The house smelled of the Caribbean, stopping Zee in his tracks. Marcus was humming to himself, the sound of plates and cutlery adding to the musicalness. He couldn’t believe how energetic his husband sounded. “Hun,” Zee said as he entered the kitchen from the mudroom, “when did you get here?” The red deer kissed Zee before it registered he’d crossed the cozy room. Zikabar wrapped his arms around his husband’s neck and melted against him. He whined when Marcus ended it. “I got here twenty minutes ago.” He nuzzled Zee’s neck. “And you did all this in that time?” Marcus laughed. “No. I set up the slow cooker this morning. I didn’t want you to have to eat out of a wrapper again.” He poked Zee’s firm stomach. “I love you fit and trim.” “You are an angel.” Marcus tapped Zee’s nose. “I don’t think those exist.” “They do, no matter what Denton says about Christianity, because I’m looking at one. If Denton wasn’t coming over, I’d have you drag me to the bedroom and make me squeal under your angelic might.” “I really don’t think angels engage in sex, love.” “We need to change that.” Marcus squeezed Zee’s ass, and the mule deer squealed. “There, I made you squeal. For the rest, it wouldn’t be fair to our favorite cheetah to fuck without him.” Marcus slapped Zee’s ass. “Go change into something more appropriate for the house.” * * * * * “Denton!” Zee hugged the cheetah. “It is so good to see you again. How are you feeling?” “Exhausted. I spent the afternoon arguing with over a hundred elders about going the sensible thing, yet again. You have no idea how well-timed your offer to eat here was.” “And you’re in luck, it won’t be takeout as I promised.” “You cooked?” Denton said, his voice breaking in surprise. “I wish,” Zee replied mournfully, “Things have been so busy at the bureau with Homeland on our case for letting this little war Damian is engaged in start that I have had no chance to stick to my online cooking classes. I’m afraid that’s one expenditure that will not be recouped. But Marcus, angel that he is, managed to have food ready. We were just waiting on you to begin.” Someone cleared his throat behind Denton and Zee looked over the cheetah’s head. “Oh, you brought a guest.” The badger looked familiar, one of Denton’s multitude of friends Zee had to have met at one orgy or another. “He kind of brought himself. That’s Tom.” Denton said the name in such a way Zee knew the cheetah expected him to know who this was. And it was the suit that did it. Clean-cut, sharp edges and tailored to hide the holster. The badger smirk as Zee realized who this was. “Mister Marrows?” “Did you know the fountain of youth was a fantastic fuck?” the badger said. “Fountain of youth?” Zee asked Denton. “I’ll explain later.” “Alright.” Zee raised his voice. “Hun, we’ll need an extra plate, mister Marrows is also here.” “On it,” his husband answered. Marcus stopped in the process of setting down the fourth glass of wine and stared at the badger. Marrows grinned. “Ain’t magic great?” “Denton has promised to explain,” Zee said, and Marcus nodded. “Mark yourself at home,” Marcus said. “Keep your pants on,” Denton added. “Yes,” Marcus said, “the pants removal is for after dinner.” “I don’t know if we should stay,” Denton said, sitting. “This isn’t the usual—” “Nonsense,” Zee stopped him, taking the facing chair. “Our bed can fit four just as easily as three.” “Glad to hear it.” The badger sat on Denton’s left. “I heard great things about Marcus.” Zee tried to keep his smile pleasant, but he felt the frost form at the corner. “Mister Marrows, keep in mind my husband needs my permission to top someone other than me or Denton. You would do well to behave, if that is what you are after.” “Duly noted,” the badger said as Marcus placed a plate before him. “How about we keep the discussion of who will top whom for after dinner?” Marcus said. “Yes,” Zee picked up, “after all, you promised me an update when you asked me to look into Belize for you, Denton.” Zee inhales the smells from the bowl Marcus placed before him and was immediately transported back to the Jamaican vacation they took years before. The food, the men, the pleasures. He shuddered and when he looked up Marcus was grinning. This had been the reaction his husband had hoped for. The taste of the food had a similar effect. “Oh, wow,” the badger said. “I need you to cook for me every night.” Zee studied him, and the bliss on his face seemed genuine. Zee smiles. “This is extremely good, hun.” Marcus blushed. “Well, I try.” “So,” Denton said, “ready for the update?” Zee nodded and Denton began, starting with Alice’s capture, Arthur Orr’s death, which Zee had heard about, as anyone with an internet connection, the media was pushing the image of the diminutive tiger as a saint a little too hard for Zee’s liking. The consequences were a bit of a surprise to Zikabar. He’d noticed the disarray in responding to Damian’s attack after the death, but hadn’t known Arnold had taken it hard enough to recluse himself entirely. “So, I’m in charge now,” Denton said, with resigned acceptance. About fucking time, Zee