by T. G. Ayer
"What deal?" Maya asked, a little distracted.
"Parenthood."
Maya made a face.
"We've always looked out for you. So whatever you have on your plate will affect us too."
Maya studied the lines on his face. "So you're really okay with this?" she asked, suddenly absurdly terrified that he would say she needed to stop with the crazy fire stuff.
He gave Maya's arm one last squeeze before saying, "Of course, we're okay with this. We're all in this together, Maya. Your powers are not solely your responsibility. We've been in this business long enough to know that normal is not what any of us were destined to be. Actually, we kinda like not being normal."
Maya gave a short brittle laugh. "Normal? All this started with me just wanting to be normal."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
Maya shrugged. "I was tired of being different."
"You were never different, Maya," he responded, sounding annoyed that Maya would even think so.
Maya shook her head. "See? You don't know what I mean. I was never normal. Indian, not American. Hindu, cultural, strict upbringing. Everything that wasn't considered normal. All I wanted was to fit in and little did I know normal wasn't even an option for me."
Maya's lips turned up in a wry smile. "Normal was all I'd ever wanted to be. Until flames burst forth from my fingertips and roasted a guy to smithereens."
Dev sighed, his eyes darkening a smidge with sadness for Maya's dead dreams. "I'm so sorry, Maya. I wish I could have given you the normal that you wanted so much."
Maya bobbed a shoulder. "Hindsight and all that."
"Really?" he asked, his eyebrows rising, two little quarter moons dividing his forehead. "After wanting normal for so long, now you're happy being different?" His voice held a trace of disbelief that made Maya smile.
Giving a short laugh, Maya poked a finger into his arm. "I know what you're doing and you don't need to. I stopped wanting to be normal a long time ago."
Maya opened her palm and a ball of fire appeared. It hovered two inches above her palm and she nodded at the fiery sphere.
"That's the reason. The moment I felt that course through my veins, the moment I was able to see the fire that I could create, everything changed. After that . . . there was no going back."
Saying words out loud held a satisfying finality.
"Are you sure that's the only reason?" Her dad waggled his eyebrows and gave her a teasing look.
Maya rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the chat, Dad." She got to her feet and hefted her rucksack over her shoulder. "The demons await," she said giving him one last grin before heading out the door.
She heard him chuckle, but her own words echoed in her head.
The demons await.
Chapter 8
Maya's stomach did an uncomfortable somersault as Nik transported her and Claudia to the Prague airport. No one was more surprised than Maya when they materialized inside of a dark closet, barely large enough to hold four people. A single light shone from a tiny fluorescent that threw a dull flickering glow onto the gigantic metal sink below it.
She blinked and glanced around to ask Nik where the hell he'd taken them, when a disembodied, tinny female voice rang out around them. The announcement came over a PA system, the accent thick, the vowels rounded, but Maya managed to make out a few words which in turn allowed her to guess at the rest.
Last call for a flight from Prague to Paris, and apparently passengers Hermann and Muir were about to miss plane.
"Nice idea," she said, with an approving glance at Nik.
"Very nice idea, " murmured Claudia even as she scanned the tiny room with a moue of distaste. "I'm assuming we're just inside international arrivals?"
"You assume correctly," said Nik, giving her a rakish bow. The self-satisfied curving of his mouth made Maya smile. "You just have to give me a few minutes to locate the correct arrival declaration forms. I'll be back."
Maya was still nodding when Nik disappeared.
Light from the fussy fluorescent shivered, on, then off again, and the closet was drenched in deep shadow for the second time.
With an annoyed sigh, she lifted her hand, palm facing up and spread out her clenched fingers. In a breath, a ball of fire burst into eye-watering brightness, and hovered an inch above Maya's skin.
Claudia shaded her eyes and squinted as Maya glanced at her apologetically. "Sorry. Sometimes I forget to tone down the power." Maya lowered the energy output of the fire and the light dulled a fraction, becoming more bearable, and less painful to their eyes.
