Gus nodded his head slowly, no idea what to say to the woman.
Ask Mark about it.
He walked over to the door of Mark’s office and pushed it open.
Then he froze.
Mark was standing over his desk, pounding away at Fin’s hips with his own. She was laid out on her back on his desk, her arms dangling around his neck. Her legs were draped around his hips, and she was moaning loudly. In a very oddly melodic type of way. The cracking of Mark’s lap against Fin’s rear end sounded like gunshots in Gus’s ears, hard against the musical quality of Fin’s voice.
Gus closed the door immediately, before either of them noticed him, then went to the elevator and immediately took it down to the lobby.
He now understood why Mark’s assistant looked dazed. She’d been Siren sung into a delirious state.
What the fuck, Mark?
Is it Fin? Did she Siren him into oblivion?
Maybe.
Maybe. I need to talk to him as soon as she leaves.
Walking out into the lobby on the main floor, Gus paused. He wasn’t sure how to continue.
He stood there thinking for a full five minutes before finally coming to a decision.
Pulling out his phone, he tapped Mark’s contact name and then put it up to his ear.
It picked up on the second ring.
“Hey Gussy, what’s up?” Mark asked. He sounded just slightly out of breath, but nothing that would trigger suspicion to Gus. Nothing like the assistant just outside his office.
“Nothin’. Just finished up a meeting about our case. Wondering if I should swing by your office or just head out with the team,” Gus said. “You in your office and got time to chat?”
“Yeah! Yeah, I got time. Head on up,” Mark said. “Just finished my one-on-one with Fin. You’ll probably pass her in the lobby.”
Looking around, Gus didn’t see Fin anywhere. Which meant she was probably still there with Mark and he was giving her an exit cue.
“Great,” Gus said. “See you in a minute.”
Looking down at his feet, Gus locked his phone and dropped it in his pocket.
He really didn’t know how to handle this one. He’d known Kelly and Megan for quite a while now. Everything in him was screaming at the fact that Kelly needed to know, but that it was Mark, and Mark was Mark.
Mark was the only person Gus had ever trusted his life to until recently.
And that meant Mark trusted him in the same way. Even if he was flushing his life away.
I’ll tell him I know. That I’m not going to do anything about it, but that I know and I’m not happy with it.
Just to make sure he hasn’t been Siren sung until his asshole fell out.
Firming up his choice, Gus turned around and started toward the elevators.
With a ding, they opened up, and the beautiful Fin Dresch walked out.
“Hello Agent Hellström,” Fin said, smiling at him and walking by.
“Director Dresch,” Gus said, nodding his head at her and moving into the elevator.
Thankfully, that was the extent of the conversation. Then the elevator doors swung shut and carried Gus upwards.
Reeks of sex in here. Fuck.
Sighing, Gus put his hand behind his head and walked out of the elevator when it stopped.
Mark’s assistant looked much more normal now, smiling at him the moment he went in.
“Hello Agent Hellström,” she said. “Director Ehrich said to go right in.”
Gus didn’t reply. Instead he went straight to the door, opened it, walked in, and closed it behind him.
Mark was sitting behind his desk as if nothing had just happened atop it.
Walking over to Mark, Gus wondered how to get to the topic he needed to get to.
He frowned, unable to lift his eyes from the ground.
“What’s up, Gussy?” Mark asked.
Gus blinked several times, then sighed and looked at Mark.
“How long have you been sleeping with Fin?” Gus asked. Then he threw a thumb back toward the door. “Walked in on it just now. Left before either of you noticed.”
Mark didn’t move. He didn’t breathe, blink, shift, or even twitch.
Then he let out a slow sigh, putting his elbow on the table and propping up his chin in his hand.
“Week after she hired me,” Mark said. “We’d been working late, went out for drinks, got really, really drunk, and then we just… jumped at one another.
“Ever since then, it’s been a daily, nightly, all-the-time thing. It’s… not like anything I’ve ever experienced.”
