by Jasmine Walt
“Malina, what is it? Who is it?”
My heart was hammering so hard, I could hear my pulse in my head. The memory of Ajitah’s arm around my throat was too vivid, too real. My throat began to close.
“Malina!” Garuda’s voice was like a slap.
Pull it together, Malina. “It’s Ajitah. He’s outside.”
Eamon’s frown cleared. “If he’s here, he needs our help.”
“I know, just give me a minute to get over the fact that he tried to kill me.”
“He did what?” Garuda’s tone was lethal.
I waved him away. “It’s okay. He was protecting his kids. I know that. Just give me a sec.”
Eamon was right—if Ajitah had shown up, he needed our help. It was my duty to give it to him. I stepped away from the door, took a deep breath, and opened it again.
Ajitah was still standing there, a white card clutched in his hand. “I can’t believe this, but it says you can help me.”
I stepped back. “Come in.”
20
“They took my boys, and I need you to help me get them back,” Ajitah said.
Eamon handed him a lowball glass with an inch of amber liquid in it.
Ajitah took it as if on autopilot and downed it in one gulp. “Can you help me?”
We convened in the interview sitting room. Garuda was leaning up against the wall by the door like a sentry, and Drake was sitting on a hard-back chair by the mantelpiece. Eamon hovered by the window. I’d taken a seat on the sofa opposite Ajitah.
“Tell me what happened.” I said. “Who took the boys?”
He clenched his fists. “Yaksha took them. If I hadn’t come home a couple of hours earlier than expected, I wouldn’t have even known that. Mrs. Simpkins, the woman who watches the kids, was still there stuffing anything valuable she could find into a fucking bag. She sold me out . . . sold them out.” He pressed the heel of his hand to his eyes. “I have to get them back.”
“But why would the yaksha want your boys?”
He looked up at me with bloodshot eyes. “Because . . . they’re not my boys. Not biologically. I raised them.”
“I need to know everything, Ajitah. I can’t help you until I do.”
He nodded and took a breath. The cool, collected fighter was gone, replaced by a distraught father. Something strange and new stirred inside me.
“I met their mother six years ago, a chance meeting on the steps leading up to my flat. She was attempting to get a triple buggy up the stairs. The boys must have been almost a year old then. Naturally, I helped her. We became friends. I’d watch the boys for an hour if she needed to go shopping, that kind of thing, nothing close. And then one day, she was gone for too long. It got dark, and I began to suspect the worst. I was right. She materialized in the living room, torn and bloody. I knew straight away she wasn’t going to make it. All she had time to say before she died was to protect the boys, and that they were special. It wasn’t until a year later—when they began to manifest their abilities—that I realized why. The triplets are hybrids. Yaksha-witch hybrids.”
Drake shook his head. “There is no such thing. Yaksha and witches do not fraternize. I don’t even think it’s genetically possible for them to procreate.”
Ajitah snorted. “I don’t know about genetics, but I know what my boys are. Now the Shakti yaksha pack have them, and I have no idea where to find them.” He held up his right hand, index finger and thumb an inch apart. “I was this close to killing Mrs. Simpkins. I pay her well. Too well. And I couldn’t understand why she would betray me like this.”
“She knew what the boys were?”
“I’ve taught the boys to be careful, but they’re children. They must have slipped up. It turns out Simpkins is a human who wants to be a supernatural.”
“I’ve heard of the kind . . . supernatural groupies who fall for the scam that they can be turned,” Drake said.
Garuda made a derisive sound. “There is no becoming. Only being born.”
The movies didn’t help by humanizing yaksha and vampires, turning them into misunderstood beings that needed love. Although there was humanity in their bloodline somewhere, it had been weeded out in the process of evolution.
“I’ve made inquiries, but people either don’t want to talk or don’t know where I can find this Shakti pack.”
The name rang a bell. “Hang on. Nina!”
“Who?” Eamon asked.
“The yaksha female you helped?” Drake asked.
