by Jen Pretty
It felt like Durga was talking to me.
“No, Goddess. I have much left to do in service to you, but I would not wish to slow you down. Leave me and continue. I will not be fit for some time after the damage the demon has inflicted.”
“I have a few moments to spare. Also, you are good company for my travels. Lark and her new friends are tiresome.”
I tried to object, but Durga was in full control at this point, so I put it in the memory bank to discuss next time we were chatting.
Durga rose and pulled Ninel to his feet. Holding him upright and slinging his arm around my neck, she finally let go of control and let me navigate Ninel to the car. Singh was snoring in the back seat. Lazy lion. I swung open the door and gave his furry butt a boot; he grumbled and shoved over enough that Ninel could sit on the seat.
I slipped into the driver's seat and waited for Peri.
“How do you guys get blood, anyway?” I asked.
She chuckled. “How long have you been living with vampires?”
“Well, I haven’t asked about the blood drinking thing.” I remembered Vincent biting me the night before, and my heart kicked up a notch. I understood why someone would want to let a vampire bite them now though.
Peri gave me a wicked grin. “Come, I will teach you the ways of my people,” she said in a deep voice. I laughed, but got back out of the car and hit the door lock button, so nobody messed with my car. There was still a lion in the backseat so I doubted anyone would open the door.
My loose pants and top flapped in the wind like a flag as we walked back into the small town. The large trucks driving through barely slowed, but traffic came to a standstill up ahead when a cow wandered on to the road. There was a car honking its horn and edging closer to the animal, but the animal didn’t hurry. It was a badass cow.
Peri grabbed my sleeve to get my attention as she turned between some dirt bikes and headed for a small door. The building was sand coloured like most were, but the door was turquoise.
I tried to keep watching the cow but had to assume he made it safely across the road as I entered the building and lost sight of my new spirit animal.
Inside were tables and chairs set up like a diner. The ceiling was a pinwheel with spokes coming from the center of the room and meeting the walls. They had strung colourful ribbon between the spokes making it look more like a carnival than a diner.
Some people sat around in small groups, chatting quietly, drinks in their hands. I realized it was a bar. I was driving so I definitely couldn't order here, but Peri strutted up to the counter and ordered something. She spoke smoothly, and the man behind the counter smiled at her. She put money on the counter and as soon as he set down the drink; she slung it back. Then she winked at the man and gave him a come-hither kind of look. She stopped to look back and smile at him before walking out the door.
“Three, two...” she started counting.
A man came running up behind us. He stared at Peri like she invented chocolate. She reached out and took his hand, leading him back to the car. She pushed him up against the back bumper and pressed herself into him. Her mouth traced the line of his neck, and he tipped his head back.
It was awkward for them to be making out here by the side of the road, but the man didn’t seem to mind. I stood and watched for a few moments until Peri’s teeth broke his skin. The man's body trembled, and he went limp. She looked at me and motioned her head towards the car. Right, Ninel.
I unlocked the car and pulled the sleepy vampire out. He was still unsteady.
“He doesn’t have teeth,” I whispered. The man pressed against the car smiled. He was in some kind of trance or something.
“I’ll open the vein, you hold your friend up here next to my buddy,” she said smiling at me with blood-stained teeth.
I propped Ninel up, and he turned his head to look at our victim.
Peri bit the man's neck again, and this time when she pulled away, blood sprayed out. Two solid pumps shot across the ground before Ninel slammed his mouth down on the open vein and I watched his throat bobbed. You could feel the relief coming from Ninel as the blood rushed out. A few moments later, Ninel's tongue slid up the man's neck, and the blood stopped.
“This is how you make road trip memories,” I said, stuck between horrified and intrigued.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Our first memory together. Awe. We are bff’s now,” Peri said.
I broke out in giggles. It wasn’t our first, though. When she mocked me for my face injury was the best memory. I wasn’t sure why I guess it made me feel normal.
“I might have a bit of girl crush on you, Peri.”
She broke down laughing too. I wedged Ninel back in beside the lion while Peri sent the human on his way.
“Won’t he remember being bitten?” I asked.
“Some do, but there is no evidence of injury, so they assume it was a fun make-out session with a stranger. Call girls are great too. They don’t ask questions.”
“You bite call-girls?” I asked shocked.
“Yup. They don’t care as long as someone pays them.”
I pulled on to the highway and put my foot down. Our little diversion would make us late if I didn’t hustle.
“So, are you and Vincent together?” Peri asked breaking the silence.
“I guess so. We haven’t talked about it, but he said he loves me,” I said. I slowed for a truck blocking half the road. When the oncoming traffic had passed, I sped up and passed him easily.
“Vincent seems kind of like a jerk,” Peri said.
I snorted a laugh. “Yeah, maybe. But most of the time he is sweet, and he believes in me. I don't think anyone has ever believed in my ability the way he does. It's a confidence boost.”
“I could see that. I had to fight my way into the ranks and then up them. Old vampires are a boys' club.”
“That is so true,” I said.
“What is it like to have Durga inside you?” she asked.
“It’s kind of like having a roommate. She breaks all my stuff and screws up my life and doesn’t pay rent.”
