Kadomere/Leilah
20 years before
Hildebrant U. Montehugh
In the clean up of the Los Angeles Infirni camp, a charred photo is found. All those tidbits that look insignificant trash to all others, now is before Kandomere and Montehugh. Kandomere's sliver-blue eyes keep being drawn back to the char-trimmed photo. He finally picks it up. There is nothing written on the back. It is a professional high school senior picture with the graduation date burned off. By the Elven hair style and simple jewelry, it can only be in the last five years or so. The pull the photo has on Kandomere, makes him more nervous. Carefully he examines it to see if there is any clue as to why it has this kind of pull on him.
"What do you have there?" Montehugh finally breaks the tension for his partner.
Kandomere hands it over hoping to break the spell.
Montehugh brushes the face of the photo off on his sleeve, removing a lot of the soot. With a light snort, he turns it back round so Kandomere can see it. "She's sweet. Even has eyes like you."
Kandomere blinks, narrowing his focus.
Montehugh teases in hopes of keeping the room lighthearted. "Have you got a daughter I don't know about?"
It doesn't have the reaction that he expected though. He thought for sure Kandomere would give him that famous icy stare-down or even a light roll of the crisp eyes.
Instead though, Kandomere seems to stiffen as if impaled to an invisible wall. His throat tightens down even more as chills crawl down his spine. "We-we need to find out who she is."
"Excuse me?" Montehugh curls his nose. "It was a crap house. It could be like any of the rest of this discarded piece of trash."
Kandomere takes the photo and points to the charm on the girl's neck. "No, it's not. THAT is a clue. This girl is connected to the Infirni some how. She could be our only clue."
"Uh, okay." Montehugh takes the photo back and heads for the door. Before he opens it though, he turns back, "You okay, Kando? You seem a bit off."
Instead of answering the question, Kandomere lets out a heavy breath and focuses on the other stuff on the pile. "Don't call me Kando."
Montehugh is smart enough to know when a subject is to be dropped, and continues out the door.
~~~
With the photo in the hands of an investigator, and not much else in the rubble adding any help, Kandomere and Montehugh head to their separate homes for the night.
Kandomere steps inside the lobby of the pristine high rise complex. For whatever reason, he is drawn to check the 'snail-mail' box. Sure most communications come electronic these days, but there are still some things that legally must be on printed paper. Normally he only checks this on Fridays, and today is only Tuesday. There's that eyry pull on him again.
Opening up the gilded box, there is one envelope. The envelope is pretty standard: something that would come with any greeting card, but it feels a bit lumpy. Curiosity has him willing the elevator to go faster, and for the lock on his door to release even faster.
He flicks his keys to the crystal coffee table, and tears open the envelope. It's not his birthday or any other holiday, so there is no special reason he should be getting a greeting card.
Inside is a collection of photos of different sizes and ages. Out floats one small sheet of paper typed on an ancient IBM Selectric typewriter/printer and one original of a printed lab report.
The typewritten note is simple and precise:
Bring us Leilah's wand and we will not tell Tegan that her father has been trying to kill her mother for the last twenty years.
Kandomere's knees go weak, sinking him to the silk covered lounge, letter falling from his hand. He reaches for the lab report that is a certified DNA parentage test proving that that Tegan is the child of Leilah and... Agent Kandomere.
If that wasn't enough to choke him, staring up at him is a perfect (non-burned) copy of that senior picture he was looking at earlier today. Time, it shows across the bottom: the girl's name and graduation date.
Kandomere picks up the handful of pictures. As he examines each one, he sinks further and further back to the couch, until he is certain that he has been swallowed by it. Each picture tells a moment of Tegan's life:
a hospital photo of an infant Elf girl in recovering-Leilah's arms. Leilah clearly loves the child.
a little pigtailed blond toddler playing with her My Little Ponies.
a sweet seven year old losing her front teeth.
a darling girl learning to ride a bike
a teen in an archery contest taking second
a beautiful young lady off to a dance with a handsome nervous young man.
the graduation photo of a beautiful young woman ready for the next adventure in life.
She is beautiful as Leilah. She has Kandomere's eyes, and shares his birth mark on her shoulder. There is no doubt in his mind that she is his daughter.
