AM7: Durance, chapter 18 (Patreon)

The address Jen had given them led to a part of town where old brick warehouses had been converted into boutique shops. At least that’s what someone had tried to do. The reality was that most of the shops were covered in graffiti and had broken or boarded up windows. Someone had brightly painted the boards on one shop to advertise palm reading and spiritual advising, although Darren couldn’t tell if the shop was still open.

“Anything from legal?” Kavon asked.

“Nope.” 

The blast of aggravation that slammed into him was enough to make Darren gasp. And then all emotion vanished as Kavon shut down the bond again. As much as Darren struggled under the weight of Kavon’s feelings, he missed the intimacy bond of the bond when it was closed. And Darren suspected that the worst of Kavon’s assholish nature came out when he was trying to protect everyone else by isolating himself. So the lack of communication through the bond worried him more than ever.

“How about Coretta?” Les asked.

“Not yet,” Darren said. That wasn’t like Coretta, but Darren tried to muffle his fears. 

Kavon pulled his phone out and even without the bond, aggravation filled the SUV as he read some text he had received. “She texted me.” Coretta had clearly said something Kavon didn’t like, but all he shared was, “She’ll be here in fifteen minutes. We hold until then.”

Ahtisham’s eyebrows rose.

Kavon put a hand on Darren’s knee. “We’re going to look around the spirit plane.” He twisted around to look at Les. “If we’re not back in fifteen minutes or when Coretta shows up, come get us.”

“Got it.” Les gave a determined nod. In the next blink of an eye, Darren was on the spirit plane. Kavon hadn’t even asked permission before pulling Darren to another dimension. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea? Without my guide, I can’t see the exit,” Darren pointed out. Kavon always talked about the dangers of getting lost on the spirit plane, but he was so focused on their bad guy that Darren wasn’t sure he was watching his own back. Or his spirit plane exits.

“Then Les will come get us.” Kavon strode off toward the nearest monument. Darren wasn’t sure what they were looking for, but he followed.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re looking for?” Darren asked.

Kavon turned, but before he said anything, a cloud of dust rose. Darren coughed and pulled his shirt up over his nose and mouth. Considering that nothing here had physical substance, spirit dust still made breathing hard. Darren caught a brief image of copper-colored feathers, and then the dust began to settle.

“Ah, so you are tracking the enemy. I was starting to worry about you.” As the voice grew louder, Dave walked out of the cloud, his form becoming more solid with every step.

Kavon stepped in front of Darren, shielding him. “Where is he?”

“Gone.” Dave shrugged. “But he left a mess behind.” Dave gestured toward a section of ground that had been torn up. The stream that ran through the area turned into a muddy swamp.

Kavon studied the damaged stream for a time before he softly cursed.

“Yep,” Dave agreed in a tone that was far too cheerful for the subject. “I haven’t seen you here searching for him. This is what you’ve trained for. You should be here trying to track that monster down before he can do more damage. You’re a shaman first and an FBI agent second. Remember that.”

“We’re searching for his human partner,” Kavon said, his aggravation front and center.

Dave poked the air with a finger. “What did I teach you about fighting shamans? The guide is the weak point.”

“Not when the guide is an ifrit. They are too strong to fight, so the human is the weak point.” Kavon kept his voice low, but he had an intensity that made the hairs on the back of Darren’s neck stand up.

Instead of backing down in the face of Kavon’s anger, Dave stepped right up to him. “A human can hide—can lie. I taught you that. The guide won’t do that, so he is easier to track. That is why shamans hide their guides.”

Darren should stay out of the fight. He knew that. But he hated the flare doubt Kavon projected. Maybe the others thought Kavon was unbreakable, but Darren had seen him hurt and scared. Darren knew how Kavon tried to protect everyone else and felt every failure like an earthquake in his soul. So Darren wasn’t about to let Dave put more guilt on Kavon. “You aren’t there to fight at all. You gave up your body, and the dead often forget what it is like on Earth. Anzu is not vulnerable, not the way another guide is.”

Dave sighed and studied Darren with a far more sympathetic expression. “Attack him here, and he will be,” Dave said in a soft voice. His apparent kindness just annoyed Darren.