Peri laughed, and I joined her. It was weird, but I was used to Durga now.
By the time we reached the next rest stop, Ninel was sitting up in the back seat. He was right, though, it would take more than a little blood to fix whatever had happened to him.
“Why did you come here, Ninel?” I asked as I waited for Peri to come back with some road snacks. The gas tank was full, and I switched to the passenger seat.
“I came to find you. When you left, I thought you would call for me, but then you disappeared and didn’t answer your phone. I feared you were in danger.”
“How long were you in there?”
“What day is it?”
“The 17th,” I said and realized it was my birthday tomorrow. Happy birthday to me. Time to crawl around in some caves and kill a buffalo man.
“I was in there for two weeks. It felt much longer. His vampires drained me.”
“He has vampires again?” Great, I love hordes of fallen rabid vampires.
“Yes, I’m afraid he has quite a few.”
Ninel's eyes were sliding shut, so I stopped asking him questions and let him rest.
The driver's door opened, and Peri slipped in with two shopping bags. She passed them over and started the engine.
“Did you buy the whole store?” I asked.
“I didn't know what you liked,” she said absently as she spun the tires on the gravel and got us out on the highway before a transport truck.
It was a hodgepodge of western and local foods and snacks. They had chips in the same brands as at home, but different flavours. I popped one bag open and bit into the chip. It tasted like the food they had severed me in the desert -- spicy and savoury.
“We don't have this kind in America,” I mumbled before shoving another chip in my mouth.
We drove for several more hours before switching again. It was dark now. If it weren’t for the
fact that traffic was almost non-existent and I could use my high beams, I definitely would have hit a few cows. Did cows not sleep? Singh and Ninel were both silent, and when I looked over at Peri, she had closed her eyes too. I knew vampires didn’t sleep, but I had seen Drew do this before. Just close his eyes like he was asleep.
I pulled into a rest stop and killed the engine. It was still dark, but I needed something else to eat.
“You want me to come with you?” Peri asked, her eyes flashing in the moonlight.
“Nah, I’ll just be a sec.”
Singh roused himself enough to yawn.
“You want something?” I asked him.
He licked his lips. I would assume that was lion for "yes, please."
As I approached the small store, a figure pulled out of the shadows. I stopped dead, ready to kick ass. It wasn’t until the figure stepped out into the light cast from the window of the store, I realized she wasn’t a fallen or rogue vampire.
“Are you her?” the woman asked. Her tiny hand reached out as if I was an aberration and she could reach right through me. When her hand met my shoulder, she yanked it back as if I had burned her.
“It’s true. You have returned.”
“Who are you?” I asked. She had a look of awe on her face, so I dropped my defences.
“My name is Darri. I have been waiting for you, Lark. The witch told me to wait here. She showed me your face and said I would find you someday and I had to give you a message.”
A set of car headlights swept over the parking lot, and Darri shied away.
“What message?”
She took a step back into the shadows.
“Wait.”
“She said to tell you to give the lightning back to the king of thunder.”
“What?” I stepped into the shadows, but no one was there. I took a few more steps and peered into the dark around the corner of the building. Durga lit the area in red, but it was no use, the woman had disappeared.
I turned back and collided with a figure behind me. I screamed, and then the other person screamed, and I realized it was Peri.
“What the hell?” she yelled.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” I said. Then a laugh bubbled up. “You should have seen your face.”
Peri tried to maintain her angry face, but couldn’t hold it in. Her laughter spilled out, and we were both wiping the tears of laughter from our eyes as we entered the rest stop store.
I grabbed a bunch of snacks and some meat sticks for the lion, and then Peri helped me carry it all out to the car.
“Where are you putting all this food you are eating?”
“Hey, I walked through the desert for weeks, I’m just trying to catch up.”
Peri drove the last leg of our trip, and I filed her in on the weird woman I had seen. Then I told the story of Alex and his “save the Lark, crown the king” words he got from some witch too. I was interested in meeting this witch with the visions. Witches didn’t live forever though.
There was no way she was still alive.
I knew as we approached the Ellora caves. I could feel the evil in my bones. A deep-seated urge washed over me to jump out of the moving vehicle and face the buffalo bastard, but I restrained it. I promised Vincent, and I needed backup if the horned jerk had a bunch of rogues. I didn’t doubt Durga could fight them off, but I needed to get Mahishasura locked in battle. He needed to be my only focus. Durga jumped and spun inside me. Her anger was all-consuming. She flashed on the backs of my eyelids when I blinked. Her arms waved with weapons; she was ready.
“Soon,” I muttered to the impatient deity.
“What's that?” Peri asked.
“I was just telling Durga to keep her pants on.”
“I’m ready for a good fight, too,” she said, gripping the wheel.
As the sun came up, we approached a city. I was sure it was Aurangabad, and the guys would be here this morning. We had made excellent time though. Between Peri’s lead foot and my own, we were three hours early.
“What do you want to do to kill 3 hours?” I asked her.
“I am so stiff. We should find a yoga studio,” she said.
“That is a great idea.” It had been too long since the last time I did yoga. I was sure my body was out of shape now.
