The Hand of Kali Box Set (Books 1-3) Page 37

  I laughed, still keeping my voice down. Best to not draw her attention our way if she hadn't seen us already.

  Nik just grinned as our food arrived and we swapped around bowls of chicken fettuccine, Spaghetti bolognese, and Chicken Parmigiana while keeping one eye on the table of demons up ahead. A waitress brought a pizza to their table and we watched them devour it quite humanly, quite neatly.

  Joss cleared her throat. "I really was expecting to see them eat like ravenous beasts, dripping sauce and cheese all over the place. How disappointing."

  "They are behaving very human. Too human for my liking." I tilted me head at Nik. "Is this how they managed to blend into human society? I remember you mentioned a while ago that there are many of them living among us quite innocently going about their lives."

  Nik nodded. "Not all of them are bad. This Rakshasi though, she'd got bad news written all over her."

  The demons didn't take long to polish off their pizza and before long they rose and left, with not a hint of whether either had noticed Maya and her friends.

  "Phew. Thanks goodness they're gone, now I can enjoy my meal," said Joss, making a face.

  Maya let out a breath, as if she'd been holding it the entire evening. Maya laughed. "It's not like you can smell them the way I do."

  "Maybe I can't smell them but the sight of them does give me the creeps and that gives me a stomach ache. Now they've left I can eat in peace," said Joss, forking Bolognese into her mouth.

  Maya relaxed only when the odor of spices and raw meat had totally disappeared. Then only could she be certain the demon was no longer anywhere in their vicinity. And like Joss, then only could she enjoy her food.

  Her mind was still on the demon teacher when they dropped Joss off at home. They waited until she waved and ducked inside the darkened house. Seems her parents weren't home. No surprises there.

  Chapter 14

  Maya and Nik stood at the edge of the local park which was usually filled with joggers and walkers and kids and moms in the daylight. They had left the car in the small parking lot a few yards away, and walked to the edge of the grassy park that bordered the tree-filled reserve. Night transformed the place into something creepy that screamed stay-away-unless-you-want-trouble. Even the lamps lighting the pathways that weaved in and out of the park flickered as if threatening to remove their safety any minute.

  Maya rubbed her hands together and glanced up at Nik. "Now what?"

  "Use your nose, Fido," Nik answered with such a cheeky grin she almost forgave him for the dog quip. Almost.

  "You didn't just call me Fido did you?" she asked, her voice ending in a squeak.

  Nik nodded. "Guilty as charged. You are the one with the super powered nose aren't you? Now use it." He nodded his head at the expanse of shadowed trees and grass in front of them. Maya just grunted then payed closer attention to the area around them.

  "Fine. But I will find a way to make you pay for that." She threw him one last glare.

  "I will look forward to it," was all he said.

  Maya glanced at Nik, hiding her smile. He always had a way of making her happy even when she was angry or annoyed.

  She turned her attention onto the park and relaxed. Then breathed deeply. A light rain had fallen and Maya could smell the dustiness of the pathway, the scent of peonies in flowerbed to her right. The green of the grass around her.

  "Relax,"said Nik beside her. "Try again and this time remember the smell and taste of the different blood types."

  She rolled her shoulders and breathed in and out. Then she smelled again, drawing on the memory of the blood in the vials. Then she smelled a familiar odor. Human blood. And Maya flinched. With the power to detect the blood also came the power to hear heartbeats.

  "What's wrong?" Nik asked softly. "What do you smell?"

  "It's not what I smell. It's what I can hear."

  "Hear?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

  Maya nodded. "I can hear this tattoo of heartbeats from all around the park, like soft background music." Maya tilted her head a little to hear them better and yes, she could still hear the thud-thud of human heartbeats. Then she looked at Nik. "What does a demon heartbeat sound like?"

  "You'll know it when you hear it. It's not like a human heartbeat so will recognize the difference almost immediately."

  "Okay. So what next? Do we take a walk? Walk and sniff?" said Maya making a face.

  "I agree, let's walk a bit, and you can keep trying to pick up on anything around us." Nik moved forward and Maya hurried to keep up.

