by T. G. Ayer
Ed shifted his gaze for an instant to catch his partner staring too. “Watch her,” he yelled then turned his gaze back up. But that second of inattention had been his undoing. Nivaan swooped down on him, wrapped an arm around his neck and lifted him off the ground in a leap for the opposite fire escape.
Ed yelled, and his partner shuffled in place in front of Vee. She wanted to laugh at the sight of his face as he watched her, all the while looking like he desperately wanted to check on his partner.
He shifted his head, so his mouth was angled in Nivaan’s direction. “Ed? You okay?”
A muffled grunt emanated from the darkness, and Nivaan landed on the ground beside Baldy. The thug let out a yell, shaking his gun first at Vee and then at Nivaan. “Stay where you are,” he shouted, spit flying from his mouth. “What did you do with Ed?”
Nivaan smiled and walked further into the shadows. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about Ed. He’s just hanging around. But maybe Ed’s safety is dependent on what you have to tell me?”
“What?” the man stuttered, his gaze going up to the side of the building again, then back at Nivaan. Vee followed the man’s gaze and bit back a laugh. Somehow, Nivaan had managed to string Ed up, tying him to one of the corners of the overhanging fire-escape landings. He was fully capable of reaching up for the grilled overhang, but any movement of his hands could loosen him from the rope around his arms.
Vee lifted an eyebrow and stared at Nivaan, impressed.
Baldy turned back to Nivaan. “Let him down, or I’m going to shoot your brains out.”
“Can you even see me to aim? And you wouldn’t want a bullet to rebound and hit the woman, would you? She’s a little too valuable for such reckless behavior, don’t you think?”
The woman?
So Nivaan was playing at being someone else who was hunting Vee down. She hid a smile and watched her remaining attacker weigh his options.
Still aiming the gun at the shadows, he said, “What do you want?”
“You know what I want. I want to know who sent you? Who are you working for?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? Someone must have hired you two assholes. Sent you instructions, paid you.”
“Oh yeah, yeah that. Ed was in charge of that.”
“You better know something, or after Ed falls, you’re next.”
“Okay, okay man, it was on the dark web. It’s a site that puts up bios and photographs of people. It’s like a bounty hunter site. You take the job, find and deliver the target, and the money is there for you at the handover location.”
“But these people are innocent, and you’re just going around and rounding them up? For someone you don’t even know?” Nivaan’s voice rose.
“Look man, I just do the job. Who knows what these people have done. That’s not my business. But her—” he pointed at Vee, “—they said she’s a pedophile who preys on kids. Passes herself off as a schoolteacher.”
Vee’s stomach churned, and she felt like she was about to throw up. Somewhere out there on the web was a profile that claimed she was a sexual predator?
Beyond Ed’s clueless partner, Vee caught sight of a shadow flickering at the entrance of the alley. Nivaan didn’t seem to have noticed, but Vee had. She blinked, not sure she’d seen it correctly.
A flurry of darkened feathers whirled in a mist made of gray and silver light. And yet the sight of the form sent a chill deep into Vee’s heart. She wasn’t sure what she’d seen. Perhaps she’d imagined the tall, hunched form, the narrow scrawny neck. Perhaps she’d imagined the glassy dark eyes staring out at her from a feathered body, black as night.
She shivered, but before she could warn Nivaan, bring his attention to the oncoming threat—one that Vee felt was actually worse than these two dark-web hired thugs—Nivaan said, “Wrong buddy. This woman is a medical researcher. You either have the wrong person, or this is part of a hit or abduction situation.”
The man lifted a shoulder, twisting his lips as though he didn’t really give a damn. “Whatever. So what do you want with her?”
“My employer wants to have a little chat with her.”
“No way. You’re not taking my payday from me.”
“Not like you have much of a say,” Vee said, keeping her eye on the shadowy feathered form who had stepped closer to them. “I’d rather go talk to someone I don’t know than go anywhere with the likes of you.”