thought. He’d questioned Denton letting the tiger take over, and would have pushed, but Marcus held him bad. His more perceptive husband had seen something deeper in Denton’s excuse than he needed to be free to look after his son. But now things were as they should be. Which didn’t mean Denton was happy with the responsibility. “So even now, they won’t simply do as you tell them?” Marcus asked. “Isn’t your position as champion clear?” Denton rolled his eyes. “Oh they made it clear they can believe I’ve been picked as champion.” “But they are obeying you, correct?” Zee asked. Chain of command was something he knew, and like his husband, he had difficulty understanding how disorganized a group like the Society was. Even among the multiple Law enforcement agencies, there was a hierarchy. Zee didn’t always like it, but he followed it. “About half have reluctantly accepted me as our god’s representative, they give me the least lip. The others protest harder until the last quarter who simply refuse to see me as more than my family. I figure the Rasias wronged those worse than the rest. Max is trying to get them to see reason, but I’m not holding much hope. I’m mainly worried about one of them. The Mastrotsis protect one of the hearth, if I can’t get them to agree to get the piece of the device out of their hearth, it’s all for nothing.” “Just march in there and get it yourself,” Marrows said, cleaning the bowl with a piece of bread. “Not how I do things.” “I’m afraid I agree with mister Marrows,” Marcus said. “From what you say, this is a fate of the world level problem. I’m not sure being nice is what is required.” “But wouldn’t leaving it there ensure it can’t be assembled and used against you?” Zee asked. “The problem I see with that is that I have no idea what a piece of it can do. I know the whole can influence men, make the sex slave. Think the Orr’s influence jacked up a thousand time. I saw a holder turn an entire city guard to his will. Not to mention reverse his aging process. I got the sense that wasn’t the limits. If a piece can also do stuff like that, I can’t let Damian get it, there’s no telling what he will come up with. If he can turn our men against us, this is over. We lose.” “You saw those things in dreams your god sent you.” Zee shuddered. “Is that safe? Isn’t there a danger it could hurt you?” Denton shook his head. “They aren’t all that restful, but that was probably because I was fighting them. And they’re over. I have all the information I need.” “That those are what Damian is after,” Marcus said, “so he can kill your god.” Zee watched his husband study the cheetah. “Will you eventually tell us what you’re holding back?” Denton grimaced. “I’m hoping it won’t come to that. I know what Damian wants to do, but I haven’t worked out what how I want to counter-attack.” “Easy,” the badger said, “Assemble the thing and use it against that tiger.” Zee saw it then, watching his friend; whatever he was holding back it had to do with that. He opened his mouth, but Marcus shook his head. Pushing wouldn’t do any good. Denton believed this was something he needed to resolve on his own. The sweet idiot. “But,” Denton said, “even that’s pointless if we can’t find the altar that was taken out of the Belize hearth.” The cheetah looked at Zee expectantly. “You did not give me much to go on,” Zee said, “a roughly carved stone block four feet long, a little over two wide and close to three high, no, I will not use ‘at fucking height’ when talking with other agencies. I have contacted people I know within the border services department, but you don’t even know if it came to the United States. This country is the extent of my direct influence. To ask the Belize agencies, I need to go through the state department, who will be rather curious as to why I want to know. I could ask the CIA or NSA to look into it, but I don’t think you want them asking why, since secrecy is vital. If I at least had a time frame, it would help focus the search.” “Can’t you get your basement team looking into it? They won’t attract as much attention since they’re always looking into odd stuff?” Denton asked. “And not taken seriously. The can ask civilians questions, and even get police to cooperate with them due to their FBI credentials, but other agencies don’t answer to us, so they have no reasons to answer them.” Denton nodded. Before he spoke Marcus returned to the table with a gallon of strawberry ice cream and handed out spoons. “Dig in,” he said and the next five minutes passes inhaling ice cream until brain freeze force Zee to stop. Denton leaned back in his chair. “I do have some more information, but I don’t know how useful it’s going to be. Frank’s been on a phone spree to everyone he knows for anything available regarding Belize. But there isn’t much left. The hearth there is old. It predates the colonization of the Americas. Magic throws a wrench in the migration patterns science believes in. This tells me there should have been a family looking over it, maybe Inca, but there’s gone. The Gray Church was part of the missionaries sent