by T. G. Ayer
“Until now?”
Vee waved her hand. “I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me just go back to two nights ago.”
“When you came home with pey demon brains in your hair?”
“Yeah, that night,” Vee responded eyebrow rising as she glanced over at her dad who shrugged despite the guilty look on his face. “Anyway, so I’d been sent to track a bhayakara demon and ended up running into a pair of pey demons. Or rather they ran into me. At the time I’d chalked it up to coincidence. Were they after me? No idea.
“Later that day another case came up on our radar, a murder/abduction that led us to believe that the pey demons were up to something. The abduction victim is pregnant, and the pey stopped short of killing her the moment he’d realized she was pregnant.”
Vee got to her feet and began to pace. Sitting down while telling this tale to her parents had her feeling supremely uncomfortable. “So, Mom, you know about the crazy killer cab driver that we identified as a demon from the aural patterns in the front seat. So way too much demon activity for us to be convinced that it was all a bunch of coincidences. And then someone tried to abduct me last night.”
“What? I thought you went out with Nivaan?”
“Yeah. Street parade, food. Was nice and all, until Nivaan spotted them. We drew them into an alley and Nivaan dressed them down. We maintained the image that I was some innocent human. I wanted to rip them to pieces, but Nivaan had another bright idea.”
“I agree with Nivaan.”
Vee threw her dad a ‘who asked you’ glare then cleared her throat. “So apparently there is a hit out on me on the Dark Web. And these two bumbling idiots wanted the bounty and were on my tail. Nivaan pretended to abduct me—without revealing who he was of course—and we escaped.”
Vee hesitated, not yet certain that she wanted to reveal the existence of the feathered stalker.
“And today?”
“Today we were called out to an estate outside of the city. The back lawn was covered with what looked like shedded snakeskin. I’d taken it as not connected until we found the locket of the abducted woman. And then I spotted the same pey demon in the forest beyond the estate property.”
“And of course, you had to follow him.”
“Dad.” Vee heaved a long-suffering sigh. “FBI agent here? Apsara? It’s my job if not my duty. Anyway, we tracked him to a manhole in the middle of the forest, and we nosed around inside the tunnels. It’s a stretch of old water or sewerage tunnels that appears to not have been in use for decades. We followed the tunnels which were both booby-trapped and well patrolled. They were definitely guarding something. We ended up coming upon that,” Vee pointed a finger at the still of the pey demon nursery. “Now I’m not sure how all of this ties together, but it’s connected.”
“And why come to us?” Devi asked, smoothing the front of her suit jacket. Vee recognized that movement. Her mother was dying to get into the thick of figuring it out part but was controlling the urge so that Vee could give her opinion.
“Because I think we have better weaponry, possibly also have projects in R&D that we could use.”
“And?”
“And because there is a combined threat to my life mixed up somewhere inside this case. Someone wants me enough to throw my face up on the DW and have dozens—”
“DW?”
“Dark Web, Dad,” Vee said, her tone saying ‘keep up, Dad. “And have dozens of bounty hunters on my tail. Those two were dealt with, but who knows how many more there are out there. I’ve been keeping on the DL for now—”
“DL?”
“Down Low, Dad,” Vee said raising her eyes, her expression saying stop cutting me off. “And I’m coming to Shankar Industries because I’m personally invested in the case. If I went straight to Rossi, he’d more than likely pull me from the case for being too close. Or he’ll throw a shitload of babysitters my way which would just hamper my investigation.”
Devi got to her feet and began to pace. Seemed Vee had gotten that particular trait from her mother.
“So we have the pey demons who have been on a killing spree in the city. They’ve broken away from the Demon Horde Assembly. They’re also mass-producing a new generation of demons. Then we have pey demons attempting to kill you, and a bounty on your head which may or may not be linked to the pey demons.”
