“Somehow,” Marcus said, “I didn’t expect him to stay at a Marriott.” His phone buzzed.
“But if he is to stay at one,” Zee replied, “you must admit this is a good, stylish, pick.” The Marriott Country Club Plaza was a sleek forty story building with a mix of pastel stone slabs in a gradient from mint to arctic from one side of the building to the other. The windows were framed in matte black, making them pop and the other buildings reflecting in the windows broke pattern in random and interesting ways.
Marcus put his phone away after a quick reply. “Just an update,” he said. “And I leave all decisions regarding styles to you. My color sense extends to what I’m wearing.” He indicated his gray suit.
Zee took his husband’s arm in his. “And you wear storm day so well.”
“You just made that one up love.”
“I most certainly did not. It’s the official name of the color you are wearing.” He led his husband to the door. “Remember, be discrete.” He told their escort without looking behind him. “We don’t want to attract attention.”
“Yes sir,” the hog said. The lynx remained silent, as he had most of the flight.
Zee had been surprised the two had been wearing suits when he met them at the jet. The hog, Iglesias, or Iggy to his friends, had a thick Texan drawl and was sporting a simple pinstripe peacock suit over an opal white shirt. His silent companion, Cayden, was in a garnet suit that fitted him less well, and which he was clearly not comfortable in. The little he said had hints of Canadian French in it, and of the two, he was the Society member, although Iggy did know about the world of magic.
The big surprise had been how not sexual either of the men had been. Zee had the most respect for the company Denton built, but anytime he went there, it seemed like there was an orgy going on. He understood the need for stress relief in high-pressure work, but Zee was ashamed to admit he’d formed this image of everyone Denton employed as satyric men unable to control themselves.
“We’ll stick to the walls,” Iggy said, “until you give the signal.”
The lobby was posh, it was the only word Zee could find to describe it. Unlike the pastels of the outside, the colors here were deep and rich. Wine walls the Cayden could almost vanish against. Mahogany columns from floor to ceiling, the floor was marble veined in charcoal and gold.
Well dressed business men women came and went, many of them rats, Zee was surprised to note. Some family conference maybe? He reached the front desk where a pretty rat in a well-pressed caramel suit smiled at him.
“Welcome to the Kansas City Marriott Country Club, how can I help you?”
Zee showed her his identification. “Special Agent Zikabar Malhotra Bodenman.” He gave her the time to study it before putting it away and taking his phone to show her his most recent picture of Damian. “I’d like to know if this man is still in your hotel.”
She looked at the picture and bit her lower lip. “I’m not sure if I—”
“Is there a problem?” the older rat had a manager tag over the one with his name ‘Juran’ the resemblance between the two was striking.
Zee introduced himself again, showing his ID, then the picture.
“It’s okay, Karren, I’ll help these gentlemen.” He motioned them to a vacant space. “Is he dangerous? Should I evacuate the hotel?”
“So he’s still here?”
“Yes. He arrived here a few hours ago, he had a reservation under the name Etienne de L’Or. As far as I know, he hasn’t left the hotel yet. Are the guests in danger?”
“No,” Zee said. “This will be quick and surgical. You shouldn’t even realize anything has happen. What room is he in?”
“3508.” Juran took a keycard out of his pocket. “I’m afraid I can’t transfer the override codes to your phone without first running it through head office. This card will unlock any of the rooms. Please return it when you leave.”
“Without fail.” Zee swiped it off the counter and headed to the elevator. Iggy and Cayden fell into steps as the doors opened. They closed without anyone else joining them.
“So, how r’we doing this?”
“I think it would be best if you and Cayden stayed by the stair doors,” Marcus said. “What do you think, Love?”
“If he gets by us, those are the more likely way he’ll try to run,” Zee answered.
“I don’t like it,” Cayden said, looking at his phone. “We can’t see that room from there, we should stay closer by, in case he tries something. I can freeze him there if he tries to run.”
“Except that if someone leaves their room while he’s frozen, the glow that’ll surround him will be difficult to explain,” Marcus said, glancing at Zee for his opinion.
