by T. G. Ayer
Maya heaved a sigh of relief and pulled Joss into the crowd. "We need to find a place that sells masks and costumes."
"Perfect." Joss grumbled. "This is like the part in the movies where everything that can go wrong does."
Maya refused to justify that with a response.
They scurried back and forth through the crowd until they spotted a handful of carts selling masks- black and white, and mostly skulls, wigs, and random clothing. Good thing her dad had thought to include the Pesos, although it wasn’t as if they were spending hundreds of dollar’s worth.
A few minutes later, Joss wore a black waist-length wig, a mask that was half skeleton and half porcelain doll, and a skirt that came to her ankles.
Maya was dressed similarly, only she also wore a white peasant blouse in place of her blue running jacket. They were indistinguishable from the rest of the revelers now, and the girls slowed their movements to a leisurely walk, keeping pace with the procession.
The music was deafening, which put Maya on edge. They wouldn't be able to hear the men if they caught up with them. But still, so far, they were safe.
The better question was where in Patala was Nik?
Maya's heart twisted with fear. What could be keeping him?
Maya sighed. She had no choice but to hope Nik would come as soon as he was able to. Which wasn't soon enough as far as she was concerned.
The crowd weaved along the streets of the town, and it seemed they were getting louder as they moved. Maya sensed that at the end of this street would prove to be the finale of the event.
The faces around her were painted in varying shapes and sizes of skulls, people wore the strangest of clothing.
On the Day of the Dead the living honored the dead. People remembered those in their families that have passed as well as ancestors long gone. The celebration was considerably fashionable in the Western world, which was why it was already familiar to Maya.
Sure there were lots of tourists lurking around, and it was easy enough to identify them. None resembled Maya or Joss, which was an incredible relief. Maya didn't want to endanger any more innocent lives just because she and Joss were running for their own.
She glanced over her shoulder, and her gut twisted. The first of the men were near enough to the girls that all they had to do was turn their heads to find them.
With the masks covering their faces, Maya and Joss were fairly safe.
One of the men walked by so close he could have grabbed her hair and dragged her out of the procession if he wanted to.
For once her darker skin was coming in handy.
Joss was another story altogether. Despite the darker foundation hiding her skin, her paleness was visible every time she moved her arms, every time the sleeve of her shirt rose higher. Maya lifted a hand and placed it on Joss's arm, pressing it down to her side. Joss gave her a questioning glance, but didn't resist.
As Maya turned, she caught sight of another thug standing on the other side of the road. He was staring at Joss, looking straight at her neck. Where the line of dark foundation met her pale skin.
As he yelled for backup, Maya grabbed Joss's hand and pulled. "They made us."
"Shit." Joss swore a little more until she was satisfied.
"Stay low," said Maya, pulling Joss down below shoulder level of the people around them. They drew curious looks, but other than that few people paid them any attention. "Come, we should head in the opposite direction. They'll expect us to go forward."
Joss nodded, peering between legs and arms. "You're right. They're scanning the crowd ahead and hurrying down towards the front of the procession."
The girls headed back in the direction from which they'd come, keeping low and weaving between the people.
Though a smart idea, as they reached the float carrying the mariachi band, Maya looked up to find they were surrounded. Where the men had come from, she had no idea. Perhaps they were better at this whole cloak-and-dagger chasing-the-innocent-victim routine than she’d predicted.
Though Maya was certainly no innocent victim.
She glared at them in disgust. Then pulling Joss to her, she turned and ran. They were probably going straight into the arms of the rest of the men, but they had to keep going. They had to hope Nick could save them.
A gunshot rang out across the crowd, and everyone fell to the ground, the action so uniform it seemed practiced.
Maya hated the thought that these people were so used to these thugs that they knew exactly what to do when they turned up and blasted a gun over their head.
A familiar voice whispered in Maya’s ear. “I’m here. What the hell did you two get yourselves into?”
Maya shifted her gaze to Nik and glared at him, fury making her head hot. But she didn’t have time to take her anger out on him.
Woman screamed and men hushed them into silence. The crowd submitted, afraid.
Gunmen yelled something into a crowd and Joss leaned closer to Maya, unable to see Nik as he still had his glamor surrounding him. "He's telling them to give us up or he’ll start killing children."
"Shit. Just great.” Maya said. She looked up at Nik. “We’re going to have to create a miraculous event here."
"What do you mean?" asked Joss. "We can't just disappear from the middle of this crowd."
Maya gritted her teeth. “Yeah, he'd only start killing people. He needs to see it with his own eyes."
Maya's stomach tightened as they made their way through the crowd and slipped out of the procession with Nik close to Maya’s side. One of the men near Maya held tightly onto the leash of a German Shepherd, it’s yellow teeth bared, saliva spraying as he barked at the girls.
"Hey, you," yelled Maya, getting the man's attention.
He was about twenty feet ahead and spun at the sound of her voice. People in the crowd remained silent, watching in fear. The creep grinned, then looked behind Maya at the band. He waved an imperious hand. Seemed like he was enjoying his newly acquired power.
