Severance (The infernal Guard Book 3)

by SGD Singh

  “We barely avoided the explosion,” said Eric, a young Jodha from Denmark. “That thing cut the plane right in half. One second we were airborne, surrounding the aircraft, and the next all hell broke loose.”

  “The Witches?” Aquila asked him.

  The warriors turned their gazes to the ground, and Eric shook his head. “I'm sorry, man. There was no way anyone who doesn't fly could have survived that.”

  Kelakha placed a hand on Aquila's shoulder. “And Fedir? The pilot?”

  Eric just shook his head, looking at the ground.

  Ursala turned to Asha “Okay, so how do we take this fucker down?”

  We don't.

  There's got to be a way. We have to try.

  They watched as the Underworlder seemed to grow bored with the destroyed plane. It turned, searching the night, growing visibly agitated as if it sensed the absence of its three companions. The creature leaned its hideous head back and screamed at the sky, its mouth opening wide, its curved teeth shining in the firelight as it snapped its fire-whip, faster than thought, creating a burning groove in the frozen ground.

  Lexi started laughing.

  “Care to let us in on the joke?” Ursala said.

  “He's having a tantrum, in that stupid bone outfit and his ugly troll feet,” Lexi said. “And we're all gonna fucking die. It just struck me as funny, okay?”

  Ursala stared at Lexi as if she'd lost her mind, and Asha motioned everyone back into the trench. “Our only chance is to get that whip away from it. Then, maybe—”

  “Maybe what?” Lexi snapped.

  “Maybe we won't all die within the next five minutes.”

  Kelakha turned to Nidhan. “What about Zaiden? Can he defeat this thing?”

  “The disc he gave me is broken,” Nidhan said, throwing the dented piece of silver to Kelakha. “I've tried, but it got damaged at Central HQ, and I haven't been able to fix it.”

  Aquila turned to Lexi, hoping she could call to him with her mind, but she shook her head.

  Asha sighed. “Zaiden's team got the coordinates, the same as everyone. Maybe he'll show up sooner.”

  Lexi peered outside the trench. “Oh goody!” She said, grinning. “The God of Death approacheth. So whatever the fucking plan is, we should probably do it now.”

  Asha motioned to them, declaring silence. Demanding focus. Her hands moved in the light of the burning aircraft, sending signals. Lexi, Ariella. Ursala, Aquila. Distract it. Kelakha. Disarm it.

  The other Jodha crossed their arms at being left out, and Nidhan scowled, but no one objected outright.

  The rest of you, backup the others. You six, on Nidhan.

  Nidhan started to protest, but everyone else burst into motion, moving to meet the creature as it raised one of its arms, snapping the deadly whip through the air with a deafening, static-filled crack.

  Lexi leapt through the air over the fiery arc the whip made beneath her, and Aquila leaned back, closing his eyes against its light that passed inches from his face, twisting to protect Silas beneath his jacket. But Ursala spun, bringing his tabar ax down on the Underworlder's weapon, then cried out in rage as the fire made his ax glow with heat. He dropped it reflexively.

  Aquila didn't see Kelakha, but knew his brother would be moving into position.

  Lexi and Ariella were emptying their revolvers into the monster's face, but their cayenne bullets had no effect on the creature. Aquila tried two holy water grenades, which at least flared red against the Underworlder's skin, but it only growled and cracked its whip again.

  Someone screamed beyond his line of sight, and Aquila shif-ted to circle above the struggle, trusting in Asha that it was safe for Silas, just as the whip descended. He saw Nidhan as the Tvastar spun, his sword flashing in the firelight. He watched as the Underworlder's whip caught the Tvastar's shoulder, and Lexi shrieked in terror as she leapt to his defense.

  Aquila dropped to the earth just behind the monster, close enough to feel the heat radiating from its lava-veined skin. He aimed his revolver at the base of the whip, where the Underworlder held it, and shot a steady stream of cayenne holy water at it.

  And for a moment, it worked. The whip's fire dimmed, replaced by what looked like cracked charcoal, and the creature roared, turning its hideous eyes on Aquila.