“Mark… you’re… cheating on Kelly,” Gus said.
“I know. I know and I regret that… but I can’t stop.” Mark looked determined. “And before you go worrying over it, Fin has never sung to me. I’ve seen her sing to others, but she said she would never sing to me so I’d never worry whether she’d done it to me.”
Well, at least that’s a plus.
“I’m not going to say anything to anyone, obviously,” Gus said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I don’t like it, though. Don’t like it and wish I didn’t know.”
“I know.” Mark’s eyes moved back to the desk rather than to Gus. “I know. I’m disappointed in myself, but… I can’t stop. The idea of not being with Fin seems ludicrous. I spend almost all my time with her at this point. Kelly never really understood. Never did.
“And after I got shot… it just… made it worse for her. Made the arguments worse.”
“Wanted you to quit?” Gus asked.
“Yeah. Quit and get some idiot job.” Mark sounded annoyed and angry. “Like I can quit. No… I can’t. Fin gets it, though. Gets me.”
“And… she feels the same way about you?” Gus asked.
“Pretty certain of that, actually,” Mark said, sounding a bit bewildered. “She put me on her bank account, gave me keys to her house, access to everything of hers. I… don’t… we’re apparently trying for a baby?”
Gus didn’t know what to say to that. It felt like a whirlwind romance, and that never ended well.
At least it never had in Gus’s experience.
“And she wants me to meet her parents,” Mark said. “Tonight, actually. We were going over dinner plans.”
“I don’t even…” Gus let his words trail off. He had no idea what to say or do.
“Not your problem,” Mark said with a chuckle. “My problem. That I’ve made all on my own. Guess I actually need to do something about it. Can’t handle my Gussy being disappointed in me.
“Suppose I should talk to Kelly about it, get the divorce papers together. Go from there.”
“I mean… I don’t—yeah, at the least, start talking to Kelly about it,” Gus said. He was torn. He felt like Kelly deserved more than that, but he had no idea how to go that route.
She didn’t deserve to get cheated on and then told about it after it was all pretty much done.
“I just don’t even know what to say,” Gus said.
“Me neither,” Mark said.
Thinking back to when Mark had found Gus the first time, after they’d gotten back to the states, Gus found himself smirking.
He’d been at the lowest of the low. When there was little left of the man who’d brought the Elves to their knees except a whole lot of drunk and stupid.
Mark had picked him up, not judged him, and helped get him back on track.
“S’ok,” Gus said. “Come on. Let’s go get lunch. We can talk more about it. Maybe figure out what happened here and make sure we prevent it from happening again down the road with Fin.
“I’m still going to be Megan’s godfather, even if you managed to fuck it up with her. Not sure if Fin wants me to be the godfather to your next child, though.”
“Ptff, course you will,” Mark said. “You’ll be the godfather of all my children; that way they never have anything to worry about from anyone. Ever.
“If they’re ever afraid of something under the bed,
I’ll just tell them to call you and make your relatives fuck off.”
Mark got up and sighed, looking rather defeated, and went to get his coat from the corner of the room.
Gus imagined Mark didn’t want to have this talk. It was probably the last thing he wanted to do, in fact.
Nevertheless, Gus was flattered that Mark was willing to have it with him.
“My treat, and my choice,” Gus said. “I know this nice place Ness took me to. The waitresses there are Para and not afraid of me in the least. Very laid back.”
“Kay,” Mark said, looking like a child being told he was going to the dentist.
“As for you,” Gus said, pushing his thoughts toward Indali, who was ever at his side. He knew she was well aware of everything that had happened. She’d just said nothing about it.
She was completely silent more often than not.
“I know,” she said. “I know nothing about this or what happened.”
“Exactly,” Gus said to her. “And thank you.”
“Of course. You’re my partner. My holder. My bearer,” Indali said.
That… sounds not good.
