“I can’t believe you did that!” Max had yelled.
“What did you expect me to do?” I’d replied, already too exhausted for a fighting match.
“Not that!”
“Then tell me what, Max? Tell me what you would have done in my place? Let Zee be branded insane? Let his career be destroyed because of what Damian did to Marcus, to him?” I understood Max’s anger. I’d broken not just the edict by which the Society had been forced to live but the agreed-upon oath of secrecy that had nothing to do with the Gray Church.
He couldn't give me anything. I saw the options flit through his mind, but then my father would resurface; the best friend he still missed twenty years after his death. So, he’d agreed to keep the information to himself for the time being, and contact Director Patterson so the beagle had someone who knew what he was doing answering his questions, and I went home to my son.
Of course, now that I was here, I couldn’t just relax. I had calls to return, one of which couldn’t be good news. I called Arnold.
“What’s up?” I asked falling on the couch.
“Not you by the sound of it.”
“Long couple of days.”
“I heard.” The pause was long. “I’m sorry; the guy was a friend of yours, right?”
I could snap at him for being this insensitive, but this was him making an effort. “One of my best friends. My best friend’s husband, so yeah.”
“Fuck. I’m sorry, I—”
“I know. I appreciate the sentiment, I do, but I doubt that’s why you wanted me to call.”
“Damian paid me a visit.”
I straightened. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It was mostly bragging about how he was going to win and I really should consider joining his side. Claims he punished the guy who killed Midge. I finally saw the coroner’s report so I’m inclined to believe him on that point. But that’s not the important thing. He let slip that you can beat him.”
“He said that?”
“Well the tone was more derisive, like sure, you could beat him if he closed his eyes and tied both arms behind himself, but just the fact he considers it a possibility means there’s a change, right?”
I sighed. “I this point, I want to be careful about believing anything he says. He’s too good at lying, but thanks for telling me. Is there anything else? I need to crash.”
“No, that’s it. I’m really sorry about your friend.”
“Thanks.” I terminated the call and sent everything new to the message center.
Upstairs, Eddy wasn’t in his crib. I knocked on Lorraine’s door.
“Come in,” she replied softly.
She sat in the rocking chair, rocking Eddy. He smile faded as she looked at me.
“Not something you need to worry about,” I said. “Personal stuff. Do you mind if I take him for a bit, I could use the comfort.”
She offered him to him.
“Hey little buddy,” I whispered. “How has working at Tessa firm been?”
“A lot of questions, a lot of forms. But it is work I can do. It feels good. Tessa says as I get better with English, I will be able to take better work.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. When does Eddy need to feed?”
“In an hour.”
“I’ll have him back to you by then.” I headed down the stairs and stretched on the couch. Eddy cooed at me and grabbed my whiskers. “Don’t expect to be allowed to do that for long. You’re already starting to pull on them too strongly.” He giggled.
I made faces at him, offered him my finger to replace my whiskers and he chewed in them.
* * * * *
I woke to the doorbell, and the absence of weight on my chest. With a curse I was up and searching the living room through two more bells, finding Eddy curled up by the heating vent.
He protested as I picked him up. “Really? I’m way hotter than a vent, just ask any guy who knows me.”
I opened the door on the fifth bell. “Sorry,” I said, “had to track—” I stopped at the sight of the mule deer.
“Can I stay here for a time? I can’t go home, not without him there.”
“Of course, come in. Let me return Eddy to his mother and I’ll be back.” My phone said I’d only napped for thirty minutes. I asked Lorraine where she wanted Eddy, and the door connecting our living rooms opened.
I felt a little annoyed at how eager Eddy was to be in her arms, but reminding myself he had to be getting hungry, and she was his meal.
She nodded yo Zee. “Will you be busy all night?”
I nodded, not that I expected sex to happen in his state. I’d cleared my head in Greece, but I remember how I’d felt until then. Lorraine and I had an agreement that if I had someone overnight, she could keep Eddy in her room.
She took Eddy’s hand he hers and made him wave at me. “She good night to your father, Edwardo.” The rest was in Spanish.
I took Zee to bed, and as expected, all we did was hold each other and sleep.
* * * * *
The next four days passed with Zee spending his time at Steel Link. In spite of the explanations I’d given him, the Director had decided to put Zee on leave. He hadn’t said how long, but the way Zee said it, it would be until he made a decision on how to handle the magic situation.
It left Zee free to throw himself in helping me. I suggested he could stay at my place, but he wanted to do something, and as he said. “Damian is afraid of that thing you are looking for, so anything I can do yo help you find it, I will.”
He didn’t mix as well as I’d expected with the shifters and slicers, his usual jovial demeanor had been replaced with a grim determination, but once he demonstrated his own skills, they gave him his space.
So I went back to running the company, dodging both Colby and Tom as much as I could, until they reached a truce and tag teamed me.
The sex felt good. Helped me feel more like myself.
Eight of the men carrying briefcases were attacked, five died. Fortunately, they were all decoys. The first of the pieces arrived on the third day, and I immediately took it to the room Fred had shielded. He swore a nuclear magical bomb could be detonated in it and no one would sense it.
I had no plans on putting that to the test. In the room, I opened that case to confirm the section on it in, and I felt the power wash over me. Not only could I fuck every men in the building, I could make them want it.
I slammed the case shut and put it in the vault. I was not taking them out of there. If anyone got their hands on it, it would be chaos.
The next day, a dozen men arrived, only three of whom had a section on the artifact. That meant there was only one left in transit, and the one from the missing altar. Each piece was locked away in its case and in the vault.
As the day came to an end, Zee headed to my office, a predatory grin on his face. “I know who has the altar,” he said, before slammed the door behind him. “And you are not going to believe it.”