The photos tumble from his hands as they raise to cover his face. For the first time in years, tears slide down his face.
"That bitch," he grinds his teeth more tears falling.
~~0~~
The next morning, when Kandomere isn't out front when he swings by for pick up, and doesn't answer his phone, Hildebrant makes his way up to the luxury suite. He rings the chime and waits. Then rings it again, this time softly knocking. "Kandomere, it's me, Hil."
Of course he doesn't hear the footsteps to the door, but he does hear the locks releasing and the door opens. Kandomere may be immaculately dressed, but his hair and face say something completely else.
"Hey, you alright, Kan?" Following the Elf inside.
Kandomere's initial reaction is to deny there is a problem as he reaches for his jacket hanging over the couch back. He stalls lifting it though. Instead he turns and sits back down.
Finally looks up to his partner. "Before you make any jokes, answer something for me. Your wife..."
Hil knows this is going to be pretty serious, so he takes the chair across from his friend. "Agatha?" Kandomere nods slightly. "What about Agatha?"
Kandomere weaves his long fingers together. "No bravado here, tell me the truth. How did you feel when you knew you were in love with her?"
The red head's cheeks turn nearly as bright as his beard. He tugs on a sideburn and tries not to look directly at the Elf across from him. This a far more serious and personal conversation than he was ever expecting to have with the reserved and high brow man. Still though, Kandomere looks like he has no pride right now, completely vulnerable.
"Like I would give her the world if I could just see her smile at me that way again. Like I would slaughter anyone who dared steal her attention away from me."
The smile is sincere, but also small from the tall man. "You had it bad?"
"Oh hell yeah. I was a fucking nut case. And...," he digs at a crease in his pants, "I didn't care what anyone said to me. I'd just punch them for wasting my time."
Now Kandomere's smile broadens. Yeah, he knows the feeling.
"What I am going to tell you... I may have to disclose some day, but if I can help it, I would rather not."
Hil is careful, but warm in his tease, "You in love right now, Kan?"
Kandomere shakes his head sadly. "Broken, more like." Hil's smile falls to a mournful frown. Nothing worse than a strong man with a broken heart.
"I will keep this confidential as long as I can."
Kandomere nods gratefully. "I would never put you, or your family's life at risk for my own foolery." Then he hands over the graduation photo, "I know who the girl is."
Hil takes the photo, noticing the name and date. He knows Kandomere is no creep, so there has got to be something very serious going on here. "I'm all ears."
Kandmomere does give his friend a smirk to that one and then dives into his story.
"I was just a brand new FBI Detective, green as can be. She wasn't even on our radar yet when I met her..."
{flashback}
Little did Kandomere know, Leilah knew he would be the perfect target. Innocent, a bit cocky, aiming to prove himself and eager to be on the fast track. He knew he was smart and had skills, thought he had it all under control.
But he forgot one thing:
The call of a Siren will bring the greatest of men to their knees.
It started out as a damsel in distress. She was not the damsel though, someone else far more innocent was. As Detective Kandomere was called in to interview the 'hero' for a statement, her smile was sweet. Her heart seemed pure to help. Her fighting skills turned him on!
After the case was closed, he was free to contact her. Sure he had been warned about being a Detective and dating, but he was not going to let the badge stop him from having a personal life. After all, plenty of other officers and agents have managed to find true love, why should he be exempt?
So he met up with her for a few high class drinks. He believed the story she wove for him about being an upper class travel agent for the elite. Traveling the world, she had contacts to some of the best places. These people paid for the exclusive and the elite amenities. She got the perks and benefits of 'research'.
She believed his line of being a low level detective 'cop' out to protect the innocent and do what he could to make the world a better place.
Over time, he began to believe his own lie more and more. Over time, he started to get sick of how stuck up some of the elite can be, and enjoyed Leilah's fun at their expense.
In the quiet times, her beautiful lips tasted better than the Elven sweet wine. His hands slipped through her silky hair like her words into his elegant ears. Her body felt good pressed against him in this dance they were doing. Her tongue stroked and teased his ego to higher and higher heights. She knew right where to hold him, caresses him, and mold his body to her own will.