Claudia chuckled and winked. "Happens more often when you allow your feelings to take over, eh?"
Letting out a short laugh, Maya shook her head. "No, Claude. It's just when I forget the amount of energy I feed into the fireball. Maybe I need more practice." Maya smiled, and hid the burst of anger she felt. She hated having witnesses when she lost control.
Thankfully, Nik materialized, bearing three blank arrival forms.
Maya let the fireball loose to float above them. She and Claudia each took a form and pulled their passports from their pockets when Maya choked on a bubble of shocked laughter.
She gave the dark blue book in Nik's hand a look of amusement.
He shrugged, barely raising a dark eyebrow as he stared back at her from beneath the ebony strands of hair that hung low over his forehead. Even in the almost dark he still managed to look so good.
"What?" he said, challenging her. "I even have a social security card and a driver's license. And they are all legit. Just so you know."
"All legit? You're kidding." Maya laughed softly, looking at him out of the corner of her eye as she filled in her form.
He shook his head, his expression dead serious. "Nope. Not kidding. It's part of creating a believable identity in the human world. If I'm stopped by the police or anyone in authority, it helps to have a legitimate identity. And besides, I am a real, honest-to-goodness US citizen." He grinned, clearly enjoying himself.
Maya snorted. "It's not as if you can use that passport anyway," she said dryly. "Technically, you're supposed to be dead, or very nearly dead."
"Hey! Sexagenarians are not considered nearly dead. I have at least twenty years to go before I reach old." Nik shook his head. He pulled a pen from his jacket pocket and proceeded with the mundane business of form-filling.
Like a human.
Once done, they filed out of the closet, past the toilets and joined a cluster of passengers hurrying towards a sign that proclaimed 'Customs' in three languages. They joined the line and passed through without a hitch.
Nik accompanied them through to arrivals where they strode past the baggage carousels. The airport looked more like a gigantic warehouse, with its super-high iron rafters and wide open space, and Maya found herself unimpressed as they headed outside to catch a cab.
As they waited, Maya watched Nik from beneath her lashes. Finally, unable to control her tongue, she asked, "How come you're staying?"
"I thought I'd tag along for as long as I'm able."
Maya nodded. "How long do you have?"
"Probably not long."
There, he'd said it. Again, she only had him for a brief time and waiting to grab a cab was not the best place to have a reunion.
Claudia drew out her phone and swiped through her messages. Then she flipped it around so Nik could read it.
"Here's the address. You can zip us over there, can't you?" she asked, smiling at Nik. Claudia was not immune to Nik's charms.
"I definitely can. Let's go somewhere a little more private. Can't be disappearing in full view."
They both nodded and followed Nik as he headed towards the toilets. The passage that led to doors to both male and female facilities contained a glut of passengers heading to and from the toilets. Maya pulled out her phone and Claudia followed suit as they loitered.
Nik didn't waste any time. The moment the corridor was empty he grabbed hold of Maya's waist and Claudia's arm, an
d flitted them away.
Despite the roiling of her stomach, Maya quite enjoyed the feeling of Nik's arm curling around her body.
Pity it didn't last.
They arrived inside a darkened room, the drapes drawn and shadows owning the large space.
Maya was about to thank Nik when he held up a hand, his expression almost cross-eyed as he appeared to be listening to something.
When his shoulders dropped, Maya knew immediately what was wrong. "You have to go?"
"I'm sorry. But yes, and it was a strange call. Something is very wrong so I can't afford to waste any time."
"That's okay. You go and do what you have to." While Maya's smile remained unaffected, disappointment stabbed deep within her heart.
"I'll leave Sabala with you."
Nik waved a hand and the four-eyed dark-as-night hell-hound materialized beside her. Maya reached out and scratched Sabala's head, her happiness to see her old friend tempered by her disappointment.
Then, before she registered what was happening, Nik curled his fingers around Maya's arm and said, "Claudia, I'll bring her right back, okay?"
