The Hand of Kali Box Set Vol 2

by T. G. Ayer

  Leela let out an odd, confused gurgling sound. Then she shook her head. “Wait, I thought you said the demon already possessed Joss?”

  “No. It’s locked up inside Joss’s head and it’s super fracking pissed. But something is keeping it separated from Joss’s mind…like Joss is fighting it somehow. Or like there’s something protecting her mind.” Maya paused and pulled at the fringe of the shawl. She hesitated before voicing her thoughts. “I know we’ve both been learning the reiki techniques as well as meditation, but neither of us can draw magical wards around our minds, so whatever is holding the demon at bay, Joss is damn lucky.”

  Dev was nodding though Leela simply sat on the sofa as still as a statue. Maya swallowed a sob. Her mom looked like someone had just told her that her child was dying.

  Maya shook her head. “We can help her, can’t we?” she asked as she looked at her mom and dad, staring each of them in the eye, daring them to tell her no.

  Her dad opened his mouth to speak then closed it so hard Maya heard the snap of his teeth. Then he pointed at her lap, his tone gritty though soft, and said, “Take a few breaths and calm yourself Maya.”

  Maya blinked then glanced at her lap. She gasped in shock as she stared at the flames covering her thighs and hands, slowly burning away her jeans and the bits of pashmina close to the fire.

  She’d lost control.

  Though she wasn’t surprise, she cursed herself for losing focus. She sighed, then coughed as the smoke rising from the remains of her Levi’s filled her lungs. She waved away the haze and dusted off her lap, trying to ignore the fact that she may as well have used the ripped jeans her dad hated so much because these rips were more missing chunks of fabric rather than tears revealing a hint of skin.

  Maya flicked the pieces of scorched shawl off her fingers and shook her head. “I’m losing it.”

  “Understandable. Nobody is made strong enough to deal with stuff like this when it comes out of the blue, Maya. Don’t give yourself a hard time.” Leela got to her feet and walked over to one of the cabinets along the wall behind the sofas. She rummaged inside and found a lab coat which she handed to Maya on the way back to her spot beside her husband. “You can use this when you leave. Unless you want me to pop down to your dorm and fetch you something?”

  Maya shook her head. “No. The lab coat may be enough.” She paused and then stiffened her spine. “Anyway, do you guys have any ideas how to combat this demon? Get it out of Joss?”

  Dev rubbed his forehead. “I wish I could say yes, of course, we have just the thing for this sort of possession. But no. I’ve not encountered something as complicated as this.” He let out a ragged sigh, the sound hovering in the air around Maya, stabbing her with accusatory sparks of pain. Then her dad said, “Let me get this info to the medical team. They can do a few tests on Joss and monitor her brain activity which give us a head’s up on a change inside Joss’s mind.”

  Maya bit her lip. “Does something like this show in a blood test? Can we check to see if the demon is changing Joss’s body somehow?”

  Leela snapped her fingers. “Good thinking. If rakshasa possession results in the death of the host, then it’s likely this demon will follow the same pattern. A blood study would let us know if Joss’s body is attempting to fight back against the possession.”

  Maya studied her mom’s face. “Does demon possession actually show up in a person’s blood?”

  Leela nodded. “Our bodies are designed to try and reject anything alien. So the vampire demon will attempt to change Joss’s body in a way that’s best to accommodate it and its power. Antibodies in Joss’s blood should show us there is some activity. I wouldn’t be surprised if she develops a fever soon.”

  Maya stiffened. “She was a little warm to the touch when I accessed her mind. I should have told the nurse.”

  Dev grunted. “On second thoughts, maybe let’s keep this to ourselves.” Then he got to his feet. “Probably best you don’t alert the medical team to what’s happening with Joss. Your mom and I will do the bloods and the measurements. I’m not sure we want Joss subjected to their testings.”

  “Yeah. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of those docs decide it was for the betterment of paranormal medicine to allow the demon to possess Joss. Some of those doctors are pretty obsessive. And if they got wind of my mindreading power, that would be the end of me.”

  Dev frowned. “What do you mean, Maya?”

