Emergence (The Infernal Guard Book 1)

by SGD Singh

  Holding her double-edged sword in two hands, Lexi swung with all her strength for the demon's wide neck, feet turning, lifting off the creature's sulfurous skin with the impact.

  The diamond-edged khanda went through the demon's neck like butter, and thick white tendons flew loose like steaming parasites. Three faces fell to the ground with a moist crunch, the hideous features still moving. Lexi felt the splash of hot liquid that smelled like burning vomit.

  Leaping off the decapitated creature, Lexi stumbled, and Nidhan lunged to catch her, a huge grin lighting up his face. “You did it, Lexi!” he said, breathless. He looked down at her, his eyes filling with adoration, his arms wrapping around her waist. “You did it…”

  Lexi laughed in relief, reaching a hand to wipe blood from Nidhan's cheek.

  “Uh, you guys,” said Aquila. “It's not—”

  They turned to Aquila just as Nidhan was ripped from Lexi's arms and thrown through the air. She reached out convulsively as Nidhan's figure, like a boneless rag doll, disappeared into the darkness.

  Lexi stared at the empty space in front of her. She heard Aquila screaming something, and she was vaguely aware that the Raurava demon was getting back to its feet. She registered with numb detachment that the creature now had four, even more impossibly repulsive faces, each grimacing giant fangs. Twelve murderous eyes flashed.

  The monster shook its bulbous head, stumbling in confusion, and Lexi felt Aquila pull her arm, heard his voice shouting, while her mind screamed one word.

  No! No! No!

  Lexi tore her arm from Aquila's grip with a violent jerk and ran past the demon into the darkness.

  Nidhan lay unmoving in a heap against the dark stone, and Lexi slid, ignoring the pain in her mangled leg as she scrambled to his side. “Nidhan!”

  Staring for one horrified moment at the four bleeding gashes that stretched from the top of his powerful shoulders all the way to his waist, Lexi kneeled in the pool of blood around Nidhan's still figure. Struggling out of her jacket, she found the pack of healing powder in her weapons belt and, with trembling hands, shook it across his wounds until it was empty. Laying her jacket across his back, Lexi rolled Nidhan forward to reach the sleeves underneath him, tying them at his chest. He lay on his side, still and pale as death in the darkness, and Lexi dragged in a ragged breath. She felt the weak pulse in his neck as tears of frustration streamed down her bloodstained cheeks.

  “C'mon, Nidhan…” Lexi whispered, feeling for broken bones along his arms, neck, and chest, moving to his feet and ankles, her heart thundering in her ears. Running her hands along his legs, Lexi realized with a wave of relief that, barring a head injury, his only injuries were the cuts along his back.

  “You know,” Nidhan said, coughing.“If you wanted to fondle me, Hewitt, you didn't have to wait 'til I was unconscious.”

  “Nidhan!” Jumping to kneel by his head, Lexi threw her arms around Nidhan's neck until he gasped for breath. She peered at him in the gloomy light. “How's your head? I can't see your pupils in this light… Are you dizzy? Do you feel nauseous?”

  Waving her off with an impatient gesture, Nidhan said, “My back hurts. How did the demon… ?”

  Lexi shook her head, not taking her eyes off of him, “I don't care.”

  Nidhan jerked his head toward her, “Is—”

  “I love you!” Lexi yelled, and Nidhan froze.

  Tears glistened on Lexi's cheeks, but her eyes never left his. “I love you, okay? And I didn't tell you before because I thought… I thought you didn't love me. But now we're gonna die horrible, gruesome deaths anyway, and I don't care. I want you to know before I'm dead that I've loved you since, since my whole life. I just didn't realize it before I met you. And maybe we can't read each other's minds—”

  Nidhan pulled Lexi to him, muttering something rude about mind readers in Punjabi as his lips met hers and he kissed her thoroughly. He tasted her tears as she melted against him, the pain of their injuries forgotten.

  Running one calloused hand through her hair, Nidhan held Lexi's face inches from his own and grinned. “We're not gonna die, Lexi. Asha's badass grandpa just killed the ugly bastard.” She blinked in mute disbelief and he kissed her again. “Unbelievable!”

  Lexi turned her head to the lit circle, staring as the Raurava demon burst into flames and was gone. “How the… ?”

  Raising himself onto one elbow, Nidhan laughed. “You were right. We just needed to know where to stab it, and the damn thing died. Easy-peasy!”

  Lexi helped him slowly to his feet, favoring her injured leg. “And?”