Claudia nodded and Nik and Maya disappeared.
The sound of waves rushing to the shore filled Maya's ears as they materialized on soft sand. A look around her made her smile. Her favorite beach. Her favorite spot.
They'd come here a few weeks ago. Here was where Nik had revealed his true identity as the son of Yama.
Now, he smiled as a gust of wind played with his hair. He leaned close and tipped her chin up with one long finger. "I'm sorry. This happens to us way too often. I'll make it up to you, okay?" he said.
He looked so upset that Maya's heart melted and she found herself nodding and giving him a bright smile.
Nik bent close. Cupping the back of her head, her pressed his lips softly on hers. She sank into him, lifting herself onto her toes as he wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her closer.
Heat sizzled through her body, but this time it wasn't her flames that filled her veins with fire. This particular fire was all Nik. And now, within his embrace she could barely breath. The waves crashed to the beat of her heart as Nik kissed her over and over again.
He'd missed her too.
But the moment was bittersweet, filled with longing and frustration. When he pulled away his apologetic smile was enough for Maya to forgive him anything.
The rush of the breeze did nothing to cool her heated flesh and she blushed as she looked up at him.
"I will go and check this out and I promise I will come right back." Maya nodded. "And I have something for you."
She raised her eyebrows but waited in silence as his hands went around to the back of his neck and he unhooked his gold chain.
He handed her the glinting pendant and said, "This is mine. Given to me by my father. If you hold it in you hand and think of me I will hear you. It will connect me with you."
"Like Chayya's shadow pot?" Maya asked with a frown. The Goddess of Shadows, Chayya had been so kind and helpful she'd even left Maya with a method of summoning her, what she called her version of an emergency text.
Nik shook his head. "Not really. This is more of a mental or emotional connection because it's mine. I can feel you through it. And I will feel you, more in an emotional way than hearing you. All you have to do is hold it and think to me."
And then he grasped her waist and returned her to the room, now no longer dark. Claudia turned from the window, where she was busy opening the drapes, but she didn't get to say anything. With a wave, Nik disappeared.
The pendant warmed her palm, providing her with much needed comfort.
Chapter 9
The alley stank, the spiky fumes of urine, the rotting stench of three-day-old knedliky and svickova, even the murky puddles of water that dotted the surface of the cobbled street, all combined to envelop Maya in a blanket of gag-worthy aromas.
She picked her way deeper into the shadow-laden alley, treading carefully along the narrow cobbled ledge that masqueraded as a sidewalk. Here, the smooth round stones were dark, the edge of the street heavily draped with shadows.
Hunting an elusive demon possibly on a gory killing spree was turning out to be more complicated than they'd expected. They'd been so busy since they arrived that Maya had barely given Nik's absence a second thought.
Barely.
"Damn it." Claudia groaned as she hunched over something, her eyes focused on a greasy looking puddle soaked in darkness.
Maya suppressed the urge to grit her teeth as she maneuvered her way through the broken remains of the streetlight and closed in on her aunt. A dull click sounded and Maya peered over Claudia's shoulder as yellow light from her flashlight flooded the cobbles making them glisten.
If they hadn't been looking for it, they would never have found it. Not everyone heads out for a stroll through the streets of romantic Prague with the intention of looking for pieces of ripped skin, bloodstains and broken jewelry.
"Bag," said Claudia holding a palm up.
Maya scrambled to tug a plastic packet from her pocket, then handed it over to Claudia before she asked a second time. In her brief time spent on the job with Claudia, Maya soon learned that her aunt had a few pet peeves, one of which was having to repeat herself.
She'd always known the woman was a perfectionist but this bordered on being a pain in the patootie.
Claudia took the bag, then pointed a pair of tweezers at the glinting remains of a silver bracelet, the kind that usually held a jumble of charms. She used the instrument to retrieve the chain and slip it into the safety of the bag. She handed it to Maya before giving a pointed look at the rest of the dark and silent alley.
