Kylian and Brett

by Edward Kendrick

  “Could have fooled me,” Brett replied with a dry smile.

  Kylian acknowledged his words with a tip of his head as they walked down a path to the center of the graveyard. “I was waiting until we got here. I’d like you to take a good look around and tell me what you see.”

  “Sure.” Brett studied the area. “Some family vaults and fancy headstones.” He turned slowly. “That area—” he gestured to one of the four quadrants, “—was probably for poorer people because there are only very plain headstones there. The whole place looks as if it’s not too well maintained and there’s been some obvious vandalism.” He turned back to Kylian, only he wasn’t there. He wasn’t anywhere, as far as Brett could see. He began to walk down one of the paths to see if Kylian was hiding behind one of the vaults. “Hide-and-seek?” he asked querulously.

  Kylian’s voice touched Brett’s mind, startling the hell out of him. ::Yes, and no. I’m where you can see me::

  “Like hell.”

  ::Think of what you’ve seen and compare::

  Brett closed his eyes for a moment, visualizing the cemetery, then looked again—and smiled slowly. “I don’t know how you managed it, but there wasn’t an angel there a moment ago.” He pointed to the top of one of the vaults. “Magic?”

  “A glamour,” Kylian replied, dropping it before jumping to the ground.

  “I guess if I had any doubts before now that you’re not what you seem, that dispelled them. How the hell do you do that?”

  “It’s elven magic. The ability to make you see me the way I want you to. In this case, as one more of several angels decorating the vaults and being used as gravestones.”

  “Is there a reason you want to do that?”

  “I like playing with you mind?” Kylian replied with a grin, before turning serious again. “As you know, we know who the Slayer is. Before he went rogue, he worked for me. He loved solving the puzzling parts of a crime that we’d run into at times. Now, he’s the one creating a puzzle. One that Emile and I figured out.”

  “Meaning?”

  “There’s logic behind where he’s been leaving the bodies, based on the names of the cemeteries.”

  “I know the last one was St. Louis One. A lot of the cemeteries are named after saints. Are they the ones he’s used?”

  “No. Two of them were found in the Lafayette cemeteries.”

  “Right. I remember reading about that. Is he going by the numbers? No, it can’t be that. You said this is Green Street Cemetery.”

  “It is, but it’s also called Carrollton Cemetery One.” Kylian gestured to the sign on the arch over the entrance. “Since most people, including the news outlets, think of this as Green Street, and Carrollton Two as St. Mary, we thought at first that we were on the wrong track with the numbers.”

  “But you weren’t, I take it.”

  “Nope. He started with the twos, Lafayette, St. Louis, and St. Mary, then moved to the ones.”

  “In the same order, or so you hope, meaning you’re going to be here to catch him—by masquerading as an ornamental angel.”

  “Yes.”

  Brett frowned. “You said he’s a shifter. Can’t he do some sort of teleporting thing, like in the stories, and vanish before you get to him? Hell, even if he doesn’t, he’d turn into a wolf and you’ll be toast.”

  “I have my ways of stopping him,” Kylian replied. “Elves can use magic and the older we are, the more we know.”

  “Like…what? I played a CRPG way back when, where they used fireballs and lightening to kill their enemies. Can you do that?” It was not an idea he liked.

  “I could, but I won’t. There are too many houses around here. If someone happened to look out and see fire, or a lightning strike on a clear night, they’d definitely wonder what the hell was going on. I’ll capture him by putting a holding spell on him and deal with him somewhere else.”

  Brett decided not to ask what dealing with meant. He wasn’t certain he wanted to know, even though the Slayer deserved whatever Kylian would do to him.

  Kylian either read Brett’s mind, or his expression, because he said, “Yes, I’ll kill him, but it will be painless. Does that bother you?”

  “I…Not really, I guess. God only knows, after what he did to his victims, he has to die. I have the feeling turning him over to the police would be an exercise in futility because he could teleport away. Right?”

