by T. G. Ayer
After they were all ready for the walk, bags on their shoulders, sunglasses and hats on, Dev got back into the car, calling Nik to join him.
When Nik got in, he started the engine and turned the car a little to the left. Then he inched forward slowly to the edge of the cliff. Leela walked beside the car and lifted the long overhanging fronds of a giant banana tree.
Dev guided the vehicle through the opening and down the incline and then the car disappeared. When Maya's mom dropped the leaves it looked like nobody had driven that way at all.
"There's a shallow cave down the incline. We always use it to hide the cars." She winked as Nik and Dev scrambled up the slope and through the banana fronds.
Dev dusted himself off and said, "Right. Off we go."
Maya rolled her eyes, not sharing her father enthusiasm about the climb but she refused to whine and complain about it. One foot in front to the other and they would get there soon enough.
It took them just on two hours to get to the clearing as the edge of the refuge. They were all exhausted but when they stepped through the screen of trees into the clearing they were all incredible relieved.
Up ahead of them the roof of the temple poked out of the forest in the distance and suddenly Maya felt lightheaded.
It was the oddest feeling and the last thing she expected to experience.
She stared at the refuge, with its temple and houses scattered around it, all half swallowed up by the evergreen forest, and felt the strangest emotion. Something that she knew to be true, deep, deep down in her soul.
She had finally come home.
* * *
~ TO BE CONTINUED ~
Thank you for reading. The Hand of Kali Series continues with Time & Fate.
Acknowledgments
To my favorite girls the Inklings- thank you for your constant support and inspiration.
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Thank you to my editor Cassie Kelley McCowan and my proofreader Karen Mead- for all your hard work in polishing Blood & Gold for publication.
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To Sel & the girls- nothing ever gets done in my book world without your support.
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To Sandra Valente who won the Fashion Designer name giveaway. Thank you for contributing to Maya’s fashion sense.
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And to my readers. Don’t stop reading…
Copyright
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BLOOD & GOLD
A HAND OF KALI NOVEL BOOK 2
Copyright © 2014 by T.G. Ayer
All rights reserved.
Cover art by T.G. Ayer
Cover art © T.G. Ayer. All rights reserved.
Edited by J.C. Hart
Kindle Edition, License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.
Hand of Kali 3 - Time & Fate
Authors Note
Hindu Mythology is a living religion.
Like, Christianity, Islam, Judaism & Buddhism, Hinduism has millions of followers around the world. Fiction featuring Hindu gods is not merely a matter of choosing a god, and placing them in a fictional situation, mainly because you risk offending that deities devout worshippers. Unlike the Greek, Roman, Egyptian & Norse Pantheon, Hindu & Buddhist gods must be treated with the utmost respect in any fiction. I hope I have maintained this ethic within my series.
I have tried to maintain as much respect as possible while still using fiction to both entertain and educate the reader. The Kali series is filled with details of the various deities currently worshipped across the world.
Some rituals and powers are fiction, of course.
There is much in the Kali series that is part of my own journey in life. I hope my travels in India have lent some level of authenticity to the Indian scenes.
* * *
Demons, Zombies, Undead & other creatures and spirits are as per mythology texts and are available online to research.
Much of how to eliminate these creatures is anecdotal & fictional. Sorry guys, if you come across a Vitala, you’re on your own.
Chapter 1
Outside the window, cotton-candy puffs of bright clouds were shredded into whispers of white fluff by the metallic bulk of the airplane as it knifed through the sky. The surreal view from on top of the world made Maya Rao feel tiny and insignificant in the greater scheme of things, the peace and pure beauty at which she stared, emphasizing just how small a part she truly played in the world.
She hadn't expected the flight home to be so bittersweet. Retrieve Lord Shiva's bow, check. Return Kas to Patala, check.
Mission success.
But they'd left Ria behind at the refuge in the wilds of Mumbai. And, she'd expected to miss her, but her friend's absence had drawn a pall of sadness over Maya's mood, the feeling that none of her own actions would amount to much if she can't protect her own friends.
The aircraft jittered, slamming her into the seat back, taking her from regrets to a tiny frisson of concern. Maya grimaced and gave the clouds outside a wary glance. Given the turbulent ride of the last ten minutes, the serenity of the view was more likely courtesy of her imagination. The bones in Maya's neck clicked with the impact and she grabbed hold of the seat-arms on either side of her, her knuckles a little too pale.
Maya's brows knit together as the dull roar of the engines drowned out the softer exclamations and gasps of shock. Not even an A380 engine could hide the piercing shriek that rent the canned air of Economy. The sound reached out, knives to her eardrums, and Maya rolled her eyes and prayed the woman would shut up quickly. Just the sound of her cries was agitating the kid in the row behind Maya and she gritted her teeth as he began to kick her seat for the millionth time since they'd taken off.
All this bouncing around was inconvenient and more than a little annoying, but really nothing to get worked up about. Take Maya's neighbor for instance; the sole reaction from her so far had been a click of the tongue when her book had bounced off her knee and she'd lost her place.
