Gods Ascendent: The Apsara Chronicles #2

by T. G. Ayer

  Syama made a face. “Let’s get out of here, okay? There’s a patrol up ahead that’s coming up to that intersection in a few seconds.”

  Vee glanced around. “Where?” Syama pointed to a narrow channel behind Vee, just wide enough for her to slide into.

  “Get inside, and I will stand here. My glamor is impenetrable. None of these demons would be able to see me. Not unless they are part hellhound themselves.”

  “Yeah. Then we’ll be shit out of luck.”

  Syama rolled her eyes, and Vee grinned. This felt like old times, and she decided that she was going to enjoy it for the moment. She winked at the hellhound and shimmied into the narrow channel, holding her breath as Akil took off, flying down the tunnel and disappearing into the darkness.

  Syama moved to hide Vee, and just in time too. A pair of giants thundered along the tunnel, sending the narrow trickle of water vibrating so hard that droplets rose off the surface of the stream.

  Vee watched over Syama’s shoulder, half in awe, half in horror as two rakshasa demons walked toward them. Both appeared high-level, but thankfully not powerful enough to sniff out a hellhound.

  Syama stiffened, but Vee could tell from the hellhound’s aura that she was not at all afraid. In fact, she was totally devoid of emotion, which concerned Vee more than if Syama had been terrified, her heart racing a mile a minute.

  It was odd too. Though Syama had come to Vee hardened and experienced, she’d never been emotionally vacant. Another thing to be worried about.

  Vee focused as the two rakshasas drew closer, holding her breath as they slowed their steps to come to a stop right in front of Syama’s nose. Vee felt a little ill.

  They had to stay put and hope for the best. If Syama so much as vibrated a molecule, the two demons would sense it immediately. That much Vee knew when it came to the use of jumping or transporting. The jump left a signature at the entrance to the other side—whatever that was.

  So the two women remained stock still waiting to see what the rakshasas would do next.

  They began to speak, the sounds guttural and hitting Vee deep in her stomach. Her eardrums rang with the noise, and she winced, tempted to put her fingers in her ears.

  But she didn’t move. And found herself trying to shut the sound out. Which oddly enough enhanced the clarity of the syllables.

  “How long more of this do you think the team is going to handle?” asked one of the demons.

  Vee’s eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock. She could understand them? No. She must have been imagining it.

  But when the next demon opened his mouth, she knew she hadn’t imagined it at all. “As long as it takes. You shut your mouth and do your job until the boss tells you we are ready to move on.”

  The first demon’s brows furrowed, his wide red nostrils flaring. Shaking his head, he snorted. “You’re just saying that because the boss likes you. Keeps you at her side. We’re the ones who have to sleep in the tank while you eat with the Lord.”

  “Graig. Probably best if you shut your trap.”

  “Who’s going to hear me? We’re in this tunnel, maybe two miles away from central command?”

  “Shows how dumb you are. Did you read the schematics? The way the sound works in this place? Everything echoes. Cough here and they’ll hear it somewhere else. In the tunnels and that’s not a good thing ‘cos the next thing you know you’ll set off the sound traps and end up with a spike through your dumb skull.”

  The first demon snorted then fell silent, casting his eyes around the tunnel. For a brief instant, Vee could have sworn he’d looked straight at her, over Syama’s shoulder and directly into the channel she stood within.

  He did pause then to point at the channel and Vee was certain her heart had exploded within her chest.

  “What’s that?”

  “What’s what?” said the more senior rakshasa, shifting so that he could see what his partner was pointing at. Metal clinked as their short daggers clanked against each other’s armor— the tunnel not being made for two giant rakshasa demons to walk abreast. The two, standing side by side, would measure the same as four human men standing abreast.

  At last, he’d shuffled around enough to stare at the channel, and Vee felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Now she was caught—dead. The closer they drew, the closer they would be to Syama too.

  Shit.

