The Hand of Kali Box Set Vol 2

by T. G. Ayer

  Maya waited for Dr. Harish to fix the ECG electrodes to her body, and the EEG neural leads to her temples and scalp. Unlike with the rest of the agents who worked for KALIMA, Maya’s tests certainly did more than measure her health levels.

  What had begun as tests to reassure the medical team that Maya’s powers were not going to potentially tax her health had turned into regular measurements taken every two days during which she did more than run on a treadmill.

  She’d mentioned the sudden regularity of the evaluations to her parents a few days before and, though they’d appeared to take it in their stride, assuring her they’d been part of the decision-making process, Maya suspected they hadn’t been apprised of exactly what was required of her during the tests.

  Dr. Harish pressed the last of the brain electrodes to Maya’s temple and gave her a quick once-over as he checked that everything was in order and that they were ready to proceed. Then he went to the screened-in cubicle to fetch her list of activities—which had seemed to grow each day.

  Today she had a total of fourteen exercises to perform and Maya gritted her teeth. Two days ago, the list had contained ten items; it seemed the longer they continued, the more intensive these sessions became.

  Still, she went along with it so she wouldn’t make any trouble for her parents. The last thing they would want was for her to be belligerent or uncooperative. Who knew, maybe one day these tests would end up helping Maya if the medical personnel had a more in-depth knowledge of how she worked physiologically.

  Dr. Harish retreated behind the screen and raised a hand to indicate they were ready and the electrodes were recording successfully. Maya got to her feet and walked over to the X taped in the middle of the floor with duct tape.

  Behind her, Sabala got to his feet, reshuffled himself and then sat back down, as though reminding her of his presence. Smiling to herself, she set the piece of paper on the floor beside the X and straightened to face the narrow corridor filled with targets, all suspended from wires set at various distances.

  Though one portion of the testing lab resembled a regular doctor’s office, the other section qualified as a shooting range as far as Maya was concerned, no matter the doctors’ glib labels of laboratory and research facility. They ought to just admit to what they were testing her for. She wanted to believe they were merely being tactful rather than lying, but that would mean she was just lying to herself.

  Now she pushed down her frustration and ticked off the first task. Opening her hand, she sent a globe of fire the size of a volleyball out from her palm straight at a bullseye on the ten-yard-target. The fiery orb hit the black dot in the middle of the red target, scorching the markings and leaving a bronze smear of melted paint dead-center.

  Maya waited for the ping of the doctors’ alarm before performing task number two: ball of flame at the fifty-yard target. Throwing flaming spheres at targets was hardly an effort but Maya was sure the doctors would eventually progress to something more difficult. Hopefully, it would be a while before they decided to do this whole test with Maya blindfolded.

  Then she cursed herself for tempting fate. Again

  Maya progressed quickly to one hundred, then one fifty and then closed the first set off at two hundred yards. She’d obliterated the target each time with her ball of fire, aiming dead center and hitting the bulls-eye repeatedly. She compensated for the distance of the furthest targets by increasing the intensity of the power infused within the fiery orb, her intention to ensure she achieved the same charred bulls-eye result on all her targets.

  The second set of tests called for what the doctors referred to as a rod of fire. An apt enough description for this particular form of fiery weapon, though Maya herself had envisioned them more as arrows.

  The arrows of flame required a little more concentration on her part, making Maya starkly aware of the leads fixed to her temples and her skull. They would be recording every fluctuation in her brainwaves, providing the doctors with a deeper understanding of how her mind worked while eliciting and controlling her fire. It all felt as though her god-given power was being soiled by such clinical measurement, but Maya didn’t want to rock the boat.

  She focused and formed each arrow, aiming them at the bulls-eye and hitting it each time. This round though, she left a small scorch-mark—the size of a golf ball—in the middle of each bullseye. She ticked each distance target off fairly quickly, and then took a breath and tried to relax her mind again.