“Marcus is correct. Denton has reminded me over and over that I cannot be responsible for bringing magic to light. The stairs men you can shove his frozen body there while we rejoin you.”
“And if he goes for Iglesias?”
“I got myself a top of the line Denxel 432 stunner. I don’t care what kind of protection he’s got. I’ve seen this thing short a tank. He comes at me and he’s going down.”
“Good,” Zee said, watching the numbers approach thirty-five. “Be casual, we’ll give you a few minutes to get in place. Once we have him subdued, we’ll call you.”
The doors opened and the lynx and hog exited first, heading in opposite directions.
“I wish we had more people,” Marcus said, arm in Zee’s.
“Too many and it’s impossible to be discrete. If we give Damian the opportunity, I have no doubt he’ll bring down this building to escape.”
“I do believe you’re right.”
They came to the door and Zee looked left and right to confirm no one was in the hall. He passed the keycard over the lock and the light turned green. He opened the door an inch, expecting the safety lock, but it wasn’t on. Damian was getting overconfident. He pushed it open fully, taking out his stunner and stepped over the threshold.
Pain erupted at the back of Zee’s head, and before he could understand what had happened, blackness swallowed him.
* * * * *
Zikabar came to with a start to a smiling tiger seated across from him and the distinct impression the sound of a slamming door was what had woken him. Recognizing the tiger, Zee tried to get out of the chair he was seated in as he scanned the room. Where was Marcus?
He saw the horribly broken body in the corner and almost let out a wail, but the fur was wrong, wrong color, too long, and no antlers, not even broken stumps.
The zip ties around his wrist registered at the same time his eyes fell on Marcus’ own. His husband was crouched be the chair Zee was tied to, smiling.
“Marcus, what’s going on?” his husband wasn’t restrained.
The red deer squeezed Zee’s hand. “It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay, you’ll see.”
“You knocked me out?” Zee couldn’t believe the love of his life was in league with this monster. “Why?”
“It was the only way to keep you safe. I couldn’t have you attack Damian, he would have killed you.”
“Not if you’d helped!” the anger lashed out, but Marcus didn’t react to it.
Marcus cradle Zee’s face with a hand. “Love, even together, we couldn’t take him. No one can. You don’t understand just how powerful he is.”
Zee snarled at the tiger, “What have you done to him?”
“Very little,” Damian answered, crossing a leg over his knee and resting his hand on it. “I have to say, I’m annoyed, at myself, for underestimating you a second time. I could excuse San Francisco. You were just some name in the periphery of Denton Brislow. I figured you’d only be useful as a way to motivate him, if it came to that, but you worked out things you really had no business being able to. Marcus explained how you went about it and I applaud you. Amazing work of reasoning.”
“You told him about me? About us?” Zee asked his husband.
“Of course. You’re such an amazing man, how could I not? You heard him, even he thinks you’re amazing.”
“What do you do?” he demanded of the tiger.
“Marked him, what else?”
“Liar. I know Marcus’ body intimately, if you had done something to him, I would have seen it.”
“If I’d done it on the surface, I’m sure you would have. You have a remarkable eye for detail. But there are places on the body, or rather cavities, that people seldom thing to check, no matter how intimate you are.”
“Why? Why would you do that to him? What has he ever done to you?”
“Him? Nothing. I’m afraid you are missing the obvious, Special Agent Malhotra Bodenman. This isn’t about him, it’s about you. You interfered in my game with Denton. Without you, he would have never realized what I’d done in killing me brothers. He wouldn’t have realized that I’d been using him all that time, piggybacking on his search for my brothers specifically so I could steal their power. I would have continued to use him. Oh, eventually he would have realized what I was doing, Denton is slow, not stupid, but by then the war would have been entrenched and my betrayal would have destroyed any chance at resistance. Instead, I’ve had to teach my nephew a lesson about what his place is in all this. If I were a petty man, I’d lay that at your feet too, but that was my mistake. I underestimated what my message could lead those who believed them to do. But that’s been dealt with.”