The man growled, rage darkening his cheeks to an almost blue-black. His finger looked dangerously close to the trigger. Too close for Vee’s liking. She glanced over at the dark patch of shadow that was Nivaan, hoping he’d get the message to get this thing done and get her out of there. She hated that she was hobbled with using her powers, and for now, all she wanted was to get away before the dark figure came too close, because the sick feeling in her gut told her it would not end well.
Nivaan shifted in the darkness then swooped closer to Vee. He both drew his glamor over her rendering her invisible and launched himself into the air using his shifter power. Shots went wild as Vee’s attacker finally let loose. He’d obviously given up and was firing on Nivaan—or what he thought to be Nivaan—in the hopes that he would hit her too. He’d lose his money now for sure. And he’d have to find a way to release Ed safely.
Vee smiled as Nivaan set her onto her feet on a nearby rooftop.
“You would make an excellent bad-guy/good-guy/vigilante…guy.”
Nivaan snorted as Vee gave a sigh of annoyance. “You lose a few brain cells over there?” he snickered.
Vee hit him on the bicep, but the man just snorted and grinned. “I’m tired. Long day. And people just keep dropping by, only they want to stab me or kill me or suck me dry of my blood or run me over with their cab, or as you have just witnessed, hand me over to some anonymous person on the dark web.”
Nivaan grabbed Vee around the shoulders. “You know what my gran used to always say?”
Vee sighed and walked beside Nivaan as they headed toward the rooftop stairwell entrance to the building. “What did she say?” Vee yawned and felt a little dizzy as her adrenaline began to crash.
“She would waggle her finger and say, ‘You know beta, God will never put anything on your plate that you cannot shoulder’.” Nivaan chuckled. “For the longest time, I was puzzled as to how the food on my plate and my shoulder had anything to with each other.”
Vee snorted. “That’s ‘cos your mind is always on food.”
Then as they entered the stairwell, Nivaan let out a low growl. “Not all the time, woman.”
And then he slapped her on the ass.
Chapter 77
With morning came the reminder for Vee of the men who’d come so close to abducting her, all because of some stupid dark-web site. The thought that someone out there had gone to such an extent to put a bounty on her head…she wasn’t sure how to process that.
Nivaan had insisted on staying over and had taken Radhima’s room. Vee had been too tired to protest what had seemed like him being excessively protective.
When she got up and headed downstairs, she found he’d already gone but had left a bag of croissants on the kitchen table for her. Smiling, Vee made coffee and devoured the pastries listening for the sound of her dad’s footsteps upstairs. But everything was silent except for Syama and Akil who were in the garage sharpening blades.
She could hear the high ringing of the whetstones as the two worked. Downing the last of her coffee, Vee rinsed the mug and placed it in the sink, then hurried to the garage.
“Hey, you two,” she said smiling at the sight of their concentrated scowls. “I’m off to the lab. You should be good to drop me off and come straight back.”
Syama snorted and got to her feet. “Yeah, sure. Like your lab is so golem-proofed?” She lifted a brow as she slid her dagger into the sheath at her waist.
Vee was about to argue with the hellhound when her phone began to buzz. She lifted a finger, motioning to
Syama to wait. Then, as Vee read the message from Monroe, she sighed. “Guess the lab’s off the agenda for now.”
“You got a case?” asked Akil, also rising and pocketing his whetstone.
Syama rolled her eyes. “Of course, she has a case. She has that look.”
“What look?” Vee asked as she studied the address in Talmadge Hill an expensive residential area just outside the city.
Syama smirked and tilted her head, pretending to study Vee’s face, her expression serious. “Oh, I think it falls somewhere between tense and constipated.”
Akil coughed and choked back a laugh while Vee just stared at the hellhound, not sure what to say. She shook a finger at Syama. “You better watch it,” said Vee, shaking her head, knowing her warning would remain forever unheeded. Then she glanced at her phone. “If you’re done with your comedy act, we need to go here,” she said, holding her phone out so Syama and Akil could read the address.
Akil nodded and shimmered away, returning within seconds. “I have a good spot that we can arrive at and remain unseen.”