  Which of course would show on the readouts inside the doctors’ little cubicle. Would they also pick up on Maya becoming more and more annoyed? Would their readouts reveal, with their wiggly lines and codes, her slow progression to anger as she prepared for tasks number eleven through fourteen?

  A brief glance at the final exercise had already unsettled her more than she’d been expecting. Maya found she wasn’t just unsure of this particular one—she was downright embarrassed, though she had to admit she was unsurprised they’d progressed to testing this skill so soon.

  #14 perform full-bodied combustion.

  What strange terminology they’d used. Maybe she would have felt better if they’d just written burst into flames.

  Even so, as she progressed through one hand engulfed in flames, one arm engulfed in flames, and then to two of each, her heart began to race, and her head slowly grew hotter. And not with anything flame-related either.

  Maya had gone from embarrassment to full-on anger.

  And solely due to the power her fury gave her, she found the strength to step away from the X on the floor and walk to the cot to grab her sweatshirt with one hand while the other was busy ripping off the leads furiously. She ignored the pain as she tugged each sticky pad off, glad she was able to focus her anger on something other than the doctors because at this point, she wasn’t entirely sure she’d be able to stop herself from doing something stupid if they pissed her off further.

  “Agent Rao? Where are you going? The tests have not been completed!” Dr. Harish called out as he hurried to her.

  Maya looked over her shoulder and thrust the last of the leads at the approaching man. Sabala had risen to his feet, ears peaked, a low rumble in his throat confirming he’d sensed how deeply upset she was. Unbeknownst to Dr. Harish, the hellhound was following close on the man’s heels. The man flinched as the handful of cords flew at him, as though afraid Maya had encased them in flame or something.

  And just like that, Maya’s anger dissipated. The man was scared of her and yet he was still intent on testing her, as though she was some strange creature they’d found in Area 51.

  She took a breath and said, “I’ve submitted to your tests without objection so far, Dr. Harish. But this time, you’ve gone too far.”

  “Too far? What do you mean ‘too far’?” The man squeaked the question as his voice broke. Maya’s refusal to comply had worked him into a comical near-hysteria. “We need these results!”

  Maya drew her sweatshirt over her head, glad for its protection and warmth, then responded to the irate man. “Why?” she asked quietly. As her question hung in the air, Sabala took a step forward, bringing his bared canines a little too close to the unsuspecting man’s knee. She flicked a warning look at the hellhound but he ignored her.

  The doctor spluttered, then closed his mouth, eyes flashing with anger, though he appeared unable, or unwilling, to explain the need for the results.

  Interesting.

  Maya shrugged and touched the door handle. As she moved, the doctor reached out and gripped her arm tightly. “You can’t leave until the tests are completed, Agent Rao.”

  Sabala let out a low growl that reverberated around Maya, and she was glad the hellhound’s displeasure could not be heard by the doctor. She glanced at Sabala, hoping he’d know not to do anything unless she gave him the go-ahead. If she ever did. Siccing the hellhound on a mortal wasn’t something Maya could ever see herself doing.

  She looked down at the man’s fingers as they curled around her upper ar
m. He had a stronger grip than she’d expected but getting him to let her go wouldn’t be hard. Still, she didn’t want to cause a commotion by burning the man, though she was seriously considering singeing him as a warning.

  Instead, she said, “Dr. Harish, do you intend on stopping me from leaving this room? Because if you do, I can assure you that you will not like the consequences of holding me here against my will.”

  “Are you threatening me?” the man snapped, the words accompanied by flecks of saliva which landed on Maya’s forearm.

  “No, Dr. Harish. In case you missed it, you are the one threatening me.” Maya spoke in a low voice, careful to not appear confrontational or dangerous in any way. These tests were recorded, that much she was certain of, and her refusal to comply would also be a matter of record.

  So would any step the doctor took to stop her from leaving. There was absolutely no reason for him to detain her, or hold her captive, and from the look in Dr. Harish’s eyes, Maya could tell he knew where he stood. But he still held tightly onto her arm, making it clear of his determination to stop her from leaving.