Devi turned to Vee who lifted her own fingers. “We have Karan who is currently MIA, we have the Demon Horde who are amassing their efforts on all fronts, and we also have a possibility that the two pey demons who attacked me after I’d offed that bhayakara, had been out to abduct—not kill—me.” Vee got to her feet and tapped the table. “If I have to consider the whole thing from a different angle, it’s possible that had the female pey not been killed by Rossi’s backup team, that the pair would have merely attempted to abduct me.”
“So, assuming they want you, but not because they want you to be the main course at their birthing ceremony party, then we have to accept that they are after you for something important.”
Vee sighed and walked over to the plasma screen. “Do pey demons and the apsaras have anything in common? Some past altercation or historical difference of opinion?”
Devi pursed her lips as she considered the option while Raj shook his head. “No. The texts don’t define any negative relationship between the apsaras and their species.”
“Then who would want an apsara dead? And second to that, should they be focusing only on me, who would want me in particular dead. Do the texts talk about anyone in particular who had a quarrel—or a bone to pick—with a powerful apsara?”
Devi’s face was grim. “If anything, you’d be the best person to tell us.”
Vee frowned. “Now why did I not expect that as an answer?” Vee asked, her tone a little higher than before. “Wait, I know. Because I have no clue, which is why I came to you two.”
Vee sank onto the nearest chair, fatigued all of a sudden. The reality of the whole situation had just hit her like a punch to the gut, and she leaned over and groaned.
When she straightened, she realized two things: one, her father was typing away at a laptop at her mother’s desk, and two, her mother was digging inside what appeared to be a secret room hidden behind a wall of books. How original?
Vee shook her head and got to her feet. “What’s going on?”
“We need the spell.”
“What spell?”
“The one to put you under so that you can share the memories of past powerful apsaras.”
“What the what?” Vee stood very still as she watched her parents whose brows were furrowed as they concentrated on their respective tasks. “Wait a second. Why don’t you guys look surprised?”
She walked closer to her mother, stepping across the threshold and into the little back room.
“What are you looking for?” Vee asked hovering over her mom even though she knew the woman hated it when people looked over her shoulder.
“Dad’s looking for the Guild’s details. I’m looking for something that I’d read a while back that could give us a clue as to who might be after you.”
“The Guild? Why them?” Now that some time had passed since Vee had first heard of the Guild, she’d taken the mention of them in stride. Though she still wasn’t sure what they had to do with this particular situation.
“They’ll be the one to help put you into the trance,” said a voice from beside Vee.
Coming so soon after crawling around in creepy tunnels, the sound of a voice in her ear shocked Vee so much that she let out a low shriek and flinched so hard that she twisted on her ankle and toppled onto the ground.
“Ma!” she yelled again. “Can you please stop doing that?” Vee glared at her grandmother, who was now wearing a purple sari, but had tied it in a new, and unusual way. Vee sighed. “Nice sari. You have to teach me how to do that,” Vee said, pointing at the way the fabric was draped over Radhima’s chest then drawn under her arm only to be looped straight back over
the same shoulder.
“I will. Now you deal with her,” Radhima pointed over her shoulder.
Vee shifted her gaze to look at her mother who was staring at her, eyes wide, mouth open.
Chapter 83
“Who are you talking to?” Devi whispered staring blankly at the space beside Vee.
Vee rolled her eyes. “Okay, Mom. I’m not going to pretend anymore just because you don’t believe me. She’s here. She’s wearing a sari in a strange way, but it’s pretty cool. Said she’d teach me how to drape it.”
Devi said nothing. She closed her mouth and just stared at Vee.
“Ask her if she remembers the broken bust of Nefertiti.”
Vee frowned as she rotated herself and sat cross-legged as she pulled a book from the stack that sat in front of her mother. She opened it and said to Devi, “Ma wants to know about a bust of Nefertiti.”
Devi’s eyes widened, and her face went red. She let out a soft cry and seemed to sink further against the shelf. “No. How did you find that out?” Devi whispered. “And how can you say that to me so calmly?”