Chapter 26 - Politics and Deals
Walking into the lobby of the C&C marketing building, Gus looked at the front desk. There was a young man sitting behind it, typing away at his keyboard.
“Good morning,” Gus said as he walked over.
“Ah, you must be Agent Hellström,” said the young man. “Kat and Leanne told me you’d be arriving.”
Standing up from behind the desk with a smile, the young man walked over to the door that led into the office.
“Let me walk you back to their offices,” said the man.
Okay… much… warmer reception this time.
Considerably warmer.
Gus nodded and then glanced back at Chloe, Indali, and Trish.
“He’s really handsome, but I’m not interested,” Chloe said quietly, shaking her head. “If I start sleeping around, you won’t let me partner-feed anymore. Not risking it. You’re too damn delicious.”
“I…” Gus stood there. He had no idea how to respond to that. He didn’t even know where it came from.
“I’m not interested either,” Indali said.
“Ah… I don’t think he was insinuating anything,” Trish said to the other two women. “I think he was just surprised at how easily they let us in.”
I don’t even understand what happened.
I mean, he was handsome, but… errr… I really don’t get it.
“Mel told them you flirted with the last front desk assistant,” Trish said softly as they followed the young man down the hall.
What the actual fuck?
“He lets you partner-feed?” Indali asked.
“Five times so far,” Chloe said. “We usually just hang out and watch a movie or something on the couch. I just sip on him and we talk. He’s really potent. I don’t have to feed for a really long time after.”
Groaning, Gus put a hand to his head. He regretted so many things now.
Especially going over to check on Chloe the other day and ending up watching several gameshows with her while she fed on him.
“Right in here,” said the man, gesturing to a door and then knocking twice on it. “I have Agent Hellström and three others here.”
“Oh! Come on in,” said a voice from inside.
The young man pushed the door open and stepped to one side.
“Is there anything I could offer you? Water? Coffee? Blood?” he asked as Gus and his people walked in.
Everyone declined the offer.
Sitting in the room behind two different desks were Kat and Leanne. The co-owners of Campbell and Campbell Marketing.
Or C&C Marketing, as they were called.
The woman on the left was Leanne.
She looked to be in her mid-to-late twenties and was dressed quite stylishly. Her long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she had an ever-present aura of power and confidence around her. Her eyes were as black as her hair, and her skin was practically porcelain in color.
Sharp and elegant, she looked like she’d be more at home on a catwalk than as a successful businesswoman.
Standing behind a desk to her right was Kat. She was wearing much more ordinary business clothes, though she was just as pretty as her partner.
Long, dark brown curls hung about her head and shoulders, unbound.
Brown eyes and a smile made her pretty and gave her an easy-to-talk-to vibe.
Much like the last time he’d met this woman, Gus felt like she was staring right through his head. Like she’d figure out all his secrets without having to ask for a single one.
The general glow of their masks, clearly privately made, hid anything away that might have singled them out. To Gus, they appeared to be perfectly human.
Each of them wore a ring on her wedding finger. He got a closer look this time, and each appeared to be a signet ring with a helmet on it. They were identical.
“Gus!” said Leanne, grinning at him and walking around her desk. “It’s good to see you.”
She met him where he stood and held out a hand to him.
“Ah, yeah. You look well.” Gus shook her hand. Then Kat was there, offering him her hand as well.
“Glad to see you’re well,” Kat said. “We’d planned on reaching out to offer you a job. Then you were recruited by the Fed before we could put a contract together.”
“Oh. I… had no idea. I appreciate the thought and consideration,” Gus said. “This is Agent Wain, Agent Ash, and Agent Jaya. Vampire, Dryad, and Construct, respectively.”
“How delightful,” Kat said, staring at Trish now. “I haven’t met a Dryad in a very long time. But you’re… oh.”
“I… ah…” Trish said, staring back at Kat with a furrowed brow as she stopped talking. Then she slowly turned her head and looked at Leanne. “I’m… that is… Lily?”
