Killswitch: Book Two of Sidetrack Series

by Rina K. Fenderson

With the Auphe back on the brothers' trail, Cal slowly recalling the extra memories he'd lost months before, and a new job at their doorstep the Leandros brothers have a heap of deja vu breathing down their necks. Yet, it is the break in the pattern that becomes the greatest burden and the tiniest thing that could change the Leandros brothers' lives forever.

2. Chapter 2 Cal

Chapter Two

Cal

There was a split second of indescribable fear then something snapped. I lunged forward with one thing on my mind. Kill. In the back of my head, somewhere, I knew I did it to protect my brother and to save the world (but more so myself) and to stop that last damned Auphe from crossing over. But in the forefront was blood lust. The feral need to end a life.

The thrill of driving the knives into the female's eye sockets intoxicated me. The smell of her blood as it oozed between my teeth when I tore out her throat. The knowledge that her pulse slowed and ceased because of me –my power, my will– it was ecstasy. It was who I was. Half Auphe, all monster.

I reveled in it, trembled with it, and it promptly frozen in my veins the moment I saw my brother's horrified expression. That's right, Nik, this was the creature you wished to protect. This was the devil you called brother.

"Cal!" His mouth parted to scream my name, but the sound came before the form of his lips and abruptly pulled me from the dream, memory, whatever.

I bolted up from the bed, nearly slamming my forehead into the arm Niko had across my body to shake my shoulders. He withdrew it in time to save me from a headache on top of my racing heart and shaking limbs covered in cold sweat. I panted staring wide-eyed at my brother as I collected my bearings.

My room, our apartment, partitioned white walls –one of which I'd eviscerated with my black matte knife and various others. The phrase Screw You glared back at me in sharp gouges and Sharpie, like a violent connect the dots.

"Cal?" I nodded to Nik, assuring him I was there and that the same matte knife clutched in my hand wouldn't attempt to find its way into his skull. "What did you remember?" He asked quickly, restating his hands on my shoulders. I knew I looked a wreck, probably as wild-eyed as when I dropped out of Tumulus, deranged and slightly psychotic. I'd been down there for two years under the torture and manipulation of the Auphe. I didn't know what they did to me, didn't want to reclaim those memories, but for certain I came back a changed boy. Just the fact that I'd aged about two years when only two days on Earth passed was marvel enough. And then the small visit Niko and I had when we destroyed the last of the females (or what we thought were the last) with a suitcase nuke didn't help my neuroses. Three seconds there and I could feel the cold hand on my spine, clenching. Those hadn't been the only times either.

The look in Niko's gray eyes showed his fear in the possibility that those deeply repressed memories returned with the slow trickle. Ones that made me open unconscious gates that led to mini-comas when instigated to resurface. Robin had tried to hypnotize me once and I snapped out of it huddled and shaking in a corner with both my brother and Goodfellow sporting a few scratches from my nails. Bad, bad idea.

It wasn't those memories that made me clumsily roll out of bed, dash across the hall, and vomit in the bathroom. It was the chain links connecting with a snap to my senses. Memory of killing that female Auphe just after nuking the rest of them to hell, led to the reminder that the Auphe weren't dead. I saw them; Cassie traveled us there to get out of one shit situation right into another. I remembered the panic I felt when she pulled me into a hug and told me not to look. I looked. And I remembered that they were young and impetuous and ready to reclaim this world. I remembered that Cassie was fighting those vicious creatures that my super-assassin brother nearly died at the hands of. And all of it led to the dread in knowing one day they would come for me again. I was a little surprised I hadn't seen hide nor hair of them before now.

I flushed the toilet as the last memory in this non-chronological cycle (opening that gate inside a van moving at break-neck speeds to save my brother and first real crush from a sadistic cousin of Goodfellow's) made its needle sharp way through my brain. What was that I said about avoiding a headache? I groaned and leaned on the toilet lid, stomach still churning. This was pretty bad. Over the months of nostalgic clips it hadn't been this violent. I didn't know if it was because of the voracity of the memory that had started it or because I was sickened by the thrill of killing that Auphe, but the usual procession didn't leave such a pounding migraine.

"Cal," my brother's voice was soft at the door. He rapped twice on the threshold.