Seasoned traveler to the core.
A russet-haired flight-attendant sashayed past, all long legs, gleaming chignon, and a touch too much makeup. She hunkered down beside the frantic woman, her face the picture of calm. Maya had to hand it to the girl. She dealt with the highly strung old lady with ease, her soft voice soothing, and within seconds she straightened, giving the woman's bony shoulder a kind pat.
Then, with a cursory glance over her shoulder, the redhead scanned the rows behind her before striding off toward the curtains up ahead. The navy-blue fabric hid a small galley from curious eyes as the crew prepared the evening meal.
Maya wrinkled her nose. The bouncing plane and the pungent odor of pre-packed, super-heated airplane food that wafted through the gap in the curtain weren't exactly a match made in heaven.
Gross.
Their cabin had been intermittently receiving their dinner amidst the constant waiting provided by the persistent turbulence, the smell hung in the air, thick and nauseating. Maya swallowed hard as her stomach rebelled. She'd stick with the butter and bread and the fruit, rather than try food that stank like stale cabbage. It was a wonder more people in the cabin weren't reaching for their barf bags.
Up ahead, the flight attendant almost made it to the doorway when the aircraft shuddered again, this time dropping so sharply that Maya
envisioned a nosedive from the sky, a fiery death as the plane plunged into the earth, and whole villages decimated on impact.
A one way trip to Patala, and not all that exciting since she'd been to the underworld a time or too already.
But, the experience was eerily reminiscent of the Discovery Channel docos about air crashes that people seemed to watch with bizarre fascination just before they were about to take a plane trip. Maya tried to ignore the drama. Not easy as books and magazines hit the carpeted floor, plastic cups and food-wrappings tumbled from laps, headphones yanked from ears, people exclaiming in varying degrees of shock.
Maya sighed, releasing the arms and feeling the stiffness in her fingers from her death-grip on the handles.
Okay, so maybe she didn't like imminent death any more than the next guy.
This was a perfect argument for god-assisted teleportation.
But seriously, people liked getting worked up about nothing, unlike her blond neighbor with her nose in her book who hadn't twitched since the first rocking and rolling began. Maya grinned and scanned the skies again. At least the oxygen masks hadn't fallen from the ceiling. The sudden drop of bright yellow masks would send the entire cabin into a sure state of panic.
But even as the passengers awaited the worst, the plane righted itself and all was well with the world again.
She glanced over at Joss who was still reading, oblivious to the near-death experience they'd just had.
She gave a soft sigh and left Joss to her book, tilting her head left and right to ease the soreness in her neck before leaning back against the seat. Somewhere, within the pit of her stomach, an ache had been building slowly. And her thoughts meandered back to thoughts better avoided.
A rush of hot shame snaked its way through Maya's veins as her thoughts drifted back to Ria. How many times had she criticized Ria for behaving the only way she'd known how; by maintaining the status quo in order to protect herself?
Now, she blinked hard at the memory of Ria's injuries, the bruises, the black eye. Her fingers curled into a fist, the flesh of her palm growing warm. The anger inside her swelled, frustrated, as if it wanted out.
And Maya exhaled.
"Easy there, Blaze," said Joss, leaning close to Maya's ear, a note of warning in her teasing.
Startled, Maya glanced at Joss's strained face. But she wasn't looking at Maya. Her friend's eyes were trained on the air in front of Maya's face.
Maya shifted her gaze and the blood within her veins went from volcanic to frigid in zero point five seconds flat. She stifled a gasp at the handful of dancing flames sprouting from her lips. Fire that had seeped into her throat, that had coated her mouth, now escaped her lips in the form of super-heated flame.
She coughed and spluttered, tasting heat and shock and a touch of anger. She pulled the power from the flame as fast as she could, and sucked it deep inside her core. The flames fell away into nothing, wisps of hazy smoke curling in front of Maya's face, twisting as it rose to the ceiling of the cabin.
"Crap. You think it'll set of the fire alarms?" Maya asked, her words a soft croak as she tried to keep her voice down. Then she frowned. "Do planes have fire alarms?"
Joss just stared at Maya's face, shaking her head as if she dealt with a three-year-old, steady patience mixed with a dollop of pity and a hint of amusement.
Maya waved a hand in front of her face, a desperate attempt to dissipate the pale cloud of stubborn smoke. Was it shock that made the flailing tendrils take the shape of a smoky dragon whose expression, though amused, bordered on the maniacal? She batted it away again and sighed, still feeling remnants of heat bathing her cheeks.
"Talk about being full of hot air." Joss snorted, still staring at Maya, her deep blue eyes oddly dark, shadowed by thick black lashes as she studied Maya's face.
Maya knew that look; Joss was worried but was battling a powerful need to show concern by discussing Maya's sudden fire-breathing talent in a cabin filled with potential eavesdroppers. Bets on, she'd force it out of Maya, before long, regardless of the consequences.