  “Exactly.”

  Brett smiled briefly at the idea that he’d figured it out. I guess I am willing to accept that there’s more out there than I, and most other people, know about. Still…He looked questioningly at Kylian, asking, “Why did you bring me here?”

  “I wanted to be certain what I have planned will work. You have an artist’s eye for detail. If you didn’t immediately figure out there were suddenly one too many angels, then I’m hoping that, if he’s checked the out cemetery—which he probably has—he won’t realize it, either.”

  “If he does, you’re screwed.”

  Kylian nodded, starting to walk back to the street. “I could be. He’s set this whole Slayer thing up as a way to draw me to him. I’m counting on the fact he’ll be aware of the men Emile will have staking out the cemetery and realize that we’ve solved his puzzle. It’s what he wants, but it still could throw him, because he won’t sense that I’m around.”

  “Shields? I think that’s what they’re called,” Brett asked, hurrying to catch up with him.

  “The glamour keeps anyone from knowing it’s me.”

  “Sneaky. You could use that in a lot of ways, given what you do.”

  Kylian grinned. “I have.”

  * * * *

  It wasn’t until they were in the car, and Kylian started to drive back to Brett’s place, that he broached the primary reason he’d asked Brett to come with him.

  “Now that you’ve seen what I can do, and understand that there are other species, beside humans, inhabiting the earth—”

  “Like dogs and fish and elephants, to name just a few?” Brett broke in with a laugh.

  Kylian rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do. Can I accept it? I don’t have much choice at this point, do I? I don’t think you’re an expert hypnotist who is getting off by playing with my mind.”

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Kylian replied. “It would be immoral and elves—well the majority of us—are very moral.” He paused at a stop sign to check the side street before continuing. “I have a proposition for you. You’re a strong telepath. I could use someone like you on my team.”

  “You do know I’m human.”

  Kylian nodded, trying not to smile. “Believe it or not, I’ve picked up on that. Maybe, well definitely I guess, it means I have my own prejudices, because until now, I’ve never considered bringing in a human. With your talent, I’m seriously rethinking that.”

  “I don’t know if I should be honored, or scared stiff,” Brett replied. “Accepting there are elves and shifters, and who knows what else, in what I’ve always thought of as a world of only humans, is one thing. Actually working with them, with you, is a whole other thing. I’m hardly equipped to do what the rest of you do. Or to defend myself if I run into someone like the Slayer, who could tear me to shreds without thinking twice about it.”

  “I’m aware of that. However, you have one advantage. No one would suspect you were working for me. It’s well known, in the circles I deal with, that I would never put a human in danger that way.”

  “Until now,” Brett replied dryly, echoing Kylian’s earlier words.

  “Yes.”

  “May I think about it? It’s not as if I’m tied to New Orleans by—I guess you could call it a real job. On the other hand…Okay, would I have to move somewhere else?”

  “That would be up to you. As I’ve told you, my headquarters are in Denver. I’ve got offices in several other cities but not here.”

  “Wait a minute. That’s not what you told me before.”

  Kylian nodded.
“I fudged the truth. At that point, it would have been hard to explain why Todd and Ronnie were able to get from Atlanta to here in less than ten minutes.”

  Brett chuckled. “Yeah, that might have had me wondering about things more than I already was. Would it be easier if I was in Denver?”

  “Honestly? Yes. Unlike most, well, all my other people, you can’t get from one place to another in a heartbeat.”

  “Elves can teleport, too, like shifters?”

  “No. We use what we call doors. We enter, then exit moments later at our destination, if it has a door. They exist in most of the major cities in the world, and other places that are important to us.”

  “Isn’t that a form of teleporting?” Brett asked.

  “Technically, I suppose, except unlike shifters, we can’t use it to go to a specific destination, like a building. We can only go from door to door.”

  “Okay. I get it. You do know that sounded like you’re selling encyclopedias or vacuums, right?”