Leanne stood there as if she’d been struck by a lightning bolt.
Unmoving.
“I… yes?” Leanne said after remaining silent for several seconds.
“You’re Lily,” Trish said. “Lilian Lux.”
“Not in a long time,” Leanne said. “And certainly not here. Have we met previously?”
“My name’s Patricia Ash. I was supposed to be your apprentice. I’m Meliae’s sister. She’s Vince’s wife,” Trish said. “I’ve been here for twenty-five years.”
Gus now officially had no idea what was going on.
Leanne nodded slowly.
“The portal accident,” she said instead. “This is where you went. I read the report. But… twenty-five years? I suddenly fear that for us it’s been perhaps five times as long as it has for Felix.”
“The what?” Gus asked. “Five times as what now? What’s going on?”
Leanne, Kat, and Trish all turned to look at Gus. They regarded him with varying levels of confusion and fear.
“Twenty years ago, Leanne, or Lily, and I came here through a portal opened by an enemy of my… of our… husband,” Kat said. “We came through and blocked this side of it with another portal. Effectively trapping the enemy here and… us. Trish is… Trish is from a similar… world. She’s more or less an extended in-law.”
“You’re the Invasion Event,” Indali said. “That was you.”
“Well, sort of,” Leanne said. “It was our enemy who did that. He had an entire army. It was… it was surprising. Anyways.
“I suppose we were the event. Yes. It’s also why that particular intersection is now a memorial. The portals are unstable and tend to… eat… people. Or parts of people.”
“That was true?” Chloe asked with a laugh. “I thought it was just urban legends. I had a friend who swore up and down she watched someone get torn in half there.”
“No, that’s… true,” Leanne said. “It can become quite unstable at times and rip things apart around it. Especially living things. We keep an eye on it. Hoping… hoping that Felix
will show up.”
Gus shook his head. This was all too much for him, and it had nothing at all to do with him.
Or at least, he thought it didn’t.
“Is this enemy of your husband the same thing that’s trying to fuck up the Para world?” Gus asked.
“Goodness, no,” Kat said with a dismissive hand wave. “As far as we can tell, he just uses this world for resources. Though I did encounter one of his people some years ago.”
Kat suddenly had a rather evil smile on her face, and her eyes unfocused slightly, as if remembering something.
“Anyways,” Leanne said. “Uhm… good to see you, Trish. We can start that apprenticeship if you want.”
“I… mostly figured everything out,” Trish said, shaking her head. “Had to.”
“Good, good. So… ah… what… can we do for you?” Leanne asked, looking at Gus.
He felt like this wasn’t the end of this conversation. That there was a whole lot more that should be discussed. More to be talked about.
But he had no idea what it was.
He didn’t know what he didn’t know.
Fine. Fine. Just… just keep on track with what we were here for.
“We got assigned the Fed bombing and bowl attack case,” Gus said. “It’s one very secretive group behind the scenes. Manipulating everything and everyone.
“Even using Boogiemen as hitmen to complete their goals.”
“Oh? That’s curious.” Leanne tilted her head to one side. She was looking at him in a strange way. “Isn’t it, Gus?”
They know what I am.
They know exactly what I am.
Cautiously, Gus reached out with his gift to try and sink a thread into both women.
With Leanne, his attempt just slid off her. Like she wasn’t there.
Kat was a different matter altogether.
It was like running into a wall.
Then the wall scooped him up and began inspecting him.
Gus had several flashbacks to when he was a toddler and his mother was checking him over after a fall.
“That was incredibly well done,” said Kat’s voice in Gus’s mind. “It was very subtle, and extremely delicate. I don’t think anyone else would have noticed. You have a real talent for this. Maybe Trish doesn’t need an apprenticeship anymore, but I’d be willing to take you on. I think I have a lot to teach you.
Swing Shift: Book 2 Page 28