by T. G. Ayer
“Don’t think Yama will be too happy with you using his name,” Vee muttered under her breath as she sidestepped a broadsword, then drew a needle from her wrist to plunge into the back of the demon’s neck. He went down like a rock and Vee twisted around and delivered the same treatment to his partner who’d backed Shivani into a corner.
“Thanks,” Shivani called out. “We need to preserve our ammo.”
Vee nodded and glanced over at Syama. Though she’d kept a few demons at bay, Harvard still stalked her, giving her a wide berth.
The demon in charge, who stood up on the dais, relayed instructions to his underlings but remained safely out of reach.
Vee grabbed her trishula and waited only long enough for the spear handle to extend before letting it fly. Golden lightning flashed from the weapon as it streaked through the air, so fast that the demon up front had no time to evade the weapon. It hit him in the throat slamming him into the concrete wall behind him.
Vee spun on her heel and drew her chakra, enjoying the hum it emitted as she let it fly in a wide arc.
She would have felt a little bad that the weapon was so destructive had she and Shivani not been outnumbered and nearly overpowered.
As she fought them off, she noted a mixed bag of demons who appeared to be part of the security squad attached to the pey demon’s population initiative.
With their boss eliminated, Vee had expected at least a partial retreat, but nothing seemed to sway the demons from their path.
Vee gritted her teeth. “We don’t have the time for this bullshit. How are we doing for time?” she asked Shivani.
The apsara blinked and then said, “T minus ten minutes, thirty-eight seconds and counting.”
“Crap, we need to get a move on.”
“Syama?”
“I heard,” she called without looking in their direction.
Akil was still whiling away his time in the energy ball above their heads, and Vee looked over at the trishula still impaled in the demon’s neck up on the dais. Vee didn’t wait to apprise Shivani of her intention. She spun on her heel and raced toward the front of the hall. Her speed had quickly transitioned to super-fast, and within a few moments, she was plucking the trishula from the demon’s neck.
She didn’t wait to see him crumple to the ground. Vee turned and aimed at the energy ball, using all the power in her upper body, she flung the trishula at Akil’s prison. The weapon flew through the air, the long handle whipping back and forth as it sped toward the energy ball.
Vee had used the trishula on a hunch, without thinking what would happen when the trishula hit the ball of energy full-force. Almost too late, she understood the ramifications and grabbed for Shivani.
“Syama! Down,” she yelled and outstretched to the hellhound.
As soon as Syama complied, Vee threw her hands out and summoned the ball of energy that she knew would protect her and her team from harm in case Akil’s energy ball turned violent.
Everything seemed to happen at once.
The trishula’s triple pointed spear hit Akil’s energy ball. Vee’s protective ward spread and grew around her, Syama, and Shivani. The energy ball shattered and Akil flung his arms out in shock.
The blast flew into the hall, the shockwave spreading out like a tsunami, toppling everyone in its path. Except for Vee and her team. And the demon group who were walking into the hall.
The higher up on the Demon Horde ladder a demon was, the more powerful they happened to be. So as Vee squatted within the protection of her bubble of protective magic, she watched in cold horror as the demons strode through the moaning mass that was their security team.
In Vee’s peripheral vision she saw Akil fall, speeding up as he closed in on the bare concrete floor. But thankfully, when only half a yard off the ground, he shifted into owl form and swooped to safety along a ledge on the far wall.
As the shockwave, and the accompanying mayhem subsided, Vee straightened and let her protective ward evaporate. She was relieved it had worked when she’d needed it most. She glanced to her left to where the trishula lay on the concrete, two demons eyeing the golden spear, their expressions filled with a strange hunger.
One of them lunged forward, and Vee yelled, “Don’t touch it.”
But the demon merely sneered and grabbed hold of the handle. The moment his fingers gripped the trishula the demon began to glow, a golden halo forming around his body,
Then Vee ducked the instant before he exploded into ash and dust.
