by T. G. Ayer
“No. He did save me.”
“Syama,” both Akil and Vee yelled in unison, Akil rolling his eyes and Vee doing more frowning.
“Sorry, Akil couldn’t find a way into the dungeon. It was spelled so he couldn’t jump me out. That would have been way too easy of course. In the end, he went back up top and brought reinforcements. He was allowed to return but there was a battle, and I was saved, and now I’m here.”
“Syama, you do have some concept of a debrief, right?”
Syama grinned. She knew her behavior would be annoying Vee and she was enjoying it far too much. Then she giggled. “Don’t worry. I’ll send a report to your email. It’s too much to run through here and now. Besides, we’re both tired and need some rest and food.”
Akil grunted, bringing Vee’s attention back to him. “Took a vow of silence or something?”
For a moment he looked pained. Then the expression faded, and Vee had to wonder if she’d imagined it. “No. I merely had nothing significant to add. I was certain that Syama would provide a detailed explanation that would suffice.”
Vee got the feeling that Akil didn’t want to talk about what was bothering him—because Vee knew that there was something he wasn’t yet prepared to say. He’d need time, but Vee planned to get him to talk. She only hoped that it hadn’t been something traumatic.
Vee was pulled from her introspection by Syama who was waving her hand in front of Vee’s face. “Earth to Vee,” the hellhound said loudly.
Vee blinked and batted her hand away. “Shut up. You two better get going. You do look rather tired. And you guys stink.” Vee wrinkled her nose at the odor drifting to her from the pair.
At least that brought a grin from Akil. “It is difficult to find a place to bathe in caves and lava fields and battle trenches.” With that, he reached for Syama’s arm, and the two shimmered for a moment before disintegrating into particles of light.
Vee had taken a few minutes to absorb what had just happened. First Radhima, and then the terrible twins returning from hell? Things were never normal when it came to Vee’s life.
Now, under the microscope, Vee was studying the brain matter that her dad had retrieved from her hair. She’d already studied, confirmed, and refrigerated the bhayakara goo.
She’d sent samples of all her forensic evidence off to be tested for DNA, but now she was busy making slides to analyze the brain structure. Over a long period, they’d been documenting the DNA and brain structure of many of the demons Vee had crossed paths with. It was interesting to compare human brain structure to that of the demonic element—in this case the pey.
It turned out they were not that much different to humans in physiology. It had surprised Vee to discover that pey had brain matter. The old horror stories told to her by the older people she’d come into contact with, were more along the line of the pey being a devilish creature, more a spirit than a corporeal entity.
It seemed that the folk tales had evolved in order to decrease the fear, for if humans were to know the truth of the demonic existence, the folk tales would have been filled with a lot more morbid horror.
As it was, the demons’ banishment to Naraka millennia ago would have contributed to the lack of realism in the tales from the past. No doubt it had been centuries since humans had come into contact with a pey.
Vee prepared and refrigerated the slides then ordered the tests that she needed done. She would have to process some of the samples herself, but she still had to attend to her FBI tasks.
Chapter 21
Vee threw on silky purple lounge pants, a teal singlet, and a multi-colored cardigan. Nothing sedate about relaxing clothes. She twisted her long hair into an untidy bun on the top of her head and rolled her shoulders. Relaxing was serious business, and she sure looked the part.
Right down to her fluffy pink socks.
After checking Syama’s and Akil’s rooms, she headed downstairs in search of the two shifters. Vee suspected they’d be in the gym and hoped they wouldn’t be training. They damned well better not be, given their conditions.
She hurried down the stairs, wrapping her cardigan around herself as she entered the cooler climate of the gym.
Thankfully, neither of the two were working out. Vee felt almost disappointed. She’d been so geared up to tell the two of them off. But all she did was smile when she found them both sitting on the floor, backs to the floor-to-ceiling wall-to-wall mirror.
“You guys having a party without me?”