On his instruction, the band began playing again. And the procession continued, the people moving along, casting curious glances their way. Yet no one stopped to help them. Maya understood.
Nevertheless, she had little choice. "Right, let's do this."
The men hurried closer, waving a hand at his cohorts behind. They closed in on the girls, providing efficient cover from the crowd. Maya had no doubt their lives were in jeopardy. The gang would have to make an example of the girls to the village.
He'd either kill the two of them here, then haul the bodies back to the village, or take them back alive and execute them in front of the villagers.
Maya wasn't about to let that happen.
She held tightly onto Joss's hand. "Here goes."
She looked up at Nik. "You're on."
Nik gave a sharp nod.
When Maya heard the shouts of confusion and frustration rise around her, she knew Nik’s glamor had done its job.
She grabbed Joss's hand and pulled her to the side of the street, and they tiptoed down a small alley. They'd managed to crouch in the shadows when Nik threw off his glamor and appeared beside them.
Maya glared at him. "What took you so long?"
He gave them an apologetic glance, and held out his hands. The girls grabbed onto his hands, but neither one was smiling.
Chapter 29
NIK TRANSPORTED THEM away, depositing them in the front hall of Maya's home.
"I'm really sorry. I came as soon as I got the message.”
Joss shoved Maya aside and got right up close to Nik's face. "If you aren't going to be backup, don't say you will. You've no idea what almost happened."
Despite being equally pissed off, Maya lifted her eyebrows and tried not to laugh at the sight of Joss, a mere human, getting bossy with a demigod with enough powers to incinerate her with the flick of his finger.
But Nik didn't seem offended in the least. He frowned and looked at Maya.
“I can only guess it must have something
to do with sketchy cell reception in the area.”
“The GPS worked,” snapped Maya.
“But only when we were on the road,” said Joss.
Maya had to force herself to take a slow breath as she digested the reality of sketchy cellphone coverage.
Still, Nik looked apologetic. “Tell me what happened?"
She shrugged, gritting her teeth. "It was nothing. We're fine." Something soft and furry brushed her hand and she reached out and rubbed Sabala’s head. She’d needed him and he hadn’t been able to be with her. Something else that had gone wrong.
Joss rounded on her. "Fine? You call this fine? You were almost killed. Let's not forget the part where you were almost raped because you thought it was a fantastic idea to push me aside and take my place. You seem to be making this a habit."
Nik took a step towards Maya. "Maya?" His voice was questioning, but it held an edge to it.
He was angry at her?
She glared at him.
"Yes," she said, keeping a voice even. She really didn't want to lose it with him. "We did get into a bit of danger. But I had it under control. I used my fire and killed him before he could do anything to hurt us."
Maya’s voice broke as she spoke the words. She stepped backwards until she reached the staircase, and sank heavily onto the bottom step, while the hellhound whined and curled up on the step beside her.
"Maya?" asked Joss. She sat down on the other side of Maya. "What's the matter?"
"Apart from coming so close to being very dead, I just killed a man." She fisted fingers that had begun to shake.
But, when Joss rubbed her back, the action gave her a little bit of comfort.
"You can't blame yourself for what happened. You did the only thing you could to protect us. And he wasn't exactly the nicest man on the planet."
Maya looked at her. "It doesn't matter whether he was nice or not. He was a human being." Maya got to her feet and began to pace. She wasn't sure what to do with her hands. At first she put them on her hips, and then she threw them up in the air. "I just killed a man for God's sake."
Nik took a step closer to her, taking hold of her arms and bringing her to a standstill. "And what does that mean to you Maya?"
Maya stood up at his face. "What do you mean?" she snapped at him.
Nik watched her face. "You're upset because you killed a man. But why are you really upset. What about this death is bothering you so much?"
Maya let out a deep sigh. "I don't know. It's just . . . I need some space." She pulled her elbow out of Nik's grasp and ran upstairs, ignoring Sabala who kept close behind her.
Inside her room, she shut the door, coming so close to slamming it but catching herself in time. She wasn't angry with anyone in particular. To be totally honest, it was herself she couldn't understand.
She'd lied to Nik when he asked what she meant. She knew exactly what was upsetting her.
She'd killed a man.
He was evil and he'd probably intended to kill her, and much, much worse. No doubt he was guilty of doing such horrible things to numerous other people before her. So he'd deserved it.
What made Maya furious was she believed he deserved it. Which meant the demons were no longer the only bad guys in her book. Up until now, her anger and rage had been focused solely on the demons, the Rakshasas.
When her parents had mentioned mercenaries, snipers and bombers hired by the KALIMA to take out demons, Maya had just shrugged: that was part of life. Killing demons. But now she had to accept demons were not the only bad guys.
In fact, humans could be just as bad, if not worse.
Whether demon or human, she'd have to eliminate the threat without hesitation.
But what did that make her?
Maya shuddered as she moved towards her bed. With a sigh, she sat at the foot of her bed. She was still wearing the same blouse and skirt they'd used to hide themselves on the street. The mask hung from her fingertips, and she turned it over and studied the face. Half skull and half porcelain face. The thing was almost pretty.
