Emergence (The Infernal Guard Book 1)

by SGD Singh

  Ariella said, “Underworlders studies with Uma. We still haven't had weapons.”

  Uma stalked into the mess hall as if she heard her name mentioned. “Okay, listen up, people! Be in the outdoor training arena in twenty minutes, and stay there until further notice. Bond with each other. Do—whatever teenagers do.” She looked at Ursala who was grinning at something he'd said to Kelakha. “Except, obviously that.” Everyone laughed.

  Nidhan said, “Until further notice means what?”

  “It means, let's go get your harp, Asha,” said Lexi. “This sounds like a long night.”

  “I'm bringing my own weapons,” Ariella said, getting up.

  “Should I bring some food?” Nidhan looked at his plate.

  Tzirga looked him up and down, one eyebrow raised. “Probably,” she said.

  “You guys, we're not going camping,” said Asha. “It's just out in the yard, for God's sake.” But she let Lexi drag her upstairs to get her harp. “If it starts raining we can sit under the veranda, right? 'Cause if my harp gets wet, I will hold you personally responsible. And then I will kill you.”

  “Of course,” Lexi said. “I don't think Uma would send us to sit in the rain until further notice.”

  But the night was clear. There was a massive bonfire in the center of the lawn, and everyone sat around it in groups. Mia waived at them before continuing her dramatic conversation in Spanish with Chucho and Freya. Everyone from Hong Kong sat in a close group, speaking in murmured Cantonese. Asha noticed Wei Feng had his arm around Hua Tseng, a pretty girl with long, shining black hair, as she leaned her head on his chest.

  Li Tsia walked around the fire to join Nidhan, performing some kind of macho handshake.

  Asha looked, but didn't see Aquila.

  The four made their way to join Himat, Karan, Ibha, and Ursala.

  “What's with all the long faces over there?” Himat asked Li Tsia, pointing a thumb at the Hong Kong students.

  Li Tsia shrugged. “Oh, they're all whining about the fact that there's no meat on the menu, as if spicy squid is even a possibility around here. They're making themselves miserable comparing everyone's favorite dishes.” He rolled his eyes, “Duck, fish, cat—”

  “Cat?” Lexi said.

  “Just kidding.” He grinned. “I came over here to stop thinking about my mom's excellent pork noodles.” He looked at the stars. “With snow cabbage, bamboo shoots, fresh ginger, Shaoxing wine…”

  Nidhan shuddered and started fidgeting with his orange dumala. Asha wondered if he did that to mask his reactions. She suppressed a smile as she watched him lay down on the grass, settling onto one elbow to stare at Lexi in the firelight.

  “Play something for us, Asha,” said Mia, plopping herself down next to Himat. “Please?”

  Asha looked up at the night sky. Sparks from the fire shot into the air, floating gently on the summer breeze. She settled the harp onto her lap and, with a smile at Li Tsia, began playing the Wong Fei Hung Theme Song.

  After a few seconds, Li Tsia's mouth dropped open in surprise. Conversations died around them, and Asha saw the Hong Kong Trainees sit up, beginning to smile. Wei Feng grabbed two sticks and started to hit them together in rhythm with the song, and soon all five were beating sticks in perfect unison, singing in Cantonese along with the music.

  Asha was laughing as she glanced up from her harp, and her gaze met Aquila's. The fire reflected in his eyes as he smiled at her and Asha's heart began to speed up dangerously. It took all of her effort to tear her gaze from his and finish the song.

  Everyone tried to join the final, resounding, Yit Sing Hung Yat Gwong! Brighter than the burning sun, and the song dissolved into laughter and applause as they mangled the words horribly.

  The Hong Kong Trainees surrounded Asha. Wei Feng introduced everyone, and Hua Tseng even hugged her, saying tearfully, “Thank you. I was so homesick!” They wanted to know if she spoke Cantonese, but Asha admitted she spoke very little, even after two years of classes.

  After a while, Tanvir brought out fruit, nuts, and cucumber shakes. He threw more wood on the fire and, after joking with Nidhan and Himat, went back inside.

  People were sparring to stay awake. Lexi, Ariella, and Tzirga invented rules for a girls-against-boys sparring game with Ibha, Himat, and Karan. Asha watched them playing around in the firelight and was filled with overwhelming gratitude to BapuJi. She remembered how unhappy Lexi had been when they first met in Miami. That lonely and bitter little girl was nothing like the confident and laughing Lexi she saw now.

