him up again, running blunt fingers through his hair. God, it felt good.

  "Could stay in here for a few hundred years." He turned his face to the water, letting it pour over him.

  "We'll stay as long as we have hot water..." Poe kissed his throat, his cheek.

  "Sounds fair." He caught Poe's mouth again, sharing a long, lazy kiss, tongues sliding against each other.

  They moved, turning slowly so Poe could lean back against the wall, bracing them, letting him press close. Yeah. Then he didn't even have to think about it. Lean and kiss. His hands moved over Poe's skin -- not trying to arouse or anything, just touching. He got everything back in kind, Poe's hands sliding on him, feeling him, letting him sink into heat and wet and good. No pressure. Just fine.

  "Thank you." He felt human for the first time in days. Felt like he could eat. Sleep. Rest.

  "You're welcome, babe. Now, why don't we dry off and have a snack?" Poe rinsed them off one more time and got him one of the threadbare towels, turning off the water. They got dried off, both of them taking their time, helping each other out.

  Poe led him to the big old bed, sitting him down and getting him a soft pair of shorts. "We have tuna. Crackers. Mars bars..."

  "Mmm. A gourmet dinner. I approve." Dorm food was his favorite.

  "Yeah? Cool. Now, where did I put that can opener?" Digging through their bags, naked as a jay bird, Poe went to town, jiggling in all the right places.

  "You look good, man." He grabbed the crackers and the EZ-Cheez.

  "Huh?" Those dark eyes met his over Poe's shoulder, the butt wiggle he got telling him Poe knew exactly what he'd said. "Oh, thanks."

  Cam chuckled, shook his head. "You regret coming on this goose chase?"

  "Hell, no. Hard to regret what you invite yourself to, anyway. But you need me." Nodding like that was that, Poe pulled out the can opener and came over to create some kind of tuna pickle monstrosity.

  Yeah. Yeah, the closer they came to the mountains, the more he believed that.

  Jesus.

  He could just go home, really. He could. Take Poe and...

  And go back to his advisor and say, "Dude, I'm a loser."

  "You regretting this, babe? Because we could go to Mexico. India. Scotland. I can get a job anywhere." The man had a tiny bit of mayo on his lip, but somehow it didn't detract from the serious face.

  "I..." The wind hit the cabin in a rush, making him shiver. "I don't know, Poe. Part of me wants to get the fuck out of here."

  "Well, we can. It's entirely up to you, babe." Yeah. Yeah, Poe would do what he wanted.

  Somehow he wasn't really sure that was true. "I'll sleep on it."

  Yeah. Right. Sleep on it. Shit.

  "Okay." Shrugging, Poe snuggled right up, feeding him some cheese on a cracker. The man had no boundaries, but it made it easier to keep other things out.

  "Yum. Cheese in a can." See him. See him practice avoidance.

  "Uh-huh. It's proof that God loves us. So are peanut butter cups. Want one?"

  "You know it." There wasn't anything the peanut butter and chocolate couldn't fix.

  ***

  Poe watched Cam sleep, his fingertips barely brushing the dark circles under the kid's eyes.

  He'd loaded Cam up on sugar, then made out with him until he crashed. Poe was kinda aching, thinking about jacking off, but it seemed weird to do it alone. Something about this whole clusterfuck wasn't right. Cam was having weird-assed dreams, waking up in the middle of the night suffocating, flailing, and mumbling.

  About rocks.

  Poe loved rocks, but he'd never had dreams about them. Well, except that one time when he'd dreamed he was some kind of superhero who could get the rocks to roll uphill to him by waving his woody around... but that he attributed to the tequila.

  Sighing, he got up and pulled on a pair of violently green board shorts. They had little surfboards on them, making him feel a twinge of want for the uncomplicated life of the beach, maybe catching a few waves. Then he shook it off and headed over to rummage through Cam's bag, pulling out the kid's journal and settling next to the window. It wasn't snooping if he did it out of the need to protect. Hell, he'd used that one a lot on Max. The honest ones always bought it. Good thing Poe was more one of the sneaky types.

  The first pages were lists, mostly -- where they'd gone, what they'd seen. Cam's handwriting was tight, little, word after word stuffed onto the pages.

  Then, about a week into this goddamn wild goose chase, the lists disappeared.

  I dreamed last night. Dreamed about the men caught in the mountains with their bellies slit open, eaten. It was deeply fucked. I keep telling myself that I'm a nutcase. I'm having bad dreams from the whole Donner party thing. Bad horror movies and stuff.

  Of course, there's that passage in the memoirs from Jane Cabel. The story where she'd nursed a Chinese man for three days before his countryman found him, took him the rest of the way down the mountain. She said he'd been crazed, growling and snarling like an animal, blood covering him, the stench almost unbearable.

  She'd washed him and not found even a bruise.

  All the guy would say was Jin Wang.

  Shit, that shouldn't be so fucking creepy.

  I mean, really, they were stuck in the goddamn snowy mountains without decent maps, medical care, transportation. It would make anybody crazy, for real.

  What I can't fucking figure out is why the wind seems to be saying that same thing, over and over and over.

  JIN WANG.

  Poe shook his head, the kid's handwriting even looked different, shivery, like the kid'd gotten old.

  Jesus.

  Poe sat for a long moment, contemplating all of that.

  He had no doubt that the earth produced monsters. Poe wasn't a superstitious man, but he'd seen too many cursed rocks to believe that there wasn't something to it. They'd have to be very careful. Damned careful. Pulling out his little phone, Poe wandered outside to see if he got any signal. Damn. Nothing. He made a mental note to call Max, see if the man had any ideas about how to deal with demon-possessed stones or anything. The man owed him one after the whole thing with Morgan.