She held her fingers up to her gaze, aware now of the soot stain from touching Luis's burning chest.
She shivered and threw her arms around her waist.
She was slowly becoming a different person, one she wasn't sure she liked.
Sure, she had Kali's powers, one's that made her almost invincible. But that didn't give her the right to use it to kill. Even if it was to kill bad guys.
She sighed, rubbing her forehead, uncaring that she was smudging black soot all over her skin. As much as she tried to evade the reality, the truth was she would do it. Whether the bad guy was demon or human, she had to accept that when faced with that choice, she'd kill them. Just like she'd killed Luis.
She stared at her open palms again, watching as her fire slowly surfaced and glowed. She had living flame within her. She was a walking time-bomb. Able to annihilate people, towns and possibly even cities. The more she used the power, the more powerful she got.
The more dangerous she became.
She was beginning to understand why Claudia saw her as a threat. Maybe it had something to do with Maya causing Claudia's injuries, but it was more likely what Maya represented. She was a conduit to a goddess. Maybe it was time she spoke directly to Kali about the way she felt.
Maya sighed.
When she got to her feet, the load that had weighed on her shoulders, had weighed her soul down, felt a little lighter.
And suddenly she understood what faith was all about. It was about sharing the burden of life with someone much more powerful than you. Maybe not in person, but in a spiritual sense.
It was about accepting the harshness of living, and blending it with the joy of knowing this existence is only a small part of the universe of life.
Maya smiled as she headed into the shower. She had a job to do. And she no longer had any qualms about doing it.
Chapter 30
WHEN MAYA FINALLY made it to her dad's study with Sabala in tow, she couldn't have been more surprised at the utter chaos she faced. A very effective tornado had run through the small room, strategically sticking to specific storage locations.
Smart tornado.
"What happened?" she asked, aghast, pausing on the threshold.
Said smart tornado had flung books off the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, emptied drawers onto the carpet, and had figured it was good karma to throw every single piece of paper onto the floor.
Her dad was standing beside the window, drapes drawn, which was quite strange because he loved having light - either sun or moon didn't matter - shining into the room. He was studying the mess, a strange look in his eye. Leela was focused on rifling through papers and drawers, looking for something.
Her parents both glanced up when she entered.
Dev took a deep breath. "It happened exactly as I expected."
"What happened?" Maya repeated, feeling her stress levels rise.
"Your mom and I both knew KALIMA would send someone to find out what we know. And the best way to do that is to see all our paperwork."
Maya stared at her dad's desk. Something was missing. "And a certain laptop?" she asked.
"Yes," he said. But he didn't look too concerned.
Maya's eyes narrowed as she studied him. "You were expecting this? What did you do?"
He shrugged. "I transferred all my data and I deleted the hard-drive. There's a bit of code written in there too, so soon as someone tries to hack into the computer, they will upload a virus into their entire network."
Maya laughed.
Leela got to her feet and dusted off her knees. "It got a little bit rushed while you were gone."
"You guys were here when it happened?
"Yes, good thing we had the panic rooms installed."
Maya raised her eyebrows. She'd always thought her parents were being a little dramatic when they'd installed the safe rooms two years ago. But now she saw the wisdom in it.
"Were you guys hurt?"<
br />
They both shook their heads. "No," said her dad. "We were upstairs. I'd expected them to come at night, thinking we wouldn't hear them. Fortunately, they aren't as smart as they think they are."
Maya would be banking on the latter.
"We hid as soon as we heard the noise. Thank goodness your dad insisted on a second panic room upstairs."
Maya smiled and threaded her way inside the room. She wanted to help but wasn't sure where to start. "So what now?" Sabala remained on the threshold as if he knew he would be of no help.
"Now we get our stuff and get out. Your bags are already packed. We were only waiting for you guys to return. Hopefully Nik can transport the lot of us out of here."
Maya nodded, feeling something twist in her stomach. "Do I have time to check my room?"
Dev shook his head. "If Nick is here we need to leave now."
"I think Joss is in her room. I'll have a look around for the demigod. He was here when we got home twenty minutes ago.”
"You should have come straight to me Maya. Had I known you were here for so long, I would have insisted we leave immediately."
"Sorry, Dad," she said. "I have a few things I'm dealing with right now, and I just needed some time to myself. If I knew how urgent it was I would have come to you the moment we arrived." She glanced at the dark drapes, hiding them from watchful eyes. "You think they'll come back so soon?"
Dev nodded. "Yes. They didn't get what they wanted. They'll be watching the place, and if you went near any windows they'd know you're here."
Maya raised an eyebrow. "What if they have thermal imaging?"
"If they do, then we're in deep shit," said her mom.
Maya raised her eyebrows and would have reprimanded her mom's language but Leela continued, “Everything is ready to go. You get Joss and we'll meet you in the kitchen. And take the dog with you.”
Leela was all businesslike but Maya could sense the drama was taking a toll on her. She'd already lost her best friend, and now she was about to lose her house. A place that had been a home to her for the last fifteen years.