The Apsara Chronicles Boxed Set

by T. G. Ayer

  “What? As a mercenary?”

  Syama nodded. “Looked like the brutish type to me, don’t you think.”

  Vee let out an impatient breath, her hand running over her satchel. She searched the tunnel again. “Where the hell is Akil?”

  “Coming,” Syama whispered beside Vee as a swoosh of wings echoed toward her. The sirin landed at her feet and transitioned smoothly into his human form, landing in front of Vee with the same grace as if he’d taken a step toward her.

  Before he said a word, Vee said, “They have booby-traps everywhere, and many of them noise generated ones.”

  Akil sighed. “Yes. I was just about to report the same. We have to be careful.”

  “Syama, how about you go ahead and check things out. Jump us to a safe place. You and Akil can take turns to check the place out. We need to get to their command center Harvard mentioned.”

  “Who’s Harvard?” asked Akil, his voice rising enough to echo around them.

  “Shhh,” both Vee and Syama turned to admonish him, glaring at him at the same time.

  He raised his hands in apology and scanned the tunnel behind him.

  Vee glanced at Syama. “Can we get moving. We’ve wasted enough time already. I want to get in and out of this hole in the ground as fast as possible.”

  Syama nodded and jerked her head at Akil. “Glamor. I’ll be a second.” Then she was gone, and Akil was already drawing his glamor over Vee before the hellhound disappeared.

  They both stood there, tense and silent until Syama materialized. “Okay. Next stage in this journey begins now.”

  Vee nodded and held out her arm. Syama took it and then dissolved, shimmering into an almost liquid state before materializing inside what appeared to be a metal vat. Vee glared at Syama. “What is this?” she mouthed.

  Syama merely pointed at a large hole in the vat where a rivet had once been. Vee leaned closer and peered through to stare down at the open space below. She had to clap her hand over her mouth to prevent the gasp that escaped her lips.

  “What the hell?” Vee mouthed to Syama, this time her own blood pressure had risen so high she felt like the sound of it was reverberating around the metal vat.

  The vat was situated to the left of the room and looked out at a long rectangular hall. Here too the walls and floors, as well as the ceiling had been constructed with brick and mortar, a dull red that had almost faded. Almost but not quite.

  The hall seemed to be some sort of confluence point for at least a dozen different tunnels, entering the space at varying heights. Many had small fire escape type metal overhangs that lead to the various catwalks running along the walls, some close to ceiling height.

  Vee was curious as to what this place was, but there was no point in asking the question out loud when she knew that neither one of her accomplices would know either.

  But it wasn’t the large space, or its construction and dimensions that struck horror into Vee’s heart. No. What horrified her, what had shocked Syama into utter silence, was the hundreds and hundreds of sacs that hung from every available surface.

  Pale white and translucent in places, they were an oblong shape and about the size that could hold a full-grown person comfortably. The sacs shivered and shifted every few moments as if the contents were moving. Hundreds of the sacs hung from the metal catwalks running along the walls, but the ones suspended from the four-story-high ceiling were even more horrifying. The sacs dangled in varying layers from long, ropy sinewy material.

  Vee stared over at Syama, her hand still over her mouth. She pointed a finger at the sacs, jerking her head to indicate to Syama that she wanted to go down and investigate.

  Syama shook her head. She pointed her forefinger at Vee, indicating she needed a minute, before disappearing. Seconds later, she materialized again and grabbed a hold of Vee.

  The hellhound jumped Vee to a tunnel opening that looked out over at the hall. They ducked within the shadowed interior and hunkered down.

  Vee withdrew her phone, and proceeded to take a dozen or so photos, then took a video of the place as well. It seemed like overkill, but she needed to be as accurate as possible when she showed this to Karan and Rossi and whoever the hell needed to know about this…nest.

  Vee shifted her gaze to Syama and mouthed, “Akil?”

  Syama pointed up at a manhole entrance that sat in the middle of the ceiling. Vee nodded although she was disappointed. Not because she’d come prepared to blow stuff up, but rather that she hadn’t found what she’d been looking for: the killer pey.

