for my work for the FBI or my position on the Council, but in either case, attacking you would disable me.”
“So you left out the whole part where a durance from another universe is threatening to declare war?” Darren summarized.
“I trust White, but do you trust everyone who would read his reports?”
“Okay, you might have a point there, but this war is going to affect mundanes, too. They have a right to know they might wake up to find a sizable percentage of the population slaughtered by invisible aliens from another dimension.” Darren understood Kavon’s concerns. If someone in the top levels of the FBI had an anti-Talent bias, this would be fodder for them. And given how many of the rank and file officers were borderline anti-Talent, it was reasonable to assume there were assholes at the top as well. But the situation might burst into public view any time. Up until this point, Darren had assumed Bennu could handle the durance. Now... he simply wasn’t sure. “White understands politics better than we do, couldn't we tell him our concerns?”
“And what?” Kavon demanded. “Ask him to violate his oath by concealing information on a terror threat against the United States?”
Darren wanted to rub his face in exasperation, but that would require moving. Kavon was assuming that White was as rule-bound as Kavon was. Darren wasn’t so sure. From what he’d seen, White was more the type to trust his subordinates to handle the details and focus on setting the unit goals. However, Kavon knew White better. Darren was still mentally debating whether to push the issue when Kavon changed the subject.
“Do you want to work on some healing energies?” Kavon asked.
“Yeah,” Darren said. “That would be awesome. Is your bull willing to share some energy, or do you want me to call Bennu?” The bull was far less likely to drop too much magic, so Darren trusted him more with the smaller spells, but sometimes the damn guide was as stubborn as Kavon.
Kavon closed his eyes and his guide appeared, snorting loudly and pawing the floor. After it had shuffled around in a circle and assured himself that no enemies were hiding behind the bedpans, the bull gave a weird snuffling noise and settled. “He will happily help,” Kavon said. His freckles glowed with a subtle blue shamanic light.
An expanding bubble forced its way into their bond, a pressure that felt almost like the air pressure change when an airplane took off, and then Darren’s ears popped . Kavon rested his palm against Darren's chest and his skin tingled. When the heat reached Darren’s collarbone, his whole body shuddered. Muscles tightened like the morning after a hard run, and the urge to stretch became overwhelming.
“That feels good.”
Kavon chuckled. “Most people say I’m clumsy at healing.”
“Most people are fucking morons,” Darren said. He arched his back, and it cracked audibly. “Thank God for the extra-large beds because I think I'm gonna want you to do this for the next hour or two.” Darren slipped his arm around Kavon and pulled their bodies closer. When Kavon’s hand slid around to the small of Darren’s back, the heat shifted with it. Darren groaned as his cock started to grow.
“People who use their Talents in conjunction with one another often transfer energy. That's why the beds are larger. I imagine any number of partners have had sex on this bed.” Kavon delivered all statements with such nonchalance that Darren was caught off-guard.
“Sex? In a hospital?”
Kavon rolled his eyes. “You know sex is one of the easiest ways to transfer energy from one person to another.”
“‘Energy’? Is that what we’re calling it now?” Darren wiggled his eyebrows at Kavon. “It’s like the plot of a porn. The big bad shaman will fuck their partner healthy.”
Kavon’s expression turned incredulous. “Porn movies feature people with Talent?”
Darren offered his lover an exaggerated moue. “I don't know the actors have Talent or not, and I do mean that pun. However, having the plot center around someone with Talent bringing his big, magical dick to the relationship is pretty much a porn standard.” Darren expected Kavon to show some recognition or embarrassment. Instead, he just continued to looked confused. “Come on, you have to know that. You're a man. I know you watched porn.”
“Not really.”
“Okay, I'm weirdly unsurprised,” Darren said dryly. “But you’ve seen some.”
Kavon shrugged. “Maybe when I was a teenager. I might've watched a few free videos on the Internet.”
“Whoa. The free stuff. That stuff makes me