to pacify the natives when the Spanish got there. They would have wiped out any faction they met.” “Could they have taken the altar?” Marcus asked. “I don’t think so. The hearth is something the Society has been careful to keep from the church. They are our holiest of places. The church would destroy them in an instant. Damian is who brought knowledge of them when he took over.” “Then someone from the Society was hiding among the Spaniard and got to it,” the badger said. “Could the do that?” Zee asked, “hide under the Gray Church’s nose?” Marrows snorted. “On a ship full of men, at sea for months? I can promise you that even those religious nuts took part in some men on men fun. Best place for obsessed guy to hide.” Denton shrugged. “Frank confirmed the European families send agents with the Spaniards, but who is lost to history, the inquisition, and Society infighting. A dozen families just vanished out of Europe during the inquisition. But all traces of who they were, including their name, was erased. Clearly some immigrated here, but who? No idea. The Society is obsessive about their lineage, but as equally obsessed with keeping the wrong people from getting their hands on that information.” Zee enjoyed a few spoons of ice cream. “That isn’t of much help.” “I know. Frank is still looking. Europe was a lot more interconnected back then, so one of the families might have a record that’s going to be useful, but they refuse to digitize any of it, so it’s going to be slow.” Zee tried to get another spoonful into him, but the knowledge this next subject would probably anger Denton made his stomach turn. Of course, he could stay silent. He didn’t have to disclose this, but that felt like a betrayal of their friendship after Denton had let him into this magical world. He drooped the spoon in the container. “There’s been enough of a shakeup within Damian’s organization with the arrest of four bishop for various crimes involving blood and bodies and a shadow of his presence is becoming visible.” Zee continued over Denton’s exasperated sigh. “The disappearance of Arthur Orr’s killer from police custody is another angle I can look into. Alexander Orr confirmed they did not take him, so Damian is the only other possibility. Why he would want to protect this asset when he has had no problem sacrificing others, I can’t tell, but clearly this one was important.” “And you trust an Orr?” the badger asked before Denton could express his displeasure. “Alexander was rather angry the shooter was gone. It was his brother who was murdered after all, so yes, I believed him.” “I really wish you’d drop this, Zee,” Denton said, sounding less angry than the mule deer expected. “Damian is a treat to you, Denton, you cannot expect me to sit on the sideline and wait for him to spring his trap on you.” “Can’t you talk some sense into him, Marcus?” “I’ve tried, multiple times.” The red deer looked at Zee and smiled lovingly. “But my husband can be stupidly brave when it come to keeping his friend safe.” “I am not being stupid, hun. I am still framing my search within the context of looking into the cardinal’s death. The task force is minuscule now, but it’s enough to camouflage my work.” “Zee, Damian is—” “A master strategist. I know you bring that up each time, but he is not a god, in spite of what he seems to think. He has made mistakes, it simply of finding them, and connecting them until a pattern appears. Finding people is what I excel at. I will admit Damian has proven to be a challenge like no other, but that simply makes this more fun.” “Is there anything I can say to make you drop this?” Denton asked. “I’m afraid not. This goes beyond your world of magic and into mine. Damian is a serial killer and he must be stop.” “Fine. I give up. Seems being a champion’s doing me any good. Marcus, you better keep a close eye on your husband, because I don’t want anything to happen to him.” “You have my word that I will keep him safe with my life.” “Call me before it gets that bad, okay? I don’t want to lose you either.” “Good,” Zee smiled. “With that resolved, why don’t we adjourn to the bedroom. Marcus has told me he wants me to stay fit, which means I will need to be fucked multiple times to work off this meal.” The badger clapped once. “I can definitely get with that plan.” Zee leveled his gaze on the badger. “Hun, has mister Marrows been well behaved enough to deserve your cock up his ass?” “If it helps,” Denton said, standing and unbuttoning his shirt. “He has an amazing ass, and he loves it rough, so if you have some pent-up anger about your husband’s reckless behavior, he’s the perfect guy to work it off on.” “Absolutely not.” Zee stood and glared at his best friend. “If I have angered my husband, I will take the punishment. Your friend can get the sloppy seconds, that I don’t care about.” “So, I’m getting his cock up my ass, right?” the badger asked. “Yes, dear, you will have the privilege of being fucked by my husband.” “Then why are we still hanging around here?” the badger has his shirts off. “Show me the bed so we can get this going already!”