  Then she paused. Well, perhaps she was more than a little disappointed that she hadn’t gotten to use her weapons.

  She sighed softly and held her hand out to Syama. They disintegrated into darkness and solidified inside Vee’s garage. Vee stood still for a moment while Akil materialized before her.

  Then she shuddered. “Ugh. That place gave me the major heebie-jeebies.”

  “You can say that again,” said Syama making a face.

  “What the hell was that place?” Vee whispered, images of the clusters of sacs filling that enormous room haunting her.

  Akil was pale as he answered, “It was a nursery.”

  “A what? A nurs—” Vee’s eyes widened. “Oh shit.”

  Syama was staring at Akil. “What species?”

  “From what I could tell it’s pey eggs.”

  “That’s how they breed?”

  Akil nodded. “They don’t breed often. But when they do, it’s in a large volume.”

  “That’s not volume,” replied Vee, her voice rising. “That’s an infestation!”

  Akil frowned.

  Vee sighed. “They are amassing an army. It’s pretty clear from everything we already know that they are looking to overthrow the Demon Horde Assembly.”

  Vee was half-way to the entrance to the house when Syama called out, “Stop.”

  Vee looked over her shoulder at the hellhound. “What?” she asked absently, her mind already focused on the next step which was telling a bunch of people what she’d seen.

  “You need to take off all your clothes and stick them in the wash. Just being in the vicinity of the unhatched eggs is enough to have the scent penetrate your skin. We didn’t get that close, but it’s best we wash everything and get in the shower.”

  Vee sighed and turned around, stalking over to the shower room Mac had constructed off the garage for just such occasions. “I hate to say it, but Mom’s idea of this shower room is paying off.”

  Syama followed Vee as Akil hovered in the doorway. “I’ll wait for you two to get done.”

  Vee nodded and undressed, leaving her phone on the bench opposite the shower cubicles. She headed into the first of two cubicles. Inside was a shelf on which sat a number of medical grade disinfecting washes. She washed and rinsed, then repeated with what her mom had labeled Step 2. She’d almost stepped out when Syama called out over the dividing wall, “Hair too,”

  “What? Are you watching me through the wall or something?” Vee grumbled.

  “No. I just know you. You’re raring to go, want to go talk to a whole lot of people and make a plan and take an army back down there. You’re no longer here, so chances of you forgetting something is really high.” Syama sucked in a breath, and Vee imagined she was immersing her head beneath the spray. Then the hellhound took another breath and said, “Akil, while you’re there, toss the satchels we took with us and put the shoes into the disinfecting tray. There’s a bottle of disinfecting liquid sitting beside the shoe tray.”

  Akil grunted and then fell silent, and as Vee rinsed her hair out, she wondered how Syama was able to remain so calm. Vee’s own heart and mind were racing.

  “It’s because you’re human,” said a voice from beside Vee.

  Chapter 81

  “Ma!” Vee yelled, glaring at her grandmother before covering herself up with her hands. “What are you doing?” Vee spluttered, water from the shower falling into her face.

  Radhima l
aughed. “What? You think I haven’t seen your lady bits before?”

  Vee lifted a brow. “Yeah. When I was in diapers or wearing little girl panties.” Vee growled as she reached for her towel, risking flashing her boobs at her grandmother. “Things have grown in the interim, Ma. Now, can I have some privacy if you don’t mind.” She turned and threw her towel around her body, gritting her teeth as the sound of laughter came over the wall.

  “You’d better shut it, or I won’t be responsible if I end up ringing your neck,” she yelled over the wall.

  “Why me? I didn’t do anything,” Syama said choking on her laughter.

  “You’re laughing. That’s enough of a reason. And I can’t wring my grandmother’s neck so yours will have to do.”

  Radhima snorted from outside the shower cubicle. “Suddenly you have respect,” she muttered.

  Vee stepped from the shower. “It’s not respect, Ma. You don’t have a physical form. Hard to throttle someone if you can’t grab a hold of their neck.”