It was well over a year that he as he grew in rank, earning his prestige, his heart was growing tighter and tighter with Leilah's.
One night, it all came to a passionate climax.
It started as a grand charity ball, returning them to his apartment. Another glass of champagne, and hot molten kisses through to the main room where they pressed against the double pained glass. She tugged and pulled at his shirt, eventually ripping the buttons from the expensive shirt.
He didn't care.
Her claws raked down his back making his eyes pure silver and sinking his teeth into the ball of her shoulder. He pulled a hidden dagger from his boot to slice the gorgeous satin ribbons from her dress's back. Released of the corset tightness, the taffeta pillows to the floor.
In a keen of want, she rips the dagger from his hand, slitting his trousers. He gasps at how close she has the blade tip to his needy firmness. Looking into her own blazing eyes, he savors the darkness (he believes) he has brought out in her. With a final tug, underwear and trousers are gone from his glorious hips.
He sinks to a crouch, dropping one knee to the floor. One hand reaches for the slim string over her sweet hip holding the last scrap of lace to her body. His other hand is removing his own boots and sock.
Her eyes lock on to his and he flicks the blade against each string. "Yes," she whispers her permission.
He drops the blade to leave both hands free to caress her thighs and rear, burying his lips into her wantonness. "Kan-Kando!" She squirms against his skilled lips and tongue. "Please, Kando!"
Kandomere can't take it much longer himself, and rises, letting her feel against the inside of her thigh, just how much he wants her right here-right now. He cups a thigh up over his hip, pressing his knee to the glass.
Let the people across the way watch them make love right here against the window, he doesn't care. If anything, it is a mark of how much she is his alone!
His sharp teeth nip and bite from her cleavage, over a collar bone, right up her throat to lick and suckle an ear tip. "I can't live without you. Please, marry me."
If only he had known at that time, what was written across her face.
Leilah will not lie about the man's skills in the bed- or against the wall. Yet she will not admit he's the best, nor will she admit, she is starting to fall for him. But she will admit things are moving along far better than she planned. She has him right where she wants him!
With a lock of his hair around her finger, she tugs him back from her sensitive ear so he can see her answer. "Yes... my love," she lies.
His kiss is seals their fate. She plunges her lying tongue against his truthful one, clamping her hand to his nape and holding him right where she wants him. Kandomere moves against, and then within her, letting himself believe he is filling her with his passionate love and feeling her body accept and pull him in deeper and deeper.
Leilah is losing herself in his passion. For a moment allows herself to want this for real. To honestly love him and be let him take her away from the woes of life. Her head pulls back, thunking against the glass guiding his sharp teeth to take hold of any part of her body he desires. The Bright lets herself be carried away and climax like she never has before.
Hearing her cry out his name and mutter in Elvish how good he makes her feel, pushes him to drive them both against the glass harder and harder until he too is letting out a growl of release, and thunking his own forehead to the glass, resting his chin to her shoulder.
"I love you," he croons, nibbling on her earlobe.
"And I you," is comes out so sincere, it scares her.
The next three weeks are a whirl wind of passionate homemaking. She moves into his place, and he loves it. Now he can hold her all night.
Now she has access to his files, his passwords... his ultimate trust.
Two weeks after that:
A laptop, a set of disks, and three files go missing from his briefcase. Two days later, an entire network of contacts, CI's, and their families are either blackmailed, magically enslaved, or slaughtered
By a Wand.
That same day Agent Kadomere's heart was slaughtered as well.
{end}
He looks up to Hil. "That was the day I vowed I would find her, and kill her. It's been twenty years almost to the day she left."
The Elf picks up the picture of his daughter. "That bitch denied me the chance to be a father. Lie to me, trick me, use me, fine. But to keep my daughter from me? That bitch damned well better home she is dead!"
Hil's eyes go wide. This is a vicious side of Kandomere he has never seen, and it's scary.
"Now, some one is going to try blackmailing me?" His fists clench. "We have to find her and find a way to protect her. I can NOT and WILL NOT allow the Infirni to enslave MY DAUGHTER!"
Montehugh stands up and hands Kandomere his jacket. "Then I say, we get to work, partner."