  Then he went back on in and slid into bed next to Cam, putting one hand low on the kid's quivering belly. In the short time he'd been gone, Cam had gotten restless.

  Cam turned toward him, frown easing, murmuring, still asleep. "Poe, stay out of the wind, huh? It'll get in your brain."

  "I promise. No brain-eating wind." Leaning in, he kissed the rest of the frown lines away. Somehow this whole thing had changed from like a sweet little fuck and a bit of adventure into keeping Cam safe and sane.

  Cam's hands slid around his waist, holding on. Cam tugged him right on in, snuggling into him.

  "Mmm. Sweet, babe." Poe nestled against Cam, his poor cock still kinda tingling, ready to get busy at any minute.

  "Mmmhmm." Cam wrapped one leg around him, his cock snuggling right up against those sweet, soft balls.

  That was a fine hello and howdy. Poe rubbed, letting the rest go for now. He was always good at the denial for the moment thing. Damn, the kid was deep under his skin. Max would laugh at him, getting all caught up in the guy. 'Course, Max laughed at him a lot.

  Poe hummed when Cam shifted against him, his old buddy sliding right out of his mind in favor of that lean, hot body, the sweet feel of Cam's soft, soft skin.

  "Poe." Cam nuzzled into his throat, lips tickling, making him shiver with it.

  "Hey, babe. Love the way you feel." Maybe the wind voice would go away if he talked, made with the love words.

  "Yeah. Yeah. Could get lost inside you." Cam's lips brushed the hollow of his throat, his collarbone.

  "Good. I'm all for that." He shaped Cam's back with his hands, feeling the tension that had been there even in sleep start to eke out.

  "Don't stop yet." Cam rolled, tugging him on top of the sweet, sleep-warmed body.

  "Not even gonna." Poe hummed, sucking a mark up on Cam's neck. God, yeah. Who could be worried when you had that sweetness to sink into?

  "Good. Oh, fuck yeah. I like that." Cam's hands landed on his ass, moving them together, strong and steady.

  "Feels good, babe. So good." They got a rhythm going, rocking happily. Goddamn, Cam's cock felt good against him. They got themselves lined up, got their cocks sliding together, the tips nudging every now and again. Skin damp, breath straining in his lungs, Poe set about making Cam crazy, licking and sucking and touching. There was not enough touching in the world.

  Cam followed along, deep groans filling the air, body arching as Cam followed his mouth. He bit down, not hurting, letting it sting enough to feel. Cam needed to be right there. With him. He got a groan, Cam rippling for him, riding it. Yeah, yeah. Cam was paying attention. Poe hummed, loving on Cam, twisting at those little nipples. He loved the way that made the kid buck, made those pretty eyes roll.

  "More. More, lover. Need this." Lover. He liked that. Liked that a hell of a lot.

  Hell, who was he kidding? Poe liked everything about Cam. Even the weird-assed dreams. Cam got one leg wrapped around him, dragging them together, speeding everything up as the wind howled and battered against the cabin.

  "Cam. Baby. Come on, honey. Come on." He clutched at Cam's ass, dragging their cocks together until he wanted to scream.

  "Uhn. Poe. Fuck yeah. Gonna." He felt Cam jerk, heat spraying over his cock.

  "Oh, God." His eyes rolled right up like a wheel on a slot machine, and Poe groaned, shooting just as hard. He was panting, the whole rush to the end leaving him breathless.

  "Poe. Poe, so fucking good." Cam petted him, hands stroking his spine.

  "Yeah, baby. Good.” He had progressed from babe to baby. Lord help him.

  Cam nodded, held on tight. "Thank you."

  "Not a problem, man. You needed a little middle of the night loving to distract you." And Poe needed to get that journal entry out of his mind.

  "Yeah. Yeah. Middle of the night. Dawn. Noon."

  "There you go." He couldn't help but grin, letting the wind fucking howl as he held Cam close. They'd face whatever came together.

  Cam needed him.

  Chapter Seven

  The phone finally picked up a signal about the third day in the mountains. Poe figured he must be holding his mouth right. It rang and rang, and he was afraid he was gonna get voice mail.

  “Come on, Max. Quit fucking Morgan and answer the damned phone,” he muttered, patting his pockets for a cigarette that wasn’t there.

  “Very funny, buddy,” Max said, obviously having heard part of that.

  “Ha, ha. Hear me laughing. Man, it’s good to hear your voice.” It was, too. He’d been so wrapped up in Cam, and that boy was talking mostly gibberish these days. There was something completely steady and bracing in Max's deep redneck drawl.

  “You sound wound tight, Poe. What’s up?” Good old Max. He always knew.

  “I’m on this wild goose chase with a friend of mine and things are getting… weird.”

  ”Weird as in what?” He could hear low murmurings, knew that Morgan was awake and wanting to know what was going on. Curious as a cat, that bright-eyed kid.

  “Weird as in mystical. Do you believe in like, the curse of the Hope diamond or whatever? Or the Orlov? Cursed stones?”

  A long pause crackled with static, then Max answered, “Well, I believe that if people believe in them, they have power. Why?”

  “Huh.” Poe scratched his belly, ignoring the wind, which Cam didn’t seem to be able to do. “Have you ever heard of a stone called Jin Wang?”

  “Nope. Did you want me to do a little research?”

  “Nah.” Hell, Cam was the foremost expert. That wasn’t the problem. “Well, unless you want to look up how to deal with a soul-eating ruby.”

  “Man, what in hell are you up to?” He could hear Morgan in the background again, low and concerned. Good kid. Max had a fine one there. But then, he’d always known Max would find somebody perfect.