by T. G. Ayer
“Get the teams out. Team Leaders wait to ensure nothing goes wrong.”
Shivani nodded and Syama disappeared as she worked on jumping the team out of harm’s way. In the end, only Vee, Shivani, and Syama remained, waiting until almost the last moment to jump.
Syama grabbed a hold of Vee and Shivani just as the timers ticked off the last two seconds. When they arrived inside the boardroom it was as if they’d brought part of the blast with them. The three women tumbled out of empty nothing and flew through the air, Syama hitting the glass cabinet, Vee slamming into the table, and Shivani hitting the window before sliding to the ground as a rippling of cracks appeared in the glass.
“Shit,” Vee cried out as she rolled off the table and rushed to the Alpha Team leader.
“It’s okay. It’s triple glazed so you’d need to break all three panes to get out,” Devi said as she rushed into the room.
Vee fell to the ground, taking a deep breath. “How long before we can go back?”
“Two minutes until the fire clears and the overheated fumes die away.”
Vee nodded and straightened, watching Syama and Shivani as they also rose and dusted themselves off. Shivani glanced over her shoulder at the window and grimaced. “That was close,” she said grinning.
Vee didn’t answer, her mind too focused on the fact that she hadn’t considered the danger they all faced when they’d taken this mission on.
“Ready to go back in T minus thirty seconds,” Shivani said nodding at Syama who strode over to Vee.
The Alpha Team leader also followed suit and hurried over to stand beside Vee.
Syama transported them back over to the tunnel and Vee’s mouth dropped open. Not only was the tunnel brickwork now blackened, there were chunks gouged out of the walls as if some huge creature had made its way through the rounded corridor scraping gigantic claws into the walls.
Vee steadied herself as her feet hit ground, then shifted forward slowly until she reached the tunnel edge. Down below, destruction awaited as remnants of embryos and burned egg sacs fluttered around on invisible eddies.
The bombs had detonated in sync and the fields of the explosions had spread out and overlapped each other. That along with the devastating fire had turned the embryos into a pool of unrecognizable sludge coating the bottom of the hall.
Vee felt bile rise in her throat and she shifted her gaze away and studied the tunnel around her. As she stepped away from the hall, she found herself pausing to listen.
“What’s wrong?” asked Shivani, her voice low even on the comms link.
“Not sure. Just something doesn’t feel—”
Something slammed into Vee and Shivani sending them sprawling on the floor of the narrow tunnel. The wall where Vee had just been standing exploded, shavings of splintered brick flew in every direction and Vee felt them stabbing into her protective gear as her helmeted head bounced off the wall. For a moment, she lay there, brain buzzing and then she sucked in a breath and rolled over, blinking the stars from her eyes.
A groan from her side brought her upright and she searched the dusty space for Shivani and Syama. Syama was lying on the floor holding her head. “Thanks dude,” Vee murmured as she helped the hellhound up. “Saved my life there.”
Syama grunted. “It’s what I do,” she muttered then coughed.
Shivani was already crouched staring out in the direction from which the bullet had originated. “Sorry, Syama. Know you’re a bit shaken up, but let’s get out of here before the next one turns us to dust.”
Syama nodded and rolled over into a crouch. Vee and Shivani reached out to grab her hand. They shimmered away just in time. Two more missiles plunged into the wall beside the women and exploded.
Again, the three women solidified inside the boardroom, bringing dust and dirt with them.
“Man, the cleaning crew ain’t gonna like us after today,” muttered Vee as she surveyed the deep dark pile that covered the boardroom floor. Around them the air shimmered with dust, and debris covered the floor.
“Those were live weapons, Vee,” said Syama as she dusted herself off.
“They thought we were human.” Shivani put her hands on her hips as she tapped her foot.
Just as Vee was about to reply the air beside them boiled and three demons solidified, weapons held high as they surveyed the boardroom and its occupants.
Shit.
Vee surged forward, grabbing her trishula and taking a swing at the tallest demon. His face was bare, and a bright red earring shimmered in his ear. He hit back with his sword, the metal clanging against the trishula. The impact set off a loud ringing that was so bad Vee was tempted to protect her ears with her hands.
Instead, she ignored the sound and focused on throwing her knives at her opponent. Each of the girls battled their own demon—literally. Bullets rang out, slamming into the walls and the window, daggers went wide plunging into chairs and equipment.
“Syama,” Vee yelled. “Get us back before we destroy this place.”
Without a word, Syama transported them back to the tunnel. Vee knew the effort would drain her, jumping five people would take its toll, but the hellhound didn’t seem to miss a stride.
The confined space of the tunnel forced Vee to put the trishula away and reach for her chakra. The sudden appearance of the weapon as Vee whipped it out of her belt loop caught the demon by surprise, and he wasn’t fast enough to avoid Vee’s wide swipe.
His throat split open and dark blood spurted out of the gash. The demon emitted a gurgling sound, his hands going to the wound as if to stop the blood flow. Then he fell forward, landing on his face and stopped moving.
Shivani despatched her demon with a dagger to the side of the neck while Syama dropped her opponent over the edge of the tunnel into the murky dead-demon embryo sludge.