I nodded. “She said she used to be part of the Shakti pack. Her father sold her to Karl.”
Ajitah sat up straighter, his eyes lighting up with hope. “Can you get in touch with her?”
“She texted me a couple of days ago, so yeah.” I pulled out my phone, found Nina’s text, and dialed her number.
It rang four times before she picked up. “Malina?”
“Nina, I need your help.”
“Anything.”
“I need to know where the Shakti pack base is.”
Silence. “Can I ask why?”
“They’ve taken Ajitah’s kids.”
“Ajitah has kids?”
“Yep.”
“Why would they be taking kids? It makes no sense . . .”
“One sec, let me put you on speaker phone.” I pressed the button and set my phone on the coffee table. “Ajitah will explain.”
I didn’t know how much he wanted me to reveal about his boys, so best to leave this bit up to him.
“Nina, hi,” Ajitah said.
“Ajitah, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had children.”
“It’s not something I advertise.” He took a breath. “Look, Nina, I know you’re good people, so I’m gonna be honest with you. The boys, my triplets, are part Yaksha, part witch, and I think that’s why the Shakti pack took them. What I don’t know is where they’ve taken them or what they intend to do with them. But I know time is running out. Can you help me?”
There was a long beat of silence, and then she said, “Meet me outside the bowling alley at Royale Leisure Park, Western Avenue, in Acton in an hour. We’re having an inter-pack tournament. Message me when you get here, and I’ll come out and take you to them. I need to speak to my father before you go in guns blazing. He may have sold me, but I can’t believe he would turn to kidnapping children. It just . . . it feels wrong.”
“Give me an hour and a half.”
“’Kay.”
I ended the call.
“We can take my car,” Garuda said. “If you’re going up against Yaksha, you’re going to need all the muscle you can get.”
Yeah, between Ajitah and Garuda, we certainly had the muscle. But still . . . “You think it’s just going to be a case of busting in and grabbing the boys?”
Garuda shrugged. “Yaksha aren’t too bright. What else could it be?”
“Nina seems bright enough.”
He harrumphed.
Ajitah stood. “I just want my boys back.”
“I’ll meet you guys in the car. I just need to grab a few things.”
Leaving them to make their way outside, I headed upstairs to my room to dress for the occasion. I stripped out of my jeans and cream-colored T-shirt and pulled on black slacks, a black long-sleeved jumper, and my trusty black hoodie. This was my go-to outfit when I wasn’t sure what I’d be getting into. Made of extra durable waterproof- and dirt-resistant material, it was flexible enough to allow me to move freely. The slacks contained hidden pockets for my laser pen, which doubled as a glass and metal cutter, and the jumper had concealed areas for a couple of small vials. Vindra, snug in her sheath, went on next, and finally came my box of tricks—poisons and paralytics. A couple of mild paralytics made it into the pockets of my jumper. I didn’t want to kill anyone if I could help it.
Feeling as prepared as I could get for this mission, I made my way down the stairs and out to Garuda’s waiting car. The afternoon sun glared at me as I stepped outside. The men were already strapped in fr
ont, so I quickly climbed into the back.
We screeched away from the curb, did a U-turn, and headed away from the rundown street and toward the main road. We hit the North Circular Road and followed signs for Acton. It was a long drive, about an hour give or take a few minutes. The first ten minutes passed in silence, and then Garuda spoke, his voice a low rumble.
“What are your boys’ names?”
Ajitah replied, his tone soft, tired, “Jimmy, Adam, and Danny.”
“I’m sorry this happened.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Silence filled the vehicle once more, accompanied only by the hum of the engine and the whoosh of the wind outside. Tension was a palpable force, emanating off Ajitah and pressing against me with a unique sense of urgency. Our situation was unnerving, and I was half tempted to ask some inane question to diffuse it, but everything I came up with sounded trite considering the circumstances. Here was a father who would go to any lengths to protect his adopted children, and then there was Barrett . . . who’d given me shelter, but never a place in his heart. My eyes stung, and I pushed away the thoughts, settling instead for watching London go by. What could the Yaksha possibly want with the triplets? Unless . . .