"Mm, all right," I grumbled. "Sane-Cal here to stay. Just a nightmareish memory like those that half my life consists of."

"More than half," Nik corrected. He slipped into the bathroom, but stood back near the sink. "What was it?"

"It doesn't matter," I spat into the toilet. That fried onion burger was probably not the best midnight snack. My guts gurgled in agreement. "It's in the past and it won't make me any crazier than I already am," I gave a shrug and stood from the tile floor, using the tank of the toilet to balance. "Can you grab me some aspirin?"

Niko didn't argue with me about relying too much on medications. If he knew just how many pain pills I'd been popping over the last few weeks he'd probably think differently. Of course the moment he pulled the plastic bottle from the medicine cabinet and felt the weight he knew. He gave me a stern look, then offered me the pills nonetheless. There was only one in his palm, but I was going to take what I could get. "How long have you been keeping these headaches from me?"

"They're not normally this bad," I confessed. He continued with the dubious stare. "Since the night we killed Ammut." Actually it was not long after I killed the brood of half Auphes in outskirts of Nevah's Landing. A present from the Auphe to me. Happy Birthday, little Caliban. I supposed they expected me to torture and play with the pitiful mis-creations. I just shot them each in the head. And, after watching the inferno I'd ignited take down the entire house, I'd started heading home in a jacked car. By that point I'd been so exhausted I was falling asleep at the wheel. A knock down drag out with an ancient serpent goddess could do that to me, especially when followed by a few gates that could kill me.

I pulled over, called Nik to tell him I'd be late, and passed out. That was the first time one of my memories felt like it just kneed me in the groin. It was the first time I vomited from it too and considering this was only the second time I was doing pretty good.

Niko watched me down the pill, waiting for me to gather myself a bit by splashing water on my face and washing out the terrible taste in my mouth with mouthwash and toothpaste combined. I spat the foamy remnants into the sink and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. "Are you staring at me because you're waiting for my head to spin around or did you have something to tell me?"

It was obviously early morning, since the windows up near the rafters were showing only cobalt blue. Niko tilted his head to one side, his braid, which was a little messy from sleep, flopped against his arm from over his shoulder. "We have a possible job."

Ah, that would explain the long pause. Even if it had been months since we had a job, the last one had been chaos when half the 'agency' lost his memories and ended up AWOL about eight hours from the other half. Niko had been walking on glass around me, considerate that all of my horrors and pleasures were now fresh in my mind, but he hadn't known they were causing me pain until now and this mental handicap created physical ones, which often led to me getting my ass kicked by one monster or another.

"I'm good," I assured him. "It hasn't been happening as often, their just a little more violent when they involve the Auphe. Honestly, I think I got most of them back." I ran a towel over my face and chucked it onto the sink counter when I finished. Niko leaned around me and plucked it up, replacing it on the rack I'd tugged it from. Sometimes I wondered how we hadn't killed each other living together for so long, mostly how he hadn't murdered me for never making my bed and leaving dirty clothes trailing through the various apartments. "What's the job?"

"Wendigo," Niko replied. I lifted my eyebrows; it was always new and interesting here at the Preternatural Private Detective Agency.

"In New York City?" From what I knew about Wendigos they preferred woodland areas and there was no way momma Boggle would allow a Wendigo to set up shop in Central Park. Niko's mouth twitched in appreciation at my question; I made him proud when I actually retained some facts and histories.

"The Wendigo is our client. She—"

"She?" I repeated. Right, so I knew the smoky-bodied cannibals liked the dark foliage-y areas, but I hadn't known there were both male and female Wendigo. Of course, I hadn't really known there were both female and male Auphe for the longest time either.

Niko's impressed smirk dropped in disappointment. "Yes, she. Wendigo aren't solely male. Very few races are single gendered." He leaned back against the threshold of the bathroom. "She and her family recently moved into a condo in Queens and they are having a bit of trouble with a local pack of werewolves."

"Kin?"

Niko nodded. "The Lupa pack."

My eyes rolled up and my head started pounding even more. Delilah's pack. Of course. No wonder Niko was hesitant on asking me about this job. He went on now, committed to telling me. "Delilah's pack is relatively new to the Kin, which means they have to cause quite a splash in order to be noticed and respected. Sokanon, the Wendigo, is not native to this type of area. She moved to be with her husband, who happens to be a Púca."