Vee glanced up, frowning. She shrugged then cocked her head over to the ghost at her side. “I’m just repeating what she said. I got no clue what it is about.”
“Ask her about staying out of sight of the eye of Nefertiti.”
Vee rolled her eyes. “That makes no sense, Ma.” Her grandmother glared at her and lifted her eyebrows and pursed her lips. “Okay then.”
Vee turned to her mother who looked far too pale to be healthy. She hesitated, wondering if her words would end up making her mother ill.
“Ask her,” prompted Radhima.
Inhaling deeply, Vee said, “She said to ask you about staying out of sight of the eye of Nefertiti.”
Devi let out another cry, one of deep grief that got Vee to her knees. She ignored the book as it tilted and fell to the ground as she leaned over to her mother. “Mom? What’s the matter?”
Devi hiccupped and then cleared her throat. Then she looked at the space at Vee’s side. “Is she really there?”
Vee shook her head, earning a glare of suspicion. “No, I meant she’s at your side now. Over there,” Vee said, pointing to the spot beside her mother.
Devi shifted her gaze. “This is weird.” She glanced over at Vee, hesitating and a little afraid.
Vee shrugged. “Just talk to her. I’ll answer for her. She can’t move things just yet.”
Devi’s eyebrows shot up, but she contained her surprise and shifted her gaze. “Did you tell her?” Devi asked, surprising Vee to no end. What was it that her mother suspected that Radhima had revealed to Vee? It must have been something incredibly important for it to be the first question she asked her mother’s ghost.
Radhima shook her head. “I didn’t think you were ready. I won’t. Not until you say you are ready.”
Vee relayed the message word for word and watched her mother burst into tears. Movement at Vee’s back had her turning to see her Dad standing on the threshold staring at Devi whose face was glistening with tears, her mascara smudged and her lipstick blotchy.
He looked at Vee, a question in his eyes. His eyes were shifting away, back to his wife when he said, “Oh,” as his gaze settled on the spot beside Devi.
Vee frowned then scrambled to her feet.
“Close your ears, Vee,” said the old woman.
“Why?’
“I’m going to swear.”
“Go right ahead,” Vee said with a smile.
Her grandmother used a word that Vee hadn’t expected her to even be capable of saying. Vee’s jaw dropped.
“And you swear now?” asked Raj, his brow furrowed.
“After what I’ve been through? I can swear if I want, when I want.” Radhima folded her arms and glared at him.
Raj ignored her words. “How long?”
“A week or three,” said Vee as she stared between the two of them. “How can you see her? Syama said that only the person she is haunting can see her.”
“Yeah, there are other circumstances in which you can see the ghost of a person,” Raj said, his voice devoid of emotion.
Devi got to her feet too, staring at her husband. And then at Vee.
Vee asked, “What are you’ll talking about. What circumstances?”
Raj let out a heavy sigh. “This is not the way I expected to reveal the truth.”
Radhima shook her head. “Don’t. Not now.”
“Ma said no. She doesn’t want you to talk about it now. Can’t you see that?”
“Why not? It’s going to come out eventually.”
Vee glanced over at her grandmother. “I just want my daughter to accept that I’m here. Don’t soil this moment.”
Raj sighed again and shifted away until he stood just outside the entrance to the small room. “Okay. But we need to talk about it sooner or later.”
Radhima nodded and then focused on her daughter. “Our family has a lot of secrets. But I will keep yours. Just the same as I will keep my son’s. When you are ready, you can tell me, and we’ll do it together.”
Vee repeated her grandmother’s words and sat back as her mother nodded. “Thank you. And I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, Vee.”
Vee shook her head. “I wouldn’t have believed me either. In fact, I didn’t believe me. It took an old man in a taxi who confirmed it.” Then Vee frowned and faced her grandmother. “How did he see you as well, this is all so confusing.”
