There was the knock, and the door opened. I paused the video and looked up. Jeroen stood in the doorway. “Mister Cormoran has just driven into the garage; I mean Elder Cormoran, not his son.” As usual, the rat was flustered just talking about Max. He got the same way anytime an elder was here. “Thanks. Are Fred and Frank still in the building?” “As far as I know.” “Have them come to conference room two, then please bring Max there too.” “Me? Wouldn’t—” “Yes, you, Jeroen. You run the office I can’t be the only elder you don’t hide from.” “I’m just—I shouldn’t be around them.” “You definitely should be around them. Most need a reminder there’s little folks like you affected by their decisions. Now, go to work.” I watched the last minute of the video, then headed for the conference room. The lions joined me a minute last, still smelling of sex. Two minutes later Jeroen opened the door and ushered Max in. “Thank you, mister Lewiston,” Max said. “Will you need anything, sirs?” Jeroen asked stiffly. “We’re good,” I answered before Max could make the rat even more uncomfortable by making some absurd request. Or offering to have sex with him. How would Jeroen react to an elder wanting that? The door closed, and I motioned for the cougar to fit on my left. I extended my hand. “We are going to want privacy for this discussion.” Max hesitated. I’d explained Jeroen’s power to him, but this was his first time experiencing it. Fred had put the rat through his paces the moment he’d found out about it. Frank had come along when Fred had tested the limit of people Jeroen could bring. I couldn’t see myself ever needing to bring over thirty people in, but it was good to know that at thirty-two, I’d be unconscious. The three placed their hands on my arm, and we were in a black space, devoid of anything, except us. The act of activating the power was odd. There was a wrenching sensation, but it immediately turned inward. Max looked around. “This is weird.” He sounded odd. The space had no echo, none of the usual reverberations I was used to. “Why can I read your mind?” “I told you, powers don’t work here.” “But, I’m touching you, I understand that physical powers wouldn’t work, but you still have a mind, I can still think.” “I can go through the indepth explanation later, Max,” Fred said. “We might have more time in here than outside, but I don’t think Dent would have called us here if it wasn’t important.” “Right, time passes faster in this place than outside,” Max mused. “Alright, Denton, why did you need to speak with us?” I wished I could create chairs, this would be so more comfortable sitting. “Before the three of you decide to strangle me, let me finish okay?” Max sighed. “That is not a good way to start a meeting.” “I know, but I don’t want to test if I can be killed in here, at least not until I’ve giving you all the information.” Fred and Frank looked at one another, but remained silent. “I held something pretty big out of the elder’s meeting a few days ago.” “Denton!” Max yelled in exasperation. “This is exactly why they don’t trust you; you say you’re nothing like your family and then you do this. What do you expect Erotas to do when he finds out you withheld yet something else from him?” “I’m hoping you’ll understand why I kept it to myself. As for why I waited until now to tell you, did you hear the news out of Mongolia?” “I received the file from Burugal, same as you.” “We didn’t,” Frank said. “Did they find something?” “Yes,” I answered. “They can’t tell what it is, but there is something new there. That’s confirmation He was hiding something. Elder Achujam doesn’t want to destroy the altar, so he’s looking for a stone manipulator. It should give the other elder time to do their own scans since not one of them has done it yet.” “Idress said there was a delay getting the sonar.” “And what’s the others’ excuses?” I scoffed. I took a breath. “Doesn’t matter. Unless elder Mastrotsis is on board already, he’s who will set the time table, anyway.” “I’m afraid knowing you were right about the altar hasn’t made him more interested in cooperating.” “So, on to what I held back. The thing in the altar, it does a whole lot more than kill gods. And it doesn’t even do that, not really.” “You said Damian wanted it to kill Him,” Frank said. “Damian wants it to replace Him,” I replied. “That’s what it actually does. Lets the person become the god he kills.” “Why didn’t you tell them that?” Fred asked. “They’ve all seen what Damian’s done. No one wants him as our god.” “Because one elder or another is bound to wonder if they could do a better job being a god than He is doing,” Max said, annoyed. “I’ll grant you this was a good thing to hold back. What is the other? Or others?” “It channels His power. Think of it as a mobile hearth, but you can bend that power to your will. The hyena extended his life, reversed his aging until he was at his sexual peak. He bent men’s will to his own with it. He didn’t just make them horny like the Orrs do, he made them his things. I didn’t get enough details to work out if they were mindless slaves or just adored him enough to defend him, but imagine what Raphael would do with that power?” “Or any of the elders who think they are more right than the rest.” Max said. “No more negotiations between families, just one will being obeyed. Fuck. That thing could start an inner war.” “And you don’t even know the worse part,” I said. Max glared at me. “What could be worse?” “I have no idea if the broken