I gave him my patent 'I have no idea what you're talking about so if this is necessary information explain' look. Niko sighed. "Púca are a mischievous creature, similar to puck and fairy. They like to cause trouble, have the ability to shape-shift into a black horse or panther, but aren't particularly malevolent. Because of Sokanon and Nevan's odd relationship and the fact that they have a mixed-bred child they are prime targets for discrimination and harassment. The Lupa pack is trying to drive them off for show of territorial claim. When Sokanon refused, and killed and ate one of Delilah's pack mates, Delilah responded by taking her child."

I pressed my lips together. A kidnapping job; I fucking hated these. They never went well and always reminded me of the time George, my first true crush, and my own brother were kidnapped by Hobgoblin. Leave it to my brain to let that serendipitously be the last memory that had sucker punched me too, because that gate I'd opened in the back of the van had been the very portal I'd tossed Hob into. "So we have to get the mini Wendi-puca back. Or Wenca...Pudigo. Wait, no that just sounds like a bad Bill Cosby impression."

"That is correct," Niko commented, probably on my statement as much as my attempt to mash Wendigo and Púca together. "Which brings me to ask something you probably don't want to talk about."

"Delilah," I continued for him. "We'll have to get close to her to get in and get the kid. And since she still has some bazaar fascination with the bad-ass half Auphe it will be me getting close."

"I'm not sure if your sex appeal with be enough for her to let us close enough." I glared at him.

"What do you suggest then?"

He snorted through his long nose. "No, that's what I was suggesting; I'm just not sure it will work. I'm also hoping that you're not desperate enough to actually sleep with her again."

"Asshole." I shoved him out of my way back to my bedroom. "We'll talk about this tomorrow." I was still tired as hell, my stomach muscles hurt from heaving, and I wasn't about to deal with my brother mocking my questionable decisions so early in the morning.

Niko let me bail on the conversation and sleep for another four hours (thank you, big brother), before he swung open my bedroom door without even looking up from the newspaper in his hand.

"Cal, up."

I groaned and rolled out of bed as he retreated down the hall probably into the kitchen for his morning veggie shake. I didn't know what flavor of puke green it was this morning since by the time I made my way into the kitchen, dressed and ready for some Kin infiltration, he was washing out his glass. "What none for me?"

"I can make more," he challenged. I decided to sift through the refrigerator instead, settling on a slice of cold pizza and a coke. Niko took the soda away from me before I could snap the tab with a stern frown. He tucked it back into the fridge and poured me a glass of cranberry juice. I couldn't really complain because he wasn't smacking me upside the head for the pizza. "I have classes today, but I would appreciate you coming up with some sort of plan for when you talk to Delilah."

"Tonight?" I grunted through a mouthful of pepperoni and cheese.

"Tonight we're going to talk to the clients, but I would still appreciate you exercising your brain once in a while." I snorted in reply, but Niko took it in stride and walked off to get ready for his appointments at the local college. Pretty sure, constantly taking off from the TA position to save me from immediate peril got him fired, but his bright mind let him slip into the more freelance style of teaching: tutoring. Paid better too.

After raising me, because my mother certainly wouldn't be bothered with it and neither of us wanted my father within sixty miles of me, Niko had sacrificed a lot. Enough that for the longest time I wondered if he'd be better of without me. It took amnesia and a few near-death experiences for me to see that Niko Leandros would be just as lost without me as I would without him. Still, the guilt for consuming most of his life had me subtly encourage him to keep up his studies and general ambition for knowledge since he seemed to enjoy it so. Sometimes I wondered what kind of mental imbalance created that passion.

Niko left and I sat like a lump on the couch, cleaning my Desert Eagle and watching reruns of Kojak. He hated when I lazed about, but I knew he wouldn't bother me about it today. Every now and then I could get away with being the lazy ass I was so prone to being. Most of the time it was due to him almost losing me to death or worse. He almost spoiled me. So this whole remembering Castiella thing was something I was going to milk out of him until he got fed up with it. Maybe I could get a deep fried dinner.