The trishula dropped to the ground, and Vee lunged for it. “I warned you,” she said, scooping the weapon up and backing away from the remaining demon who was looking at the remnants of his buddy as the cloud of ash floated around him and drifted to the floor.
“Enough!” a voice rang out around the hall, this one distinctly female despite the guttural growl.
Vee glanced up at the dais to see a pey demon female standing there, arms akimbo, her armor a dull red color that gave the impression that she’d bathed in blood before she’d arrived.
Which was also entirely possible given her species.
The demon lifted her hand, and a high pitched shriek echoed around the room. Vee’s gaze snapped toward the origin of the cry, and she sucked back a gasp of horror. The ball in which Lucy sat had begun to disintegrate.
“If you don’t call off the bombings, I will kill the girl.”
Vee’s eyes widened, and she shared a look of concern with Shivani. A few feet ahead, Syama stood with her dagger at the neck of one demon, and another in the gut of another.
Vee hesitated then glanced up at the owl who’d drawn his glamor over him. He was currently perched on a light fixture halfway up the wall to Vee’s right.
Another demon hurried inside and went straight to their leader. Harvard again? Hadn’t he just been there? He’d likely left to summon his demon boss and had remained to investigate the bombs.
“Queen Ishanie, I have news,” he said as he rushed to her.
After the two spoke, they turned to stare at the three women. The demon who Syama had stabbed in the gut began to tilt backward, slowly falling until he hit the ground so hard that the sound of his skull cracking reverberated through the room.
“I’ve been told we have no more than five minutes left,” the queen called out. “Perhaps now would be a good time to send word to cancel the detonations.”
“Can’t do that. We set the timers manually.” Vee shrugged in apology although her face was far from sorry.
Ishanie lifted her hand again and the bubble holding Lucy shivered and thinned again. Vee was about to protest, hoping Akil was ready to jump the girl away when the time was right, when footsteps clattered on the concrete, announcing the arrival of someone who was very large, but who ran like a little child.
One of the demons who’d entered with Ishanie stepped forward, shoulders hunched as he called out, “No you promised you wouldn’t hurt her.” His voice was whiny, and so unlike Vee’s impression of him as a hardened killer.
Vee’s jaw dropped as it hit her who this demon was.
The killer Monroe was after. The pey demon who’d killed Susie.
Chapter 92
The queen laughed softly. “I’m sorry, Rishi, my son. She will have to die if these nasty people here don’t turn off the bombs.”
The demon—Rishi—faced Vee and her team and began to cry. “Do what Mother asks. I don’t want her to die,” he said pointing at Lucy who let out a soft whimper.
The queen clicked her tongue. “There, there, Rishi, you must know we don’t need her.”
“But I got her for you. Because I heard you say you want to make children. You wanted babies, and I brought you one of your very own.”
“And I’m so happy about that my boy,” Ishanie replied, her tone clearly revealing her disdain for the human girl, and her impatience with her son.
Vee was floored by the revelation. Had they all been chasing a killer who just happened to be mentally incapacitated?
Had their hunt for Lucy and her unborn baby led them to the demon nurseries by accident?
Still, it didn’t explain Vee’s stalkers-slash-abductors-slash-assassins. For now, she had to concentrate on the queen though. And what she was about to do to Lucy.
“What do you want?” yelled Vee, trying to distract the queen. “Why are you lying to your poor son?”
Rishi glanced at his mother, confused, and Vee grabbed the opportunity.
“Sorry, Rishi. Mommy dearest plans on killing the girl and her baby,” Vee said, raising her voice. Around them, the demons gathered were smiling and talking amongst themselves, and Vee heard snippets of conversation filter through to her.
“He’s pathetic…”
“She should have gotten rid of him when it happened…”
“The mother goddess won’t like this…”
“Her soft spot for him will be her downfall…”
“This crap is just delaying our timeframe…”
Up on the dais, the killer demon stamped his foot and pouted. “But she was a present,” Rishi said, tears filling his eyes. “Why you want to kill her? You wanted babies to conquer the city, and I brought you a baby, but now you want to kill it even before it’s born.” Rishi rambled on, and Vee shook her head.
