Page 50 of Concluded
They slept together that night, again with no sex, but with a speck more hope in their hearts anyway.
CHAPTER21
The chief and Tenrael arrived early, just as Dee and Achilles were finishing breakfast.“Want some?”Achilles asked, gesturing at the small feast that Dee had prepared.If they survived this, Achilles was going to cook him some of the Greek dishes his mother used to make, because despite her long hours at the shop she had insisted on preparing big family dinners.Achilles hadn’t made any of those things in years.
Grimes scooped up a couple of strawberries and popped them into his mouth, nodding with approval.Then he looked solemnly at Achilles and Dee.“Are you still willing to do this?”
“Yes,” they replied in unison.
“I should probably tell you that things are looking increasingly grim.I’ve lost touch completely with the East Coast Bureau.I don’t know what part, if any, they’re playing in recent events.Due to proximity, they’ve always had a closer relationship with everyone in DC.”
Achilles regretted eating such a big meal.“Is East Coast workingwithDC now?Are they… opposing us?”
“I don’t know.”Grimes winced.“I’ve also lost touch with some of our own agents.It’s possible they’ve just decided to disengage, now that we’re not official.Or it’s possible….”He stopped mid-sentence and looked away.
“Why are you even telling us this?”Dee demanded.His hands were fisted atop the table.
“Because I think you both deserve to go into this with open eyes.Or choose not to go at all.”
“I’m going,” Achilles said stubbornly.He’d already decided he couldn’t live with any other decision.“But Dee, you don’t have to?—”
“I’m going.”
Achilles managed to be both relieved and unhappy about that.Dee’s presence would greatly increase his own chance of getting out alive.But he cared about Dee, who’d turned out to be much more complicated than Achilles had initially suspected.He hadn’t needed a shrink to tell him that his experiences with his family and Orson had made him extremely reluctant to form close emotional bonds with anyone, but all of that had apparently flown out the window over the past days.Dee’s welfare was important to him, beyond the general sense of responsibility he felt for everyone in his jurisdiction.
Grimes still stood beside the table, looking as if he had something more to say but didn’t want to, while Tenrael waved his wings in a way that somehow seemed mildly reproachful.
“Spit it out,” Achilles finally grumbled.
Grimes let out a breath.“Agent Afolabi was unable to find much information on genies.Except that they prefer the term djinn, apparently.Sorry, I’ve been using the wrong word, Dee.”
Dee snorted.“I don’t care about that.”
“There’s really not much about them in our records.She thinks it’s because they originated in Asia and North Africa and not many immigrated here.Maybe some of the agencies abroad have the information we need, but nobody trusts us right now, and I don’t blame them.”
“So we don’t know anything,” said Dee sourly.“Like, magic tricks I might have up my sleeve and don’t even know about.”
“She mostly confirmed what we already know.She did find out one interesting thing, however.It’s about you personally.”
“What?”
“Your mother came to the United States about five months before you were born.She was from Bosnia.It was actually part of Yugoslavia then, but— Anyway, did you know this?”
Dee was frowning and shaking his head.“No.She never talked about it.She wasn’t very chatty.I don’t remember her having an accent either, but to be honest, I barely recall her voice.”This was obviously a painful subject, and Achilles wished he could comfort him.Not with Grimes here, though.
Then Dee’s eyes widened.“Wait!Five months….The man I thought was my father was definitely not Bosnian.I’d be willing to bet he never stepped foot outside the US.”He swallowed.“So he….”
“Jack Martell was not your biological father,” Grimes said.
“Then who was?”
“We don’t know.But it’s entirely possible that both of your parents were djinn.In which case your abilities may be stronger than we’d assumed.”
Dee looked as if he couldn’t decide how to take this news.It could mean their mission had a better chance of success.But it also meant that he’d just had a fairly shocking revelation about his parentage.
“He must’ve known he wasn’t my dad,” Dee said quietly, probably to himself.“He was a son of a bitch, but he kept me fed and housed after she abandoned me.”He looked up sharply.“What happened to her?”
“Another thing we don’t know.Afolabi couldn’t find any records of her after her marriage to Martell.”