By the time he came back, with take out from Panera, I'd passed out on the couch hours ago. Niko woke me up with a flick to my forehead and I, having been asleep and not entirely of calm mind after that morning, actually managed to catch his wrist before it retracted. My instinct had me try to flip him over the back of the couch and into the coffee table. Niko, ever the spry ninja, flipped over the couch, but landed steady and not only dragged me off the couch, but pinned me to the ground with my arm, which had previously been holding his, wrenched behind my back.

"Nnnah, mercy!" I cried out, still only half awake. I knew it was Niko, so the fear of murder was gone, but that didn't stop him from punching me in the kidney.

"Nice try," he said as he leaned over my back. I could actually hear his smirk.

"Screw you, get off of me." Niko complied, patting my back in consolation for my fifty billionth loss. I gathered myself into a sitting position propped against the couch. Niko just stepped over me and toward the kitchen.

"Get your gear and eat; we're leaving in twenty minutes."

And, no lie, twenty minutes later he had me out the door and on the subway into Queens. All right, maybe it was closer to thirty and I was still waking up. I rubbed my eyes. Nik elbowed me when I yawned widely. "Please, attempt to show a little professionalism?"

I just slouched further down the seat, stretching my legs into the aisle. "If you wanted professionalism you should have brought Promise instead."

"Or a trained monkey," my brother grumbled under his breath. I didn't take offense; for the most part it was true. Although, to be fair, I would never pick at my own ass in public.

The rock of the subway cab settled me into a trance as it took us out of Manhattan. I'd been succumbing to a lot of those lately. Letting my mind just shut down, not entertaining one thought, not one thing, because if I let it wander it always skipped along to the same place. Merrily it would remind me that I could feel her inside me. Her heartbeat like a faint drum in my ear, against my fingertips. I wished I could smell her too. Oh, did she smell divine. Especially when she was—

"Cal, let's go." I jolted out of my reverie; actually glad Niko interrupted my derailing thoughts. We walked about ten blocks from the subway, before he came across our destination.

The Wencan family lived in a little row home, just like every one else with a six figure dual income in New York. It was nice enough, nicer than a lot of the dives Niko and I holed up in. Sokanon answered the door and I don't know what I expected, but a tall, willowy female with a wash of ebony hair and stark black eyes wasn't it. Some part of me expected a large, wolfish variation of an Auphe. Sharp limbs and talon tipped fingers. Maybe razor teeth and black replacing the white of the eyes...something like that.

She was pretty. I wouldn't have placed her in Maxim or anything, but her skin was smooth even if a little gray and her face was long but attractive with round eyes and a complimenting straight nose. I offered her my hand, glad to see hers were human and nails only black because of nail polish. "I assume you're Cal."

"I am," I replied. That was a good enough greeting as any.

She brushed her hair behind one ear that I noticed was pointed at the tip. She had a very Tolkien elvish look, but then the concept of elves in general wasn't entirely accurate. They weren't the handsome and beautiful woodland sprites holding long bows and sporting braids in their long flowing hair. Elf came from Auphe; creatures of venom and malice. They were long limbed, limpid pale, and horrifying. They had pointed ears and long flowing hair, but their ears were the color of curdled milk and their hair looked more like creepy flaxen filaments that often times lifted and moved without an air current like Medusa. And they had no need for a long bow when their black claws were sharp enough to cut through the thickest of blades and their greatest trick was the ability to tear through the fabric of space and toss you in the rabbit hole.

Sokanon stepped out of the threshold to let us enter, black eyes skimming over me with scrutiny. "And I assume you're here to assure me you will retrieve my daughter and kill the bastards that did this." It was said with absolute sarcasm and I replied with a snort.

"If that helps you sleep at night and stay out of our way, sure." Niko glared at me for that, but Sokanon snickered.

"Promise mentioned his enthralling wit on the phone, but I believe she sold him short," she cooed. I gave her a nod in respect for her good humor. Didn't run into many supernatural creatures that were good sports. She motioned with long fingers toward a room tucked away to the right of the front door. I could see a nice leather couch of a chocolate color and various shades of tan and cherry throughout the stylized sitting room. I had to appreciate the large screen television mounted on the north wall and the impressive sound system organized below.

"Nevan," Sokanon beckoned for her lover and I decided to inspect their dvd collection still tucked away in moving boxes as I waited. Not bad; someone liked things that went boom.