  Aquila raised his blades to block the inevitable blow, but before the monster could raise its whip again, it was blinded by numerous knives that flew from the darkness and buried themselves to the hilt in its throat, eyes, and chest.

  It staggered back, roaring, and swatted at the blades like so many flies, its blue skin healing even before the weapons hit the ground.

  Asha called out a command, a peregrine falcon's cry above the sounds of more knives hitting the creature.

  “Fall back!”

  As one, the Jodha and Nidhan obeyed, sprinting for the relative safety of the gash in the earth where they dropped down, panting in the darkness.

  Aquila checked Silas and was relieved to feel the gentle rise and fall of the sand cat's side. Then he looked around and realized how many Jodha were missing. He knew what happened to them without asking.

  “That weapon is a part of him,” Kelakha told Asha. “Even if we manage to cut his hand off, it'll grow back, just like his wounds healed.”

  “It would do more than that.” Asha's eyes glowed, lighting up her face. “If its blood touches the ground, another creature will form. I See it.”

  “Well, that sucks moldy corpse balls,” Ursala said. “How the fuck do we kill it then?”

  “Evacuate?” Aquila didn't recognize the speaker. “Leave it for now and return for backup?”

  Asha nodded. “That's one option.”

  “No.” Kelakha stepped forward. “Running away and leaving this thing is not an option. It took down an airplane, for fuck's sake. We don't know where it will go or what it will do.”

  “Then we avoid cutting it, but keep it here and stall until backup arrives,” Asha said. “But we all die.”

  That's a shit plan.

  That's what happens if we stay.

  “I can do it,” Nidhan said softly, and everyone turned to him.

  He held the dragon heart in his hands, cradling it as it began to glow with soft yellow light. “I can kill it with this. Silas knew it, and I know it.”

  Lexi shook her head. “No,” she whispered, falling to her knees.

  Aquila felt Asha's grief overwhelm his own as he watched Nidhan, and his eyes filled with tears.

  Nidhan knelt in front of Lexi, and most of the surviving Jodha shifted, disappearing into the night to keep the Underworlder distracted.

  Lexi opened her eyes and gasped.

  And then Aquila saw it.

  The monster's whip had torn through Nidhan's Guard uniform, leaving the left side of his chest bare.

  Over his heart was a perfect Eternity Mark.

  Lexi reached out to touch the mark with her fingertips.

  “When? How?” she whispered, and the night was so thick with silence and grief that Aquila heard every word. “How did I not feel it, when…?”

  Nidhan smiled even as tears overflowed from his eyes. “There was nothing to feel, because this mark changed nothing,” he said. “I was yours all along. I will always be yours.”

  “You can't do this,” Lexi said. “I won't let you.”

  Nidhan placed the dragon's heart in his lap and took Lexi's face in his hands. “Yes, you will.”

  Lexi shook her head, but Nidhan pulled her close, kissing her. The glowing orb on his lap lit up between them as if it was their one shared heart.

  Aquila felt Asha's arms around his waist, and he held onto her, her sobs blending with his own. Kelakha fell heavily to his knees, his head in his hands, and Ursala and Ariella threw their arms around Nidhan and Lexi.

  One of the Jodha outside the hole shrieked a warning, and Nidhan raised his head.

  “We're running out of time,” he said, searching each of their faces. “You all know t
his is the only way. If this thing gets away tonight, it will gather every Asura in our realm and begin the cycle of cruelty again. It will create an army of Witches, and it will destroy our world. You know this is true.”

  Lexi opened her mouth to protest, but Nidhan stopped it with another kiss.

  “It will work,” he told her. “I know it. This is the only weapon that will kill it.”

  Kelakha placed his hand on Nidhan's shoulder, and Aquila didn't recognize his voice when he said, “Then let me do it. I can get there faster than anyone else. I should be the one to do it.”

  Nidhan shook his head. “It has to be a Tvastar. This weapon won't work for anyone else. And once I make contact, you'll only have seconds to fly to safety.”

  He grinned then, his eyes full of the laughter Aquila remembered from the very first time they'd met. Asha sobbed harder, tightening her arms around him as Nidhan added, “Nice try though, yaar.”