Syama snorted and pointed at a small bag on the floor in front of her. Vee sank down, smoothly moving into a cross-legged position as she opened the bag. Marshmallows, a paper bag with a donut, and a bar of chocolate.
“Interesting selection,” Vee said smiling as she reached inside to withdraw the donut. Things were so crazy in her life that she realized that the small things were the ones she should appreciate.
“No.”
Vee looked up, frowning at Syama, only to find the hellhound pointing beside Vee. A pizza box lay at her side, lid open. “You went to Tony’s?” Syama nodded. “And you bought my favorite.” Vee didn’t waste time lifting a slice of margarita with double cheese and garlic onto her palm. The slice was huge, but she ate, enjoying the low conversation of her two sidekicks as they poured cherry cola and passed her a glass.
“You guys were craving New York food, I take it?” Vee asked after chewing and swallowing.
Both nodded. “We didn’t get everything we missed. Still time for more,” Akil said with a grin. His mouth was covered in powdered sugar from the donut and Vee couldn’t decide if she wanted a second slice of pizza or the donut first.
Instead, Vee sipped the cola, swallowing as fast as she could. She didn’t have the heart to tell Syama that she hated the drink. It tasted like cough medicine to Vee, but she’d mentioned once that she’d loved it as a kid and Syama had believed that was the case in the present too.
“Now,” said Akil. “Is there something you want to tell us?”
Vee took another slice and shoved a bite into her mouth, her aim to avoid the topic for as long as possible. But in the end, the pizza was gone, and she stared at the cola, unsure if she could use the drink as a delaying tactic. That was more like torture.
Syama let out a sigh, and Vee looked up to catch her roll her eyes. “For Yama’s sake, I know you don’t like the stuff. Here,” she grabbed a small bottle of flavored water from the grocery bag at her side and held it out.
Vee’s eyes narrowed. “You had this all along?” She opened it and took a long sip, relieved to have been saved from having to drink the cola.
“Yes. I do believe we have reached a point in our relationship where we can be honest with each other.” As Syama spoke, Vee found Akil looking over at her, his expression contemplative and concerned. Vee knew there was a conversation in their future. One that didn’t include Syama.
“I do believe we are at that point.” Vee grinned and said, “So yes, I hate the stuff. Tastes like cough medicine.” Vee gave a delicate shudder, sending her two friends into bursts of laughter.
“Good. More for me.” Syama smirked, then lifted her chin at Vee. “So, spill. Or someone else will soon enough.”
Vee sighed and gave the pair a rundown of bhayakara and pey demons, unknown cigar-smoking voyeurs, deadly cabdrivers, and asshole detectives, not to mention the murder-abduction case. What she didn’t talk about was her mother’s revelation of what Radhima had been through. That was not her story to tell.
Syama’s mouth was agape. “We leave you alone for a few days, and everything goes to crap?”
Vee swallowed the temptation to remind the hellhound that her absence had been way more than a couple of days. Instead, she shrugged. “Never let it be said that a day in the life of Vee Shankar was ever boring.”
“You can say that again,” the hellhound mumbled before reaching for a donut. “One thing is for certain, though…”
“Which is?” asked Vee.
“You’
re not going anywhere without us from here on out,” Syama said, her eyes glinting.
Vee didn’t respond. The pair had been tasked with her protection. She didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, but she didn’t feel the need to decline their protection either. So she didn’t respond and ate marshmallows instead.
A heavy silence fell over the gym, pregnant with so many questions that Vee decided she couldn’t wait any longer. “So. You guys going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Nothing. Just that we’ve been through a very strange experience and we’re just in recovery mode. But that does not mean we won’t be keeping an eye on you. No shirking of duties here.”
“Says the person that was out like a light for three hours solid.” Akil’s tone was dry.
Vee gave a mock gasp, holding her hand in front of her mouth, eyes wide in horror. “You slept for three whole hours?” She was a little surprised as Syama didn’t require much sleep. She tended to pass the time—which Vee spent sleeping—doing other things like reading books to occupy her time. “Are you okay?”