  Maya shrugged. “The tests they’ve been doing on me are way more than what you both think.”

  Leela’s eyes narrowed. “Explain yourself, young lady.” Although her mom’s voice was ripe with danger, Maya knew her fury wouldn’t be directed at her daughter.

  “The tests were measuring neural and physiological activity during the generation and use of my fire power,” Maya replied.

  “I thought the tests were to ensure Maya’s health was in top condition,” murmured Leela as she looked at her husband, eyes dark. “We suspected something was up when Maya mentioned the increased regularity, but you said it wasn’t nefarious by any means.”

  “That’s because I accepted the medical teams’ assurances. Which was before I knew more about what the board was up to.”

  Maya shuffled in her seat. “Well, I don’t want to go back to the test lab. Not until Dr. Phead sorts cranky old Harish out. She was meant to register a formal complaint against him.”

  “What kind of complaint?”

  “Assault.”

  “Assault? Harish attacked Pheadra?”

  Maya’s lips formed a thin line as she replied, “Nope. He assaulted me. Grabbed my arm when I refused to do the burst-into-flame exercise. He stopped me before I got to the door and held onto my arm. I thought Sabala was about to get a taste of man-meat but Dr. Phead intervened.”

  Leela’s face was pale as she pushed to her feet and paced. “I’d go down there right now and show him what I think of him assaulting my daughter. Or any patient for that matter.”

  Maya also got to her feet. “Well, Dr. Phead saved the day, so maybe she’s a good guy,” she offered, aware that Pheadra and her mom were friends. Another betrayal by a friend would be horribly unfair and she wanted to make her mom feel better. Which wouldn’t help if Phead was guilty after all.

  “It doesn’t matter what she did to protect you. We can’t assume loyalty from anyone within the agency.”

  Maya stared at her mother. “Even Claude?” Maya couldn’t have been more stunned at her mother’s reply.

  “Yes, even Claude.”

  Chapter 26

  Maya successfully avoided bumping into any of the medical staff and made it all the way home safely, no questions, no tests, no lies. Her parents had asked her if she’d wanted to wait for them to get their stuff together, but she’d refused saying a mass Rao exodus could cause suspicion since they’d never come and gone together in the past.

  Still, bumping into Joss’s nurse in the patient’s room managed to cast a shadow on her mood as she realized they’d forgotten about the woman’s presence. How were Maya’s parents going to draw the bloods and set up the measurement leads without the nurse figuring out something was up and reporting it to Dr. Phead?

  Despite her concerns, Maya settled on the bed beside Joss, paperback in hand as though ready to read. To the nurse she said, “I’ll hang around here for a bit if you want to grab a nap or something to eat.”

  Nurse Lark smiled brightly though something in her eyes still remained expressionless. But the old woman got to her feet, then clapped her hands together lightly. “Very well, I shall go for a quick walk around the block and get some fresh air in. Be back in a jiffy.”

  As the nurse crossed the threshold, Maya called out, “Take you time. I’m not going anywhere.”

  All she got in reply was a brisk nod and then the sound of the woman’s heels tapping on the wood floor as she strode to the stairs. Maya couldn’t put her finger on why the nurse set her on edge.

  Maybe the whole paranoi
a with KALIMA was getting to Maya. And now as she glanced down at Joss, her book forgotten, she wished they’d be able to fix Joss as soon as possible. Before the agency figure out what was going on.

  A half hour later, Maya looked up from her book as her dad walked into the room, holding a small silver case by its handle. He set it on the floor beside the bed and flipped open the lid. He gave Maya a comforting nod, though she didn’t feel at all comforted.

  She and her dad both stiffened as the sound of footsteps drew close to Joss’s door. Dev closed the lid and slid the box under the bed just as the owner of the tapping heels entered the room.

  “Mom,” Maya gasped, patting her hand to her heart. “Thought it was the nurse.”

  Leela shook her head then leaned backward into the hall. “No. She’s not in the house but I’ll stay right here. If she does return, I’ll see her and warn you.”