  He raised his eyes then to look at Asha, and she rushed to his side, pulling Aquila with her. She threw her arms around her brother, and the six of them sat together, crushing Nidhan between them and Aquila tried not to smother Silas.

  Another Jodha call jerked them apart, and the Underworlder roared with renewed fury Aquila could feel in his bones.

  Nidhan held Lexi's face in his hands.

  “Promise me,” he said.

  “No,” Lexi whispered, her eyes closed.

  “Promise me.” Nidhan's voice was steady even as his eyes filled with tears again. “Promise me you will let yourself be happy. Have the most badass kids the world has ever known, and put the sun to shame with your smile.”

  Lexi shook her head.

  “Let me come with you,” she said, finally meeting his eyes. “Please. I'll help you get close enough, I'll make sure the plan works.”

  Nidhan smiled, brushing her tears away with his thumbs. “Kelakha will do that better than you,” he said. “But we're wasting time, and I want my song.”

  Even in the dim light, beneath all the dirt and blood, Aquila saw the color leave Lexi's face, and she jerked back. But Nidhan grabbed her hand and placed it over the Eternity Mark on his heart.

  “It's all I ask,” he said. “Give me that. Give me one more moment of bliss in this beautiful world.”

  Lexi raised her eyes to his, her expression pleading, searching, as if she could keep him with her forever by memorizing him. Then Lexi kissed Nidhan once more. “Okay,” she whispered.

  “Ursala,” Nidhan said. “You should get going. This thing will incinerate anything within a half mile radius, and you don't move as fast as the birds—”

  Ursala crushed Nidhan in one of his bear hugs, whispering something Aquila couldn't hear, and he and Ariella leapt to the surface and disappeared.

  Nidhan turned to Aquila next. “I don't have to tell you to take good care of my sister,” he said in Punjabi, embracing Aquila in his giant arms, careful of Silas. “But don't leave without Lexi. You wait and make sure she gets to safety. Whatever it takes, understand?”

  He brought Asha into the hug. “Don't let her follow me,” he whispered. “And don't think for one second that I regret joining The Guard with you. I would do it again, a million times over. Happily. This was our destiny, and I'm proud to have been a part of it.”

  Asha sobbed into his chest, and Nidhan lifted her chin. “Hey,” he said. “No more of that. How many people can say they died saving the world?”

  Asha smiled, but Aquila tried not to wince as her pain in his chest intensified.

  “Now get going,” Nidhan said louder, embracing Kelakha, who spun away from him, wiping at his eyes. “This kanjar won't wait all night to kill us.”

  Kelakha tried to smile, and grimaced instead as he shifted to join the other Jodha who were stalling the creature.

  Hugging him one last time, Aquila and Asha shifted, too, then waited in the shadows for Lexi. Aquila wondered what he would do if she refused to come, and decided he would knock her out if he had to.

  He felt like he and Asha were intruding on an intimate moment, but he couldn't take his eyes off his friend—his brother. This would be the last time they would ever see him, and Aquila already missed his smile, so full of life and joy.

  Then Lexi began to sing, and Aquila wondered if his heart would ever heal. She stood within the circle of Nidhan's arms, her cheek against his chest, her eyes closed, the soft glow of the dragon's heart shining around them. As the Punjabi words drifted toward him, haunting in their beauty, Aquila closed his eyes, unable to watch any more.

  I would make myself a slave

  To the one who would take me to meet my Beloved Lord

  O Lord, if it is Thy Will to grant me happiness

  I will ever meditate on Thee

  And even in pain, I will never forget Thee

  Even in hunger, I will feel satisfied, and I will feel happiness even if you give me sorrow…

  Lexi's voice faltered, and finally the Underworlder's roars could no longer be ignored. Nidhan whispered his last words in her ear and wrapped her in his arms, kissing her one last time.

  And then Nidhan was gone, sprinting toward the Underworlder in the dying flames of the aircraft, and Asha dropped to Lexi's side, Aquila following.

  The light was gone from the trench, but Aquila could just make out her eyes. All of the strength seemed to have gone out of her as she stood, her arms limp at her sides, her skin pale as death.

