Durance by Lyn Gala Page 0,44

in her arms. Ahtisham was trying to help, but she waved him off and headed for her desk. When Kavon walked over, she graced him with the same withering glare that Kavon’s grandmother used to give him. “Next time blow up a street in someone else’s town. That way we can leave the clean-up to them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kavon said dryly. “We need to discuss our classified case.”

Coretta nodded. “Joe, Ahtisham, Jen, stay on the background checks.”

Kavon felt the surge of frustration. They couldn’t do more without leads, so the checks were busy work. At best, they were searching for a needle in a stack of needles. Meanwhile, Anzu was threatening the world. Even Ahtisham’s world would be forever changed if everyone with Talent died. The chaos that followed that sort of disaster would upend the world. And Coretta had him sifting through piles of information looking for a lead that might not exist.

Kavon didn’t say anything, but Darren moved to Kavon’s side and raised his eyebrows in a silent question.

“I’d rather have Ahtisham in on this meeting,” Kavon said. He trusted Ahtisham, so leaving him out of this conversation because of his mundane status was wrong.

Coretta’s eyes got large and it took a few seconds for her to speak. “You heard him. The rest of you, please have something on our cases when I get back. We’re all going to be buried in cleanup work once forensics finishes with the scene, so I would like some progress before then.”

Ahtisham followed them toward the large conference room next to Salma’s office. She should be back by the afternoon, and Kavon wanted to have some pieces in place before she showed up to advocate for her Egyptian brand of secrecy and seclusion.

Chapter Fifteen

“Well this is fucked up,” Ahtisham said. Kavon didn’t remember ever hearing the man swear before.

“Funny, that’s what I said when they told me,” Les said.

Ahtisham scratched the side of his neck. “Is there a reason you’ve decided to brief me on this?”

Kavon traced the grain on the table top. “The Talent community can’t keep this secret. This is the fate of our world, and all of us share it.”

“Yeah,” Les said. “And if we’re going to be miserable, you might as well share in the unhappiness.”

“Gee, thanks,” Ahtisham said. “So, are we looking for the human partner or are we focusing on the durance? I’m feeling useless in this fight, so I need someone to point me in the right direction.”

“You’re not alone there,” Rima said. “I’m almost sorry I didn’t become a shaman so I could see trouble coming at me.”

“Time-walking doesn’t work when events are this chaotic,” Kavon said. He wished he could slip out of his body and peek into a future where he had managed to navigate this disaster. “Shamans don’t have any advantage over magic users going into this fight.”

“Other than the obvious advantage that you can see the combatants,” Ahtisham said softly.

Rima spoke up. “And on that note, Joe is a shaman. If he’s on the team, shouldn’t we tell him what’s going on?”

When Les laughed, his voice was rough and without any humor. “Man, I am as pro-sharing as a man can get, but maybe we can avoid dragging any new people into this until we have something that approaches a plan?”

“I agree,” Kavon said. He didn’t want untested and unproven agents in the middle of this particular fight.

Darren appeared ready to argue the point, but Coretta spoke up before he could. “So what are we going to do if Pochi decides to start a new purge?”

Kavon grimaced. Sometimes he disliked Coretta’s habit of going straight for the jugular.

After looking around the room, Les said, “Please tell me that your silence isn’t a suggestion that we’ll all die in a fiery blaze of glory.”

“I assume there will be less blaze and glory and more death,” Darren said. “However, Bennu is on our side and I think Pochi is willing to wait, at least for a while.” He gave Kavon a worried look and touched his hip. Kavon felt a tingle in his own mark. If Pochi killed them, Bennu would probably be forced off the earth with them. It was a leash, one that the other ifrit had only attached to Bennu. That suggested that Pochi had more standing with the other ifrit.

“So the little hummingbird I had to carry off the battlefield is the great docent general?” Les asked. “That’s not reassuring, because he got his ass kicked.”

“He