Just as they thought they were safe, another explosion rocked the tunnel and Vee raised her hands, instinct bringing on her force field. She’d barely practiced using the power and was glad it still worked, especially considering the three of them would have been incinerated had she not raised the protective barrier in time.
Inside the bubble, Vee glanced over at Syama. “Where’s B Team? Akil?”
Both Shivani and Syama shook their heads “Comms appears to be down.”
“Not good enough. We need to find them and get them to safety.”
Shivani put her hand to her ear. “Balance of the squad is reporting they’re safe in the basement. Akil went back for Ashnee—she’d remained to guard their flank. They haven’t returned yet.”
No!
Chapter 89
“How long?”
“A few minutes.”
“Possibly a few minutes too long, especially in this place.” Vee frowned as she spoke, the odd sound echoing in her ears again. She shook her head, even though she knew how incongruous the movement was—it wasn’t as if she could shake away a sound that rang inside her head.
Vee looked up at Syama, but the hellhound was already shimmering away.
When she returned a few moments later, her eyes were wide, her skin pale. Shaking her head, she said, “I couldn’t find him.”
“And?” asked Vee, already reading the hellhound’s consternation.
“And we have a problem. This isn’t the only nursery.”
Vee was a little stunned for a moment as she processed Syama’s words.
More nurseries meant their mission was far from over. It also meant they’d shown their hand by bombing the nursery in the tunnel.
“We need to check it out. Move fast.” Both women nodded. “Syama, you drop us near the next nursery and we’ll check it out, then go tell Dad we need more bombs. Let’s hope he made extra. Otherwise we’re SOL.”
Syama nodded then jumped Vee and Shivani to a wider tunnel, only this one was a space to run electrical conduits and ended in a dead end. Vee’s eyes widened as she shuffled along the concrete wall, avoiding the fat ropy electrical wiring that ran down the center of the
pipe.
“This isn’t good.” Syama pointed at the mouth of the pipeline and Vee crawled forward. This time there was no direct access to the nursery. It was barred by a metal grate with spacings no larger than Vee’s thumb. It did have a hole in the center, but it was only large enough for the electrical wiring and didn’t have space enough for even a Bobby pin to pass through.
And it happened to be the only access point onto the nursery other than two metal doors on the opposite wall.
“It’s much smaller than the first one.” Vee eyed the collection of eggs through the grating, watching a small groups of white-coated demons do an inspection, very similar to the one they’d performed at the last nursery.
“I’m going to speak to Raj. Be back in a sec.”
Below them, the space was smaller, and felt more closed in. “What is this place?”
“It appears to be a basement to some sort of industrial firm. These conduits are for backup power, likely to a computer mainframe.”
Syama returned, her face grim. “He’ll have it ready in twenty. We need to scope out the rest of the nurseries because if there’s this one, you can bet there’s more.”
Vee nodded. Syama was only saying exactly what she was already thinking.
“This whole thing is way bigger than we expected. And I’m still not entirely sure what Lucy and her baby have to do with this,” Vee said softly. Then she pulled herself free from the thoughts. No point in focusing on that for now. There’d be time enough later for that.
“Syama? Can we rely on you to locate the rest of the nurseries?”
The hellhound nodded. “I can locate them, but it would be easier if I had help.”
“You worried about Akil?
Syama didn’t respond.
“I am too. And you looked for him, but right now we can’t do anything other than keep going on with the mission.”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“You and me both, girl. You and me both.”
Syama sighed. “I’ll get those locations and send them on to you and the team,” Syama said then shimmered away.
“I’ll coordinate the locations and we’ll formulate a plan of attack,” said Shivani.
“Yeah. It needs to be coordinated and we have to move—”
Vee was cut off by the sound of shouts from below. Peering through the grate she and Shivani watched as the contingent of demons turned and raced from the room. Vee heard mention of a nursery and explosions, and of someone being captured. They disappeared through the door and Vee heard the clanging of locks on the other side of the doors.
“They secured the location well,” Shivani murmured.
“Making it perfect for our attack.” Vee paused, considering where the demons had gone. “Surely they aren’t going to the nursery we just destroyed. So, I’d guess they must be going to look for whoever they captured.”
Vee looked at Shivani and froze as the other girl’s eyes widened.
“Akil!”
Chapter 90
Vee and Shivani waited impatiently until Syama returned ten minutes later. They were enclosed in the pipe with no possible way out other than to blow the thing to pieces. That was an option they didn’t want to consider.
Syama materialized beside them, her face pinched and dark with tension.
“We have to follow the guards. They left here a while ago, and we couldn’t follow them,” Vee said speaking as fast as possible and motioning for Syama to take them now.
But the hellhound shook her head. “I know.”
Vee frowned and looked over at Shivani, then said, “Know what?”
“That they have Akil.”
Vee shook her head, wanting it to not be true, but from the look on Syama’s face, she knew that was impossible.
Then Vee sighed. “Okay. What can you tell us about where they are holding him?”