“Ajitah? Did the triplets’ mother ever mention their father?”
“No. I know what you’re thinking—that they’re with their biological father. But Vanessa’s last words to me were to protect them. To me, that includes from their damn sperm donor. Those are my kids. I won’t let genetics get in my way.”
Fair play.
I cracked open the window to let in some air and settled back. Hopefully, this would be a simple case of a custody battle.
Hopefully.
We pulled up outside the bowling alley an hour later and parked a few rows away from the entrance, right next to a Honda NC30. It was a beautiful motorbike, lightweight and compact. The bike I would buy if I could afford one.
The midafternoon sun was less defiant, and a definite chill had crept into the air. I sent Nina a text before stepping out of the vehicle. An icy breeze blew my hair away from my face, and I shook it out, sighing as the chilly fingers caressed my scalp. My body seemed to be running at a higher temperature these days—all part of the change, I guessed. People exited vehicles and milled around toward the brightly painted building. A group of teenage lads exited, their laughter drifting on the air. They were followed by a blonde woman clutching a crying child’s hand and a slender dark-skinned woman wearing a baggy T-shirt, leggings, and ballet pumps. Her mahogany-colored hair was pulled up in a ponytail. She skirted the lady with the crying baby and scanned the car park, her huge green eyes lighting up when she spotted me.
Nina?
I pushed away from the car as she trotted toward me. She pulled me into a hug, taking me by surprise. Nina looked younger in her human skin, about nineteen or twenty at a push.
“I almost didn’t recognize you,” I said.
She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, neither did I. Karl kept me in beast mode most of the time. It was a shock to change back and see this face.”
“It’s a beautiful face.”
She ducked her head. “Thanks. We should get going. Uncle Derek wasn’t too happy about me going to see Dad, but I explained the situation. He can’t believe it either. And he hates my dad.”
Ajitah rolled down his window. “We should get going.”
His jaw was tight, and I could tell there was more he wanted to say, like, Stop chin wagging and get your arses in gear.
I opened the car door. “You coming with us or are we following you?”
Nina grinned, pulled a set of keys from her pocket, and pressed the fob on the keychain. The motorbike beeped.
“No!”
“Yes! Uncle Derek gave it to me as a kind of joining-the-pack present.”
“Bitch! Hang on . . . he could afford to buy you an expensive bike but not to pay off your father’s debt?”
Nina’s lips twisted in a wry smile. “Pack law. It wasn’t their debt. It was my pack’s debt. Even so, Uncle did try, but Karl refused. He couldn’t refuse the money when it came from me, though. I told him I’d been squirreling away, saving. He tried to find a loophole, but not everyone from his pack are arseholes. They stood up for me.” She straddled the bike and started the engine. “Try to keep up.”
I ducked back into the car. “Follow the cool motorbike.”
Garuda snorted and started the engine.
We maneuvered out of the parking lot and hit the road, tailing Nina up ahead. I had to give Garuda credit; he managed to keep Nina in his sights for the full ten minutes we were driving, no easy feat in London traffic. We pulled up in an area of a dodgy-looking bar and killed the engine.
Nina parked her bike beside a line of larger ones and strode over to knock on my window.
“Give me a few minutes.”
“No.” Ajitah unlocked his door. “I’m coming with you.”
Nina slammed her hand against the outside of his door, forcing it shut.
“You walk in there all testosterone and rage, and they’ll smell a challenge. We’ll be in a fight before we have a chance to extract any info.”
Ajitah emitted a growl of exasperation, biting out his next words. “With all due respect, Nina, how can I be sure you won’t cover for them?”
Nina’s eyes darkened. “Cover for them kidnapping kids? What the fuck do you take me for?”
The air was suddenly crackling with a different kind of tension. Ajitah was upset and stressed, but he was being irrational. Nina was good people. Deep down, he must know that. He’d said so himself when talking to her on the phone. Antagonizing her wasn’t gonna help our cause.