Vee walked over to Syama who had grabbed Vee’s go-bag from the table behind her and was holding it out to her. Slinging it over her shoulder, Vee felt comforted in the knowledge that the weapons were close at hand. Just in case.
Seconds later they arrived within a stand of trees across the road from the address Monroe had sent Vee. The road was quiet, though lined with police and forensic team vehicles.
Akil shimmered into solidity beside Vee and said, “I’ll be in the trees. I will let you know if anything happens.” Before Vee could respond, the sirin had disappeared, leaving Vee to share a wry smile with Syama.
Thankfully, the patrols had been set further inside the property and Vee was able to cross the road and walk through the open gates and up the drive before someone stopped her. Syama accompanied her, glamor securely hiding her presence.
The cop guarding the scene waved her past, and Vee was directed through the house—an overly ostentatious mansion, Greek pillars guarding the entrance, floor to ceiling windows, faux stone rock facings, and a gigantic fountain taking pride of place directly in front of a pair of double doors large enough for a semi to pass through.
Though open, the door appeared to be hewn from solid wood and patterned with brass, with a distinct oriental feel to it. Vee ignored the eclectic architecture and headed through the long hallway and out a large back door onto a slate-tiled patio.
A glistening sky-blue pool shimmered like a jewel to Vee’s left, the sunlight glancing off the surface so brightly that Vee had to shield her eyes against the glare.
Standing on the edge of the scene, Vee surveyed the frenzied activity. Monroe stood on the other side of the clearing, talking to someone on her cell phone as she paced back and forth, waving her free hand. The woman’s brow was furrowed, and her cheeks were ruddy.
All sure signs that Monroe was frustrated and furious. But whatever was going on, Vee wasn’t interested. She didn’t want to allow herself to get sidetracked by the detective’s issues. Right now, Vee needed to assess the scene.
“You should have brought the conch,” Syama muttered from Vee’s side.
Vee resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She understood Syama’s concern, and in fact, she shared that concern. But Vee couldn’t just use Lord Narasimha’s conch just because it was convenient. She didn’t believe the boons of the gods were meant to work that way. It wasn’t as if the power to freeze time didn’t have its consequences. She still recalled the last time she’d used it.
The day her grandmother had died.
“I’m still here, you know.”
“Not really,” said Vee softly. Then she shook her head and glared at her grandmother’s ghost as she stood beside Vee, arms cross as she too surveyed the scene. “And stop doing that. Someone is going to see me talking to you, and they’ll have grounds to toss me off active duty.”
The ghost grunted and tightened her folded arms. Today, Radhima wore a fitted jacket in a soft teal, and a pair of black jeans. And teal cowboy boots, patterned in a bright pink thread.
“What are you wearing?”
“Are you going to ask me that question every single time we talk?”
“Yes, if you’re going to wear something different every time.”
“I think she looks great,” Syama chimed in.
“You stay out of this,” Vee said, turning to glare at Syama.
Syama grinned. “Stop being so hard on her. She has a right to wear what she wants.”
Vee opened her mouth and then shut it. She’d been about to argue the fact that yes, her grandmother had a right to wear whatever she wanted, but jeans and cowboy boots were things Vee had never imagined to be part of her style. It was going to take some getting used to.
Vee sighed and rolled her shoulders. “We have work to do. Let’s keep our heads in the game, okay?” Vee said, pretty sure that her words were more for herself than Syama. Or Radhima.
Akil had taken up position in a nearby tree, with a view of the entire clearing. Probably the best place to be at this point. Vee headed down the hillside and avoided stepping into the deep puddles of muddy water that dotted the ground.
“These look rather regular, don’t they?” asked the ghost.
Vee started at the sound and glanced to her right, but Radhima was no longer revealing herself. Vee sighed. “You have a good eye. They seem to follow a pattern similar to what footprints would look like.”
“Why would someone make holes like that in the ground? Strange shoes? Stilts? Spoked wheels?” Syama was ticking off options that Vee had already considered but had nothing additional to add. Not yet.