  “Well, I was a little distracted at the time, but Purple Sequin Pants went down with BapuJi's weapon sticking out of his navel. And, like some badass avenging angel, BapuJi jumped back just as the thing started to light up. You really should pay more attention to the problems at hand, Lexi, rather than checking out the packages of unconscious and helpless, albeit stunningly handsome, young men.”

  “I was not checking out your… package,” Lexi blushed. “And just for the record, I'm not a bit surprised BapuJi could handle that Underworlder.” She grinned, watching the older man retrieve his safajung spear-ax from the charred floor with calm fluidity. “He is the best teacher in the world, after all.”

  Nidhan reached an arm around Lexi and leaned over her. “And just for the record, I have loved you since the very first moment I saw you. And I always will.”

  Chapter 59

  Aquila watched the demon disappear into a mountain of flame. He was sure the creature's shocked grimace would haunt his nightmares, if he ever had any. BapuJi's weapon fell from its stomach. The man himself stood towering beside Aquila, where he had shoved him out of the demon's reach moments before.

  Afzal stood, also thawed, looking around the room in a daze, an expression of dawning horror on his aged face.

  And then Asha shrieked.

  Aquila scrambled to his feet, sprinting across the room to her as Asha brought her hands together with a loud clap. A blinding wave of ultraviolet light exploded from the portal in the floor, the force of its power throwing Aquila onto his back.

  Blinking in the sudden gloom, Aquila struggled up again. Asha stood at the edge of the portal, somehow unaffected by the wave's force, her hands held out in front of her as if in supplication.

  Asha!

  The bright, bluish light shining from her eyes began to fade, and Aquila saw with a jolt of panic that blood ran down her cheeks like tears. She stood, swaying, for a moment, and then Asha's knees buckled beneath her and she fell unconscious into his arms.

  The flames guttered in the torches along the pillars, barely illuminating the circle as Aquila brought his forehead to Asha's, squeezing his eyes closed against the hollow pain welling in his chest.

  “Oh, God,” Lexi was by his side. “Is she… ?”

  He shook his head. “She's alive. Just… unconscious.” Aquila smoothed Asha's hair from her face, and it turned white as snow beneath his hand. He heard Lexi and Nidhan gasp.

  “She's drained,” said BapuJi, stepping forward and taking Asha's hands in his, checking her pulse. “We need to get her healed. Now.”

  The lights flickered out, leaving them in pitch darkness.

  Afzal shot a flare toward the ceiling, bathing the domed circle in ultraviolet light. The pillars cast dramatic shadows across the stone floor as the ancient Illusionist approached the group with shuffling steps. “Can someone tell me when to stop? I can't see.”

  “Stop!” said Aquila and Lexi in unison, and Afzal halted.

  “The portal has been destroyed,” he said. “That means a gateway to the Underworlds is forever closed, but it also means that you have to leave Headquarters before it, too, is demolished. I can hold the structure in place for ten, maybe fifteen minutes. No more. Is that understood? You must all leave, now.” Afzal's voice boomed across the stone hall with surprising strength. “You barely have time to evacuate any others in the building. Go!”

  He held
flares out to them. Lexi and Nidhan stood, Nidhan staring blindly in the darkness and grasping for Lexi's outstretched hand. She took the flares from Afzal.

  Aquila didn't move. “Afzal, what about you… you'll be…”

  “I'm eighty-five, Aquila.” Afzal smiled. “I've lived long enough.”

  “That's bullshit!” Aquila pointed at him. “We'll trip the evacuation alarm before a quick search for any injured. You can hold the power of the, the thing—the Illusion, whatever—from outside the compound. I've seen you do more!”

  “Aquila,” Afzal hissed urgently, his unseeing eyes searching the darkness desperately for his adopted son. “I… I have to do this. You're wasting time. Just go. Please. Consider it an old man's dying wish.”

  “A—what?” Aquila lifted Asha in his arms. “No! I will not leave you here to die. You—”

  “He wants to die, Aquila.” Asha's voice was hoarse, barely over a whisper, and he looked down at her in surprise, kissing her forehead as relief washed over him.

  But… we can't just—

  “It was Afzal who helped Ranya all along,” Asha whispered. “She used Shaan, but it was because of Afzal that she was able to get this far… to get that bracelet…”

  Aquila stood in shocked silence, tightening his grip on Asha as he stumbled back from Afzal.

  “Is… is that true?”

  Silence.