Kavon put his hand on Darren’s arm. Then he looked Dave in the eye. “Any vulnerabilities Anzu has here, Pochi and Bennu share. If we cut the link between the shaman and Anzu, he will be essential blind on Earth. That will give our ifrit fighters the edge. If they fight here, someone could be badly injured.”

After throwing his hands up in the air, Dave shouted, “The fate of the world is teetering on the precipice and you’re worried about casualties? You’re letting your guide control your emotions. That bull would have you circle the herd and protect it, but you have to apply your logical mind and override the animal instinct.” Dave reached up to touch Kavon’s head or maybe slap him on it. 

Kavon quickly stepped back. “Because that’s what you taught me,” Kavon said in a low, deadly voice.

“Exactly. Track the ifrit here, in the spirit plane. Hunt it down, and you have a chance to save the world.”

Even Darren could see the trap in that. If they ran after the Anzu bird, they would have to leave the exit far behind. Maybe Bennu would still be able to help them find their bodies again, but maybe they would be trapped here forever, leaving their bodies to slowly fail. Dave wanted them to sacrifice themselves and their docent allies in order to take the battle to Anzu. Between Dave’s unreasonable demands and Pochi’s genocidal thoughts, Darren was starting to worry that their allies were a greater danger than their enemies.

“That’s one strategy,” Kavon said slowly.

“It’s the best one!” Dave had the surety of a zealot. No doubt, no discussion, but absolutely certainty.

Kavon took another step backward. “I’ll consider that if our current strategy fails.”

Thunder rumbled overhead. “You’re giving them time to gather reinforcements. The ice wall won’t hold forever.”

“It’s held thousands of years. I don’t think all the evil ifrit will come through in the next day or two.” Kavon’s anger set Darren on edge. A moment later, Bennu appeared in the sky overhead. His wings created an enormous shadow that slid across the landscape.

“The barrier is failing,” Dave cried out, and frustration rolled over the landscape. “In trying to protect your herd, you’re going to get them killed and the Earth enslaved by these creatures.” Dave’s badger came waddling in, his teeth bared. The creature snapped at something in the swampy water, and Darren spotted a hamster sitting next to a reed, his little hands clinging to a leaf. At first he looked like a normal enough guide, but then it was like reality bulged. The hamster ballooned out on one side, all while calmly chewing his leaf.

“Kavon?” Darren said.

“Do you really think you can continue to manipulate me?” Kavon demanded, all his attention on Dave. Part of Darren wanted to cheer him on because Dave deserved a good telling off; however, now was probably not the time. 

Darren grabbed Kavon’s arm and pointed at the hamster. “Kavon, look!”

Kavon pulled away from Darren’s touch, but he looked toward the small guide just as reality bulged again. “What the...”

Dave moved to block their view of the hamster. “That guide is unimportant. He might have swallowed the power of the ifrit, but it is not one.”

“It’s Green,” Darren said. Technically it was Ricky Green’s guide, but close enough. The hamster bulged again, and Darren retreated before it could explode.

“Let’s head back to the SUV,” Kavon said.

Dave hurried around them and blocked the exit. “The shaman and his tiny guide are unimportant. Focus on the ifrit. You need to hunt it down.”

“I am.” Kavon shoved Dave aside with one hand and grabbed Darren with the other. Seconds later they were back in the SUV. “Let’s go,” Kavon said. He got out of the car without even checking with the rest of them. Les and Ahtisham scrambled after him. Oh yeah. Darren had forgotten how much he didn’t miss this version of Kavon. He took all his resentment and aggravation and balled it up into a tight package that he shoved through the bond. Kavon was almost to the steps of Green’s business, but he stumbled. He caught himself immediately, but he turned to look back at the SUV, and Darren met his angry gaze. Darren wasn’t about to back down. 

Maybe Darren had let Kavon get away pushing everyone away in the past, but they were a team. Partners. Darren was not going to let Kavon return to old patterns, and Darren wasn’t going to let himself get recast in the role of helpless tag-along trying to prove himself worthy. Darren hadn’t liked himself during that period.

After a second, the anger faded from Kavon’s expression and the bond eased slightly. Chagrin and respect trickled through their connection. Darren nodded and got out of the SUV as he checked his phone again.