Akil cleared his throat. “Only the fact that she was captured and interrogated, and almost starved to death over a period of two weeks.”
Vee lifted her gaze to the owl shifter’s face. He seemed to be taking Syama’s ordeal very hard, but Vee wasn’t surprised. Though the two hadn’t hit it off at their first meeting, they’d formed a fast friendship and had vowed to remain at Vee’s side no matter what. Syama had disappeared without a word, which had worried Vee enough to have to ask Akil to go and look for her.
Vee opened her mouth to ask what had happened, but Akil got to his feet. “You need to get some rest,” he said. Only when Vee looked up did she realize that he was talking to Syama.
The hellhound’s eyes widened, flashing with annoyance, but then her irritation faded and she sighed. “Can’t argue with that.” She got to her feet and dusted her butt off. When she bent to gather the detritus of their late-night picnic, Akil brushed her away.
“Bed,” he said, the syllable ringing through the gym.
Vee’s eyebrows lifted a little, but she remained silent as Syama wiggled her fingers in a goodnight wave and then shimmered away into nothing.
Akil was busy filling his bag with empty drink cans, and donut and chocolate bar wrappings.
“Are you two okay?” Vee asked softly.
His spine stiffened, and he grabbed the pizza boxes and straightened. Taking a long breath, he turned to Vee. “I’m fine. She’ll be fine.”
“What is it you are not telling me?” Vee spoke softly, hoping the hurt she felt hadn’t filtered through to her question.
Akil’s head snapped up, his eyes widened just enough for Vee to know that he had heard. He shook his head. “It’s not that we don’t want to tell you.” He sighed, his eyes casting about as if he was searching out a reason, something that would appease Vee. Then he sighed. “It is a long tale. She has been through a lot. She will tell you. I know it. It is just not my truth to tell.”
Vee bit her lip, considering Akil’s position. “I understand. I guess I’ll just have to wait until she is ready to talk to me about it.”
Akil gave a rueful smile. He seemed guarded, as if he wanted to tell Vee, but something held him back.
Vee walked over to him and patted his shoulder. “You’re a good man, Akil. Syama should be happy to call you a friend. I know I am.” She squeezed his shoulder, then walked over to the stairs. Perhaps it was Syama who had to tell Vee her story herself.
And Vee would just have to wait.
No matter how worried Vee was about her hellhound sidekick, no matter how impatient she was to know the details, she had no choice. Syama would come to Vee when she was ready.
“I wanted to tell you.” Akil’s voice rang out behind Vee. She paused, one foot on the first riser, and looked over her shoulder. “I want to tell you,” he said softly, his face contorted with so many emotions that Vee was unable to put a finger on one that stood out. Frustration, grief, confusion, hurt. The amalgamation of emotional turmoil the kid was experiencing struck Vee deep within her gut.
Vee forced a smile onto her face and shook her head. “It’s not for you to tell,” Vee said keeping her tone neutral. “She’ll come around in her own time.”
Akil let out a sigh, the strain on his face and body visibly departing.
Vee shook her head then. “Just make sure you take good care of her,” Vee said, then hurried up the stairs.
She heard Akil’s voice as she reached the landing.
“I am trying, but she’s a pain in the ass.”
Chapter 22
Vee felt like she had just fallen asleep when her phone buzzed. She groaned as she forced her head off the softness of her pillow—her skull felt too heavy, as if even the muscles in her neck were resisting her efforts to move.
She reached out at the nightstand—narrowly missed knocking her lamp over—and grabbed the phone, muttering curses at the device. Squinting at the brightly-lit screen, Vee swiped the notification to find a text message from Detective Monroe.
Would you be happy to meet?
What an odd text? Happy to meet? A frown spread across Vee’s forehead as she sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. She sent a reply asking for a location, and within seconds Monroe named The Lucky Clover, a dingy bar over in Hunts Point. It struck Vee as extremely odd that Monroe would hang out at a bar which Vee knew was frequented by a lot of supernaturals. Mostly of the demon persuasion.