  “I will never sing again,” she said.

  Chapter 33

  Jax decided she wouldn't complain for the rest of her life, as long as she never had to spend a single minute more with a politician.

  “Yes, I'm sorry, Senator,” she told the whining millionaire for what felt like the fiftieth time. “There is no steak, medium-rare or otherwise.”

  “I don't know what the hell kind of operation you people are running here,” he grumbled, returning to his table. “Starvation is not what I signed up for.”

  “Only one more day, Senator,” Jax called after him.

  “Best minds in the world, my ass,” he called back. “No one's mind can function on this slop!”

  Jax mumbled, “Best minds may have been too generous a term.” She decided she'd eat in her room, babysitting bitching civilians be damned.

  She tucked a bottle of holy water under her arm and carried her tray into the cement corridor. Turning a corner, she nearly bumped into Zaiden as three Upperworlders suddenly materialized right in front of her.

  His skin was losing its golden sheen, revealing an iridescent purplish-copper tone that reminded Jax of the brown on a peacock feather. But it was his reptilian eyes that really caught her attention. They looked alarming, their jagged pupils shrunken to tiny slits.

  He grabbed Jax's arm and shook it, making her drop her tray with a loud clang.

  So much for breakfast.

  “Where are they?” he demanded.

  “Where is who?” Jax said, feigning innocence. “You better get your fucking hands off me. Now.”

  Zaiden blinked, looking down at his hands in surprise. He flinched back and held his palms up. “I'm sorry,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Have you seen Lexi? We went to the coordinates you sent as soon as we got them, but there was nothing there. Only a crater.”

  “They're not here,” Jax said. “Can't you find her yourself? Aren't you guys supposed to be connected, or… something?”

  Zaiden shook his head. “That hasn't worked since…” He suddenly straightened, his eyes widening in alarm, and Jax felt the temperature drop.

  “No…” Zaiden whispered, falling to his knees in the remains of her meal.

  Satish and Dinesh rushed to his side, glaring at Jax as they crouched in front of their Upperworlder prince, as if it were her fault he was upset.

  “What?” she said. Now he was really freaking her out. “What is it?”

  “I found her,” Zaiden whispered.

  “That's good, right?” Jax looked between the three of them. “
Right? That means she's okay, right?”

  “If I can find her, it can only mean one thing,” said Zaiden, and when he looked up at Jax his expression was that of someone who'd just been stabbed in the chest. “Nidhan is dead.”

  “No.” Jax shook her head, scrambling away from them. “You can't know that.”

  Zaiden dropped his head in his hands and didn't reply.

  Jax fled to find BapuJi.

  † † †

  Asha and the other Jodha didn't return to the Sahara safe house for three days. That's how long it took to arrange for their safe transportation, she explained.

  Silas was still unconscious, and BapuJi and Prabhnoor took over his care. Joined by healers from Chile and Argentina, they worked around the clock trying to bring the Seer back to them. BapuJi insisted that Silas just needed time, but Jax could see he was worried.

  Asha rarely spoke, staying mostly in her room, except to occasionally join BapuJi for Silas' healing sessions.

  Lexi didn't return to the safe house at all.

  Kelakha spent most of his time in the forgery with the Tvastars, watching them as they planned out how to make an Upperworld light weapon and watching them dissect the one remaining dragon heart.

  Jax kept herself occupied with arranging transportation back to their respective countries for complaining civilians. She spoke often with Lexi's contact, Stevens, who she pictured as a kind of serious Jeeves-type butler. She distracted herself with the seemingly-impossible challenge of making him laugh at least once, and comforted herself with the dwindling numbers of politicians.

  Weeks crept by, and slowly Guard members began to find their way back to their home countries, with an unspoken agreement that this was the time to take long-overdue vacations while they waited for word from their surviving leaders, Silas most of all.

  Kenda and Koko took Sashi and a number of the Upperworlders to the open wilderness of North America to acclimate to Satya. They promised Jax they would stay in touch, but only if she was smart enough to find them. Jax had tried to tease them about forever avoiding their training, but her heart wasn't in it, and when they hugged her goodbye she hadn't been able to stop her tears.