  She concentrated on smelling and trying to detect anything unusual in the air. After ten minutes of strolling the outer pathways of the park, Maya clicked her tongue in disgust. "This is just a huge waste of time."

  "Patience, Maya. I know for a fact we have a demon lurking around here at night. We've had reports of a couple of crackheads complaining they've woken up in the park the next day with strange injuries." Nik fell silent.

  "Okay. I guess you're not going to elaborate because I'm supposed to identify the demon first?" asked Maya.Nik nodded and Maya snorted, turning her attention to the park again.

  She took a deep breath and came to a sudden stop.

  "Got something?" asked Nik.

  "I think so." Maya inhaled again, trying to grasp onto the scent. She scowled as she concentrated harder. There, a hint of meat. "I think its a Rakshasa. I can smell that meat odor." Maya paused then coughed. "No, is a more intensely rotted meat odor. It's a Vitala."

  She faced Nik who was nodding his expression serious, worried. "Yes. It's definitely a vampire demon and you've just confirmed what I suspected."

  "You mean you didn't know for sure?"

  "How could I unless someone sighted the demon, or unless I got uncomfortably close. And from the reports the police have received, nobody has actually seen them. All they have are gouges in their flesh the next day. And of course A strange case of a lot of missing blood, as if they've been drained."

  Maya shuddered. "Okay, so it's a Vitala. Are we going to find it? Now?"

  "We have come prepared. And we really shouldn't leave the demon running around here any longer than necessary. Who knows when they'll get sloppy or greedy and start killing people. So far they've been feeding off the drug addicts that pass through the park. The longer they remain, the more demanding their needs will get and we can't let it get that far. The risks of someone beginning to investigate will be too high." In the darkness of the evening Nik sounded deadly serious and Maya agreed with every reason he put forward to catch and kill this creature.

  "Right, let's get on with it," she said, digging around in her backpack for her Madus. These were the ones from Patala that Nik had given her before her last mission. She dipped the tips into the bottle of Naga poison that had come with it and tucked the bottle safely back into her bag. Then she moved off the sidewalk and hid the backpack beneath the dense brush. She moved back to the path and readied herself, swiping the weapons back and forth, and around her. "What about a weapon for you?" she eyed Nik.

  "I have my weapon," he said as a short, wide-bladed sword slid from his oversized jacket sleeve.

  "Nice." Maya grinned and nodded as they strode further into the shadows of the trees in the middle of the park. "You know, I've been wondering if we shouldn't start making guns to kill these demons. A little Naga poison in a bullet, fill a Glock with rounds of poisoned bullets and we'll be fit for battle."

  "That is a good idea. I shall put a proposal to my father and tell you his thoughts." Maya did a double-take at Nik. She'd been teasing and hadn't expected to have him take her seriously but now that she thought about the idea of one day packing a weapon loaded with the ability to kill demons made her feel happy and confident.

  The shadows closed around them and every little sound made Maya jump.

  "Relax and try to filter all the other sounds out." Nik offered from beside her, his eyes on the path, on the bushes and trees. His eyes were all amber and glowing, simil
ar to how they looked the day she'd first seen it happen and assumed he was really a Rakshasa himself. She recalled how angry and upset she'd been.

  "What's with your eyes?" she asked. "You have some kind of glowing night-vision thing going on?"

  Nik just nodded. It was enough to remind Maya to shut up and concentrate on tracking the demons. She breathed in and out steadily. Filtering the smells through, listening for heartbeats. As they walked toward the darkest part of the park, where the branches of the trees entwined overhead to form a canopy so thick that only the heavy rains were able to find a way to trickle through, Maya paused. She thought she smelled something. An odor of rotten meat again. This time much stronger than the scent from outside of the trees.

  Maya looked over at Nik and whispered, "We're close."

  "How close?" he asked, his voice emotionless.

  "Not close enough to hear a heartbeat," Maya answered feeling a little put out at Nik's tone. But she really should get a grip and concentrate on the job. Nik was taking this seriously and so should she. "I'll let you know as soon as I'm that close."