"Promise has already supplied me with much of the information you gave her," Niko started up, standing with the Wendigo in the threshold. "I mostly wanted to speak with you to confirm you wished us to pursue this as well as collect any more information you may have obtained."

Sokanon gave my brother a jaundiced look. "The Kin haven't slipped a newspaper lettered ransom note under the front door, if that's what you're looking for."

"How about a note tied to a beheaded kitten through the kitchen window?"

They both panned their gazes over to me; Niko's long-suffering and Sokanon's slightly amused. The Púca decided to appear at that moment and stared at me in horror from the other entrance that seemed to lead into a small dining nook. Either he could sense what I was with no more than a glance, or what I had said offended. His eyes were wide and they flickered to his lover in reservation. "Are you certain of these two?"

Sokanon laughed and waved her husband off as she approached me and effectively placed herself between us. Like the Wendigo, the Púca was surprisingly humanoid. He was a bit more average. A little shorter than me, not very broad, but hardly skinny. He had the same shade of hair as his lover, but his was short to his head and looked more like fur. He had a trimmed goatee and a tattoo that ran up the side of his neck in the shape of a vine choking a tree branch. Otherwise he was pretty nondescript, but that didn't lessen the threat considering Niko said his race could transform into a panther or horse. Or maybe it was a panther the size of a horse. And not to look a cash cow in the mouth, but why the hell were these guys doing this job themselves? They seemed capable enough not to hire a human and a half to do it for them.

"Nevan, this is Niko and Cal." The Púca nodded to both of us and seemed to relax a little once I'd shut my mouth. I let them be cordial and iron out all the details like proper business men (and woman). I never listened to these moments all too closely. Niko would fill me in on the necessary things later, or sometimes mid-battle. Talk of times and places, what she said what he said, they were all well and good for Niko to draw conclusions. I just needed straight facts or someone to just tell me where to shoot.

I waited by the window. Watching the people troll by the house through the drapes. They lived in a decent neighborhood, probably a good one to raise a kid in. And if she looked half as regular as her parents then she would do just fine. As long as she didn't lose her temper and rip out someone's liver for lunch period. I had to admit it pulled a few heartstrings in me. Thinking that poor kid, eight years old they said, was locked up in some Kin hellhole. Maybe terrified or just hugely pissed off, and, regardless, without her parents who obviously loved her more than mine could ever muster the energy for.

"Speak of the devil," I whispered as a shiver ran up my spine then back down to the pit of my stomach. Speak of the devil and he will come, damned fucking straight. I could feel it, keeping distance enough that I couldn't see it or smell it, but I could certainly feel it. I strained my eyes staring through the window, watching the rooftops and shadows for a dash of white among the violet of the sunset. I wasn't aware the conversation behind me ceased, until Niko stepped up beside me.

He didn't ask and I only replied with a brief flicker of my eyes to him. I'm sure my tense jaw and the dread in my eyes told him plenty. It wasn't Kin. Kin didn't invoke the fear that was no doubt swimming in my gray eyes. "How far?"

"Keeping good distance," I replied. Then I saw it. Crouched on the rooftop across from the Wenca residence two streets down. It was nothing but a hunched shadow, but I knew. I could feel its molten lava eyes fixed on me. It paced back and forth on the ledge a little, leaning down as if it were a jealous lover checking to see if I was really out with the boys only to catch a glimpse of the mistress popping open a wine bottle. This Auphe didn't seem to find the mistress of this scenario; it cast one lingering look upon me, then stepped back into a swirling gate and was gone.

I wet my lips and tugged the drapes closed. "I think we should go."

Niko nodded, then went back over to our hosts making a few closing statements and shaking hands before we exited the row home. I was tense all over, disliking that I had an Auphe dream that morning and then bam they were back in my life. And I'd been avoiding them so well lately. Or rather, they had no idea where to find me.

They were the young ones; pipsqueaks compared to the assholes we faced before. From what Castiella gathered upon our brief pop into Tumulus when escaping the Vigil –yeah, my life was just full of fun adventuress– she said they were a nest she failed to kill off. They grew up without parents and without guidance, if the Auphe guided their young at all. Regardless, they hadn't known who the hell I was, which meant they hadn't known what their ancestors had been planning for me. It also meant they didn't know where I lived. Apparently, they did now.