  The old woman shook her head and looked like she was having a hard time trying not to laugh. Vee turned her back and grabbed a second towel to rub her hair dry and wind it around her head. She picked her phone up from the bench. The phone smelled of disinfectant, and she smiled.

  Akil had gotten to the phone faster than Vee. She’d totally forgotten about cleaning the device. Perhaps Syama was right, and she needed to slow down a little.

  “I’m going upstairs to give a few people a call.”

  “So what’s our plan?”

  “I have to speak to Karan and then Rossi. But as soon as I’m decent, I’m going to see Mom.”

  “What for?” asked her grandmother, her tone careful.

  “I need to know what we have that can help us fight the pey demons. If they are really amassing an army, we need to be prepared. Our R&D division must have a nice variety of weapons that we could add to our arsenal. And I need to check if Monroe sent over the samples of the ‘molted skin’ from the estate lawn.”

  “At least we know what that is now,” Radhima said as she tapped her arm with one finger. She stood leaning against the far wall, her arms folded as she looked off into nowhere.

  Vee couldn’t help but notice Ma’s use of the word ‘We’. She wondered about that but realized she knew enough about her grandmother to know that the old woman wasn’t about to be sidelined. And it wasn’t as if Vee could get rid of her.

  As she turned and walked off, she called to Akil, “You can get that shower now. I have a few things to do, but you guys get the go-bags ready to leave at any minute. I’m not sure what the next step will be, but I think we’ll be stopping off at Mom’s for a bit.”

  She didn’t wait for a response, just hurried into the house and past the kitchen. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it as she raced up the stairs.

  “You really should eat,” said Radhima as Vee walked into her bedroom. Her grandmother was sitting on her bed, rubbing her hands over her jean-clad thighs.

  Vee shrieked then threw her hands in the air. “We’re going to have to work on some boundaries, Ma.”

  Her grandmother frowned. “Boundaries?”

  “Yeah.” Vee hurried to her closet and drew out fresh clothing, including jeans and a polo neck sweater. She ignored her grandmother as she lifted her phone, clothing crumpled in one hand as she began to dial. As she waited for Karan to answer, she headed into the bathroom and closed the door. She wasn’t about to get naked again in front of her grandmother, no matter what the old woman said. She was partially dressed and had the phone wedged between her ear and her shoulder and had stuck one leg into her jeans when Karan answered.

  “Hi, I thought you might want to know asap,” she began, only to be cut off.

  “I apologize, Miss Shankar. But…Karan is not available.”

  “Oh…” Vee hesitated. This she had not expected. She’d even prepared herself for Karan to deny her information or help, or both, but his total absence caught her by surprise. She lost her balance, toppled over and landed on her ass, one leg inside the jeans. She ignored the garment and focused on the phone. “Can you have him call me, please? It’s urgent. And I mean it’s very, very, very urgent. I can’t stress it enough.”

  The voice on the other end of the line was kind and considerate. “I understand. I will convey the message as soon as Karan returns.”

  “Do you know when that will be?”

  “Unfortunately, he did not say when. I apologize for not being helpful, but I assure you, I understand the urgency. I do believe he’d want to hear from you immediately considering it is urgent. I will convey your message as soon as is possible.”

  Vee let out a sigh, thanked the man and put the phone on the floor beside her. She was still sitting there in her pink lace French knickers, one leg inside her jeans, the other bare and outstretch as she stared off into space.

  “Seriously?” said a voice from beside Vee.

  “Go away,” Vee snapped at Syama who was standing beside her. “Why is it that people keep barging in on me while I’m undressed?”

  “Well, if you could actually dress yourself like a fully functional adult, that wouldn’t be a problem now would it?” Syama folded her arms and grinned at Vee. “Need a hand?”

  Vee swore at Syama, but the hellhound remained unperturbed at the profanity. “Lucky it’s me and not Ma. She’d be washing your mouth out for that.”

  “With what? Ghost soap?” mumbled Vee as she got to her feet.

  Syama chuckled and sat on the lid of the closed toilet. “What did Karan say?”

