by T. G. Ayer
Mac was dropping gingerbread biscuits onto a plate when Syama led Devi into the silent kitchen. She stood there for a moment, the drip-drip of the tap loud enough to compete with the hum of the refrigerator and the tick-tock of the old clock on the wall above it.
Mac looked up and smiled at his estranged wife, his expression gentle and loving as he walked over to her and kissed her cheek. Devi submitted, closing her eyes and leaning into the kiss, and for a moment Vee felt sorry for her.
Then she steeled herself.
Devi had left of her own accord, for her own screwed-up reasons. Neither her mother, nor her husband, had seen fit to go with her. For Vee it had never been an option. Not once did she ever think of mending the broken threads, of fixing what had gone wrong because really, how well could you fix cold-blooded murderer?
Mac said something to Devi and she nodded, reminding Vee of how much he still cared for her mother. Why the man had remained despite the separation, Vee had no idea. He could have left and found someone else, made a family of his own, and yet he’d stayed and been as much a father to Vee as any real one would have been.
“What happened?” Devi asked, her eyes glistening.
Vee swallowed. “Some kind of entity, something black and almost ethereal, took her. She . . . she didn’t have a chance.”
“Was she . . . was she alive?” Devi’s voice broke and she looked away, clapping her hand over her mouth as if to hold back a sob. She blinked rapidly then faced Vee with liquid eyes.
Vee nodded. “Yeah. He banged her up pretty good though. She hit her head on the coffee table, hence the blood, but she wasn’t bleeding out or anything. She was furious and she still had her wits about her.”
Devi laughed dryly. “That sounds like Ma.”
Vee didn’t respond, just reached for a cup and filled it automatically.
I’m turning into Mac, she laughed to herself.
The coffee went down warm, soothing her throat. It was still so swollen that every time she swallowed it felt like she was eating jagged shards of glass.
Mac handed a cup to Vee’s mother but she declined. “I want to see it.”
He nodded and led her out of the kitchen, holding her gently by the elbow as if she was about to keel over.
Vee shook her head, glanced at Syama who returned the look with a weary, put-upon glare of her own.
Both girls followed Vee’s parents out into the hall, and almost walked right into their backs when they came to an abrupt stop.
Vee peered over her mother’s shoulder, “Are you ok?”
When she received no answer, Vee walked around her mother, sliding through the narrow space between Devi’s arm and the wall. Vee was about to complain when her eyes fell on the box in the entry hall.
Her heart went cold and her throat closed as she stared at the box.
A duplicate of the first box she’d received yesterday morning, it sat ominously in the center of the carpet.
“What the hell? Is this place Grand Central Station for every supernatural bad guy all of a sudden?” Vee planted her hands on her hips, winced at the slight twinge of pain as her fingers grazed her damaged ribs, then dropped her hands.
She suppressed a growl of irritation and glanced at her mother, who was currently staring at the box as if she’d seen a ghost. Devi let out a soft breath before asking, “You got one, too?”
“Too?” Vee’s jaw dropped. She rounded on her mother, her eyes wide. “You got one as well?”
Devi nodded, her eyes still fixed on the box.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Vee’s voice was scratchy and sounded ridiculous considering she was supposed to be angry and indignant.
Devi sighed, lifted her hands, and then dropped them to her sides in defeat. “I hadn’t realized you’d received one too.” She began to pace, her hands on her hips, her eyes raised to the ceiling, despair in her expression. She sighed, “It wasn’t something I thought I should talk about.”
Vee threw her hands in the air, frustrated and annoyed. “That’s why I came to see you yesterday . . . because of the box I received yesterday morning.”
Devi dragged her eyes from the box and stared at Vee. “What did you receive?” She appeared totally oblivious to Vee’s frustration.
Instinctively, Vee wanted to tell her mother to reveal what she’d received first, but then she accepted that it would be childish and immature.
She inhaled and turned on her heel, headed to the box and lifted it off the carpet. She didn’t particularly want to open it. Not in the wake of her grandmother’s disappearance. Her stomach was as hard as granite as her mind raced through the possibilities of what the box could contain.
Then she looked up at her mother. “Let’s go downstairs.”
Devi nodded and led the way, with Mac giving Vee a worried glance as he followed his wife.
Vee shook her head and stared at the box in her hand, fear gripping her heart like a fiery hand.
Syama patted her shoulder, bringing Vee to her senses. She glanced up to offer the hellhound a grateful smile but received a cold glare instead. Vee suppressed the urge to shake her head, and followed her parents downstairs to the artifact room. The door was open when she reached the bottom of the stairs and she and Syama slipped inside.
Syama shut the door behind them and Vee paused.
The light from the table glowed, turning both Mac and Devi into gray-faced zombies. Vee headed to the table, placing the box on the glass surface with extra care.
She still didn’t want to open it.
“This is what I got yesterday morning.” Vee reached for the box which she’d left on the side of the table. She’d put the contents safely away after Mac and Ma had had a look, partly out of habit, partly so she didn’t have to keep looking at them.
Now she pulled the box front and center so her mother could get a good look.