"This doesn't change anything," Niko tried to assure me on the subway back to the apartment. "We knew they would grow wise eventually and we knew they might appear again. That doesn't mean we can't overcome them."

"I wonder how many there are now," I muttered to myself more than Nik. He didn't answer, probably wanted to think about it as much as he wanted a nail through his temple. Or at least that was how I felt. We could overcome them...how many times? A collapsing warehouse, fighting gate with gate, a nuclear bomb. Hell, Cassie had been slaughtering them one by one by nest by nest for ages before I was even born and she hadn't succeeded in overcoming them. It was a lost cause. For as hideous and murderous as they might be, they might bred like rabbits.

Well...that would kinda explain why Cassie and I couldn't resist screwing every time we locked eyes. Maybe it was a pheromone thing.

We weren't followed. I couldn't feel anything or one watching us except for the creepy guy that sold fake watches on the corner above the subway stop nearest to the apartment. He was human, actually, so I just ignored him. Nik studied me from the corner of his eyes, keeping aware of everything around us. An Auphe could pop out of thin air if the gate allowed it. Pounce right on top of my head if it was skilled enough. I didn't think these youngins were that far into their traveling training though. Even taking into consideration the Tumulus time jump, they only knew gating for...well, if one Tumulus year equaled one day here and it'd been eight months...

"What's eight times thirty?"

"Two hundred and forty," Niko answered without hesitation, other than to look at me oddly. Two hundred and forty years. Lovely. They might be out of basic training by this point.

My grouching died on my lips before I could explain the question and complain that they had an unfair advantage. I felt another gate. This one jolted my heart first, like a fist to the center of my chest only the fist was of a rather weak, half-hearted guy. Like Nik smacking me to get my attention or to chide me for some inappropriate comment. I still sucked in a breath from it.

I yanked Niko back before he unlocked the ground entrance and glared up at my bedroom window. I couldn't see anything given they were so fucking high up on the ceilings, but I knew it was there. I could imagine it sinking claws into the dry wall to hang there and stare down at us, gnashing its thousands of metal teeth.

"Fucker's in my room," I growled. Nik glanced around behind us, then unsheathed the wide forearm-length blade he kept between his shoulder blades and hidden under a gray duster. I frowned at my brother's determination to dive into battle without a thought. "We can always go out for dinner. Maybe it'll be gone when we get back."

Niko ignored me and unlocked the main door. He slunk into the converted warehouse, key letting off nothing more than a quiet click and feet soundless. I wasn't as stealthy, so I hung back as he patrolled the living room, and kitchen, and glanced around our little work out studio. Then down the hall we stalked. I could hear it skittering about in the room, scraping at the walls, darting across the floor. I could smell it. It smelled like blood and fear, but not the normal blood on the breath because it just murdered a litter of puppies and then the families that loved them and not the usual oozing feral danger to induce fear. No, this was shed blood still wet and the almost flowery fear-sweat...that was coming from the creature in my room.

I knocked my shoulder to Nik's arm, catching his eye before he kicked in my door. This wasn't an Auphe, I could sense it now. I couldn't catch more than the scent of their blood mixed with a sweeter smelling sanguine, but inside my gut I knew when we opened that door whatever was inside would scream in terror not maniacal excitement. Niko decided to turn the knob after my significant look. I still kept my Glock in hand, pointed to the ground for now, but ready to aim and fire in a spilt second.

The door swung open and the first thing I noticed in the dying sunlight was that blood trailed all over my room like a small midget decided to roll in a pool of red paint and prance around, throwing himself to the walls. Little hand prints slapped to the wall under the window, even standing on my bed they only reached a fraction of the way. Of course, the windows were placed nearly two stories up, so a creature would have to climb to get there. In the other corner in my open closet was a huddled, shivering ball.

Despite Niko's hand signals, I flicked on the light. The ball jerked in fear and curled over more. I could see bare feet, human feet. Blood covered pants and pale hands clutching trembling knees. Over the knees peered two round gray eyes surrounded by a shaggy mop of dark brown hair. It whimpered and blinked away the sharp sting the light caused, but didn't do anything else.

"What the f—"

"Cal," Niko cut me off, chiding for the language in front of the intruder. Yeah, so there wasn't a monster in my closet. Just a scared little baby boy. How the hell did that get there?