  “Do you know how many lives you cost tonight?” Aquila shouted, falling to his knees. He cradled Asha in his arms, shaking his head. “And it was you? You—why?”

  Tears poured down the old man's wrinkled cheeks. “I only saw Varina… and the sacrifice her parents—”

  “You defiled that sacrifice!” Aquila shouted, surging to his feet as if Asha were weightless in his arms, and Afzal stepped back as if struck.

  Asha's hand was cold and shaking against his cheek. Aquila! He didn't realize what she had become. She manipulated him… skillfully.

  “I couldn't… I couldn't not try, Aquila. Why can't you understand?” Afzal pleaded, and Aquila looked down at Asha, unable to meet the old man's unseeing gaze. “Your parents… I owed them that much, at least…”

  BapuJi stepped forward, finding Afzal's arm in the dark. “You did what you thought was right. No one will fault you for that. Come with us now, we're wasting ti—”

  “No, Abhijay.” The older man pulled his arm out of BapuJi's grip with finality. “I'm staying. Even if I didn't deserve to die, which I do, the power of the structure won't hold as long from anywhere else. I'm staying.” He turned to Aquila in the darkness. “Aquila… I hope… in time you can forgive me.”

  Like hell—

  Asha's hand found his face again. Afzal saw what he wanted to see, Aquila. When he realized his mistake, he called BapuJi, but it was too late. Maybe hope is the most powerful illusion of all…

  Afzal waited a moment longer for Aquila to answer him, and when he didn't the old man turned, disappearing into the darkness. Aquila looked after him, the only father he had ever known, and despite everything, felt tears in his eyes.

  They stood in silence for a long moment.

  “Lexi?” Asha whispered, and Lexi rushed to her side. “You still want to pet a falcon?”

  I can carry you.

  You can also trip the alarm and help anyone trapped in the building faster than she can.

  Asha smiled weakly. “Now's your chance, Hewitt…” and she shifted in Aquila's arms.

  Lexi put out her hands. “Well? Hand her over, hawk boy. You heard the woman.”

  “What's happening?” Nidhan snapped. “I can't see a goddamned thing!”

  An adoring smile spread across Lexi's face as she secured the unconscious falcon in the crook of her arm, holding the bird protectively against her chest. “Aquila, take a flare. Nidhan, put this in your right hand, and hold my hand with your left. Let's move!”

  Rolling his eyes, Aquila snatched the flare from Lexi. He couldn't resist slapping Nidhan on the butt as he passed him in the dark before offering BapuJi his arm.

  Nidhan yelped, shouting in the wrong direction, “You're gonna pay for that, Desai!”

  Chapter 60

  Delicate peonies painted in soft shades of gold drifted along silk wallpaper between lacquered wood panels. Warm light cast a soft glow onto a recessed glass sculpture of… waves?

  Asha blinked, sitting up and squinting at it. Definitely not waves. Lumpy globs of glass in blues and greens with splashes of white. A modern interpretation of a sea monster?

  A brushed steel lamp sat within reach and Asha turned it on. A small but luxurious bedroom in shining bamboo and neutral tones of copper and gold painted subtly along the raw silk lining the walls. Asha was wearing a T-shirt and yoga pants under layers of soft pashmina blankets and cotton sheets. A virtual mountain of silk pillows of all shapes and sizes surrounded her in colors matching the mysterious sculpture across the room.

  Sunlight glowed from behind a circular blackout shade that took up an entire wall, and Asha rose to open it. She stumbled sideways as the room tilted and landed heavily back on the bed. So… a boat.

  A table on the other side of the bed held roses in elaborate bouquets and—food!

  The meal was still hot, and as Asha ate, she thought she had never tasted anything so delicious in her life. Simple vegetables and pasta, spinach and beet salad with goat cheese, fresh bread—Asha devoured everything on the plate in minutes, and, cradling a giant mug of very sweet ginger milk in her hands, she rose more carefully to look out the window.

  The view was nothing but sparkling green ocean, and Asha watched the water for a few minutes, feeling its gentle rise and fall, before turning to look for shoes and a jacket. A small closet led to a bathroom, and Asha found a grey angora shawl and some shoes.

  Turning back to the door, she stopped. Her lap-harp lay on an ottoman at the foot of the bed, its inlaid stones and mother of pearl shimmering in a ray of sunshine. All of her weapons and gear lay neatly beside it against the soft fabric, the metal and gemstones gleaming cheerfully. Next to her revolver, Himat's bichawa dagger shone as if someone had cleaned it with loving care, and as Asha looked at it, the opulent surroundings dimmed through sudden tears.