Devi reached for the lid, her hand quivering as it hovered above the carved box. Her shoulders rose as she inhaled slowly and she tipped open the lid to reveal the pendant, encased in a zip-lock plastic bag.
She stared at it, frozen in place, the color from her face draining.
Then she reached for the card, held it close to read the single word written on it, then placed it back with a shaking hand.
Clearing her throat, Devi dropped the lid, and looked up at Vee, her expression now inscrutable. Vee was about to ask what she thought when her mother turned to her handbag, and dug inside it for a small drawstring bag.
She set the black fabric bag on the table and rolled the sides down to reveal a box identical to Vee’s. Without a word, she opened the lid, and this time her hand didn’t shake as she revealed the contents.
A gold ring gleamed from the center of the box, set on a bed of black silk. It, too, had been encased within a small plastic evidence packet. Vee leaned closer and stared at the ring.
A wedding ring.
A glance up and she met her mother’s gaze. “Dad’s?”
Devi nodded.
A similar card lay beside the ring, the same card stock paper, the same angrily written Sanskrit word.
vairaniryātana: revenge.
Vee closed the lid and slid the box back toward her mother, unable to look at the ring any longer. She didn’t want to look up at Mac’s face either.
What would he be thinking right now?
She took a deep breath and focused on the latest delivery. The dense silence in the room made Vee aware that everyone had held their breath in anticipation of viewing the contents.
An anticipation filled with fear.
She reached out and used her forefinger to open the lid carefully, slowly.
Ice trickled down Vee’s spine as she stared at the object inside the box. A lock of white hair lay curled up on the center of a blue silk lining.
Four exhalations of relief filled the room.
This box, too, contained a white card on which a short note had been written in angry, half-formed letters.
If you want her alive, come for her.
Midnight, tonight.
Chapter 18
“Who wants revenge?”
Vee’s voice rang out in the silent room. Devi was staring at the destruction of her mother’s living room, and though Vee understood that her mother must be pretty torn apart, she knew there was no time to waste.
Devi didn’t answer.
“Who wants revenge? And what does this have to do with Dad?” Vee asked again, and this time her voice rose a couple of octaves.
Could anyone blame her when her mother refused to answer?
At last Devi sighed and said, “The answer to that is . . . a list a mile long. Any number of demons, Asuras, and sorcerers would be on that list. Your father didn’t waste much time in making enemies.”
She let out a second sigh, reached for her phone, and called in the CSI team from her office.
For the first time in her life Vee was relieved that her parents ran such a well-organized company. Weapons, forensics, transport tech, intelligence and security. Only each one of those departments was a cover for the supernatural.
And Vee had been meant to go into the family business, putting her mechanical and chemical engineering degrees to good use. But her decision to join the FBI had caused almost as much friction between her and her mother as her father’s death.
But now there was more to their friction than a dead father and a career path disagreement. Her grandmother was missing and injured. Who knew how bad those injuries were? Had she survived her wounds? Had she bled out already?
All those thoughts and more were vying for space within Vee’s frantic mind. But one thing was painfully clear—she and her mother needed to work together in order to get her grandmother back.
A bitter pill to swallow, but swallow it she would.
Mac walked over to Devi. “Let’s wait downstairs until CSI comes.” Devi studied his face.
Vee knew what Mac was doing and for a moment her mother’s eyes narrowed, the muscles at the corner of her mouth tightened the tiniest fraction, as if she was about to tell him to stay out of it because it was none of his business.
Then her shoulders relaxed and her lips curved into a grateful smile. Vee’s eyebrows rose at her mother’s capitulation. Usually the woman would consider such an act an abominable sign of weakness.
But when it related directly to her own mother, Devi Shankar was too vulnerable for her own good.
After they found seats around the dining room table, they sat in silence as Mac did his tea-and-coffee thing again. He placed a cup of tea and a plate of gingerbread biscuits in front of Vee. She stared at them, wondering when she was going to explain to him how much she hated ginger in any form.
Her mom was studying the biscuits too, and when she raised her eyes there was a question in them, clearly mirroring Vee’s own thoughts. Thankfully, her mother didn’t say anything as Mac served and then seated himself.
As soon as everyone lifted their cups, Vee said, “I’m going.”
Devi nodded. “I’ll come with you.”
“No, you won’t.” Although Vee had intended to remain calm as she spoke, her voice came out sharp and hard. “The card was addressed only to me.”
Devi flinched, then her eyes clouded over with anger. “Vee. You are not going to be able to talk me out of it. This is also about me. It’s my mother—”
Vee leaned forward. “Do you want to endanger her life by not following their instructions to the letter?” Vee shook her head. “This is an abduction case. The perpetrator may just be far more magical than your average cop or FBI agent, but it’s still hostage negotiation. I know the routine. We can’t do anything to jeopardize her safety and he’s already proven to be volatile. What if he’s the same psycho who attacked me in the lab? That could have been a warning.”