Zee’s gaze flicked to the broken body.
“Yes, Damian said. That’s him, but don’t worry, his fate isn’t going to be his. After all, I promised Marcus that I would never harm you.”
“Is that how you got him to betray me?”
“Betray?” Damian chuckled. “My dear Zikabar, your husband has never betrayed you, or the FBI or even Denton. I couldn’t get him to do that no matter how hard I tried. Unlike what you seem to think, I can’t mind control someone. I mean not unless I turn them into a mindless puppet that I have to actively control all the time, but that exhausting, and there’s no way I could fool you into thinking I’m your husband. No, all I can do is play with the emotions that are there. Loyalty is often enough, fanaticism, stubbornness whatever’s there that will get me the result I want, but it must be there.
“I can’t ‘turn you’ Zikabar, just like I couldn’t turn your husband. Trust me, in my anger of the moment I had some pretty horrible plans in mind for both of you, but I still have limitations. Even now, if Marcus thought there was a way he could take me down to save you he’d do it, wouldn’t you, Marcus?”
“Without hesitation,” the red deer answered, never taking his eyes from Zee.
“Do you see what I worked with?” Damian asked.
“Of course not, there is nothing in Marcus that would make him do this.”
“Oh, how wrong you are. One of the strongest emotions. It’s caused wars, it ended wars. It’s lead to people to take their own lives, or to take other people’s lives. Those are some of the things love can make people do. With your husband, once O has his love for you ramped to just this side of being irrational, I explained to him how the only way you could be safe was if we never met again. So, anytime one of your team got too close, because Marcus was worried you might be part of the group sent, he tipped me off.”
“And you said he hadn’t betrayed the FBI.”
“But was it a betrayal for him? Tell me Zikabar, what would you do, to save your husband’s life? Would you give me Denton? Would you give me the one thing that could possibly stop me? Who or what would you sacrifice if I had a gun to dear old Marcus’ head right now?”
Zee couldn’t answer, and that seemed enough for Damian.
“That the position you put your husband in today. You didn’t give him the time to warn me, and what I was doing here wasn’t something I could just drop. Not after the energy I had to invest in making it happen. So here we are, you with a metaphorical gun to your head and Marcus with very few options left.”
“Those messages weren’t to Jeff, were they?”
“I’m sorry. You never told me you were getting so close to finding him. I would have made sure he knew, if I’d known.” Marcus kissed Zee, making their antlers clack. “Please forgive me?”
“I would, if I were you,” Damian said, “After all this is for you.”
“Let him go, please. I interfered in your plans, not him.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t. I believe in consequences, and if you don’t learn about them here, you’ll just continue and I might have to take even more drastic measures next time.” Damian stood and buttoned his suit jacket. “Marcus, you know what to do.”
Marcus stood and unholstered his gun, flicking the switch to bullets.
“Marcus, please, you don’t have to do this.”
“I do, love. It’s the only way I can keep you safe from him.”
“You can’t believe anything he says, Marcus. He’s a monster.”
Damian chuckles. “I’m hardly that.” He headed to the door at the back of the room. “And soon, I will be so much more.”
“Denton will stop you! If you think my death will do anything but make him more determined to end you, you are mistaken.”
Damian turned, and on the knob an amused smile on his face. “Is that what you think I have planned? I certainly hope Denton tries to stop me, Zikabar, there is only one thing I want more than that.” The tiger slammed the door behind him and Zee wished the sound woke him from this nightmare again.
“Marcus, hun. Please put the gun down. He’s gone, you don’t have to do this.”
“I do, love. I know you too well. You’ll never stop. You’re going to keep coming after him because of Denton. I’m not mad at him, Zee. Denton is who he is, that’s why we love him so much, but if I left you continue, Damian will kill you, and I can’t let that happen. the only way to keep you away is for something truly horrible to happen to you.”
Marcus looked at his gun and Zee’s blood froze. “Marcus Bodenman Malhotra, don’t you dare. Do you hear me? I will hate you forever if you do this.”
Marcus smiled. “At least you’ll be alive.” He put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.
