Zee slapped the accept icon on the desk. “Denton, is everything alright? I was worried sick, you just stopped talking, and the connection cut, I couldn’t reconnect.”
“I’m okay, Zee, you can breathe.”
“Dear God, I was so worried. What were you even doing there?”
“I was supposed to have a meeting with Raphael Lewiston, but it was a trap. Damian was waiting for me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have warned you.”
“It didn’t occur to me. You were keeping busy with the slicers, I didn’t want to bother you. Didn’t you know that’s where they were?”
“No, I didn’t look past them settling into Denver. I figured you’d know where they went, you kicked them out after all. You really didn’t know it happened in Kansas City?”
“I didn’t check. I was too busy fretting over you, the made a beeline to the Bureau, after that I was dealing with the artifact, and I didn’t want to add to your pain my asking about it. I knew all I needed to know, which of course was me being an idiot again. But it’s over.”
“Damian is dead?” Zee hated himself for how happy that thought made him feel. He should be better. The stretching silence made him ask, “Denton? Denton, hun. Tell me Marcus’ murderer is dead,” He demanded.
“It’s not that simple, Zee.”
“What is complicated about avenging my husband, Denton,” Zee ask coldly. “I understand that it was a surprise, that you didn’t purposely keep me out of it in a misguided attempt to protect me, But hum, I was counting on you.”
“If it helps, he’s going to suffer for a very long time.”
“It goes not.”
“Zee.”
“Denton, he murdered the one man who competed with you. I didn’t want him to suffer, I wanted him ended.”
“And then what? Zee, his god brought him back from the dead already. If I’d killed him, he could have done it again.”
“Not if you destroyed him.”
“Zee you told me he was ash before leaving the cave. What could I do that a god couldn’t undo? And he wasn’t the ultimate threat. He wanted me dead, but the war against us, against my god, I don’t think that was him, Damian was too pissed at his god when he finally killed him for forcing him.” There was a long sigh. “Zee, I don’t even know if I could have killed him. It’s Damian, if he’d suspected I was letting him win, he wouldn’t have fallen for it.”
“He won?” Zee had trouble breathing. The unfairness of it. He’d lost the second most important man in his life, and Damian got what he was after. Denton wasn’t making any sense.
“After a fashion. But as soon as I suspected what he was really after, I forced him to kill every believe his god had. Have you looked at the news?”
“No,” Zee whispered.
“The early numbers have them at a hundred thousand just dropping dead, bleeding from a fresh tattoo. Damian might have become a god, but—”
“He what?” Zee squeaked.
“Calm down, it’s—”
“How do you expect me to do that when the man that tried to kill you three times now is a god? What’s to stop him from coming after you again?”
“The rules.”
“He’s a god, Denton.”
“He still has rules. Don’t ask me how or who enforces them, but the rules are real. The basic one for us is that a god can only affect his own followers. So both of us are out of his reach.”
“He could send them after you.”
“If he had any left. And they’d be people. I can deal with people wanting me dead. And he can’t just nominate someone as a follower. They have to contact him, but he’s taking over one hell of an unknown god if no one I talked to even knew who this Sahataan was.”
“So he’s going to starve to death?” The idea did sound good.
Another sigh. “Unfortunately no. Sahataan, so now Damian, is the god of sacrifice, from small, culminating into sacrificing a person. Hit has to be done in a specific way for him to get the full benefit, but any sacrifice will send a trickle to him. Imaging dying of thirst and only getting one drop every other day. Trust me, I felt it. It isn’t pleasant.”
“So, unending suffering. It isn’t what I was hoping for, hun.”
“I know. But it’s the best I can give you. I would have killed him, Zee, if I thought it would have resolved everything.”
“I know,” Zee finally said, trying to process how he felt. “I need to go.” He disconnected, cutting Denton’s protests and hurried out of the computer room. He wouldn’t make it to one of the bedrooms. Now that he no longer had his vengeance driving him, the grief was flooding back in. He made it to a bathroom stall and utterly broke down.
* * * * *
His suit was a light gray, silver or maybe cloud gray? He should know the name, but anytime he tried to name it, he heard Marcus’ voice chiding him lovingly for knowing the difference between anchor and ash gray, and the names evaporated.
“Special Agent Malhotra Bodenman,” The security guard greeted him, and Zee’s heart sank as he signed in.
Not Special Agent in Charge, just Special Agent. He tried not to assume the Director had called him just to tell him he was being demoted, but why else let him stew for a week before requesting this meeting?
He forced a smile. “Can you tell me where I can find Director Patterson?”
“Behind you,” the Director answered.