I reached around his seat to poke his bicep. “He didn’t mean any disrespect, did you, Ajitah?”
He exhaled through his nose. “No. I apologize. I’m just . . . I need them back.”
Nina’s expression softened. “It’s good to see a father so desperate to protect his children. I want to help, honest, but you need to stay here.”
I unlocked my door. “I’ll come with you. No overload of testosterone in this body.”
She chuckled. “’Kay, come on. But let me do the talking.”
Out of the car, I zipped up my hoodie to hide good ol’ Vindra. “Let’s do this.”
Nina led the way through the car park, past the row of scarily large motorbikes, and under the awning to the entrance.
“This is their domain, so remember, do not maintain eye contact. They’ll see it as a challenge.”
I nodded, and we entered.
A heavy, musky odor like wet dog and damp earth hit me. It hung in the air with the aroma of a comforter in need of a good wash. A low vibration of growls, yips, and whines mingled with the odd word that I understood to create the ambiance.
I’d heard that Yaksha had their own language, their own method of communication when in beast form, but this was the first time I’d been present when it was spoken. It was also the first time I’d been completely surrounded by Yaksha. Most of them sat in their beast skin, feasting on huge platters of ribs and steaks and lapping up large tankards of beer.
No humans in sight.
“So, um, this bar is just for Yaksha?”
Nina nodded.
“What if a human accidentally drops in?”
“That would be very unfortunate for the human.”
“But the law?”
“Means little unless you’re caught.”
I wasn’t human, but I also wasn’t one of them. Strong and able to hold my own, but I doubted I’d be able to hold off twenty of them. My concern must have shown on my face because Nina smiled and patted my arm.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be okay, you smell . . . off,” she said.
“Um, thanks?”
We made our way to the bar, drawing several red-rimmed eyes. The conversation ebbed for a moment and then rose to a steady volume.
Nina seemed unfazed, but I noted the slight tremor of her hand as sh
e laid it on the bar.
The yaksha serving behind it finished with his customer and inched toward us. His snout melted into his face, the facial hair receded, and elongated ears shrank until he was standing in front of us looking like an ordinary guy with brown hair and eyes.
Nina held up a hand in greeting. “Hi, Anil.”
“Nina. You shouldn’t have come here. Some of the pack are pissed that you joined Derek’s pack.”
“Yeah, and I’m kinda pissed Dad rented me out and forgot to pay off the fucking loan.” Real heat radiated in her tone, and the musky aroma sharpened for a second as her talons slid out from under her fingertips.
Anil sighed. “Easy, Nina. Keep it together.”
The claws retracted, and Nina curled her hands into fists.
“Your dad has been . . . retired. Rohan runs the pack now.”
“What? How?”
Anil shrugged. “The usual way.”
From what I knew of Yaksha, the only way to gain dominance was to kill the pack leader. Shit.
Nina dropped her gaze to the bar, her shoulders slumping. “I guess that explains why the debt was never paid. Rohan probably didn’t think it mattered.”
“I’m sorry, Nina. It’s unfair, I know.”
I resisted the urge to nudge her, to prompt her to get on with it. The earthy, musky odor was either getting stronger or my barriers were getting weaker. I didn’t fancy lingering here too long. Besides, what if Ajitah got restless and decided to come in and check on us? But Nina had just discovered that her father was dead. He may have been a twat, but he was still family. The dejected slope of her shoulders was enough to tell me she would mourn him.
She straightened and stood tall.
Okay, the mourning was on hold then.
Nina leaned across the bar. “I’m looking for three kids. Triplets. I heard they were picked up by the pack.”
Anil’s eyes flared for a moment, but he schooled his features quickly. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re a shit liar, Anil.”
Anil picked up a cloth and got busy wiping the bar. “Nina, you need to leave this alone.”
“I can’t. Their dad is searching for them. The pack took kids away from their father.”