Kilty Secrets

by Amy Vansant

After lunch, Anne insisted they all come to her house, promising Sean would be joining them. As if on cue, Sean called Catriona’s phone to confirm the mysterious meeting he’d been asked to join indeed involved her and Broch.

  “We’re going, too,” she confirmed. She was about to tell him about Luther when Luther raised a finger to his lips, mouthing the words don’t tell him.

  She grimaced, knowing it would kill her not to spill that particular can of beans.

  Sean continued. “She wanted me to come to Señor Chips but I couldn’t get away that soon. Is that where you are?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who is this woman?”

  “She’s—” Catriona looked at Anne. “A pirate?”

  “Did you say a pirate?”

  She could tell from Sean’s tone he had no patience for mysterious meeting with strangers today. Not only had he spent the morning identifying his best friend’s body, but she doubted he’d slept for nearly forty-eight hours. She longed to tell him about Luther, but the big man kept his eye on her.

  She tried again. “You have to come. I’d say she was a lunatic, but she knows stuff about us. You need to hear this.”

  “This is all I need today. Hey, cough if this is a trap.”

  Catriona remained silent.

  “Is she there? Is she listening?”

  “Yes and no. It’s safe.”

  I think.

  “Fine. See you in a bit.”

  She hung up before Sean could ask any more questions and grimaced at Luther.

  “You’re killing me.”

  “Someone already killed me today. It’s only fair.” He laughed as they peeled away from the table to head back to the Parasol Pictures parking lot.

  Catriona and Broch returned to the Jeep with plans to follow Anne and Luther in the Land Rover.

  “What do you think?” asked Catriona as soon as she and Broch were alone. Feeling she might have overdone it with the schooner of sangria, she’d let him take the wheel once more. The seat was already back in his position anyway.

  “Ah trust her,” he said without hesitation.

  “Really?” She looked away, and watched Anne slip into her car. “Is it because she’s pretty?”

  “Nah. Ah kin tell she’s blethering the truth. Cannae ye?”

  “No. I don’t seem to have a nose for trouble like you do.”

  He leaned forward to kiss her. “Mebbe that’s why ah’m here. Tae show ye the way.”

  She kissed him back and he shifted the Jeep into reverse.

  “She is pretty, though,” she added.

  “Nae as bonny as ye,” said Broch.

  Catriona smiled. Good answer.

  They drove into the Bird Streets area of Hollywood, tight on Anne’s tail. After pulling through two enormous golden gates, they parked in an impressive, paved circular drive while Anne pulled into an open garage beside a Bentley.

  Catriona hopped out of the Jeep, her head craning to see the whole of the mansion splayed out before them. Expensive cars. Huge house.

  I guess the pirate life really does pay.

  Luther and Anne joined them in front of the oversized doors.

  “This place is gorgeous,” said Catriona as they entered the mansion. The airy, modern interior seemed pulled directly out of a magazine.

  Anne nodded. “That is one of the perks of working with the Angeli. They always go first class.”

  A thin man in jeans and a light blue t-shirt appeared, looking both surprised and displeased.

  “Guests. With no warning. Wonderful,” he murmured.

  Anne nodded toward him. “That’s Jeffrey. He’s a bit snotty but he means well.”

  “Is he one of ye, tae?” asked Broch.

  “No. He’s just a cranky, regular old human.”

  Jeffrey sneered playfully at her. “I’m not old.”

  A chiming noise filled the room and they all looked skyward, searching for the source. Jeffrey strode past them toward the door.

  “It’s the bell. A bit over the top, if you ask me.”

  He opened the door to reveal Sean standing on the doorstep.

  “Hi, I’m here to meet—” He looked past Jeffrey and his eyes popped wide. “Luther?”

  Luther threw his arms open. “Come here and give me a hug before you start wondering why and how.”

  Sean and Luther slammed into each other like giants, each trying to squeeze the life out of each other.

  “Is it really you?”

  “It’s really me.”

  “But I literally just identified your body.”

