by Jen Pretty
I stepped over the trickle of water and down another set of stone steps into a narrow passage. The tunnel continued to narrow until I had to turn sideways again and scraped against the stone walls. I looked back and realized that Frankie had gotten stuck. He couldn’t go any further. I stopped and waited as he backed out until Peri could get ahead of him. Guess I wasn’t taking my warlock with me. Peri caught up and gave me a thumbs up before patting her short sword. Crazy woman was almost as bloodthirsty as Durga. The Goddess, annoyed at the slowdown, gave me a shove and I scrapped my arm painfully against the rough stone wall.
Jerk Goddess.
I scooted along the ever-narrowing passage. Wishing I hadn’t eaten those two chicken burgers at the motel and the third one in the car on the ride here. Elliot would have a squished head if it got any narrower, but the penlight disappeared into the darkness ahead giving me no sign of the length of the passage. Children must have carved it. Or maybe there was something to the aliens theory. It was slow going, but after what was probably only another hundred feet, the tunnel opened. Another fifty feet and I could walk straight again.
I took a breath to calm my nerves and closed my eye, sending out my senses. Hopefully, we were getting close. As soon as the dots of light appeared, I pulled my senses back in realizing a moment too late a fallen vampire was right in front of me. A body slammed into me, banging my head back onto the stone floor and teeth latched onto my arm as I raised it to protect my neck. The teeth bit down hard like a bulldog and broke the bone in my forearm. I screamed.
A moment later the body went limp, and Peri heaved it off me. Hopefully, it was Peri. I lost my penlight and couldn't see anything. Durga rose, her superior vision allowing me to see around me. It wasn’t as good as my light, but I wouldn’t be able to fight with a penlight either. Peri stood at my head, her blade, bloody in her hand. I hopped to my feet and gave her a pat on the shoulder.
Luckily the gross vampire had bit my left arm, and it was already healing, so I soldiered on. The tunnel took a left turn and then came to another fork. Durga pushed me one way, but I was sure I had seen vampires the other way with my senses. I didn't want them to come up behind us, but I had to get to Mahishasura.
“There are some down there.” I pointed. "Buffalo this way,” I whispered. Not that being quiet mattered anymore, but there was something about the tension that made me want to be quiet. Peri gave me a salute, then turned and marched towards the fallen vampires, leaving me alone to face my demon.
I took a few steps forward, wanting to send out my senses, but not wanting to close my eyes for even a moment after the last time. I focussed ahead and didn’t notice someone creep up behind me until a hand fell on my shoulder.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I spun, calling my blade. In an instant, I had the foe pinned to the wall, my knife at his neck and nearly impaled in his spine before my eyes settled on the familiar face of Alex.
I pulled my knife back quickly, but a trickle of blood still ran from his neck.
“Thank you, goddess,” he whispered as I considered stabbing him, anyway.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I whispered yelled.
“I have to crown the king,” he whispered back.
I threw my hands up and pushed him forward. I was not letting that weasel stay at my back. Just what I needed, someone to divert my attention from my real target. No time to argue. I gave him another shove, and we stepped into another larger room. The walls here were more like a mural. They showed a battle between animals and humans. It reminded me of Frankie's warehouse with the dragons on the ceiling except this was full of tigers and serpents.
As I scanned the room, I finally found my target. Mahishasura sat on a raised platform, his legs crossed and one hand raised as though he were a God.
I laughed at the absurdity. Or maybe it was Durga. She and I were so close now, I wasn’t sure where I ended, and she began.
“You mock me now. You will not laugh when I am through with you.”
The buffalo man launched himself off his platform, his teeth bared and small horns aimed for my chest. Durga became flesh as my arms multiplied and her trident raised a half second before the buffalo impacted. The force of him hitting the trident pushed me back across the stone, but I stayed on my feet. Mahishasura landed against the far wall, his momentum carrying him. Dust rained down from the ceiling, and I had a passing worry about a cave in but pushed it away to focus on the biggest threat. Mahishasura transformed into his full buffalo form. His horns scraped the ceiling as he lifted his head and bellowed a hollow sound. His head was as tall as my whole body. When his eyes locked on me, a puff of foul air blew from his nose. I knew it was now or never.