  Chapter 30

  Ah, who knows. Probably something to do with expansion and contraction of the tunnels. Makes sense that they’d put them in here and there you know. I could be wrong. I didn’t do tunnel systems or subterranean architecture at Harvard you know.”

  The second demon chuckled, and the sound echoed down the tunnel. Senior thunked the idiot on the back of his head and said, “I suggest you shut up for the rest of the route or I’m going to get our routes changed, so I don’t have to see your ugly face again for a while. God knows how we’re even related.”

  The second demon glared at his partner. “Fine. Keep it up, and I’ll tell Mom.”

  The first demon had already walked off, leaving his dumber brother standing in front of Syama, shoulders hunched. He kicked the ground, slapping his boot against the water. Vee was positive the demon was pouting. Wonders never ceased.

  Then he huffed and slouched off leaving Vee feeling almost sorry for him.

  A few minutes later, Syama shifted and turned her face to Vee, her expression a muddle of amusement and frustration.

  Vee grinned as she slid out of the channel. “Poor guy. Gotta live up to pretty high standards.”

  “Yeah,” Syama smiled, staring after the two demons who’d already disappeared around the bend in the tunnel.

  Then Vee frowned. “Harvard?” She shook her head, but Syama waved a hand at her.

  “It’s likely he went there,” Syama said, grinning when Vee’s eyes widened. “You have no idea how long demons have lived among humans, how many decades, centuries that they’ve been working toward their freedom.”

  “And sending a rakshasa to Harvard only for him to be on sentry duty?” asked Vee, shaking her head more firmly. “That makes absolutely no sense.”

  Syama pursed her lips. “It’s likely he’s being tested. Or he’s turned into an entrepreneur of sorts.”

  “What? As a mercenary?”

  Syama nodded. “Looked like the brutish type to me, don’t you think.”

  Vee let out an impatient breath, her hand running over her satchel. She searched the tunnel again. “Where the hell is Akil?”

  “Coming,” Syama whispered beside Vee as a swoosh of wings echoed toward her. The sirin landed at her feet and transitioned smoothly into his human form, landing in front of Vee with the same grace as if he’d taken a step toward her.

  Before he said a word, Vee said, “They have booby-traps everywhere, and many of them noise generated ones.”

  Akil sighed. “Yes. I was just about to report the same. We have to be careful.”

  “Syama, how about you go ahead and check things out. Jump us to a safe place. You and Akil can take turns to check the place out. We need to get to their command center Harvard mentioned.”

  “Who’s Harvard?” asked Akil, his voice rising enough to echo around them.

  “Shhh,” both Vee and Syama turned to admonish him, glaring at him at the same time.

  He raised his hands in apology and scanned the tunnel behind him.

  Vee glanced at Syama. “Can we get moving. We’ve wasted enough time already. I want to get in and out of this hole in the ground as fast as possible.”

  Syama nodded and jerked her head at Akil. “Glamor. I’ll be a second.” Then she was gone, and Akil was already drawing his glamor over Vee before the hellhound disappeared.

  They both stood there, tense and silent until Syama materialized. “Okay. Next stage in this journey begins now.”

  Vee nodded and held out her arm. Syama took it and then dissolved, shimmering into an almost liquid state before materializing inside what ap
peared to be a metal vat. Vee glared at Syama. “What is this?” she mouthed.

  Syama merely pointed at a large hole in the vat where a rivet had once been. Vee leaned closer and peered through to stare down at the open space below. She had to clap her hand over her mouth to prevent the gasp that escaped her lips.

  “What the hell?” Vee mouthed to Syama, this time her own blood pressure had risen so high she felt like the sound of it was reverberating around the metal vat.

  The vat was situated to the left of the room and looked out at a long rectangular hall. Here too the walls and floors, as well as the ceiling had been constructed with brick and mortar, a dull red that had almost faded. Almost but not quite.

  The hall seemed to be some sort of confluence point for at least a dozen different tunnels, entering the space at varying heights. Many had small fire escape type metal overhangs that lead to the various catwalks running along the walls, some close to ceiling height.