  “How are you going to explain the new monitoring leads?” asked Maya as her dad untangled a network of chords preparing to place them on Joss’s body.

  “I’m going to piggyback on the leads already in place. They’ll never know someone else is receiving the data as well. Plus, I’ll place the necessary leads so they don’t have the nurse raising questions. She isn’t all that experienced with the leads which is why Pheadra has popped by to check on them. We should be safe as long as she doesn’t make an unscheduled visit.”

  Leela sniffed from the doorway. “Well, I’ll be downstairs ready to stop her. They can’t carry on as though they have the run of my house.”

  “I’ll sleep here with Joss. Maybe she won’t fiddle with anything while I’m here to see her being sneaky.” Maya offered the option though she wasn’t sure if it would work. The older woman was the strict matronly type and would hardly accept resistance from Maya, even knowing who and what Maya was.

  But her dad nodded. “It could be a deterrent. At this point we should take what we can get.”

  Maya sat upright as her dad attached the leads to Joss. “Maybe we should move her. Joss’s parents are out of town and only back in three weeks. We could move her to her own house and just say that her parents took her home to take care of her and want nothing to do with us.”

  “That could work, unless they verify the story for themselves or go to the house to check on her out of professional obligation. I think let’s consider hiding her as the last resort.”

  Maya’s hope deflated and she sank onto the pillow. “This all just keeps getting more and more convoluted.”

  “Why don’t you see if Nik can take her away? Maybe even to Miami?” suggested Leela, keeping her voice to a whisper.

  Maya nodded. She’d been avoiding the thought of reaching out to Nik, but couldn’t any longer. She cleared her throat. “I’m thinking I’ll ask for an audience with Lord Yama. Maybe he will have a way of saving Joss.”

  The room fell silent, tension thickening in the air. Then Dev snapped the lid of his case shut and got to his feet. “I don’t particularly like the idea since there is usually a price to pay. As you well know. But we can’t afford to be complacent here. If we aren’t able to figure this out ourselves it’s probably best we have a fallback.”

  Maya’s eyebrows rose. She hadn’t expected him to agree, especially since she’d felt his disapproval of the idea. But she remained silent as her dad approached the door and swapped places with his wife.

  Leela went to Joss’s side and proceeded to take a handful of vials of blood for running the tests. She worked quickly and was done in moments, tucking the blood samples into her pockets as she got to her feet. “I’ll have to go see a friend at the university to borrow his testing lab. I can’t risk doing these tests at the labs at HQ.”

  Maya nodded and would have voiced her agreement if the nurse hadn’t approached the door to pop her head inside. Dev’s startled expression confirmed he hadn’t heard her coming down the hall. More reason to suspect the woman was hiding her true purpose for remaining here with Joss.

  “Well, isn’t this lovely. A family reunion?” she asked, voice and face bright, though her suspicious eyes gave her away.

  “Yes. I was worried about her. Wanted to see her myself,” Leela replied settling beside Joss, eyes on the unconscious girl’s face. Maya watched as her mom focused on Joss, not even looking over her shoulder at the nurse to ask if it was okay to bother the patient. Then Leela said, “I’ll stay with her tonight, Nurse Lark. You can take the night off.”

  The old woman’s smile tightened though now her face looked more like a macabre mask than the kindly grandma act she’d put on all this while. “Of course, I can’t, Director Rao. Dr. Phaedra has charged me with the responsibility of looking after our little patient here. I simply cannot ignore my duties.”

  Maya noted the significant mention of her mom’s previous title.

  “I hardly think Phaedra is such a hard taskmaster as to expect you to work twenty-four-seven. Surely you have a day off depending on the hours you work. Otherwise we’d be contravening a good few laws, I would think.” Leela’s reply was sweet and teasing and sounded completely innocent. Maya was impressed.

  The nurse hesitated, moving her weight from one foot to the other. “Perhaps I ought to check with Dr. Pheadra first before I—”

  Dev lifted a hand. “I’m positive that going home won’t get you in trouble. And if you do have a problem then just come to my office or call my mobile. I’ll deal with Phaedra myself.”