Time was running out.
Vee glanced at Akil hoping he’d understand what she wanted him to do.
“The goddess won’t be happy with you, Mother. She’s the goddess of life and creation. You can’t kill in her name.” Rishi whimpered, shaking his head. He began to chew his nails, his eyes darting left to right.
The queen hushed him. “The mother goddess is very happy with us. She’s going to bless us with a boon just like the ones that girl has.” The demon pointed at Vee.
As all eyes turned to Vee, she felt her stomach go hard. Did this demon queen know about Vee, about who she was? From the look in Queen Ishanie’s eyes, Vee was certain she did. Yet she’d referred to Vee as a ‘girl’ and not an apsara. Was she hiding something from her security team?
“T minus 1 minute and counting,” whispered Shivani.
Vee stiffened, preparing herself for what was about to happen. “You got any of the kablooeys left?”
“Yep. All two of them.”
“Match the timers and be ready to drop them here.”
Shivani didn’t answer, but Vee sensed movement as the team leader slid her hand into her satchel and set the timers.
Even though Vee and her team had killed so many of their team-mates, none of the demons appeared to be concerned. It made sense that they would not be grieving, especially considering they could come back soon enough, but their complacency was a concern.
Ishanie pointed at Harvard, who’d been standing at attention beside the dais, serving the team. “The mother has assured us that we will prevail. These humans have attempted to overthrow us but have failed outright.”
“That’s what you think,” muttered Vee.
“T minus thirty,” whispered Shivani. Syama’s spine tensed, and Vee flicked a glance up at Akil. The owl gave a single nod.
“I think you are mistaken. Whoever this mother is that’s helping you, she’s misleading you into thinking you can take over the Demon Horde Assembly.” Vee blurted the words out, hoping to distract the queen.
But Ishanie’s face darkened, taking on a bluish hue as she glanced over at Harvard. The look on her face was priceless, revealing her shock at how Vee could have known.
“So that was your plan. You need to work on your poker face, your majesty.”
“The mother of creation will not lie to her believers. Our faith is her power,” Ishanie ground the words out. “She warned me about you. Told me to ensure we either terminated you, or at least ensured you don’t find out about our plans.”
Vee shrugged. “You can thank your baby boy over there. His crazy killing spree across the city is what brought me here. All I did was to track his activity and here I am. Don’t suppose I can take him into custody?”
Rishi shrieked and scurried over to his mother’s side, but Ishanie brushed him off. “Be quiet, or I’ll send you back to Naraka.”
The demon fell silent although he hid his body—or whatever of it that he could, considering he was twice the size of his mother.
“You can’t touch him,” Ishanie said taking a step forward. “And neither will I allow you to endanger my plans. Kill her!” she screamed, thrusting her finger at Vee. “Kill them all!”
Too many things happened at once.
“Five seconds,” Shivani said, while Syama scurried backward toward the pair. Vee pulled the conch from her own satchel and raised it to her lips. Akil took flight and aimed himself at the ball of energy containing Lucy. Vee flung her chakra at the oncoming demons and sent the trishula flying through the air.
Vee took a breath and blew on the conch, the sound flooding around the room and bringing everything to a standstill. Ishani’s eyes were blood-red and filled with rage and Vee registered that the demon hadn’t been entirely incapacitated by the power of the conch. It was clear she did have some sort of deific protection, but Vee wasn’t sure which of the gods would stand with demons against humanity.
Not humanity, just you, said a voice in Vee’s head.
Vee’s weapons continued on their paths, and she raced toward the ball as it disintegrated. Lucy was frozen in position inside the sphere and hung there suspended by time. Vee surged into the air, snapping her wings out behind her. Though they’d never been able to allow her to fly through the sky, they were powerful enough to allow Vee to rise at least two stories to grab hold of the pregnant woman. Vee descended and laid the girl on the floor. Then she turned to Akil who’d been frozen mid-flight, his wings spread.