Durga pulled forth her long sword. I swung it once before the beast charged. His ragged hair shuddered as he lurched forward. One more long stride and he was bearing down on me. I leaped forward for momentum and slid to the ground between his thick hooved legs. I stabbed upwards into his stomach. Blood gushed from the wound as he passed above me. He let out an angry roar. I leapt and spun as he turned to face me again.
I jumped to my feet, and Durga switched to her conch shell. She brought it to my lips and blew into the end. The sound was like a low whistle that rang through the temple and caused the buffalo to yell in pain. He dropped to his knees for a moment before shaking his massive head, his ragged fur waving and getting back to his feet.
He charged again, this time there was no warning. Durga attempted to draw back on her bow to launch an arrow, but he was too close, and his horn reached us before we could move. The long sharp horn impaled through my sternum and out through my back before slamming me into the wall of the cave, pinning me like a bug. I screamed looking down at the horn that blasted through my body so close to baby Elliot that a new wave of anger hit me.
I slammed the arrow still in my hand down into Mahishasura’s head; it stuck under his skin, and he roared again, but it didn’t do any real damage.
Durga waved her arms until her club came forward. We swung it down onto the buffalo’s head as hard as possible, and the sound it created was like a struck gong. The buffalo collapsed to the ground, his horn dropping to the side and forcing me to slide off. The pain was overwhelming, but I had no time to focus on that. Durga pushed it away and forced me to my feet though blood sprayed from my chest and back like a waterfall. My arms and legs stayed true, and Durga brought forth the lotus.
Its delicate petals seemed a strange weapon to use on a raging buffalo, but peace fell over me like a blanket. That was when I saw the white lion swagger through the doorway. My vision was growing weak, fluttery like a delicate bird.
Singh stepped up to the Buffalo who began to rise, his thick legs scrambling on the stone floor made slick by my blood. Singh let out a thunderous roar. His teeth glistened in his mouth. He set one paw on the great buffalo’s nose, pinning him to the floor. His other massive paw reared back and came down so fast, it wasn’t clear what he had done until the head of the buffalo fell away from the body. He had sliced the demon's head clean off with his razor-sharp talons. Blood sprayed for a moment from the decapitated head and then oozed to cover the entire floor of the temple.
My vision was wavering when a figure approached me. It wasn't until Alex's face came into view a few inches from my own that I realized it was him.
“Please, I must crown the king. Now is the time.” Alex held out his hand.
I didn’t know what he wanted. I shook my head.
“Please, Goddess! The time is now! The King of Thunder waits!” Alex's voice rose to nearly a scream as my knees buckled and I collapsed to the floor.
“Goddess!” He yelled, his voice was fading. The sound of Singh's purr pulled me back from the gloom, and Alex's words reached my mind.
The woman at the rest stop said I had to give the King of Thunder back his lightning. I didn’t know what that meant, but I had a lightning bolt. Durga produced it, holding it in front of me to inspect. I looked from the gift to Alex
. Did I trust him with something so powerful? I didn’t trust him with anything.
I knew I only had moments to decide; I struggled to look Alex in the eye. I couldn’t speak. My throat was full of blood. My body convulsed trying to get me to cough, but it would do no good. There was a hole through my rib cage. I held out the lightning bolt with the last of my strength, praying it was the right thing to do.
I watched Alex's back disappear out the door and turned my face into Singh’s thick fur. I prayed I would pass out, as Durga receded, the pain washed in. More pain than I knew a body could handle. Somehow, I stayed conscious for several moments, but my heart beat slowed with every second.