With a short nod, Maya rose and dug into her pocket for her own pair of tweezers with fingers a little sweaty inside her latex gloves. Claudia had insisted she use them, but now that they'd found the bracelet, Maya admitted it had been sound advice.
At least they wouldn't be contaminating the evidence with their presence. With the discovery of the bracelet, things were beginning to look up.
No longer a dead end.
Maya's heels made soft thudding sounds as she walked, but the sharp click-click that accompanied her were nothing but soft. Sabala's claws always managed to echo loudly around. It was very likely a good thing he was almost always glamored, making him invisible to human eyes.
Now, as Maya walked on, he trailed her, his eyes focused first on the street up ahead, then behind them. He did his job as guard-dog pretty well, so she wasn't about to banish him back to the underworld yet. Maya had to admit that she'd missed the mutt.
She cast her eyes back and forth along the street, looking for the tiniest glint or sparkle that would indicate the presence of charms that matched the bare bracelet.
Anna Polaski had been missing for a week. Maya had studied the photograph from Anna's blog; brown eyes, black hair to her waist, a penchant for brightly patterned head scarves which tempered the severity of her high cheekbones. For a backpacking eighteen-year-old that wasn't a long time, but the dark haired, adventure-seeking student was also close to her parents. She sent them daily text messages, giving a quick rundown of her day, and she posted a more detailed version on her travel blog. No messages and no blog activity for six days was entirely too unusual for the normally fastidious Anna.
She'd come to Prague to trace her ancestry and then disappeared.
That was the what. The why was proving much more complicated.
Missing people were one thing. Serial kidnapping's a whole other ballgame. No bodies had surfaced, so it hadn't escalated to serial murder.
Yet.
But Maya had a hard time believing they'd soon discover all the missing tourists alive in a house in the woods singing Kumbaya. Some things were often too good to be true.
A gleam to the right beside the wall caught Maya's eye and as she sank to a crouch to inspect it, Sabala let out a soft warning growl, the sound rumbling in his throat.
Here t
oo, the light-bulb was busted and the shiny object turned out to be glass shards. Disgusted, Maya was about to stand up when something else caught her eye.
A dull glint, a hint of silver catching the shine of the meager light from along the curve of the alley. Maya hunched down again, reaching out with her tweezer to tease the object from the narrow space between a cobblestone and the roughly hewn wall.
A diamanté encrusted ball.
She lifted the bauble to get a closer look as to why the charm hadn't shone to its full brightness.
Blood.
Slick, glistening blood.
Blood that held the strong odor of rancid meat and spices.
"I'll be damned," muttered Maya as Sabala walked a circle in place, click-clicking before he finally stopped to sit back on his haunches.
The soft tap of Claudia's heels drew closer as Maya fished a plastic bag from her pocket and dropped the bauble into it. She held it up for her aunt to get a good look. Claudia took the packet and studied the charm as Maya got to her feet and pocketed her tweezer.
"Is this what I think it is?" asked Claudia, her voice husky as she aimed for a whisper.
Maya nodded, "One hundred percent pure Rakshasa." She wrinkled her nose. "And from the way that single drop assaulted my olfactory organs, I'd hazard a guess we are looking at a high-level female."
Claudia's eyes narrowed as she looked from the jewel to Maya. Then she waved the packet close to Maya's nose and said, "You know you want to." The look on her face said she was enjoying the offer far too much.
Maya shook her head and held up her hands, waving them in front of her, the pale light glancing off her short fingernails. "Nuh-uh. Let's keep the taste-testing for when we get back to the room." She made a face, then shuddered.
Of all the powers in the world to have been gifted to her by a real-life goddess, Maya's blood-tasting was the least glamorous. Making it all the more unappealing was the specificity of her talent; Demon blood tasting.
Maya shifted her gaze and scanned the curve of the alley, toward the shallow decline that would have encouraged more than a few charms to tumble their way down to the bottom of the street.