Radhima laughed. “He’s an old man, a priest who’s communed with the spirits before. Those who are familiar with the realm of the spirits can see the spirits.”
“And what about Dad?”
The old ghost chose that moment to clam up.
Devi sighed. “Your Dad’s right. There are a number of reasons you will see the ghost of the dead.”
Vee brushed her hair from her face and took a deep breath. “Anyone care to tell me what these circumstances are?”
Devi let out a soft, incredibly sad laugh. “The dead are not able to control who can see them. Syama is able to because she’s a spirit of the underworld. You can see Ma because she is linked to you for some reason. The old cab driver was likely a spiritual master or a priest of sorts.”
Vee’s heart began to beat faster as her mom drew closer to revealing how her dad could see Radhima’s ghost. Vee had a suspicion, one that made her stomach hard, one she didn’t want to hear right then.
She lifted her hand. “Maybe dad is right. Maybe it’s not the best time to talk about this.”
Devi’s eyes glittered as she smiled sadly at her daughter. “There is no reason to pretend here. And no reason to keep the truth silent.” Raj stepped into the room, and Vee looked over at him, her eyes filming with tears, her expression mirrored by her mother’s.
Radhima looked upset, shaking her head as if she didn’t want the words to be said.
Devi stepped closer to her husband, and Raj stiffened, as if he was preparing himself for an onslaught of grief or violence. Or both.
Devi smiled. “The other reason a person can see the ghost of the dead is if that person had died by their hand.” Vee clapped a palm over her mouth as her mother spoke the words that had been resonating inside her own head since she’d understood what was happening.
She glanced over at Radhima who was watching Raj, her eyes filled with such love that for a moment Vee was stunned by the realization.
“You killed her to relieve her of her suffering,” Vee said the words, her tone emotionless even though she kind of understood. She shifted her gaze from her mother’s face, which was filled with understanding, to her dad whose expression was a picture of grief, yet absent of regret.
He nodded and smiled at Radhima. “Hiranyakasipu stabbed her with a spear dipped in poison. He did it so that I could watch her suffering.”
“It was my fault,” Radhima said.
Vee frowned. “How was it your fault, Ma?” When Vee had entered the cell where Kasipu had held her fat
her and grandmother, she’d found Radhima already dead.
“I should have remained silent. I was stupid…talking to Raj, telling him not to worry about me, that he was the son I never had and that I trusted him to go back and look after our family. That…demon heard me, and he used it against Raj. He used the love I had for my son against him, forcing him to watch me die just to inflict the most amount of pain upon him.”
Devi shook her head and stared at Vee. “What is going on?” There was a desperation in her mother’s voice, and Vee put her out of her misery, relating her grandmother’s words as quickly as possible. Devi’s face was a study of grief and horror, but oddly contained no blame or anger as she regarded her husband.
“She was going to die?” she whispered the question.
Raj nodded, his face taut with sorrow. “The poison had spread so slowly, eating away at her body, but leaving her in excruciating pain. At one point, it seemed as though the pain was getting worse as time went by. I just…I couldn’t stand watching her suffer and then when she asked me to end her torture…I refused.” Raj coughed and took a deep breath. Radhima held out a hand, cupping his cheek, her eyes filled with love. “But I couldn’t let her suffer. She begged me to do it, insisting she wanted to go out with dignity, and not to let her passing be at the hand of a murderous monster like Kasipu.
“At that point, we’d been released from our chains…a game he played with us, making us think he was relenting, that things would get better for us. He’d brought food in metal bowls…. I sharpened the rim of one of the bowls and used it to slice open her jugular. It was the most painless way that I could think of releasing her from her torture. It took a few minutes, and she was gone.
“When Kasipu returned he laughed and laughed at the son who’d been forced to watch his own mother die. When they moved the body, they saw that she’d been injured. He was furious then. I suspect it fueled his anger against you, Vee. I believe my actions made him more determined to find you and to destroy you so that he could see me suffer properly. Since he’d failed with Ma.”