The floor shook, and I thought maybe the cave would collapse after all. It shook again and again as I prayed for death. Durga had abandoned me. I felt her presence like a phantom limb. The space she occupied was now vacant, and I was hollow. A tear slipped down my cheek to get lost in the fur of my lion. My will. He protected me in life and now in death. I imagined I could see my heart, taking one last shuttering beat, before it stopped. The silence was complete.
A harsh tongue ran across my face as I faded away.
“No!” A voice shook the room with its force. “You will not leave me!”
The sound pulled me back from the darkness, and my heart gave a single squeeze. I thought of Elliot. His beautiful face and small fingers. His blond hair and blue eyes.
My heart gave another valiant squeeze.
“Come back!” The voice was so loud, like thunder ringing in my ears and shaking my body.
My eyes flicked open on the third squeeze of my empty heart, and a man was before me -- not a man, a God. He sat astride a white elephant. His four arms each bore a weapon, one of which was Durga’s lightning bolt.
The elephant raised its trunk and thundered a sound, a flash of light so bright, it blew out my vision, and I couldn’t see for a moment. When I could see again, the man stood over me.
“You cannot die,” the man said, his voice stern. His hair whipped in the wind that blew through the cavern.
“I will do as I please,” my voice said. I only realized after I had spoken that I could speak. I lifted a hand and pressed it to my chest. It was whole again. Durga had left me, but I had healed anyway.
I looked back to the man. His eyes faded to a soft blue and suddenly Vincent was standing over me. He fell to his knees and slid his arms under me, lifting me from the floor and cradling me in his arms. His forehead fell to mine, and then his lips met mine too and heat rushed through me. I relaxed my muscles uncoiling and conforming to his body. He rose and carried me from the room where the dead Buffalo lay. He walked through halls that were now wide and tall enough to walk through on an elephant.
“Did you do this?” I asked him.
“I suppose so, though I'm not clear on what I can do and what Indra does. I would have dug it by hand to get to you.”
I put my hand to my stomach and held my breath. “I don’t feel him.”
“He is there. I can hear his heart. It’s strong," Vincent said, and I let out a sigh. When we exited the tunnel into the moonlight, the carnage covered the area. Soldiers were checking bodies and decapitating fallen vampires who weren’t thoroughly dead.
I glanced around the area. “Where is Peri,” I said.
“Right here,” she said as she came trotting up beside us. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks, you don’t look so hot yourself. What happened to your hair?” I asked. She had a giant bald spot.
“Some fallen bastard thought he could use it as a handle. I reminded him that today's women don’t like grabby men and cut off his hands before I cut off his head.” She rubbed her bare scalp. “I hope it grows back quickly. It messes up my style.”
I laughed, cringing at the ache that still ran through my chest.
A line of vans came rolling up, and Vincent shuffled me into one. I lay on the backseat and waited for the rest of the soldiers and crew to finish whatever they were doing. I kept one hand on my stomach and waited, rejoicing in the occasional tiny flutters there. It was so reassuring and consuming I didn't notice a body block the van doorway.
“I’m leaving, Lark.”
My eyes darted to the van door to find Singh in human form, his face lined in sadness.
“You don’t have to go,” I said.
He bit his lip and looked away. “I can’t go back to the city. You don’t need my help now. You have your own magic and now that Mahishasura is dead and Durga has left...”
“So, she's really gone?” I cut in.
“Yes. She left behind soldiers to continue her work, including you. She will return someday when she needs to restore the balance again.”
I bit my lip and nodded holding back the tears. Everything was changing so fast. Durga hadn’t even said goodbye. “Thank you, Singh, for all you have done for me. I will miss you.”
“You can come visit me. I’ll be here,” he said before shifting back into a lion and letting out an ear-shattering roar. He turned and ran. I struggled to sit up then watched him climb the rocky cliff to stand above the Ellora caves. His yellow eyes glowed in the moonlight, and his white coat glistened. Then he disappeared beyond the cliff.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, hugging them tightly.