  “Don’t need that body anymore. I kept the blueprint.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  Luther looked at Anne. “She might be better for explaining all that.

  Anne held out a hand. “Hello, Sean. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. I’m Anne Bonny.”

  Sean shot a look at Catriona. “Like the pirate?”

  “Exactly like the pirate. Let’s all go to the living room and get comfortable.”

  “I might need to sit down,” said Catriona, moving toward Sean. She bumped his hip with her own.

  “You’re not going to question or not whether that’s really Luther?” she whispered.

  Sean glanced at Luther. “Do you know something I don’t?”

  “No, but we saw him dead.”

  Sean smiled. “The man traveled through time to bring me back from Scotland. Why would I question that he could come back from the dead?”

  “But so soon?”

  “You came back.”

  “I came back as a baby,” hissed Catriona, trying not to attract Luther’s attention. “I had to start all over again when I was killed.”

  Sean shrugged. “Maybe he’s better at it.”

  Catriona sighed. “Fine. I give up. You and Broch believe it. I’m outnumbered. And I want to believe it, too.”

  Sean put his arm around her shoulder. “This day is really picking up. Luther’s back and you’re admitting you’re wrong about something.”

  “Very funny.”

  They gathered in the great room. Broch stared up at the tall ceilings as they entered, so mesmerized by the space he clipped his hip on the edge of a white sofa, knocking it out of alignment with its mate.

  “’Tis anly ye twa here?” he asked.

  Anne nodded and Catriona looked at her. “You understood that?”

  Anne grinned. “I’m more familiar with accents like that than you’d think. I’m Irish, though I’ve lost most of my own accent over the years.”

  Sean wandered to a collection of photos in frames scattered along a marble sofa table, picking up one to study it. “This is Chuck Irons’ place.” He pointed the photo toward them, and Catriona recognized the A-list actor standing with a top director.

  “You know Chuck Irons?” he asked Anne.

  “He’s a friend of a friend.” Anne motioned to the large white u-shaped sofa. “Why don’t you all sit down while I catch Sean up.”

  Sean set the photo back in its place and moved to sit.

  Jeffrey reappeared with a tray full of ice teas and they each took one. Catriona stared grimly at hers. The little buzz she’d garnered from their Mexican fandango had worn off and she wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with the rest of the information. After all, it was probably mostly the sangria that had made any of it sound plausible.

  “Thank you, Jeffrey,” said Anne.

  He bowed deeply and backed out of the room. “My only wish is to serve.”

  Anne rolled her eyes and looked at Catriona. “He gets worse every year.”

  Catriona chuckled and experienced a flash of what felt like pride. Anne had singled her out to share a joke.

  Get it together, Cat. Act like you’ve been here.

  Did she have a bit of a girl crush going on?

  Anne cleared her throat. “I’m going to keep this as short as possible—”

  “Is this fresh peach in here?” asked Luther, staring into his
glass of tea.

  Anne’s face fell slack. “I don’t know.”

  “It does taste like peach, doesn’t it?” said Sean.

  “Aye. Ah didnae ken whit is was, dae ye speak of that sweet fruity taste?”

  Luther nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, yeah. At first I thought it was just—”

  “Jeffrey, is there peach in the tea?” called Anne. Catriona thought she looked a little exasperated.

  “What’s that?” asked Jeffrey pulling an earbud from his head as he appeared at the threshold of the hallway Catriona guessed led to the kitchen.

  “Is there peach in the tea?” she repeated at normal pitch.

  “Nectarine. Fresh, crushed nectarine.”

  “Nectarine,” echoed Luther. “I don’t know if I woulda have guessed.”

  Anne clapped her hands together. “Well, I’m glad I could clear up that mystery. Can we get back to the monsters coming to destroy your city, way of life and entire future?”

  Luther nodded. “Yup. Apologies.”

  “Alright. Like I mentioned before, you all—with the exception of you Luther, who’s moved on—”

  “Moved on?” Sean looked puzzled.

  “I’m an angel now,” said Luther, beaming.