Vee flew to him then drew him down to stand beside Lucy.
Then Vee grabbed her trishula and faced the destruction caused by the chakra as it flew around the room, slicing into skin and causing untold physical damage to more demons than Vee could count.
She raised her hand, and the chakra returned to her palm with a flat thunk.
Time began to right itself as eyelids shifted and fingers moved.
And just like that, the power of the conch faded.
“3…,” said Shivani.
Akil flapped his wings and shifted into human form, wrapping his arms around Lucy.
Syama reached Vee’s side as three demons fell to the ground around them.
“2…” Shivani murmured as she pulled the two bombs from the satchel and threw them flying toward Ishanie and her royal retinue and the others in the midst of the remaining demons behind Vee’s team.
Akil disappeared with Lucy. Rishi let out a shriek of horror, putting his hands to his head and then screaming as he stared at the empty space where Lucy had been only moments before.
Ishanie raised her hands and sent a bolt of lightning straight at Vee.
“1,” Shivani called out as Syama turned and grabbed onto the two of them yelling, “Vee, watch out.”
As they disintegrated, Vee watched the lightning bolt fly closer, her nerves making her feel nauseous as she realized that it was going to hit even if they managed to get out of there in time.
Then the bombs went off, spreading fire and brimstone around the small room, the shockwave throwing Vee and her team off their feet.
As she flew through the air, Syama jumped them to the basement of Shankar Industries, but Vee and Shivani continued to fly through the air. The remnants of the shockwave had jumped with them and flooded the basement sending the gathered members of Alpha and Bravo teams flying. They’d all been in the process of running to Vee and Shivani’s aid when the shockwave caught them and threw them backward.
Vee hit a large concrete pillar so hard when she heard the crunch of bone she knew she’d broken something.
But broken bones were the last things on her mind as she watched the lightning bolt streak toward her. Stunned as she was, she couldn’t move, could just watch as Syama shimmered to nothi
ng, likely intending to jump to Vee’s aid.
But it was too late.
The lightning shifted color turning from bright white to pale blue and then it split in two, the large bolt kept coming at Vee, the second one moving off at a shallow angle. The bolt seemed intelligent, as if it knew that it had to cause the maximum amount of damage possible.
The two lightning bolts hit at the same time. One high on Vee’s chest just below her collarbone. And the other through Shivani’s abdomen. The power of the bolts cut through their armor and impaled both girls before embedding themselves into the concrete at their backs.
Wracked with pain, Vee barely managed to shift her gaze toward Shivani, only to see the Alpha team leader slip forward, unconscious.
Then reality slipped away, and Vee was most grateful for the reprieve from the most excruciating pain she’d ever felt.
Chapter 93
When Vee opened her eyes, she saw a face that she had least expect to.
“Mac,” she croaked, her throat raw as she swallowed against the pain.
“Shh,” he said, leaning forward and putting a straw into her mouth. “Drink. You need the water.”
Vee sipped and then fell back drained after only the small movement. Her body ached, and her chest was on fire. “How long have I been out? Is Shivani okay? Did we get all the nurseries? Is the demon queen dead?”
Mac let out a bark of laughter, his skin crinkling at the corners of his eyes. He cupped her cheek. “You be quiet. Too many questions aren’t good for you.”
“You’ll have to answer them at some point,” Vee grunted.
Mac nodded and deposited the water onto the nightstand. He took a seat on the mattress beside Vee and patted her hand. “To answer those questions…You’ve been unconscious for two days. Your body is still fighting the lightning bolt’s effects. I hate to say I told you so but you should have taken my offer of bulletproof clothing.” Mac chuckled.
“That bad, eh?” Vee smiled.
“Worse. It was potent. Old earth magic embedded within the electric bolt. There’s worse news though.”