  Before Maya could consider her options—burn the guy or sic Sabala on him being the first two—a voice rang out inside the room. “Dr. Harish, is there a reason you are preventing Agent Rao from leaving?”

  Harish started at the sharpness of the redheaded doctor’s tone. “She hasn’t completed the tests, Dr. Woden,” he said over his shoulder though he continued to hold Maya’s gaze, and still hadn’t released her arm.

  The redhead cleared her throat. “Dr. Harish, kindly release Agent Rao’s arm and allow her to leave. These tests have been conducted on a voluntary basis. This isn’t some lab in Siberia where human-testing is all the rage.”

  Harish’s eyes filled with anger, but he let go of Maya’s arm and stepped back, spine stiff. Sabala shifted in order to avoid a collision and Maya wanted to smirk at how close the doctor had come to losing a chunk of something, if not an entire arm.

  “And maybe you should thank Maya for controlling herself?” suggested Dr. Woden, her voice crackling with what Maya thought sounded like anger.

  “Thank her?” spat the older man as he faced his partner.

  “Yes, thank her. Because, had it been me whom you assaulted, I can assure you I would probably have burned you to a crisp in self-defense.”

  Maya glanced at the woman’s flashing green eyes, wondering if her words were a reference to Maya’s own first use of Kali’s powers when she’d done exactly that—burned a guy to a crisp for attempting to molest her.

  But Dr. Woden was glaring at Dr. Harish, eyes sparking with fury. The man merely shook his head as though she was joking, then stalked off toward the cubicle without a word.

  She turned to look at Maya and sighed. “I’m sorry, Maya. This won’t happen again. I’ll be filing a report, so if you want to also register a complaint, please don’t be afraid to go ahead. And these tests will be temporarily on hold until we clear up this issue with Dr. Harish’s behavior. I won’t have you being assaulted. For any reason.”

  Maya smiled. “I’m sorry for refusing but I wasn’t about to complete the final task. Not without prior warning, and preparation. And certainly not with him in the room.”

  Dr. Woden frowned. “Why is that? I mean, it’s totally fine. I’m just curious.”

  Maya smirked. “Doc, what do you think happens to a girl’s clothing when she is engulfed in flame?”

  Amusement flared in the woman’s eyes as she chuckled. “Well then, young lady. I wouldn’t have done anything different. And thank you for volunteering so far. When we do resume testing, I assure you we will discuss what exercises you are willing to perform, and I’ll ensure you get the final say.”

  “Thanks, doc,” Maya said as she tugged open the door.

  As she entered the corridor, she almost laughed out loud as she heard the doctor muttering to herself inside the testing lab. “That asshole won’t know which way is Sunday when I’m done with him.”

  Beside Maya, Sabala let out a low growl as though in agreement.

  Chapter 3

  Maya had been on her way back to the training center with Sabala in tow to continue with her fire-practice when she’d been paged to head over to the mission briefing meeting room at the communications center two levels down.

  Any other voice would not have affected her whatsoever, but coming so soon on the back of her own admission to herself that she was struggling to forgive Claudia, her aunt’s familiar tone on the comms rubbed her the wrong way.

  She tried to shrug off the unease swirling in her gut and was so distracted that only when she entered the meeting room, and her feet sank into the soft carpet did she register her bare feet. She’d thrown on her sweatshirt over her teeny gym-shorts but had forgotten to put her shoes on before she’d left the gym, and hadn’t given it a thought since.

  Silently cursing herself--as well as Sabala for not thinking to alert her--she padded over to the seat beside her best friend, Joss, who had, as usual, gotten to the meeting first. Clad in black jeans and an agency tee, plus black sneakers, Joss was making Maya feel decidedly underdressed.

  She sank into the nearest chair, steeling herself against an attempt to tug the hems of her shorts down a little lower. Her spine remained tense even as she smiled at Joss who was smoothing the flyaways of her platinum blonde ponytail as she threw Maya a questioning look. Did her friend really think Maya would have prior knowledge of what this meeting was about?