Zee straightened and turned. The beagle wore his usual neutral expression. “Walk with me, Zikabar.”
Zee fell in step with his superior and waited.
“How are you doing?”
“I’m good,” Zee answered without hesitation.
The beagle glanced at him. “Are you telling me that, or yourself? You’re not the first within the Bureau to have lost a loved one because of the work we do.”
Zee didn’t reply. He didn’t trust himself. It was the first time he dealt with this side of the Director; the understanding man. Normally he dealt with the stern, no none sense, man.
“To alleviated your concerns, I will be reinstating you, but as co-Agent in Charge with Johanson.”
“Sir,” Zee began.
“Please let finish, Zikabar. I’m not leaving Johanson here because I don’t trust in your capabilities. I would simply remove you, if I thought you weren’t up to the task.”
“Yes, Director, then why?”
The beagle opened the door to the stairwell. “Because the world is changing. A hundred eighty-eight thousand death worldwide does not go unnoticed, not to mention the close to a million case of sudden confusion happening at the same time.” He started down. “I received confirmation from the contact your friend arranged that they were the result of magic, something about the man behind the war drawing on their lives to power himself, and their deaths releasing those the controlled. I didn’t understand most of what he said, but in the last three days conspiracy theorists have been having a field day.”
“I know, I’ve had little else to do.” Zee hadn’t meant to sound accusatory, but the beagle only nodded.
“Every law agency in the world wants to know exactly what happened, and I’m the lucky fellow with the answers, and absolutely no desire to tell them. The mess it would create if the even knew a fraction of the truth.”
“You can’t be the only one, Director. It makes no sense that none of the other factions wouldn’t have someone in a position to control the flow of information when something blows up in their face.”
The beagle smiled a little. “Did your friend tell you that?”
“Denton told me about the existence of the other factions, but the rest are my own conclusions, common sense, really.”
The Director nodded and opened another door. “If anyone else knows, they are doing as I am, and keeping the information to themselves.” Zee startled, they were on the basement level. “But the fact you reached that conclusion is why I’m doing this. This isn’t a demotion, Zikabar. As much as the Basement has been used as a place to hide our shame, it’s in an ideal position to handle these changing times. It’s why you’ll be co-Agent in Charge, because you are going to be busy reforming the Basement into a force equipped to handle these magical incidents.”
“Are you making the Basement an active division of the FBI?”
“No, at least not initially. I really hope I get enough results before I retire to make a decision because I don’t want to pass this along unresolved, so that’s going to be part of your job. Demonstrate there is a use for this version of the Basement.”
“I’m going to need more people, my team is willing to look at the unusual, but they haven’t confronted the real thing. Even my one who actually believe in magic as never seen it. I’m not certain how to go about reading them in, I don’t even know if Denton would let me.”
The beagle snorted. “Considering he forced my hand, he better damn allow it. But I’m actually going above his head on this. My contact will be sending someone over who is within the magical world.”
“Sir, is that a good idea? Not, bringing someone magical, we’ll need that, but did your contact explain how they perform their magic?”
“Yes, he did. Which is why he recommended someone from another faction. The Green Man, he called it. She doesn’t have law enforcement experience, but she’s been in the field for a few years now, doing much what you did before being promoted, tracking and apprehension.”
A shiver rang down Zee’s back. “Does she happen to be a bovine, sir?”
“She is. Do you know her?”
“I might.” He smiled, at least Denton would get one piece of good news out of this.
The director opened the door to the room the Basement team used as their office and they stood, stunned. The pangolin was the first to react.
“Director Patterson,” Mortis said, “I want to say how sorry I am for how I behaved toward you, I had no right to say what I did.”
“No, you did not.” Zee looked around for any sign froze formed in the room, he’d never thought a voice could be described as glacial until now.
Mortis winced and bowed his head. Zee felt sorry for the man. No amount of apologizing would ever get the director’s forgiveness.
“Zikabar, I’ll leave you to explain the changes to your team. Once your consultant is here, I trust you to read Johanson in. He’s going to need to know the entirety of what’s going on so he can share duties properly.” The beagle turned and left.
Zee wasn’t looking forward to that. Magdalene’s form of magic was going to freak Johanson out. But that was for another day. He looked his worried team over.
“What changes did the Director mean?” Carson asked.
Zee smiled. “I believe each one of you has stayed with the Bureau because you hoped that by enduring your punishment in the Basement, you’d be able to be reinstated as active agents. Am I correct?”
They nodded.
Zee beamed. “Then you are in luck, because as of today, your department is officially in the business of policing magic.”