  “So you are dead?”

  Anne stomped her foot. “In the name of Boudica’s bodice will you all let me get through this thing?”

  Sean lifted his palms in submission. “Sorry.” He leaned toward Luther to whisper something and Luther released a low chuckle, shaking his head.

  Anne took a deep breath and released it. “Okay. As I was saying at the lunch you missed, Sean...” She emphasized his name loudly enough that he stopped giggling with Luther and straightened. “Thank you. You’re all Kairos. You travel from place to place, sometimes from time to time, inspiring good in the people around you. You may not know you’re doing it, but it happens anyway.”

  “What was that word?” asked Sean. “Do you have a pen? I feel like I should be taking notes...”

  “Kairos,” repeated Catriona.

  “How do you spell that?”

  “K-A-I-R-O-S.” Anne tilted her head, squinting. “I think.” She mouthed through the letters again. “I think that’s right.”

  Sean felt his chest. “I wish I had a pen.”

  “Put it in your phone,” suggested Catriona.

  Sean pointed at her. “Good idea.”

  Anne rubbed her temples. “We think some of you have been falling ill.”

  “To the thing you said the angles got?” asked Catriona.

  “Yes. Perfidia.”

  “Do you mean some of us?” asked Sean, making a circle motion with his finger to encompass the people in the room.

  “No. Some of the Kairos, but not this specific group. Not that we know.”

  “Howfur would we ken?” asked Broch.

  “Yeah, do we get like a rash or something so we know?” asked Sean.

  “No, there’s no rash.” Anne took a beat and seemed to reconsider. “I mean, your skin starts to rot if it’s the same strain the angels had, but that takes eons.”

  Catriona raised the right corner of her lip. “Ew.”

  “Ew is right.” Anne continued. “Anyway, this affliction makes you act opposite to your nature. So whereas you currently inspire people to be good and kind to each other, when you’re afflicted, you naturally work toward turning people against each other.”

  Sean finished typing in his phone and looked up. “That doesn’t sound so bad. Somebody walking around, causing a couple of bar fights—”

  “It might start that way, but think about it—if the wrong people are emboldened for long enough, it’s not a bar fight, it’s a world war.”

  “Oh.” Sean nodded. “Fair enough.”

  “Right. So, how we handled this with the Angeli—”

  “That’s what I am now,” said Luther, patting his chest. “An Angeli.”

  “An Angelus; singular,” corrected Anne.

  Luther blinked at her a moment and then turned back to Sean. “Check this out.”

  Luther’s body seemed to shimmer, like a television losing reception, and then he disappeared, his form replaced by a network of glowing blue light. The others in the room released a low oooh as if he were fireworks on a warm Fourth of July evening. It lasted a few seconds and then he returned.

  “How ‘bout that?” asked Luther, grinning.

  “What does it mean?” asked Sean.

  Luther shrugged. “I dunno. But it’s somethin’ else, huh?”

  Sean patted him on the back. “That’s great, man.”

  “I know. I know. It is.”

  “Are we going to become Angeli?” asked Catriona, pointing to herself, Broch and Sean with a sweeping gesture.

  Anne flipped over her palms like pancakes to expose the undersides. “I don’t know. I think the numbers are supposed to be static, but we suffered a couple casualties recently, thanks to Perfidia, which is what I’m trying to tell you about so it doesn’t happen again.”

  Catriona nodded. “Got it. Go ahead.”

  “Thank you. So, we think Rune is infected and possibly Fiona, too.”

  “That makes sense.” Catriona felt the same wave of embarrassment she’d suffered at lunch. “And we need to reboot them?”

  “Right. We have to get you to try. Assuming it works the same way with Kairos as it did with Angeli, if you shut them down in a specific way they come back cured.”

  “Whit dae ye mean by shut them down?” asked Broch.

  “In a nutshell, we syphon all the energy out of them until they explode into, uh...sort of glitter lights.”

  Catriona barked a laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “It sounds a lot prettier than it is. You’re going to have to kill them, but their energy comes back. Some other time and place.”