And she did.
"What the hell was that, Maya? When did you start belching freaking flames?" Joss's voice was a loud hiss, which thankfully remained deadened by the roar of the plane.
Reluctantly, Maya shifted her gaze to meet Joss's narrowed eyes. She lifted her chin a little and shrugged, holding tightly onto her calm because all she needed was a tiny little push in the right direction and she'd go all padded-room on Economy.
"Just now," she said with a nonchalant bob of her shoulder, grateful her parents were up ahead in Business.
Joss rolled her eyes. She sat back, spine stiff.
Not good.
Finally, she sighed and stabbed a finger into Joss's shoulder. "Okay, fine. I'll keep a lid on it. And as soon as we get home, I'll start practicing. Who knows how this will come in handy?" Maya was making light of the new ability, but she had to admit the whole fire-surging-from-her-mouth-thing scared her witless.
Was the dragon-flame a manifestation of the fire ability, or was this something totally new?
Joss lifted her hand and began to raise one slim, neon-blue digit at a time. "Self-generated saunas. Instant smores. Ooh, hot tub. We could sure use you if the power ever goes out." Joss bobbed her head, eyes gleaming with pride at her suggestions.
With her lips tightly pursed, Maya rolled her own eyes. "Whatever." She wasn't sure she liked the idea of being the serviceable equal of a gas-lamp.
Joss huffed softly and opened the books lying on her lap. Leaning in, Maya snuck a peek at the titles. Expecting a contemporary romance, or shock-horror, maybe even a paranormal one, she was surprised to see they were along the lines of meditation and chakras.
She stuck her elbow into Joss's arm. "You're going to look strange when you start floating cross-legged through Economy."
Joss raised her middle finger, flipped her off calmly then settled in to read her scintillating textbook.
Maya took that as her cue to return to her musings, this time concentrating on keeping a tighter rein on her fire, keeping all thoughts on Ria at bay.
The last thing she needed was to crash the plane by spontaneously combusting.
Chapter 2
Home sweet home.
The girls sighed in unison as they walked straight into Maya's darkened room, dropped their bags on the floor and fell face-down onto the bed, echoing each other's groans.
They lay on the soft mattress for a few minutes before turning over and scooting up onto the pillows. Kicking their shoes off onto the carpet, they remained in the semi-darkness, neither one moving to open the drapes and let in a little of the fading afternoon light.
Maya found herself listening for the sound of clicking toenails on the floorboards. She gave a tiny shake of her head, amused to discover she actually missed Sabala. For a black-as-night, four-eyed hell-hound he sure had a way of growing on a girl. Chayya had sent Sabala back to Patala while Maya had been busy with Lord Shiva's mission, but that didn't mean the four-eyed canine had a supernatural ability to sense Maya's presence. She'd have to ask Nik to send him home.
A few moments of pleasant silence passed, a strange dearth of sound after the constant hum of the aircraft engines.
Then Joss cleared her throat. "You think she's okay?"
Blood thrummed in Maya's ears and she took a moment to inhale sharply. Then she nodded, taking a certain comfort in knowing Joss was as worried about Ria as she was. "I'm sure she is. Mom said they'll take good care of her." Despite that assurance, Maya's concerns about Ria still persisted, strong and nagging.
A pregnant pause ensued, which Joss ended with a low chuckle. "A new identity, huh? Not sure how our Ria will handle that." Then she let out a sigh. "You think we'll be allowed to see her?"
Maya laughed softly, a sound already indicating the impossibility of such a thing. You didn't keep in touch with people in what was pretty much witness protection.
"You'll see her again, but only i
f you can both keep your mouths shut," came an amused voice.
Or maybe you do?
Both girls shifted onto their elbows to stare at Maya's mom as she stood leaning against the door jamb, a fluffy towel in her hand. Leela's almost-black hair, so like Maya's, framed her oval face and hung way past her shoulders in luxurious waves. She looked like an older version of Maya, and though her looks were awesome, Maya often hoped she'd inherit her wisdom too. Her mom knew stuff.
"When?" asked Joss and Maya in unison before glancing at each other in anticipation and relief.
A corner of Leela's mouth turned up, a smile that did nothing to hide her fatigue. She tilted her head to look at the girls, revealing that she understood their need to see Ria only too well. Maya felt a frisson of sadness for her mom's past grief.
At least Ria would have contact with her friends, unlike Leela's experience. Maya still reeled from learning of her mom's previous marriage, the abuse, and of how she'd had to run from everyone she cared for. Even today, her family had no idea where she'd gone.
Maya blinked back the film of moisture that suddenly covered her eyes and forced herself to concentrate on her mom's voice.
"A few weeks," Leela was saying, giving them a reassuringly calm nod. "She just needs to do some training and learn to live with her new self." As she spoke she ran her fingertips back and forth over the soft towel, a soothing gesture that probably had more to do with her own heart than with comforting the girls.