“To be honest I don’t have a clue,” said Vee, keeping her voice low. “Let’s have a look at the crime scene itself before we try to make any deductions.”
Syama nodded and kept just behind Vee as she walked. Glamored as she was, Vee had to also be careful of talking to her in front of people. Having invisible sidekicks was turning out to be more of a hazard than she’d expected—not to mention ghostly grandmothers.
Vee crossed the shallow clearing and walked onto the neatly manicured lawn of the estate. Despite the cold, and the intermittent snowfall, the grass was lush and verdant. Had it not been for the strange, slippery substance found scattered across the lawn, the view would have been idyllic.
From where she stood, the pieces of pale detritus resembled the shedded skin of a reptile. Vee shuddered as she closed in on Monroe. “What do we have?”
“Something large and very reptile-like.”
Radhima—always a stickler for language—muttered, “Reptilian,” as Vee asked, “What makes you think reptile?”
Monroe jerked a chin at the papery thin coils of pale skins that littered the lawn. Vee crouched, withdrawing a pen from her jacket pocket. She lifted a long piece and studied it. “They look like sausage casings.”
Monroe snorted. “Couldn’t have put it better myself.”
Vee shrugged. “I could have been more specific and said porcine intestine?”
Monroe shook her head and mimed a barf. “No thanks.” Then she stared around the lawn. “The place is littered with the stuff. I’m not sure what to make of it.”
“What’s this place got to do with our missing mom-to-be?”
Monroe crooked a finger, and Vee hurried toward her. By the time Vee had reached her side, the woman was already crouched beside another long stretch of shedded skin. She lifted it away to reveal an oval-shaped locket on a slim gold chain.
Vee’s eyebrows rose. “I’m guessing Susie had a similar locket on the gold chain she left in the bathroom?”
“Well, identical, yes. But we know it’s not Susie’s. That we have locked up in evidence.” Monroe didn’t need to explain, but Vee could tell the detective needed to work through how she felt about one more lead that gave them nothing.
“So this must belong to Lucy.” Vee leaned closer.
Monroe was nodding and lifti
ng the chain away from the skin. She dropped it into her gloved palm and held it out to Vee who nodded. “Yep.”
A pang of sadness filled Vee at the senseless death of Susie and the growing likelihood that her daughter, Lucy, had met the very same fate.
“But what does Lucy have to do with these…things?” Monroe waved a hand at the remains of shedded skins that littered the lawn. Then she sighed and rested her hands on her hips rocking back and forth on her heels. This was one case that was stumping them all.
“Could be any number of things,” said Vee. They were empty words, just filler to help appease the detective.
Monroe snorted. “Well, let’s just hope it isn’t what it looks like. Because the last thing I need is to find out that there is a giant snake roaming the streets of New York, snacking on pregnant women and shedding its skin as it goes.”
Vee adjusted her sight, aware that it may well be impossible to clear the lawn so that she could get a better look at the aural patterns around the place. She wasn’t surprised to see a twisting meshwork of ragged aural residue that implied a large group of people had traversed this lawn a few hours ago. Vee paused. Not people.
Demons.
More specifically, pey demons.
“It’s not snakeskin,” murmured Radhima, drawing Vee’s attention from the auras. Vee blinked, surprised she hadn’t flinched at the sound of the disembodied voice. Perhaps she was getting used to the ghost’s presence.
Vee hunkered down again and studied the skins, this time trying to figure out what the sheddings had to do with pey demons. Syama grunted as she too leaned over Vee. “I’m not sure. I feel like I’ve seen something like this before, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Well, when your finger finds it, can you let me know? ‘Cos I’m stumped.” Vee sighed and got back to her feet. She was turning to survey the lawn again when movement in the trees caught her attention.
Vee tried to appear casual as she glanced over Syama’s shoulder and watched the figure, hidden by the shadows within the small forest to the north of the property. From this distance, it wasn’t possible to identify who the observer was, but there was one thing Vee could tell beyond a shadow of a doubt.