  Just because her parents were the directors of the KALIMA Agency, didn’t mean she’d know everything the organization was up to. The more Maya had learned of what her parents' company really did, the more fascinated and horrified she'd become.

  And she wasn’t even mentioning the testing she’d undergone.

  Leela and Dev Rao were no longer the staid, over-protective parents who existed merely to ground her or to kiss her booboos. They were in actual fact dangerous agents, paranormal engineers, and smart business minds.

  Maya shrugged and pursed her lips, silently admitting her ignorance. Sabala took up position beside the door and a few moments later, their superior officer Agent Andres Mirov strode into the glassed-in room, a handful of files tucked under his arm.

  The guy was attractive, as far as older men went. Spiky crewcut, light stubble, tanned skin, dimple in the chin. He even had a nice smile, when he was in the mood to smile. Now he glanced at the two girls and nodded before approaching the other end of the table.

  A few weeks ago, Maya and Joss had been handed over to Agent Mirov and his team as part of their preparations training. Which meant this meeting was very likely an unexpected training mission meant to keep the newbie agents on their toes and train them to be ready at a moment’s notice.

  Mirov dropped the files on the table and cleared his throat. He faced the girls, palms resting flat on the polished mahogany as he inspected each of their faces. “We’ve received an alert of magical activity a few miles out of the city. There is a suspicion it’s related to the two incidents reported on the news this past week. As you’re aware, a group of teenagers in Santa Barbara were found dead after what appeared to be a failed demonic summoning. The cops have it pegged as an amateur coven’s attempt gone wrong, but we’ve studied the scene and have identified a few common features from both the incidents to indicate they were rakshasa-summonings.”

  Mirov slid two files across the table toward Maya and Joss, who shared a curious glance before they picked their respective files up and quickly skimmed. Both incidents were outlined within the files, the second summoning in Beverly Hills which the police were certain was a satanic rite performed by a bunch of bored rich kids. That summoning had resulted in one dead, three catatonic and two kids refusing to speak a word to anyone.

  The cops were concerned the two were suffering from shock, so the pair had been admitted to the hospital where they’d been pronounced medically fit. Their ongoing refusal to speak, though, had resulted in an admission t
o a psychiatric facility where mental health professionals were hoping to retrieve any information from them that would help the investigation.

  Days later, not a word.

  “As you can see, the cops are getting nowhere fast.” Mirov smirked. When it came to paranormal investigations in the area, KALIMA was usually a handful of steps ahead of the local police.

  “And this is where we come in,” said Maya softly. Cases like these weren’t new to her; the whole running-off-on-an-unusual-mission thing had been the norm so far. Even Joss was well used to this kind of scenario.

  “Exactly, Agent Rao. We’re heading out now, so I suggest you both head to tactical and get geared up.”

  Maya’s eyes widened though she said nothing. It was late, near ten in the night, though training and working at this hour wasn’t unusual for the girls these days. They both had dormitories within the building, which allowed for them to both train and study either at home or at HQ, especially when their training sessions took them out of state or country.

  The girls got to their feet and were heading out the door where Sabala already waited, when Mirov called out, “Agent Rao?”

  Maya turned to find his expression deadpan though his lip curled slightly. “Yes, sir?”

  His gaze flicked to her feet. “Footwear isn’t optional for this mission. See to it that you remember your boots.”

  Maya suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Mirov and his team were always trying to get a rise out of her. “Yes, sir,” she said, saluting him with a finger to her temple.

  She left the room, ignoring his full-on grin as she caught up with Joss who was waiting at the elevator, fingers running discreetly over the hellhound’s head.

  “Guy thinks he’s a comedian,” Maya grumbled.

  “He is,” replied Joss, grinning as wide as Mirov had. “He means well though. They all do.”

  “Yeah,” Maya muttered. “You’re only saying that ‘cos you haven’t been the butt of their jokes.”