  Ursala joined Asha, and together they watched everyone. Hua Tseng was asleep with her head in Wei Feng's lap. He was arguing with Li Tsia and Bao Chen in loud Cantonese about what sounded like some kind of martial arts video game. Mia was teaching a Spanish song with risqué lyrics to Jiao Wan, the other girl from Hong Kong. They were surrounded by a small group of sleepy male admirers.

  Movement in the shadows beyond the firelight caught Asha's eye, and she was transfixed by the unmistakable figures of Kelakha and Aquila sparring, Kelakha's cat-like speed perfectly matched with Aquila's light grace.

  “Ursala?” she said.

  “Mmm?”

  “What's Desai's story? I mean… you lived here with him, right?”

  “Who?” He looked exaggeratedly blank. “Ooooh! You mean the guy who hasn't stopped staring at you since you got here!” Ursala sat up, grinning at her, and Asha regretted saying anything.

  He followed her gaze, and they watched the breathtaking skill of both Aquila and Kelakha in silence for a minute. As she watched Aquila jump and spin effortlessly away from Kelakha's perfect strikes, Asha thought about just how much she still had to learn.

  “I've known him my whole life,” Ursala said, “since we were babies. And I don't think he has ever smiled, I mean ever… like this. Like the way he smiles when you're around, as if he's a dying plant and you're his light.” He laughed. “We don't tease him about it or anything, mind you.”

  Asha felt herself blush and was glad of the darkness.

  “He's Afzal's son,” Ursala continued. “Well, adopted son. He was born in Nepal, I think. He isn't really the sharing type, so I'm not exactly sure. Aquila, Kelakha and I grew up here together. Training, sneaking out for food, spying on the adults. They're my brothers.”

  Asha watched Aquila land a perfect flip, slapping Kelakha with a short bamboo stick on the butt. His laughter carried across the night air, and Asha's heart leapt at the sound.

  Ursala gave her a sideways glance, grinning. “I have a feeling you could find out all about him,” he sang. Asha turned and gave him a stony look. “All about him. If you want to, that is.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  “I will hurt you, Mehta.” Asha moved to get up. “Forget I said anything, okay?”

  He reached out to her, “Asha, I'm sorry. Look, I didn't mean any disres-pect.” He was actually serious for once, and Asha looked down at him, confused. “We're all just happy to see Aquila… happy, you know? I get ahead of myself sometimes. Please, please don't be mad.”

  He looked suddenly ill and whispered, “Aquila actually will hurt me if I upset you.”

  Asha hadn't expected that. She looked across the garden at Aquila and, as if he felt her gaze on him, he lowered his weapon, meeting her eyes.

  Asha looked back to Ursala, but he was gone.

  She spent the next few hours with her harp, going through scale exercises alone on the veranda, trying to stay awake, and making a determined effort not to think about Aquila who sat on the far side of the lawn in quiet conversation with three boys she didn't know. She failed miserably.

  The sky was turning a soft pink in the east when Uma's voice rang out, making nearly all of them jump. “Okay everybody, time for bed.” She sounded bored. “Good job bonding. See you at breakfast, and don't be late.”

  Asha was jarred out of her half-sleep state when she turned and saw Uma. The instructor's white hair was coming loose from its long braid and hung in strands across
her face. The right sleeve of her shirt was torn, and dried blood caked one side of her grey pants.

  As Asha passed her, she winked. “You should see the other guy.”

  Chapter 12

  Reggaeton blared through the door of the open training room, and Asha knew before she even entered that Lexi was there. And homesick. And grouchy.

  Asha walked across the floor to her, staying out of range of her spinning khanda, as Lexi delivered two vicious blows to a practice dummy's head, which was already reduced to a splintery pulp.

  Just as Asha opened her mouth to speak, Mia screeched behind her, ”¡Me encanta esta canción!” I love this song. She wrenched Asha's arm around and grabbed her around the waist with surprising strength, pulling her into the dance. And Mia could move.

  Before Asha could hold her back, she spun Asha away from her with a laugh and moved to Lexi.