  Aquila?

  Asha! Are you—?

  I'm awake. Where are we?

  Indian Ocean. Lexi's yacht. On our way to Hong Kong to finish training.

  Seriously? Finish training? But—

  Eat something. I'll be there in five minutes.

  Already ate. I'm going to find Lexi.

  Asha… are you sure you're okay to be… wandering?

  I'm fi—wait. How long was I out?

  Six days. You missed all the fun—interrogations from Central HQ that got ugly, emotionally exhausting funerals, private jet to Madras, Nidhan's dramatic proposal to Lexi. And a very entertaining argument between your grandfather and Barindra regarding Werewolves, which Garud settled spectacularly.

  Back up. Marriage proposal? Lexi's sixteen, for Christ's sake! Wait. Asha did the math. She's seventeen. Still!

  What? It was my understanding that we are, in fact, engaged. And for the record, when you shout in your head, it hurts in my head. Asha could feel him laughing. I'll see you in five. Just… be careful.

  I'll bring my walker.

  As soon as Asha opened the door, she realized she didn't need the shawl, and she threw it back into the room. Loud laughter erupted from the main salon, and Asha stopped to look inside. The back of Wei Feng's blue-streaked hair greeted her. Hua Tseng sat on his lap. Ariella grinned between Bao Chen and Ursala. Freya and Kelakha stood behind Ursala, holding his arms behind his back as he yelled in mock indignation that he didn't cheat. As Asha watched, fresh laughter burst from the group.

  Eight people.

  Counting herself, Aquila, Nidhan, and Lexi that made twelve. Out of twenty.

  Maybe there are more in other parts of the ship.

  But even as Asha thought it, she knew there weren't.

  Mia.
Himat. Karan! Li Tsia, Jiao Wan, Chucho… oh God! I…

  Staggering away from the window, Asha gripped the railing and took deep breaths as grief threatened to swallow her.

  Asha, there was nothing you could have done differently. You have to believe that!

  Asha just shook her head, wiping her tears.

  I… they're just… gone.

  They died true heroes. They sacrificed their lives with honor, willingly. And we are the grateful few who were fortunate enough to know them.

  Asha choked on a sob, feeling Aquila's anxiety at not being able to hold her as he hurried through the sky, and she tried to breathe, nodding as if he could see her.

  It was a righteous battle, Asha. Who could wish for a better end to this beautiful life than to die protecting the innocent? And as for the rest of us? We train and we wait. And we hope we're as lucky.

  Asha could feel Aquila's anticipation, and was surprised to find herself smiling as she started down the flight of stairs to the main deck.

  Nidhan's towering figure stood at the stern, leaning on the railing in T-shirt and jeans, his dark hair flying around him in the soft breeze. As Asha approached him, Nidhan turned as if he had eyes in the back of his head, and she saw he held an enormous white-tailed eagle, its enormous black talons pressing into the skin of his forearm.

  Asha grinned. “That is definitely you.”

  Lexi appeared in a blurred flash of feathers and blonde hair, running across the deck to wrap Asha in a crushing hug, making her stumble back with a laugh.

  “Happy birthday, Lexi,” said Asha, grinning.

  Lexi bowed low, twirling a hand.

  She wore a hot-pink Don Omar T-shirt with sequins, and she twisted her hair out of her face as she grabbed Asha's arm painfully as she reached into her black capris, pulling out a folded up newspaper.

  “Look at this!” Spreading out the paper, Lexi cleared her throat, raising a finger to the sky, and Nidhan rolled his eyes. “According to the Hindustan Times, on the morning of the twenty-second of December, the deepest sinkhole in recorded history was discovered just outside the City of Patiala in Punjab. While the sinkhole's diameter measures only two kilometers across, its depth was confirmed at a record-breaking eight hundred and eighty-seven point fifty-seven meters.” Lexi looked up excitedly. “That's exactly three thousand feet, Asha. And I have no idea if that is significant or not. Okay… blah blah… It is believed that the large amounts of waste that had been dumped at the location over a long period of time, combined with heavy rains and a city sewage system most dreadfully,” Lexi smiled, “out of date, caused water to be trapped beneath the enormous weight of the waste, resulting in the sinkhole. Scientists are still working to discover more. To date, no one is reported to have died or even been injured. The government has taken all precautions to ensure that no accidents occur while they work toward filling in and covering the perfectly circular sinkhole.” Lexi hit the page with the back of her hand. “Check out the picture!”