She stared her mother down hard, watching as Devi’s emotions ranged from anger to frustration to fear. At last Devi let out a soft sigh. “You have a point, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
Vee inhaled slowly, glad that she didn’t have to fight with her mother at such a crucial time. Her mother’s acquiescence also made her feel bad considering she hadn’t yet told Devi the rest of what had transpired in that lab.
Vee sighed and sank back in her chair. “You need to hear this.” Somewhere between the moment she’d found her grandmother’s bloodstained room and now, Vee realized that whatever friction existed between her and her mother had to be set aside.
If just for now.
When Mac had seated himself, with Syama following suit, Vee said, “The attack in the lab was more than just an unknown assailant appearing out of the blue.” Devi’s features tightened and Vee knew why. When it came to her family, her mother hated lies, or misinformation of any kind.
Another black mark against Vee’s name.
“After that golem thing had beaten the crap out of me, and the portal appeared, a man stepped out of it. He looked like a god or an asura. His aura was stunning, especially to my perception, but I managed to detect some sense of his being, and it was definitely immortal.”
Devi nodded and sat back.
“I’m thinking it means we have a god after our blood. Or at least one who is after my blood.”
Devi’s forehead creased.
“What are you thinking?” Vee asked.
“That the golem and Ma’s disappearance must be connected somehow.”
Vee nodded. “Only one way to find out.”
Devi shifted forward, and from the hesitation in her eyes Vee knew she was about to say something to discourage her. Then her mother’s expression softened. “Get some rest before you go, okay?”
Vee nodded, feeling a little flushed. Her mother had shown concern for her well-being, and it threw her for a loop.
When Devi said, “We can’t afford for anything to go wrong because you were off your game,” Vee sighed and suppressed a roll of her eyes. Typical of her mother to show more concern for the success of an op than her daughter’s safety.
Vee inhaled, got to her feet, and nodded at her mother. “I’ve got a full day ahead of me. I’ll be here by ten tonight in case you want to be here. Otherwise I’ll call you to let you know when we head out.”
Without waiting for a response, Vee stalked out of the room and headed upstairs.
Remembering Max’s call and confirmation, she considered giving Rossi a heads-up on the case.
And maybe she should bring him in on her personal situation. Maybe the agency could offer some much-needed help.
Then Vee shook her head. She couldn’t jeopardize her grandmother’s life, even if she could use the extra backup.
She’d bring Rossi in after she met the mystery kidnapper.
For now, she was on her own.
Chapter 19
After a careful shower in which Vee studied her multi-colored bruises, Vee dressed in jeans, black shirt and jacket, and slid her badge into her waistband.
She’d just tucked her Glock into her holster and was attempting to tame her long hair, when her phone rang, the strident sound scraping at her eardrums like razor-sharp nails.
She was tired, and mentally drained. Not in the mood for work, or for Rossi—despite the best of her intentions.
She answered and listened to Rossi’s deep tones. “Agent Shankar, we have another death. South Mountain Reservation outside New York City. Take Route 510 through the middle of the park.”
Vee froze. Another killing. “I’ll leave as soon as I have the coordinates.”
“Already sent,” he said as her phone buzzed to announce the receipt. “Should take you forty minutes to get there.”
“Whose jurisdiction?” asked Vee. “Should be ours now that it looks like serial, right?”
Rossi cleared his throat. “It should be. But as a matter of interdepartmental courtesy, let’s keep going forward as if the case is shared.”
Vee raised her eyebrows. Sharing wasn’t something Rossi usually did. “Are we sharing i
nformation as well?”
“Not at this stage. You are welcome to share the extraneous details, but I’d prefer we keep our cards close to our chests on this.”
“Yes, sir,” Vee answered. Despite the anticipation of looking at the crime scene, she felt a deep disappointment that their hands had been tied and they hadn’t progressed enough to avoid a new victim in the first place.
Plus, her midnight appointment hung over her like a dark, threatening cloud.
“Any leads?” Rossi asked, breaking into her thoughts.
“So far, only the DNA results, which are a concern.”
“How so?”
“Max reported traces of human DNA found on what he confirmed as particles broken off from a lion’s claw.”
Rossi was oddly silent and Vee decided to keep going.
“It’s possible the killer wore the claws of a lion, which would explain the presence of lion and human DNA.”
“And from what you already ascertained, the killer was human?”
Vee swallowed, knowing she was holding back, but she’d already decided to play her own cards close to her chest. At least until she was more certain of the species of the killer. “Yeah. Unless he was a bipedal lion, he’s human.”
Rossi’s chuckle was one that said he wouldn’t be surprised if it was.
Vee arrived with Syama at the scene, far enough from the gathered cops to ensure some privacy. They’d had to drive out to the scene this time.
The lack of a vehicle when she arrived on scene was easily explained away within the maze of streets that was New York City, but out here, where country met suburbia, Vee would have to answer questions on her mode of transport if she turned up without wheels.
Her FBI supernatural division was off the books, so calling attention to herself in any way wouldn’t be good. Not when Monroe was already wary of her involvement in any of their cases. She had Chief Clyde’s support—so far—but that was one advantage she wasn’t about to destroy by being stupid.