It occurred to Vee—only momentarily—that Andrea Monroe could possibly be a supernatural herself and Vee would not have known it. It made Vee a little uncomfortable to know that she didn’t qualify as supernatural on a stupid technicality. Although, being a deific being should be better than just being supernatural.
Vee texted ‘On my way’ and then rolled over and groaned into her pillow. Going out at two in the morning wasn’t something she wanted to do, but she knew a thing or two about fostering good relationships with other law enforcement officers.
Monroe had always given Vee a hard time—ever since day one—but even now Vee knew it was in her own best interest to meet the detective, if only to find out if everything was okay.
More especially, in case Monroe had news.
What news it could be that would require a dead-of-night meeting, Vee could only speculate.
Rolling out of bed, Vee dragged on her clothing from last night, then tugged her hair into a knot at the base of her skull. She was half-way down the hall when she stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t go without Syama. She needed her sidekick back online. Vee also had to admit that she needed to ensure she remained as safe as possible. Which meant she had to avoid lurking on the city streets in the middle of the night without some sort of protection.
Vee knocked on Syama’s door, tapping her feet as she waited. A minute passed, and Vee let out a frustrated grunt. She knocked again and glared at the door.
“One knock will do. Did someone lose their patience today?”
Vee flinched at the voice that came from next to her left shoulder, sighed deeply, then turned to glare at the hellhound. “Do you have to shock the living daylights out of me?”
Syama frowned, her nose crinkling. “I never could understand that phrase. What happens if you shock a person in the middle of the night…like now? Is it called living nightlights?”
Vee heaved a second heavy sigh and grabbed Syama’s arm. “I’m tired, I’m grumpy, and I’m supposed to be dead like two times over already. Please just take me to the Lucky Clover before I knock the living nightlights out of you.”
Syama chuckled, and her form began to shimmer. Vee held tightly to her arm as the hellhound shifted through the planes and reappeared inside the alley across the road from the Lucky Clover.
Light flickered from within the bar, and Vee could make out a few darkened shapes hunched over their tables.
Vee noted, almost absentmindedly, that since the last time she’d been to
the bar the owner had seen fit to fix the sign. The C in the fluorescent marquee above the bar had been broken for so long that most people now affectionately referred to the bar as The Lucky Lover.
Glancing at Syama, Vee did a double-take at the sight of Akil, who looked particularly fresh for that time of the morning, bringing new meaning to the phrase ‘night owl’.
She opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing there, then thought the better of it. Instead, she threw him a look filled with warning—against what Vee wasn’t exactly sure. He had surprised her after all.
The trio watched the street for traffic, or anyone who would notice Vee appearing out of thin air. The coast seemed to be clear, and Vee gave Syama the go ahead with a single nod. The hellhound dropped the glamor from over Vee and tugged on her leather jacket. In the time that Syama had become part of Vee’s life, she’d transformed herself, loving the goth/biker look.
Today she wore black fishnet gloves, black pinstriped skintight pants, chunky black knee-high boots, a purple shirt—most of it covered by the jacket, though Vee knew it would be emblazoned with the name of some rock band that had been famous decades ago. Vee had to hand it to the hellhound; she looked awesome.
Now, Vee shook a warning finger at Syama, and then glanced at Akil beyond the hellhound’s shoulder. “I need to speak to Monroe. She sounded a little too antsy, so something is bugging her, but I need you two to keep watch. I’ve had two attempts on my person in the last day, so I can’t predict what will happen next.”
“Define ‘attempts on my person’,” Syama asked, folding her arms.
Vee sighed. “One attempted murder, weapon long jagged claws and uber-sharp teeth, perps: two pey demons currently dead. One attempted murder, weapon New York City cab, perp: one demon, evaporated into thin air.” Vee eyed the hellhound. “Satisfied?”