  Vee was curious as to what this place was, but there was no point in asking the question out loud when she knew that neither one of her accomplices would know either.

  But it wasn’t the large space, or its construction and dimensions that struck horror into Vee’s heart. No. What horrified her, what had shocked Syama into utter silence, was the hundreds and hundreds of sacs that hung from every available surface.

  Pale white and translucent in places, they were an oblong shape and about the size that could hold a full-grown person comfortably. The sacs shivered and shifted every few moments as if the contents were moving. Hundreds of the sacs hung from the metal catwalks running along the walls, but the ones suspended from the four-story-high ceiling were even more horrifying. The sacs dangled in varying layers from long, ropy sinewy material.

  Vee stared over at Syama, her hand still over her mouth. She pointed a finger at the sacs, jerking her head to indicate to Syama that she wanted to go down and investigate.

  Syama shook her head. She pointed her forefinger at Vee, indicating she needed a minute, before disappearing. Seconds later, she materialized again and grabbed a hold of Vee.

  The hellhound jumped Vee to a tunnel opening that looked out over at the hall. They ducked within the shadowed interior and hunkered down.

  Vee withdrew her phone, and proceeded to take a dozen or so photos, then took a video of the place as well. It seemed like overkill, but she needed to be as accurate as possible when she showed this to Karan and Rossi and whoever the hell needed to know about this…nest.

  Vee shifted her gaze to Syama and mouthed, “Akil?”

  Syama pointed up at a manhole entrance that sat in the middle of the ceiling. Vee nodded although she was disappointed. Not because she’d come prepared to blow stuff up, but rather that she hadn’t found what she’d been looking for: the killer pey.

  Then she paused. Well, perhaps she was more than a little disappointed that she hadn’t gotten to use her weapons.

  She sighed softly and held her hand out to Syama. They disintegrated into darkness and solidified inside Vee’s garage. Vee stood still for a moment while Akil materialized before her.

  Then she shuddered. “Ugh. That place gave me the major heebie-jeebies.”

  “You can say that again,” said Syama making a face.

  “What the hell was that place?” Vee whispered, images of the clusters of sacs filling that enormous room haunting her.

  Akil was pale as he answered, “It was a nursery.”

  “A what? A nurs—” Vee’s eyes widened. “Oh shit.”

  Syama was staring at Akil. “What species?”

  “From what I could tell it’s pey eggs.”

  “That’s how they breed?”

  Akil nodded. “They don’t breed often. But when they do, it’s in a large volume.”

  “That’s not volume,” replied Vee, her voice rising. “That’s an infestation!”

  Akil frowned.

  Vee sighed. “They are amassing an army. It’s pretty clear from everything we already know that they are looking to overthrow the Demon Horde Assembly.”

  Vee was half-way to the entrance to the house when Syama called out, “Stop.”

  Vee looked over her shoulder at the hellhound. “What?” she asked absently, her mind already focused on the next step which was telling a bunch of people what she’d seen.

  “You need to take off all your clothes and stick them in the wash. Just being in the vicinity of the unhatched eggs is enough to have the scent penetrate your skin. We didn’t get that close, but it’s best we wash everything and get in the shower.”

  Vee sighed and turned around, stalking over to the shower room Mac had constructed off the garage for just such occasions. “I hate to say it, but Mom’s idea of this shower room is paying off.”

  Syama followed Vee as Akil hovered in the doorway. “I’ll wait for you two to get done.”

  Vee nodded and undressed, leaving her phone on the bench opposite the shower cubicles. She headed into the first of two cubicles. Inside was a shelf on which sat a number of medical grade disinfecting washes. She washed and rinsed, then repeated with what her mom had labeled Step 2. She’d almost stepped out when Syama called out over the dividing wall, “Hair too,”

  “What? Are you watching me through the wall or something?” Vee grumbled.