“We still don’t have a warrant,” he warned, but Kavon ignored him in favor of walking straight into Green’s place. A sign offered “gen-u-ine” magical artifacts and recharging services. Darren sighed. Dave might have a point about Kavon channeling his inner bull too much, but Dave had a hand in creating the monster.

Ahtisham turned and gave Darren a helpless shrug.

Darren trotted up the steps to the shop. Because Bennu had not followed him back to Earth, Darren had only minimal access to shamanic energies, but Darren still felt the corrupt power. It scratched against his nerves as he passed the threshold to the shop. 

Green clearly embraced stereotypes. African and Native artifacts lined the walls and posters of Tarot cards covered the exposed ductwork. Candles in the shapes of hands and skulls filled one shelf and crystals and wands were scattered everywhere. Green sat on a stool near the back, reminding Darren of a cat perched on a favorite spot. “Gentleman,” he said with a disingenuous smile, “welcome to the Magic Factory. We have a special on recharging magical artifacts today.”

“Pass,” Kavon snapped.

The smile faded as Green stood. “Ah. It’s the FBI’s pet shamans. To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

Les moved to an aisle on the right and Ahtisham took left. Most suspects got jumpy when the team moved in from different directions, but Green leaned against the glass counter and grinned. 

“Where did you get the power that your guide glutted on?” Kavon asked.

“That sounds like you’re making assumptions about my guide.” Green sniffed. It might have been a gesture of contempt or the nervous habit of a cocaine user. Green’s energy had a strange wrongness that Darren sometimes felt with serious drug users.

“I saw your guide,” Kavon said. “A hamster. They’re voracious rodents who will eat their own children. Or other hamsters’ children. They survive by hiding and eating anything that crosses their path.”

“That’s a fairly negative impression of hamsters you have, but that’s not my guide.” Green’s smile grew a little wider.

Kavon stopped right in front of Green. “Where did your guide get the power?”

“I reserve the right to refuse to anyone, so you need to leave.”

Kavon crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not going anywhere until you give me the name of the man who owns the power you borrowed.”

Green spread his hands wide. “I’m afraid I have nothing to tell you and nothing here will help you, Mr. FBI Shaman. So if you want to waste your time, knock yourself out. I’ll charge your office for every item you so much as dent.”

“Oh, I’ll do more than dent a few pieces of junk,” Kavon warned. Power gathered around him, and dust motes sluggishly rose from shelves to circle the room.

“Is that supposed to be impressive?” Green asked. He laughed and settled back down on his stool. “You can’t do shit, Mr. FBI. Sharing shamanic power isn’t illegal. If I told you my source right now, you couldn’t touch him.” As Green and Kavon stared at each other, static electricity filled the room.

Ahtisham stepped forward. “Why don’t you give us that name and let us worry about the laws?”

Green flicked a dismissive glance in Ahtisham’s direction. “Why don’t you fuck yourself? American laws are worthless. Cops can’t do anything about the abuse of shamanic power. They can’t even regulate a magic wand, so what the hell good is the FBI?”

“Who was it?” Kavon’s voice came out a growl.

Green grinned and offered a broad shrug. It was a dick move.

Kavon moved closer. “I could find your guide and rip it to pieces. I have very little respect for hamster guides. They’re sneaky rodents, and only one step above an oxpecker guide. I’ll happily destroy yours.”

Green’s smile faded. “And now your true colors show. The law might be worthless when it comes to Talent, but power is still power. If I make a complaint to the local FBI office, will they consider a threat to my guide in the same category as threatening a suspect directly.”

Kavon raised his chin. “I never called you a suspect. Do you see yourself as one?”

“Any time law enforcement is down here I expect them to pin a crime on someone, probably an innocent someone,” Green said. “Now get the fuck out of my store or I will call your office and make that complaint.” 

For a time Kavon stared at Green. Kavon radiated fury, from his tightly pressed lips to the set of his shoulders, everything about him screamed danger. However, Darren felt the helpless frustration and fear that roiled underneath. Green propped his chin on his hand and watched with an air of disinterest, but Darren suspected his emotions were just as much for show.

Eventually Kavon turned. “Let’s go,” he ordered before walking out. Darren followed, carefully not pointing out that they’d accomplished nothing.