Unlike Darren, Kavon didn’t like to throw theories out too quickly. He preferred to have his feet on solid ground and his conclusions backed with solid evidence. However, Darren had a point. “That would explain why magic got so out of hand last time.” It would also explain why so many of the jinn stories focused on the delight a jinn took in tricking humans into making ill-conceived wishes.
“Most ethical people I know lead fairly boring lives.” Darren stirred the scrambled eggs. “And I include us in that number. As a kid, I thought of the FBI as running around firing guns and arresting bad guys.”
“Between the paperwork, the training, the workshops, and the interagency cooperation meetings, we do occasionally arrest bad guys.”
“But are we interesting enough to attract one of these evil ifrit?”
Kavon wrapped his arms around Darren’s waist and leaned against his back while Darren cooked. Kavon didn’t want interesting. He wanted predictable. He kissed the back of Darren’s neck.
“I’m not even sure it's fair to call them evil,” Darren continued. “If these ifrit are looking for a world to explore, isn't it more fair to say that they’re immature or adrenaline junkies? It seems like any evil came from us.”
It was like Darren to seek the best in everyone, but despite his words, he still projected anxiety. All Kavon could do was hold him and offer whatever comfort he could. Bennu’s choice to partner with Darren meant that they would be on the front lines.
Kavon held Darren until the eggs were finished. As he was plating breakfast, Darren asked, “Those hotspots that showed up in Mexico City and the Vatican? Are those the result of creatures who came through the barrier? Could we have several evil ifrit here?”
“I don’t know,” Kavon admitted. “I think Dave and Thuya are being honest about calling us when they realized the barrier had been breached.” Kavon just wouldn’t put a bet on that assumption.
Instead of taking his plate to the breakfast bar, Darren rested both hands on the counter and leaned over it. “So we’re looking for any human being on the face of the planet who has an interesting life who may have recently come into contact with an energy being from another dimension who was offered phenomenal cosmic powers.”
Kavon rubbed Darren’s back. “That sounds right.”
“Fuck my life.”
Kavon confiscated Darren’s plate and moved both their breakfasts to the placemats. “Oh, I think we’re getting fucked over enough already.”
Darren finally followed his food. “We need to bring the team in on this.”
“I already texted Coretta to bring them over as soon as she can get away.”
Darren stared at Kavon in shock. “Seriously?”
“Yes. Seriously. It’s time. I always said I would bring the others in when the time came.” Kavon would not have his people blindsided.
“Everyone?” Darren asked. “Are you going to call in Milton and Joe and Jen? How about Wyatt?”
“Whoa!” Kavon held up a hand. “We don't know our new people well enough to trust them with this kind of information, and Wyatt isn't a part of our team. He works computer support for any number of teams.”
“Wyatt has always had our backs,” Darren protested
“Against suspects, yes,” Kavon said. “I would never ask him to go against FBI policy.”
“We aren’t.”
“Really?” Kavon asked. “We know about a potential threat on domestic soil, and instead of going to our assistant director, we are bypassing White and handling it ourselves off the books. Do I need to explain how many FBI policies we are breaking right now?” Kavon was getting heartburn just thinking about it. He had always considered the rulebook a protection against abuse in the system, but the system wasn’t designed to handle an ifrit war.
“You’re a member of the shamanic council, and they handle problems in the Talent community.”
“Really?” Kavon put his fork down and turned to face off against Darren. “Did you or did you not take an oath to defend the Constitution?”
“Of course I did.” Now Darren’s aggravation flowed freely through the bond.
“We agreed to put the Constitution and the FBI ahead of personal obligations. Maybe Halverson or McLean could point to the council and say they were acting within the scope of their duties, but the FBI manual is fairly clear that I do not have any right to withhold evidence of a danger, foreign or domestic, to American interests.”
Darren frowned. His silence suggested he hadn’t considered the ramifications. If White or anyone else at the agency suspected that they had failed to report a danger, they would both get fired. Or jailed.
Darren pushed his eggs around on the plate. “What about Ahtisham?”
Kavon calmed himself. “As a mundane, he can't help us.”