  “No. I just know you. You’re raring to go, want to go talk to a whole lot of people and make a plan and take an army back down there. You’re no longer here, so chances of you forgetting something is really high.” Syama sucked in a breath, and Vee imagined she was immersing her head beneath the spray. Then the hellhound took another breath and said, “Akil, while you’re there, toss the satchels we took with us and put the shoes into the disinfecting tray. There’s a bottle of disinfecting liquid sitting beside the shoe tray.”

  Akil grunted and then fell silent, and as Vee rinsed her hair out, she wondered how Syama was able to remain so calm. Vee’s own heart and mind were racing.

  “It’s because you’re human,” said a voice from beside Vee.

  Chapter 31

  Ma!” Vee yelled, glaring at her grandmother before covering herself up with her hands. “What are you doing?” Vee spluttered, water from the shower falling into her face.

  Radhima laughed. “What? You think I haven’t seen your lady bits before?”

  Vee lifted a brow. “Yeah. When I was in diapers or wearing little girl panties.” Vee growled as she reached for her towel, risking flashing her boobs at her grandmother. “Things have grown in the interim, Ma. Now, can I have some privacy if you don’t mind.” She turned and threw her towel around her body, gritting her teeth as the sound of laughter came over the wall.

  “You’d better shut it, or I won’t be responsible if I end up ringing your neck,” she yelled over the wall.

  “Why me? I didn’t do anything,” Syama said choking on her laughter.

  “You’re laughing. That’s enough of a reason. And I can’t wring my grandmother’s neck so yours will have to do.”

  Radhima snorted from outside the shower cubicle. “Suddenly you have respect,” she muttered.

  Vee stepped from the shower. “It’s not respect, Ma. You don’t have a physical form. Hard to throttle someone if you can’t grab a hold of their neck.”

  The old woman shook her head and looked like she was having a hard time trying not to laugh. Vee turned her back and grabbed a second towel to rub her hair dry and wind it around her head. She picked her phone up from the bench. The phone smelled of disinfectant, and she smiled.

  Akil had gotten to the phone faster than Vee. She’d totally forgotten about cleaning the device. Perhaps Syama was right, and she needed to slow down a little.

  “I’m going upstairs to give a few people a call.”

  “So what’s our plan?”

  “I have to speak to Karan and then Rossi. But as soon as I’m decent, I’m going to see Mom.”

  “What for?” asked her grandmother, her tone careful.

  “I ne
ed to know what we have that can help us fight the pey demons. If they are really amassing an army, we need to be prepared. Our R&D division must have a nice variety of weapons that we could add to our arsenal. And I need to check if Monroe sent over the samples of the ‘molted skin’ from the estate lawn.”

  “At least we know what that is now,” Radhima said as she tapped her arm with one finger. She stood leaning against the far wall, her arms folded as she looked off into nowhere.

  Vee couldn’t help but notice Ma’s use of the word ‘We’. She wondered about that but realized she knew enough about her grandmother to know that the old woman wasn’t about to be sidelined. And it wasn’t as if Vee could get rid of her.

  As she turned and walked off, she called to Akil, “You can get that shower now. I have a few things to do, but you guys get the go-bags ready to leave at any minute. I’m not sure what the next step will be, but I think we’ll be stopping off at Mom’s for a bit.”

  She didn’t wait for a response, just hurried into the house and past the kitchen. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it as she raced up the stairs.

  “You really should eat,” said Radhima as Vee walked into her bedroom. Her grandmother was sitting on her bed, rubbing her hands over her jean-clad thighs.

  Vee shrieked then threw her hands in the air. “We’re going to have to work on some boundaries, Ma.”

  Her grandmother frowned. “Boundaries?”

  “Yeah.” Vee hurried to her closet and drew out fresh clothing, including jeans and a polo neck sweater. She ignored her grandmother as she lifted her phone, clothing crumpled in one hand as she began to dial. As she waited for Karan to answer, she headed into the bathroom and closed the door. She wasn’t about to get naked again in front of her grandmother, no matter what the old woman said. She was partially dressed and had the phone wedged between her ear and her shoulder and had stuck one leg into her jeans when Karan answered.