  Asha reached out to her in alarm. “Mia! I wouldn't—”

  Mia ducked under Lexi's sword, still managing to wiggle her hips, and grabbed Lexi's wrist. Lexi spun and looked murderous for a scary second. But Mia just jiggled her butt at an impossible rate as she shimmied out of her top to reveal a black lacy bra.

  Lexi started laughing. And, to Asha's relief, she began to dance, pulling Asha along with them in graceful, elaborate twirls.

  It wasn't until the end of the song that Asha noticed six boys staring at them open-mouthed from the doorway. She felt herself blush.

  Lexi glared as she passed, making them jump by lunging at them.

  Mia smiled at them from under her thick lashes. Turning to Asha, she whispered loud enough for the boys to hear, ”¿No son deliciosas?” Aren't they delicious, though?

  “I think you better put your shirt back on, Mia,” Asha told her in Spanish as they left the training room. “A workout is one thing. Killing half our classmates through lack of oxygen to the brain is another.”

  “I would love to see a Wraith go after Mia,” said Lexi. “It would get so confused, it would explode.”

  Mia giggled and winked at Lexi, who shook her head. “Meet you guys at breakfast.” She waved, calling from her room, “Good workout!”

  † † †

  Nidhan wasn't at breakfast.

  “He has laundry duty,” Himat told Asha, then looked flustered as Mia joined them.

  Karan jerked his chin at him questioningly, and Himat said, under his breath in Punjabi, “Let's just say she's of the ‘if you've got it, flaunt it’ school of thought.” Karan looked at Mia with raised eyebrows, and she held up her wheat grass daikon juice at him, bowing.

  Asha asked Lexi, “You okay now?”

  “I don't want to talk about it,” she answered flatly. Then, “I'm fine.”

  Asha glanced at her, but ate her breakfast in silence. When Tzirga and Ariella came to join them, Lexi abruptly got up and walked away.

  Their first class was Healing.

  The smell of black pepper and garlic was over-powering as they entered the hallway. Coughing, Li Tsia almost walked into Senya, who was jogging toward the hospital wing, his arms loaded with a variety of roots.

  “Okay, everybody, follow me,” he called over his shoulder as he kicked the hospital doors open.

  All six Trainees hurried through the door after him but stopped short when an ear-splitting scream, followed by a loud curse, filled the marble room. Exchanging glances, they crept together around a large fountain surrounded by plants, toward the only open door along the far wall.

  Himat peered in cautiously.

  “Well? Don't just stand there gawking, you guys. Come in.” Asha followed Prabhnoor's voice into the room, and found him crushing something foul-smelling in a silver bowl, his Wraith-scarred arm shining in the dim light.

  Lexi had followed Asha into the room, but then stopped dead, gasping. Wei Feng nearly bumped into her. On the bed of the spacious suite lay a strikingly beautiful woman. Puss-oozing punctures covered what they could see of her legs. Asha felt pulled forward, her mind filled with the images of the last night she saw BapuJi, and the woman glared at her, irritation flashing across her lovely features.

  Asha heard Himat take a surprised breath. The woman's eyes were bright orange.

  “Seriously, Prabhnoor?” The woman's voice was melodious despite her obvious displeasure. “I am not in the mood.”

  Without thinking, Asha took the woman's hand. She looked up at her, surprise registering in her eerie eyes, before she turned back to Prabhnoor, who shrugged.

  “Your injuries. I've seen this before,” Asha said.

  Prabhnoor's head jerked up and he rushed out of the room.

  Seconds later, Senya pushed his way through the crowded doorway. “Tell me, Asha. What do you know?” He looked worried, almost frantic.

  “Don't panic, my love,” said the woman on the bed with a deep sigh. “It's annoying. I'll be fine…”

  Senya didn't take his eyes off Asha as the room fell silent. “My grandfather had the same injuries in Miami the night he sent me here.” She noticed Lexi pale, covering her mouth. “We… I mean, a guy named Duardo knew what to do, and BapuJi got better… uh, he seemed healed.”

  Senya was already leaving the room. “Get Abhijay on the phone, now!” he shouted at Prabhnoor.

  Asha didn't know why she was startled to hear him use her grandfather's name. Some small part of her, she realized, had still been hoping that BapuJi didn't know about the Infernal Guard, and hadn't been hiding who he really was her entire life.

  The six Trainees stood around the suite awkwardly, each trying not to look at each other or at the putrefying wounds that seemed to spread with each passing minute. The stench of rotting flesh clung to Asha's throat, making her gag.

