Page 71 of Concluded
“That’s part of the problem.We have no idea.”Achilles’ shoulders slumped.
“You could… wish that you knew.”
Achilles widened his eyes.“Would that work?That seems too easy.”
Dee felt it out.It was an odd sensation, a bit like checking to see whether a limb was asleep, only in his head.And maybe he was simply still drained from transporting them here, but nothing clicked.He knew that if he leapt off a cliff he wouldn’t sprout wings and fly, and he knew that he couldn’t help Achilles gain knowledge via wishing.
“Sorry,” Dee said.“No.”
But Achilles didn’t act disappointed.“Everything has limits.Even superpowers.But, um, I had an idea for what might work.Art agrees that’s it’s viable.It’s just incredibly dangerous.”
Not so long ago, Dee would have refused point-blank without even asking what the plan was.Hell, he’d kicked Abe Ferencz out of his apartment, never considering even a simple talk with the Bureau.And that version of Dee, ironically, had nothing much worth protecting other than his own unhappy existence.Dee decided that he was glad that old Dee was gone.
“What do I need to do?”he asked.And then added, with a grin, “Master.”
Achilles groaned.“Jesus.My libido wasn’t this ramped up when I was eighteen—and Ineverhad this many kinks.”
“Are you upset about that?”
“The only thing I’m upset about is all the time we wasted not knowing each other.”His expression grew more serious.“And that our best option right now will probably end up cutting our short time together even shorter.”
“What’s our best option?”
“Instead of running and hiding like scared rabbits, we draw them out.Then we see exactly who—or what—we’re dealing with, and act accordingly.Knowing that once wedodraw them out, we might very well discover we’ve bitten off more than we can chew.”
The raven had commentary on this, although Dee couldn’t tell whether it was supportive or derisive.Hell, maybe the raven knew who their enemy was, but neither of them could ask it.Maybe the raven wouldn’t be all that helpful anyway; Dee recalled reading that in many cultures, ravens and crows were both creators and tricksters.
“It may be more than we can chew, but I’ll bite anyway,” Dee told Achilles.“Even if we can’t destroy it, we can make it hurt.You?”
“My namesake chose a short life and glory over long obscurity.Me too, I guess.See, I was thinking about how we’ve been stymied by our weaknesses, but we have strengths too, and we need to use them.We can draw out the enemy by capitalizing on one of those strengths: we have something they really want.”
As the raven croaked again, sounding as if it approved, Dee understood what Achilles was asking of him.It was, predictably, a big ask.In some ways, bigger than any of the wishes he’d granted thus far.But the new and improved Dee was willing to say yes.
Sure, he now had a lot to lose.But he had the world to gain.
He looked steadily into Achilles’ eyes and squeezed his hand.“Our strength is that we have a good bait to hook them,” Dee said.“And that bait is me.”
CHAPTER29
It wasn’t unusual for Bureau agents to put their lives at risk in the line of duty.It was part of what they signed up for, and it was heavily emphasized during training.Achilles had never particularly minded that aspect of his job; he felt that the results were worth the effort—a sentiment that Orson had never understood.But over the years, after Achilles had witnessed dozens of deaths and had very nearly experienced it himself more than once, he’d reached a point where he felt as if the sacrifice was futile.
It didn’t feel futile now.
But Dee wasn’t a Bureau agent.He hadn’t voluntarily chosen a life involving considerable personal threat, and he’d turned away when that life had been offered to him.But now he’d received it anyway, simply because of the characteristics he was born with, which also hadn’t been his choice.
Dee was opting to join the battle.A part of Achilles grieved for him, and grieved, too, for the peace they’d likely never have together.Yet Achilles was also nearly overcome with pride that Dee was willing to take this great and hazardous step.HisDee.
“I love you,” Achilles said.The nearby raven laughed, perhaps because Achilles sounded so puzzled about his own statement.Hefeltpuzzled.But he was also positive that what he’d just said was true.
“You’re a closet romantic, aren’t you?”Smiling, Dee bent to kiss Achilles’ hand.“I love you too.And I gotta tell you, man, I never thought I’d say those four words.The world is so much weirder than I suspected just a few weeks ago.And I’m happy to say it’s weird in a lot of good ways.”
Achilles glanced around, caught the raven’s gaze, and imagined he saw encouragement there.“How recovered are you?”he asked Dee, waggling his eyebrows.
Dee’s pupils dilated then and there, which was about the sexiest thing Achilles had ever seen.“More than enough.”
Laughing, they chased each other a short way down a narrow trail, stopping beneath a particularly thick grove of trees.It was cold out.The ground was bumpy, slightly muddy, and likely full of slugs, spiders, and freshly sprouted poison oak.Their very kind hosts were back at the cabin with an angel in their bed, possibly wishing that Dee’s transporter beam had landed somewhere else.
But dammit, Achilles felt as if he had finally found his person, and Dee apparently felt the same, and even if the entire thing was magically engineered, neither of them cared.They had each other and they had the present.