“Some kind of magical field. It’s next to one of the nurseries which is probably the only reason I found him.” Syama swallowed hard then looked up at the top of the shaft, avoiding Vee’s eyes. “I should have known something was wrong.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. We should have all known something was wrong. For now, let’s get those charges set at all the nursery location and let’s get in and retrieve Akil before the timers go off.”
Syama’s mouth tightened, forming a thin line and Vee knew she’d best get the hellhound focusing on something other than blaming herself.
Vee looked over at the Alpha Team leader who took her cue and tapped her comms. “We have a green light to set those charges. All teams proceed to each of your locations. Syama will assist to distribute you all.”
Syama barely blinked before disappearing, and Vee shook her head. “We really need to get another team member who can help out with the transportation.”
“Hopefully one that doesn’t get captured,” said Shivani with a smile.
Vee grinned and counted the minutes until Syama arrived. She’d barely solidified before saying, “All charges are set. We have twenty minutes to get in, get Akil and get far away.”
Vee nodded and reached for Syama’s hand as the hellhound said, “He’s in some kind of force field, so we’re going to have to figure out how to release him first.”
“How many guards? Firepower?”
“Six guards, all armed. Looked like handguns to me. Nothing semiautomatic which is odd. They can’t be that complacent.”
Vee had no idea what to expect from the demons. She’d imagine a more well-organized system with their upper echelon considering their political aims, of which Vee had to admit she knew all too little.
I supposed we’ll find out soon enough.
They arrived under cover of Syama’s glamor, and this time there was no safe place to hide. Vee knew all too well that Syama’s glamor hid them from the demons, but if Akil had gotten caught, who knew what methods the demons had to detect even a hellhound glamor.
As they solidified in the furthest corner of the small room, Vee swallowed the urge to cry out in horror.
In the middle of the room, a ball of energy pulsed and spun, its clear skin revealing the prisoner inside. Akil. He hung within the ball, held in place by crackling sparks of mini lightning bolts.
Akil’s gaze flitted to the trio the moment they arrived, and he sent them a pointed glance. Vee looked over at what he was indicating, and she gasped at the sight of Lucy lying at the bottom of a similar ball of energy, only this one absent of the lightning.
Good thing too, as the sparks would not have been healthy for the unborn child. Vee studied the young woman, relieved to see that she appeared to be in good health. She lay at the bottom curve of the ball, arms wrapped around her stomach as she curled on her side. Her hair was oily and un-brushed, and her clothing appeared soiled, as if she’d not been allowed to have a change of clothes during the last four days.
Despite the lack of care, Vee was glad the girl was still alive.
When Vee glanced back at Akil, she found him glaring at her. Then he looked away and shook his head. She knew what he was doing. He was trying to tell her something without bringing her presence to the attention of the demons that milled around the room.
The space wasn’t overly big; about the size of a large school gymnasium, it contained a trio of large chairs at one end, a long table filled with a medley of food, fruits, and files. And two long dining tables that sat parallel to each other on either side of the hall.
Had they walked into a dining hall?
Vee looked at Syama, but the hellhound’s attention was focused on a pair of demons who seemed to be watching her. Vee looked at Shivani who shook her head, her eyes wide with concern.
Up at the end of the hall, one of the larger demons began to laugh, the sound raucous and echoing around the room.
“Your glamor won’t work here, hellhound.” He snickered as he stared at Syama, his eyes shifting to red and then black, and back again.
Syama had frozen in place in the center
aisle and Vee could tell the hellhound wanted to turn around and look at Vee. Instead, she concentrated on the two demons who swaggered to her.
Vee recognized the larger of the two. “Harvard,” she muttered, gritting her teeth.
“What?” whispered Shivani from Vee’s side. But Vee didn’t have time to respond as a sound at her back had the pair spinning around to face another set of demons.
“Ah, the entertainment has arrived. And what better entertainment than to watch an apsara be smashed to death, right?” Cheers rose from the floor as dozens of demons turned to watch the three women face down their demon opponents.
Shivani raised her gun and fired, the blast of her weapon setting the battle in motion. The bullet spread apart and hit wide, slamming into both the demons advancing on them. Though all the glass slivers failed to hit their skin, enough passed through seams and areas where skin was visible.
The two fell and began writing on the floor. Not that it mattered that they’d downed two with one shot. Another pair of demons replaced them and surged forward, not waiting to see what Vee and Shivani would do.
As the Alpha leader fired again, Vee glanced over her shoulder to see a third demon advancing on Syama who was currently fighting two full-grown demons who happened to be almost twice her size.
These guys had no clue as to what a fair fight was.
Chapter 91
Vee drew a throwing dagger from her thigh and let it fly, then turned to attack one of the demons who had run full tilt at her. The satisfying thwack as the dagger embedded itself within the demon’s eye gave Vee only brief enjoyment.
Before she took the next breath, she was ducking to avoid a double-sided ax, barely escaping with her neck intact.
Shivani struggled to keep up. As they dispatched each opponent, new demons replaced them, onlookers helping to clear away the dead.
A loud growl of anger emanated from the front of the hall. “Three women, you useless pieces of shit. Three women for Yama’s sake. Kill them!” he yelled.