  “Does, doesn’t it?” Kylian laughed as they pulled up in front of Brett’s building. “All right. If you want, we can continue our discussion now, or wait until tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow,” Brett replied after a moment’s though. “I need to wrap my mind around everything you’ve told me so far.”

  “Quite reasonable.” As Brett got out of the car, Kylian said, “I hope you accept my offer, although I’ll understand if you don’t.”

  With a nod, nothing more, Brett went into his building.

  * * * *

  Brett’s sleep was restless, to put it mildly. Again, he had dreams of elves and shifters. This time, however, there was a dream that frightened him—Kylian being attacked by the Slayer and losing. Brett awoke from that one bathed in sweat.

  In the short time he’d known Kylian, Brett had come to respect the elf. He did not like the idea that this was the second night he’d had what amounted to the same dream of Kylian fighting a wolf shifter. At least, last time, I woke up before the end. This time…He shuddered. He won’t lose. He said there wasn’t going to be a fight. That he’d paralyze the Slayer and then…I suppose take him somewhere safe to deal with him.

  “I’m a telepath, not a psychic,” he said firmly. “I’m only afraid for him because…Well, I guess, because the whole idea of elves and shifters and magic is so foreign to me. I feel like I’ve fallen into some fantasy movie, instead of just watching it and pooh-poohing what’s going on.”

  Hard to do that when I’ve seen him first-hand turning from an angel sculpture into himself. If I do join up with him, I wonder exactly what he’ll want from me. Do I want to move?

  Those questions and more spun through it mind as he finally fell asleep again.

  Chapter 5

  “You’re seriously thinking of letting a human work for you?” Emile asked Kylian over breakfast the next morning.

  “Says the man who’s half human.”

  “Good point, but still…” Emile shook his head. “He’s got no way of protecting himself from the kind of paranormals you go after.”

  Kylian sighed. He knew that Emile was right. He also knew that Brett would be a great asset to the team because he was human. As he had told Brett the previous evening, no one Kylian went after would suspect that Brett was working with him.

  “As long as he can block his thoughts,” Emile said. “Which you aren’t at the moment.”

  “With you? Why bother? I trust you.”

  “You trusted Arden, before he went rogue.”

  Kylian smiled at his brother. “Somehow, I doubt you’ll ever do that. You know what happens when an elf turns evil.”

  “Yeah. I think I’ll pass on that. I might not be immortal, like you, but I still have a much longer lifespan than a full human. I do not want to lose it. Madlyn would not be happy.”

  Madlyn was also a half-elf, and Emile’s wife. Her father had died almost a century ago from old age. At the moment, she was out of town, visiting her mother in England.

  “She’d kill you,” Kylian said.

  “No kidding. Be glad you haven’t taken the plunge.”

  “First I have to find someone. The last male that interested me began wanting my full attention, twenty-four-seven, despite the fact he knew from the start that I ran a business. Not what kind, of course, but that wasn’t the point. I could have owned a hamburger stand and he wouldn’t have been happy because I’d have had to be there to keep it running. Talk about a me-me elf.” Kylian shook his head. “My luck with finding someone is sub-zero.”

  “It’ll happen.”

  “A century from now? The way things are going, it might take that long.”

  “No comment, oh picky one.”

  After that, before Emile had to head to work, they turned their attention to their plan for catching the Slayer.

  * * * *

  “Are you up and moving?” Kylian asked when Brett answered his phone.

  “I’ve been up since forever. I had a commissioned painting I needed to finish.”

  “Did you?”

  “Yep. The client is picking it up this evening.”

  “Then you’re free for the moment?”

  “I am.” Brett knew why he’d asked. Kylian wanted to know if he had made a decision about joining his team. “You’re welcome to come over, if that’s what you’re really asking.”

  “It is. I’ll be there in ten, give or take.”

  As good as his word, Kylian rang the bell for Brett’s apartment ten minutes later. After buzzing him in, Brett started a new pot of coffee since he’d gone through the first pot while he’d been painting.