  Maya turned her attention to the trees around them, concentrating harder on the odor of the Vitala blood. The scent was much stronger now filling her nostrils to puke point. And she was beginning to detect the softest flutter of heartbeats. A light thrum that put the vampire about twenty yards away.

  Chapter 15

  "Nik," Maya whispered. When he looked at her she pointed in the direction of the Vitala's location. She hunkered down, mimicking Nik, then duckwalked closer to the stand of trees.

  Through the brush they saw a small clearing, the center of which was occupied by a small oak whose branches were too short to reach the surrounding trees. This gave the clearing a clear view of the night sky. The demon paced the ground in front of the tree.

  Nik nodded and he and Maya pushed the branches aside and entered the clearing, weapons at the ready. The Vitala turned, speaking before it set eyes on them. "What took you-" Then he stopped speaking, and hissed at the two of them.

  Maya was taken aback for a moment. The creature looked pretty much like a human, even his attire of jeans and a hoodie would allow him to pass for the next guy on the street. But when he hissed he sounded totally inhuman, and the rows of sharp teeth he revealed sent the appropriate amount of chills up and down Maya's spine.

  "Okay, handsome. How about you give up and make this easy on yourself?" she offered, knowing already that he'd never take it.

  He ran at her and Maya lunged with the Madus, swiping left and right and catching him on each of his arms, satisfied that the poison would begin to do its work soon enough. He screeched and held only his arms, staring at her in fury. Then he grunted and ran at her again, as if he'd channeled his fury onto her. He swiped hard at her hand, sending the one Madu flying into the trees.

  Maya grunted, and took it as a sign that it was time to bring out the big guns. She accessed her fire and pulled at it, channeling it fast from her solar plexus, through her veins and into her free palm. Her palm tingled expectantly. She'd had plenty of time to perfect the art of calling her fire. Now she sent a blast of flame straight at the Vitala.

  ]But the fire never hit the vampire.

  Maya was knocked off her feet by a flying body. She rolled over and scrambled to get up again. Another Vitala. This time a female. The vampire got to her feet, brushed back a wave of red-brown hair and faced Maya, her unexpectedly attractive features twisted in a vicious grin. She glared at Maya with almond shaped, blue greed eyes. No fair, Maya thought. Too pretty for a blood sucking demon.

  Off to the side, the male groaned, having been flung against the tree trunk by the force of the flames. The acrid smell of burnt flesh permeated the air. Maya nodded, satisfied.

  The female screeched just as loudly as the male had, launched herself onto Maya. Behind the Vitala, Nik stood at the ready but unable to attack for fear of hurting Maya. He kept an eye on the male who was now hobbling on his feet watching the melee. Maya and the female vampire fell to the ground, rolling over twice before Maya got a foot under the demon's abdomen and shoved her away. At the same time she slashed hard at the creatures neck with the vicious dagger-tip of the remaining Madu.

  It was enough.

  The dagger sliced straight through the vampire’s jugular, spraying hot blood all over Maya. The Vitala was as good as dead. As the female hit the ground Maya got the scent of the male.

  Violently angry, and nearing her fast.

  Although Nik called out, Maya was ready for the Vitala. She bounced from one foot to another, tossing her Madu back and forth between her hands. He so didn't scare her anymore. Every time he moved toward her she slashed our at him. He growled, angry that he was unable to gain on her. Frustrated, he made a mad dash into the bushes behind the oak and the clearing fell silent.

  "Where'd he go?" yelled Nik.

  "Not far," said Maya quietly. She looked up into the branches of the oak and grinned. The leaves shook and her eyes met the Vitala's. He'd thought he'd hidden himself well enough but not far enough away from Maya's nose. "You've preyed on enough innocent people. Your number's up, dude."

  He didn't answer, as if his silence hid him among the leaves. But even if he was unaware that Maya had seen, him, had smelled him, it made not difference. She was still intent on killing him. She aimed a stream of fire at the trunk of the oak, keeping it steady until it began to flare with flame. Then Maya moved to the lower branches, training strong pulses of fire at the leaves. She move relentlessly until the entire tree was in flames, burning so bright she had to step a few paces away.