  “Just like us,” muttered Sean.

  As Anne said the word killing, something flashed near her hand. Catriona pointed. “What was that?”

  “What?”

  “Your hand. A light flashed.”

  “Oh.” Anne held up her arm and a beam of light grew from her fist until it looked as if she were holding a short orange sword made of light and fire. “I’ve got these.”

  The four of them gaped at her.

  “Dae ah get yin of those?” asked Broch.

  Anne retracted her sword and her hand looked like any other again. “No. I don’t think so. Just me. It was a gift from a madman.” She looked around the room, which had grown quiet for the first time since they’d sat down. “So. Any questions?”

  Catriona couldn’t take her eyes off Anne’s hand. “How do we do the killing without those things? How do we do the syphoning?”

  “We don’t know if you can.”

  “So why do you need us at all?” asked Sean. “Why even tell us?”

  “That’s a good question,” added Catriona.

  “Because you’ve all been in contact with Fiona and Rune.”

  “Sae ye think we’re sick?” asked Broch.

  “No. Michael, uh, the Angeli, think there might be something about you two.”

  She pointed at Catriona and Broch.

  Catriona slapped her palm to her chest. “Like we’re sick?”

  “No, like you might be able to fight the sick. Or maybe just you. We don’t know yet.” She pointed at Broch. “His purpose seems to be to protect you because you’re so darn special.”

  Luther elbowed Sean. “I told ya. She’s a lodestone.”

  Sean nodded. “All that nonsense in the warehouse is starting to make sense now.”

  Catriona noticed Broch grinning at her.

  “What?”

  “Ah ken it. Ah’m here tae protect ye.”

  Catriona felt herself blush and tried to focus her attention back on Anne. “How am I special?”

  “I’m not sure yet. We might not know until we get you near Fiona and Rune.”

  “Great. But Fiona’s gone missing
and we don’t know where Rune is.”

  “We might know where they are.”

  “What about us?” asked Sean, motioning to himself and Luther.

  “You two can go back to normal life for now. Luther will be your local contact with the Angeli. In the meantime, he’s made it clear he’d like to get back to work at the studio.”

  Sean beamed and slapped Luther on the back. “Good man.”

  Luther smiled. “Aw, you knew I wouldn’t leave you.”

  They high-fived and Catriona rolled her eyes.

  “And Broch and me?”

  “You two get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow’s a big day. I’m going to start your training.”

  Suddenly, the pirate seemed very serious.

  Sean’s smile faded and he pointed to Catriona. “I don’t want her doing anything dangerous without me.”

  Catriona gaped at him, mortified. “Sean, I’m always doing dangerous things.”

  “With normal people. Stupid actor problems. Not monsters. I don’t want you involved in all this.”

  Catriona crossed her arms against her chest. “Well, according to her, I’m already involved. And anyway, you don’t get to say. I’m not four.”

  “We’ll talk about this later.” Sean set his jaw, blistering her with his most serious glare.

  She lifted her chin. “Maybe.”

  “Definitely.”

  Anne stood. “The utmost safety will be taken at all times.” Her expression softened as she looked at Sean. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think these Kairos-Perfidians are half the threat the Angeli-Perfidians were. You all just don’t have the power of the Angeli.”

  Sean grunted, seemingly unsure whether to be relieved or insulted, and glanced at Catriona.

  “We’re still going to talk.”

  She looked away and rolled her eyes, feeling like a teenager again.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

  Catriona flung open the door to her apartment and Broch followed her inside.

  “Whit dinnae ye ken?”

  She spun on her heel. “Any of it. It’s all too much.” She sat on a kitchen island barstool, feeling out of breath.

  I’m going to have to calm down before I give myself a panic attack.

  She allowed her arms to flop to her sides. “There are too many things. Luther is alive but some kind of angel, a redhead with glowing swords for hands is here to teach me how to kill people, namely my father, who happens to be infected with the same disease as my sister and who might be trying to destroy the world…”