pieces retain any of those powers.” Max’s mouth moved, terror filled his eyes, but it was Fred who voiced it. “If one of them accidentally realizes they are holding immense power, there’s no way we’re the pieces.” “There’s no way they are going to give you the pieces, Dent,” Frank said. “Not one of them are going to be willing to hand that to a Rasia.” “We need to come up with a way to ensure no one handles the pieces,” Max said. “I don’t know that we can manage that,” Fred said. “Telekinetics aren’t that common. And if it’s like the hearth, just being around it they’ll be able to sense the energy.” “And so will Damian,” Frank added. “You can be sure he has people close by with their version of magic sense phrases.” “Alright,” Max said in his elder voice. “First, stop panicking. The Altars are within the hearths, where the level of magic is already through the roof, so long as the piece is in there, they won’t be able to tell the difference.” I let out a sigh of relief. “Right.” “But what if?” Fred trailed off. “No, the piece isn’t the source of the magic boost, since Belize is without an altar. Okay, we’re safe there.” “Fred, can you design a phrase capable of containing that kind of power output?” Max asked. “Probably, but I’d have to be next to one of them to build it. I have no idea of the output.” “I’ll tell Burugal to expect you. In the meantime, we use Damian to make sure they don’t take the pieces out of the hearths. As you said Frank, he is certain to have people watching.” “Okay,” Fred said, “that takes care of two problems, but the moment we take the pieces out, in whatever container we use, Damian knows what to go for.” “That one’s easy to deal with,” I said, “We do what banks do, use decoys. Once you’ve figured out the phrase to use, let the others know, and we then write it on seven or eight different identical cases, each one travels on a different route, and we hope Damian doesn’t have enough people in place to intercept all of them.” “But he’s got to know they’re all coming here,” Frank said. “But this is my city, and I’ve cleaned it out if his agents. I’m sure he’s managed to slip a few back in, but the police is free, and Max?” The cougar nodded. “I had a conversation with the commissioner. She too was marked, so explaining the reality of magic to her and the need to keep things quiet, wasn’t hard. I’m sorry I couldn’t speak to your captain. She made it clear the only way she was cooperating with me was if she, and only she, got to decide who else was read in. I made a case for captain Sherman, but the decision is hers.” “Makes sense.” “Have you put any thought in what’s you’ll do with the pieces once they’re here?” Frank asked. “Other than seeing if they can be destroyed?” I replied, “not really.” “What if we used it to turn Damian?” the lion asked. “That would require us assembling it,” Fred said. “I can’t see that being a good idea. If Damian somehow gets his hand on it, it’s game over.” I sighed. “But it would certainly fix this mess once and for all.” “Can it be used to kill Damian?” Max asked. “If he can’t be turned?” “I don’t know, it was never used to kill someone ‘normal’ in what He showed me. If it had happened, I’m certain He would have shown me.” “Is we can’t use it to kill Damian,” Frank said, “we can use it to kill his god.” The silence lasted a few seconds before Fred said, “except it isn’t killing a god.” “It’s replacing it,” Max finished. “Don’t look at me,” I said. “For one thing, being a champion is enough work, I have no interest in godhood. I love sex too much to give that up, and I have a son to raise.” “Which means that if we go that route,” Max said, “we need to make sure there is someone with you willing to make that sacrifice.” “How the fuck do we explain that to anyone without them realizing there might be a different god they’d want to take the place of?” Frank asked. “Like Dent said, we all like sex too much.” “Taking his place won’t mean you get to have sex. He feeds on the energy we release, he doesn’t engage in it.” “Do we know anyone who has the character to do that sacrifice without being told to?” Fred asked. The three of them looked at me. “I already said I’m not doing it. Max you fought hard enough for me to have a son, don’t tell me you want to take over raising him, my answer is no.” “Let’s put this aside,” Max said. “Until we have all the pieces the question of meaningless. Is there anything else we need to discuss in the dark place?” “What are the odds you can convince Mastrotsis to do what we need him to?” I asked. “Low. I don’t think this is going to happen by myself or over a video call. I think the best way to accomplish it is to find a group of elder Erotas trusts and who believe in you. And do this in person.” “Alright. So, Fred and Frank go to Mongolia. You and our allies head to Greece. I’ll—” “I think you misunderstood me,” Max said, and my heart sank. “You need to come along.” “I really don’t see what I can—” “Denton, you are His champion.” “Don’t remind me.” Max chuckled. “I swear, sometimes I think you are purposefully dense.” “No, he isn’t,” Fred replied. “He’s just dense.” I glare at the grinning lion. “Denton, in spite of how you can aggravate people, you have a knack for getting them to see things your way. It’s almost as if you radiate His presence.” “Can we not make me any more special than I’ve decided to accept?” “Sorry,” Fred said, “the best I can offer is to not tell Colby.” “I hate you,” I said, taking us back to the real world.