When Vincent returned, he reached in and scooped me out of the van. He kissed the top of my head as he set me in the passenger seat of the car Peri and I drove across the country. He slid into the driver's seat, and I heard the two back doors open and close.
Vincent started the car without a word and drove us back to the motel. When he pulled up, there was no line of vehicles behind us. I turned around and realized it was Frankie and Peri in the back seat.
“Everyone else is heading home,” Vincent said. “Alex said to say goodbye. He’s going back to Moscow.”
That was for the best. I would probably hold a grudge against him forever. Though I guess he came through in the end.
“We will stay here for tonight and leave in the morning,” Vincent said before he stepped out of the car. He came around and opened my door. I started to get up, but pain ricocheted through my chest, and Vincent scooped me up. I didn’t like to him carrying me. It made me feel weak, like a kitten.
“You'll feel better tomorrow,” Vincent whispered as he unlocked the door to the motel room.
“Someone should check on Ninel. Let him know I am not Durga in case he wants to go back to Moscow,” I said, my voice a little more bitter than I intended.
"I'll do that now," he said as he set me down on the bed.
As soon as the motel room door shut behind him, I rolled off the bed and limped to the bathroom. I left the door open in case I fell down and killed myself, but turned on the shower and tried to peel my clothes off. The blood was sticky, and the fabric clung to my skin. That car would look like we slaughtered someone in it tomorrow. I kicked off my shoes and toed off my socks. My pants were heavy with blood, so they fell easily, but I struggled with my shirt for several minutes before Vincent returned and found me.
I dropped my arms and let the tears fall. I wasn’t even sure why I was crying.
“I’m all alone,” I whispered before a sob wracked my broken, fragile human body. Even before I knew about Durga, she had been there. This hollow feeling was new and uncomfortable. Vincent stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me, burying my head in his chest.
“Never,” he whispered, making the sobs come faster and fiercer. Vincent held me tight until I calmed. Mourning the loss of my inner goddess was weird considering what she put me through. “I will always be with you,” Vincent said, taking away the sting of loneliness.
Little birds flapped in my stomach, reminding me that I wasn’t alone, even in my skin. Elliot was growing inside me, and soon I would have the family I always wished for.
Elliot would have the greatest family ever even if it didn’t include Singh. The lion's absence was as obvious as the lack o
f soft snores coming from the bed.
He would have uncles and a whole coven of people to care about him. He would have a nice kitchen lady to make him snacks and Uncle Frankie to teach him about magic. I took a deep breath and steeled myself. I pushed away from Vincent's chest and looked up into his blue eyes. Maybe Durga wasn’t with me anymore, but Vincent still looked like a vampire. His pointed teeth peek through his lips. If I was just a human, I shouldn't be able to see his teeth. I tucked that information away for another day and pulled at the neck of my shirt. “Help me.”
He tore the thin material and gently pulled my arms free. I stepped into the steaming shower, and Vincent stepped in with me.
“You still have your clothes on,” I said.
“I don’t need to be naked to wash your hair, Lark.” He grabbed the bottle of shampoo and stood there all wet and glorious while I ducked under the running water. He turned me around and squirted shampoo on my head. His fingers massaged my scalp, relieving some of my tension. I held my hand over my stomach, assuring myself that Elliot was fine. My little miracle. My chest bore a huge scar. None of my previous injuries had left a mark, but this one had, and I wondered if it was because Durga had left me there to die. If so, how had I healed? These were questions for another day. My body was already protesting being upright for so long. My vision shimmered around the edges. I leaned back into Vincent's chest and let the water wash away the rest of the dried and flaky blood.
Once I was clean, Vincent wrapped me in a big towel and dried my hair while I sat on the bed. Sitting was better than standing, but still hurt. He pulled one of his big sweaters over my head before tucking me in and kissing my forehead. Then he went back to the bathroom, and I heard water hitting him as he had his shower. I listened to the domestic sound and let my eyes slip shut.