  His tone held a subtle reminder of who was running the show, and even though the old woman’s eyes hardened to granite, she knew when she’d reached a stone wall.

  And then she was grinning cheerful fully, clapping her hands softly again as she looked from face to face. “Alrighty then. I’ll just get some food on for our patient and then I’ll be on my way.”

  Leela got to her feet then and approach the nurse. “Of course, you’ll do no such thing. I’m making Joss’s favorite tonight and we’ll have family night. You need a break Nurse Lark. You’ve definitely been working too hard. I can handle dinner for the patient for one night, I’m sure.”

  Maya couldn’t see her mom’s face, but she knew the bright smile, the twinkling eyes, the look of genuine understanding that was probably boosted a little by the power of the earth goddess Bhumi.

  The nurse hesitated but relented, clearly understanding she’d lost every battle. Would she be suspicious now that the Rao’s wanted her to leave? Or would she be convinced with Leela’s story?

  Maya wasn’t able to tell. The old woman straightened and gave a pleasant nod. “Very well, if you are sure you’ll be okay, I’ll toddle off home. At least I have time now to catch up on my soapies,” she said, fake glee not fooling Maya in the least.

  Then the old woman was gone, her heels tapping away as she approached the stairs and descended to the first floor.

  Maya lifted an eyebrow at her dad who was still standing beside the door, scowling darkly. “How did you not hear the pitter-patter of her little old feet?” Maya asked on a whisper.

  Leela choked on her laughter, though Dev still looked annoyed as he replied, “I don’t trust her.” He turned to Maya. “We should be able to get some good data tonight and be done by the time she returns in the morning. Hopefully, you can get Nik to take Joss to a safer place until we figure this out.”

  “And how are we going to explain this? Her parents would freak out if a bunch of strangers contacted them about their comatose kid. We haven’t even told them yet, have we?”

  Leela shook her head. “We haven’t been able to contact them to give them the news. I’ll keep trying though. Maybe telling them would be the best thing to keep Joss safe.”

  “I don’t think so. What if they whisk Joss away to some secret place and we can’t get to her to take the demon out?”

  Dev sighed. “That’s more probable than possible. They’re already a little suspicious of the time Joss spends with us. We don’t want them to have a reason for taking her away. So, Maya. You get a hold of Nik,
Mom will go off and test that blood, and I’ll do some research.”

  Maya nodded and her parents left her alone with the sounds of the machines keeping her company. She glanced over at Joss, blinking away the rush of hot tears. There were so many unpredictable variables now, so many threats to both Joss’s life and Maya’s.

  Not to mention her parents’ dramas with the board slowly pushing them out and likely ready to perform a hostile takeover. Maya glanced over at Sabala. “Hey pooch. Want to help a girl out and get a message to a certain demigod?”

  The hellhound lowered his head. “I shall find Lord Nikhil for you. Please remain safe until I return. I will not be long.”

  Then the hellhound faded away, disappearing into thin air as he returned to Patala in search of Nik. And did he just refer to Nik as Lord Nikhil? That was most weird.

  Maya sighed, finding her shoulders tense and band of pressure tightening around her head. She didn’t have time for a headache, but she had been running herself ragged. She’d recovered well enough but the trip to HQ and back had taxed her.

  The revelations and worries were taxing her even more.

  She stared at the open door. Would the nurse be cheeky and return during the night despite the Raos sending her away and pulling rank? And even if she did stay away, her behavior had only added to Maya’s suspicions.

  Neither Maya nor her parents were in the least bit relaxed, even after the nurse’s departure. And they probably won’t be. Not until Joss was declared safe from the demon living in her head.

  Chapter 27

  With Joss still asleep and with Leela keeping her company for the night, Maya was pacing the floor of her room. She’d given in to her paranoia for a brief moment when she went to her window and peered out into the street, scanning it up and down for….

  For what, she wasn’t sure. Had she expected to spot strange people lurking outside, watching the house? She couldn’t put her finger on what had been bugging her, but one thing was certain, it had everything to do with KALIMA, from the board to the docs and their tests, to the nurse they’d sent packing.