  Finally, Senya burst back into the room with a large copper bowl filled with red powder. Asha tensed, knowing exactly what he planned on doing with it.

  “Feng. Tsia. Each of you grab a foot and hold it down firmly,” Senya said, ignoring his patient's glare. “Don't worry, she won't bite. Will you, Chouette?” Orange-red eyes looked daggers at him. “The rest of you, follow Prabhnoor out. Except you, Sandhu.” Senya looked steadily at Asha. “Don't let go of her hand.”

  Agonized shrieks followed Lexi, Karan, and Himat out of the door, filling the large foyer.

  Two hours later, Asha stood under the veranda, alone, feeling drained and exhausted. Everyone else was eating, but the thought of lunch made her stomach turn.

  “Three weeks, Afzal!” a deep gravelly voice roared from the open office door like a gunshot. “You had the report from Miami, explaining this horse thing, this Dänav, three weeks ago.”

  A short pause, a muffled reply, then, “Chakori would be dead if it weren't for that Trainee today! Dead. And her death would have been on you.”

  An interior door slammed violently. Another tall, broad man—this one with a greying crew cut and torn, bloody clothes stormed out and down the veranda, moving fast. He paused to give Asha a second look, nodded almost imperceptibly, and disappeared up the stairs.

  This horse thing, he had said. The monster she saw on the hill must have been what attacked BapuJi. The thought made her stomach turn.

  Asha went to the mess hall and joined Lexi and Himat. They ate in silence, picking at their food.

  It took a minute before Asha realized that Kelakha stood looming over her. “I want to thank you,” he said, holding out his hand to her. “What you did for my mom. I just wanted to say… if you hadn't been there… well, thank you.”

  Asha shook her head, opening her mouth to protest but Kelakha squeezed her hand so hard that her ring finger hurt. “You're welcome,” she said hastily.

  He released her, nodded, and walked away, his samurai ponytail shining under the chandelier as he joined Ursala and Aquila on the other side of the mess hall.

  “So, Senya's his dad,” said Himat. “And the lady with the, uh, eyes and boils is his mom… ?”

  “I think her name is Chakori,” said Asha.

  Lexi lo
oked at Asha over her glass. “What happened when you held her hand, Asha?”

  Asha stopped mid-bite to consider. “I don't know. I just felt like I should hold her hand?” She shrugged.

  Himat stared back and forth between them, his handsome features incredulous. “You mean you don't know? You're a Healer, Asha. You healed me. The day that Lexi put her fist through my nose? When you touched me, I felt, well, healed as a matter of fact.” He started eating again.

  Lexi just looked at Asha.

  “What?” Asha said. “It's not like I knew. Not consciously, anyway.”

  Ariella and Tzirga approached the table with uncommon hesitance. Lexi glanced up and started to rise.

  “Wait, Lexi,” said Ariella. “Just hear her out, okay?”

  Asha looked questioningly at Lexi, who glared.

  Tzirga cleared her throat, nervously. “I don't know what you think you saw, but there is nothing going on between me and Nidhan.”

  Asha froze, her fork halfway to her mouth, as Himat fled the table. Asha moved to follow him, but Lexi grabbed her arm, pulling her back into the seat.

  “Interesting information, Tzirga,” Lexi said, her voice like ice.

  Ariella slid into the booth across from her, leaning forward. “Lexi, can you please look at me?” Lexi rolled her eyes, then stared at Ariella, eyes blank. “A blind person can see Nidhan has feelings for you. Wait! Hear me out. Tzirga fell. She fell, and he helped her up, and she teased him about you. And that's it. That's all that was happening when you saw them in the training room, giggling and… whatever,” she waved a hand around.

  Lexi turned to Tzirga for the first time and the other girl looked down at her hands. Asha thought she looked miserable.

  “We are a close-knit community,” Ariella continued. “We've all experienced grief and loss. We live through life threatening situations every day. Or we will soon enough. So if you say so, Tzirga is prepared to never even look at Nidhan again, never mind speak to him…”

  Lexi was shaking her head and starting to laugh.

  “No, I'm sorry, Tzirga. I don't know what I… you know? I'm sorry. Maybe it's the ‘about to turn seventeen’ hormones.” She stood abruptly, giving Tzirga a hug. “If you care about each other, who am I to—”