We drove around the city as people were waking up and opening their shops. We couldn’t find a studio, so we stopped at a small park in the middle of the city. It stood abandoned still at this early hour, so we picked a grassy spot facing the rising sun and went through the motions of sun salutations. The smooth movement and soft stretches of the warmup routine felt like coming home. I hadn’t done yoga in months, and my body reminded me.
Its protests and snaps went unheeded as I continued through the movements. Sweeping my arms up, I stretched my body towards the sky. Then I shifted to the next position using my core muscles to keep my body in line. After a few minutes, I had a light sheen of sweat. Peri moved in time with me, like we had been doing yoga together for years. She was more limber than I was. She moved smoothly, and she paused in a more balanced frame. I wished I hadn’t fallen so far away from my roots.
Yoga had been my life. Maybe it could be again when I finished taking care of Mahishasura.
Peri moved into more advanced movements, and I tried to keep up. Just as I thought I was about to fall, Durga offered me her strength. She flowed through my muscles and smoothed their movements, removing the burning sting of disuse.
“Thank you, Goddess,” I whispered.
The feeling of being free and blessed flowed through me. I thanked her again in my mind, for not giving up on me in the desert. I promised her I would do better and be better. She remained silent, but I felt peace between us.
As I lay down in the soft sandy grass, my chest rising and falling in a deep, steady rhythm, my own sense of peace was all I could feel. I had made it through the storm, now safe on the shore. Thoughts of Elliot still lingered, but they didn’t consume me. If I never got to know that sweet boy in life, I would see him when I died. I smiled up in the sun, my eyes closed against its harsh light and let the warmth of the day dry my skin.
“That was a great workout,” Peri said.
I opened one eye and looked over at her. She was laying on her back too. “It was. I haven’t been doing yoga as much as I should.”
“I noticed you struggling. Lazy cow.”
I tore up some grass and threw it at her; she laughed and brushed it off. “All right, let's get going, the guys should be at the airport in less than two hours. Plus, I want to eat something. I’ve been starving all night.”
I stood up and held out my hand for Peri who accepted it, and we walked back to the car where the lazy bums were still resting.
Singh was snoring away. I was getting worried about how much he slept. Maybe he needed a healthier diet. One of his big paws was hugging an empty chip bag. Were chips even safe for lions?
Ninel’s head had drooped to the side and propped on the window, but his chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Peri got into the driver's seat, and we crossed the city towards the airport. It was easy to find as planes landed and took off from the west side of the city.
“STOP!” I yelled, waking everyone in the backseat and nearly causing an accident as Peri swerved. Horns honked, and Peri cursed.
“What the hell, Lark?” Peri shouted.
“McDonald's!!” I pointed and bounced in my seat. Those beautiful golden arches lit up the early morning like a lighthouse, and I was a ship lost at sea.
Peri gave me an “oh my god, you’re crazy” look, but turned on her turn indicator.
I put my window down and could smell the greasy reminder of home. I almost fainted I inhaled so hard. It wasn’t right, but it was close. There was a distinct spice smell of customary Indian food, but it was still McDonald's.
Peri pulled the car up to the drive-through window; they didn't have a speaker. The menu was familiar and right there in a colour photo was a sausage and egg
McMuffin. Holy glory.
“Hi,” I said to the woman in the window. I would like ten sausage and egg McMuffins and ten hash browns, please. Also, an apple juice.”
The woman tapped it into the cash register, and I looked back at Singh. “Do you want anything?”
Singh's eyes opened and closed again. I would take that as a no. When I looked back at the woman in the window, her disinterested face had morphed into shock at the sight of my white lion. Right.
Peri handed the woman a credit card, and after a moment she reached out and took it, her eyes dancing between the window and the machine to swipe the card.
Peri nearly had to climb in the window to get her card back as the woman wouldn’t reach back out.
A few minutes later I was holding a bag of greasy heaven in my arms. I stuffed one sandwich in my mouth, and my taste buds went into overdrive. I moaned, and Peri laughed at me, but I didn’t care. Even with all the food I stuffed into me while we drove, nothing filled my stomach like good old fried food.
When we pulled into the airport parking lot, I left Singh and Ninel behind again, parking in the farthest part of the lot, so they were under the shade of a tree. I left the windows cracked. They were probably fine.
Peri and I walked into the bustling airport. It was like a shiny warehouse with big pillars holding up the roof. Skylights let in natural light, and they had built round gardens into the floor. Their flowers and shrubs added an earthy feel to the steel and glass interior.
Travellers hustled in and out pushing carts stacked with luggage or dragging suitcases behind them. We followed signs for arrivals and just as the crowd cleared; I saw the back of a tall blond-haired man. I froze. As he turned around, his eyes lit on mine. His lips curled up into a wicked grin that sent dimples to his cheeks and sparkles to his glowing eyes.
My heart and my stomach did a funny little flip, and a moment later I was in his arms.
CHAPTER NINE
“God you two, get a room,” Peri said as I broke the kiss with Vincent. He was just so yummy. I gave Peri the finger and Vincent another quick kiss before he set my feet on the ground.