  Vee shook her head. “That’s just it. I couldn’t get a hold of him. He’s unavailable.”

  “That’s new.”

  “You’re telling me.”

  “That explains the position I found you in.”

  “Huh?” Vee asked as she buttoned her jeans and dragged the sweater over her head.

  “You. On your ass. Karan’s absence literally made you fall on your ass.” Syama giggled.

  “I’m glad I’m able to provide you with some comedic entertainment with which to while away your time.” Vee glared at Syama as she rubbed conditioner into her hair and combed it through the length.

  “Anyway. Akil is ready. What’s the plan?”

  Vee nodded. “Let’s get going to see Mom first. I need to talk to her and her R&D team first before we bring this up with Rossi.” Vee grabbed her hairdryer, then paused. “Is dad around?”

  Syama shook her head. “Not that I saw. He could be napping, but the man barely sleeps anyway so that would be odd.”

  Vee nodded. “Okay. I won’t be long.”

  Syama waggled her fingers and disappeared leaving Vee alone to dry her hair and contemplate her thoughts.

  Karan had actually not been available.

  Wonders would never cease.

  Chapter 82

  “What in the mother’s name is that,” whispered Devi as Vee cast the video of the nursery filled with pey eggs onto the plasma screen in her mother’s office.

  Raj stood beside Vee, staring at the screen with the same look of horror on his face as his wife.

  Vee was still in shock about having been informed that her dad had gone back to work that morning, that he’d entered his old office across the hall from her mother’s and had been working in his lab—attached to his office no less—all morning. On what she wasn’t sure, but at this point, she didn’t really care. All she knew was that she was overjoyed that he’d ventured out of the house and was doing something constructive with his time.

  It made her hope that he was well on his way to recovery. Now she watched her parents stare at the video with the same horror she’d felt when she’d first seen it.

  “I wish I’d just torched the whole place, but I didn’t want to let them know that we knew they were there.”

  “That was a good idea,” her dad patted her shoulder absently, and Vee hid a smile.

  Devi turned to look at her. “You know what that is
?” Her eyes were still wide with shock and more than once she’d run her fingers through her hair forgetting she had it in a tight chignon at the back of her head.

  “Pey eggs,” Raj replied, shocking Vee enough that she did a double take and stared at him. “It’s a pey nursery.”

  Devi nodded, seemingly oblivious to Vee’s shock. “I thought as much.” She paced for a few seconds then paused to look over at Vee. “What’s the plan? Give me context.”

  Vee took a breath. “It’s a case for the FBI, but at this point, I think secrecy is moot. I tried to get a hold of Karan, but he’s incommunicado for some weird reason, so we need to come up with a plan first before I take it to Rossi.”

  Her unsaid words hung in the air. If I take it to Rossi.

  “Are you considering moving on without the FBI to back you up?” asked her dad. For the first time, he seemed to be siding with the FBI. Again, wonders never seemed to cease.

  Vee shook her head. “There’s more to this than just a pey nursery.” She sighed and sank into the nearest seat. She waved at the empty seats beside her. “Best you sit. You’re probably not going to like what you’re about to hear. And I’m warning you two, don’t go all Mom and Dad on me.”

  Devi stared at Vee for a moment, her face darkening, giving Vee the impression that her mom was prepared to blow her top even before she found out the bad news. But her dad reached out and touched her mom’s shoulder. Devi glanced up at him and stared at his face, concern in her eyes. For a long moment, neither said a word and yet Vee felt as though the pair had held a long meaningful discussion just with their eyes.

  Then her mother inhaled, and her shoulders relaxed as she took a seat and faced Vee.

  “The case I’ve been dealing with for the FBI and also for our ‘advisor’ aka our snitch, has to do with a rash of pey demon attacks that have occurred within the city over the last few weeks. The agency has been on high alert what with the Demon Horde being shaken up due to political upheaval. The word on the street is that the pey demons have broken away and have created their own faction. Anyway, all of that wasn’t something we’d connected to the pey demon murders until now.”