  And while the fire raged the demon screamed. He couldn't leave the tree, couldn't jump for fear of getting caught. And now the tree was going to mean his death as surely as it had offereed an escape.

  Maya and Nik backed away further from the conflagration. "The fire department will be here soon. We'd better get out of here," said Nik waving the smoke from his face.

  "My Madu," yelled Maya rushing to the trees. The smoke scraped at her throat as she rummaged around on the ground, almost whooping for joy when she found the missing weapon. She felt the luxurious heat of the tree against the cold of the night. Nik grasped her hand and they ran, not stopping until they came to the bush where she'd hidden her backpack.

  She reached for the strapped and grabbed hold, about to pull when felt Nik shove her into the bush. Then she was nose to nose with him hiding under the leaves as police and firemen raced past.

  "We can't run," said Nik, eyes on the path.

  "Then, transport us out of her now." Maya said, shocking on a cough.

  "Okay." Nik scowled scanning the path through the trees as he held out his hand.

  He was too late.

  "Hey." The voice sounded to their left. Two separate pathways came pretty close together with just the small bush and a few wide-leaved plants between them. Maya shoved the Madus into her bag and scrambled to Nik. She shoved him against the wide tree trunk at his back and grabbed his hands, looping them behind her. Then she planted her lips onto Nik's and wound her hands around his neck. Just in time, as the leaves parted and a policeman stared at them, not even bothering to wipe the sleazy smile from his lips.

  "You two better get outta here. There's a fire up ahead and you might want to take your little party to a more private place." He was still grinning as he held the leaves aside for them. They pushed off the tree, brushing the dirt off their clothes. Maya didn't dare to look at Nik's face. She grabbed her rucksack and threw it over her shoulders hurrying up the pathway, keeping her face down to mimic embarrassment. She was far from embarrassed though. The whole episode had been rather thrilling.

  Once they were out in the grassy bank where they'd first stood, a few yards from Nik's car, Maya stopped walking. She might as well face the music. When she turned to face Nik as he walked up behind her, she stopped and closed her mouth. She'd been about to apologize but when she saw the grin on his face she stopped.

  "Smart
move there, Maya." He nodded approvingly.

  "Really?" she asked him, folding her arms. She wasn't sure how to feel now. A soft flush crept along her cheeks.

  Nik walked up to her and bent close. So close all she had to do was tip her head forward to touch her lips to his. But she didn't move. She kept her eyes down, afraid what she would see in his eyes after she'd accosted him. Despite his approval she wasn't sure about his reaction.

  Nik cupped the back of her head and titled her face up forcing her eyes to meet his. He smiled then looked at her mouth. She took a breath and then he kissed her. A soft, tender kiss that deepened as she leaned in toward him.

  Then she remembered the blood.

  "Oh gross."

  "Gross?" Nik looked affronted.

  Maya giggled as she saw his hurt expression. "No. Not you," she said pointing to the blood on her face. "This."

  "It's just a little blood."

  "It's just a little gross," she responded glad the hoodie had hidden her blood-wrenched face and chest.

  "But you tasted the blood of the Vitala just the other day." Poor Nik. So confused.

  "It's still gross." She grabbed him by the arm. "You won't understand. I need to get home and shower. This is way too disgusting."

  Nik shook his head and went around to open the car, mumbling something about women and how crazy they were no matter which plane they lived on and how he didn't think he'd ever understand them.

  Maya just smiled.

  Chapter 16

  Maya sat at the kitchen table doing her homework while her mom rolled out rotis. A very suburban evening for a very non-suburban family.

  Not to mention the totally non-suburban four-eyed hell-hound lying on the floor beside her.

  Maya stared at the blackened burn mark she'd made not so long ago. Her mom had refused to sand it away and re-varnish it. Even when Maya offered to do it herself she'd still refused, saying she wanted the reminder of how power in a human is far from godly and that the bearer of that power has a great responsibility. All Maya saw was evidence of how stupid and childish she'd been.