  “You do drink coffee, don’t you?” Brett asked after he’d let Kylian in and offered him some.

  “No. Only mead,” Kylian replied with a straight face, before laughing. “Yes, and I’d love some.”

  Brett poured cups for both of them before they settled in the chairs by the fireplace.

  “Have you decided?” Kylian asked.

  Brett nodded. “I want to know exactly what you expect me to do. After all, you’re telepathic, and I suspect most elves and shifters are, from what you said about Ronnie and Todd. What can I bring to the mix that you don’t have already?”

  “I should probably tell you what I and my team do, for starters.”

  “I thought you went after people like the Slayer.”

  “First off, he’s not people per se. He’s a shifter, as you already know. A rogue. We leave it to the police to deal with your average lawbreaker, including murderers. Our job is to stop paranormals who kill humans.”

  “And each other?”

  “There are other organizations like mine that deal with, I suppose you could call it inter-paranormal problems, as well as with those who prey on humans for profit.” Kylian smiled wryly. “After all, with the abilities we have, it’s very easy for one of us to commit a robbery, or con someone out of their worldly goods or…you name it. I know of one group art thieves, here in New Orleans, consisting of several paranormals. They do quite well, from what I understand.”

  Brett frowned. “You sound as if you almost admire them.”

  Kylian shrugged. “Not admire, but they have a moral code of sorts about who they steal from. Anyway, they are not our problem. Paranormals like the Slayer are.”

  “Surely there can’t be that many who go around murdering humans.”

  “I wish that was the truth. Oh, there aren’t hundreds, but they do exist. I’ve made it my business to eliminate them, and put together my team for just that purpose—to stop them before humans discover what they are. Can you imagine what would happen if they did?”

  Brett could. “Fear, panic, vigilante groups formed to go after anyone they thought might not be…well, normal, for lack of a better word.”

  “Exactly. We—elves, shifters, and others—have managed to coexist with humans since the beginning of time because we’ve kept our heads down.”

  “Others? Oh boy. Do I want to know?”

 
Kylian smiled. “Probably not.”

  “Who makes up your team of, I guess, operatives?”

  “Only elves and shifters. Vampires are too limited in when they can be out and about. Besides which, they’re very standoffish when it comes to other paranormals. I’ve thought about ghosts, but they can’t do much when it comes down to a fight.”

  Brett puffed out a breath, although why he was surprised at this point, he didn’t know. “When it comes to fighting, I won’t be much good, either.”

  “That’s not what I want from you,” Kylian replied. “The combination of your telepathy and your artistic abilities will come in very handy—as they just have. Without you, we wouldn’t have known who the Slayer was and believe me, knowing helped immensely when it came to setting up our plan to catch him.”

  “That’s happening tonight,” Brett replied with a worried frown.

  “Yes.”

  “You’re certain it will work.”

  Kylian nodded. “As certain as anyone can be about any plan, when it comes to stopping an insane killer.”

  “That does not make me feel all warm and fuzzy,” Brett said, shivering.

  “We’re getting off the subject, here,” Kylian told him.

  “I thought we were talking about you and your people catching killers.”

  “And your part in that. It won’t be the most exciting job, as far as your involvement in what happens, but I think your help could be invaluable.”

  “I’d need to find an apartment. One that’s large enough to house my studio,” Brett said. “There has to be a reason for me being there.”

  Kylian smiled slowly. “Then you’re going to take me up on my offer?”

  “Apparently,” Brett replied wryly. “And as you pointed out, it’s better for me to be in Denver. I’m not much on racking up frequent flyer miles. Although…” He paused as he thought of something. “Even if I’m there, I’m sure you’ll need me to go wherever you think there’s a problem.”

  “Definitely. But I can take you there through a door or have one of the shifters teleport you there.”

  “That could be interesting.” He grinned. “And no jetlag.”

  “Nope. If you’re serious about joining the team, I can take you back to Denver when this is over so you can start apartment hunting.”