Gods Ascendent: The Apsara Chronicles #2 Page 4

  Add that to the fact that the man possessed the power to stop time and you had a ticking bomb ready and waiting to go off.

  Vee was intrigued, yes. But she was all too aware that he was dangerous. And ruthless.

  When you wrestled with a snake, you had to remember to stay far away from the fangs.

  Still, wrestling aside, Vee was not too embarrassed to admit to herself that she felt used by the man. As if she was a puppet and all he had to do was tug on her strings, and she’d dance to his tune.

  Karan wriggled on the seat then shifted to look at Vee. “Coffee? I believe Mauro over there makes amazing beignets.” He spoke with a casual smile that would have anyone believe that Vee and he were friends meeting up or a couple on a date.

  Vee shook her head. The thought of fried dough covered in sugar made her stomach turn. “Thanks, but I’d rather not. I’ve been a little queasy since my run-in with demon blood and guts a few hours ago.” She gave a small shudder and wrinkled her nose. “I can still smell them on me. And I’m about to get up close and personal with samples of demon blood and guts soon too.” Vee made a strange sound inside her throat and Karan cast her a concerned glance. She swallowed hard, aware that she’d sounded like she was about to throw up.

  “Are you not feeling well?”

  Vee lifted an eyebrow. “Everything I just said about blood and guts? That didn’t give you any hints?”

  Karan’s mouth lifted in a small smile. “I admit I was unsure. You are of course an Apsara warrior. The thought that you would be ill at the sight of blood had not occurred to me.” The look he gave her implied her reputation had fallen a smidge in his estimation.

  Vee shook her head, cleared her throat and said, “Apsara warrior for all of five seconds. Without the necessary training, in case you missed that part.” Vee tilted her head to study Karan’s face. “Is that why you picked me. You knew who I was?”

  Karan shrugged. “What is it that you agency people say? I’m not at liberty to discuss it?” He smirked.

  Vee huffed. She was beginning to lose patience with the man. Or whatever he was. “I have work. I’m assuming you want a rundown of what happened last night?”

  Karan sat back and folded his arms. He didn’t respond, but Vee knew him enough to know that she’d better be giving him the details fast before he lost his patience. Karan was not the type of man who appreciated it when things didn’t go his way.

  “You were right.” He tapped his head and flourished an invisible hat as he took credit for his information. Vee rolled her eyes and continued, “The murder scene out in Queens turned out not to be murder. Just a case of extreme pain extraction.”

  Karan—who had folded his arms again— ran a finger over his lips. “So, it was a bhayakara. I had suspected so.”

  Vee turned to face him, folding a knee onto the bend. “So you knew I was going to come up against a bhayakara, and you didn’t bother to give me the heads up? I could have died.” Vee kept her tone even, but her ire had risen at the thought that he could have sent her in armed with a little more information than ‘a demon sucking people dry and leaving them for dead.’

  Karan cast her an impatient glance. “I didn’t know. I suspected. I didn’t want you going in prepared for what I may or may not have suspected would be waiting for you. Besides, you went in wary and expecting anything. I wouldn’t have thought you’d have wanted it any other way.”

  Vee let out a breath and bit onto her lower lip to stop herself from yelling at the man. After taking a long calming breath, Vee looked up at Karan and continued, “I tracked him to the warehouse, and I killed him. Satisfied?”

  Karan smiled and nodded. He leaned forward and slapped his hands onto his thighs. “Just as I expected. You always come through. That’s why you’re my favorite.”

  Vee made a rude sound. “Well, just to be clear, things didn’t go as you’d expected.”

  Karan paused. “You just said you managed to track him down and eliminate him.”

  Eliminate. Such a sanitized word.

  Chapter 7

  I eliminated him, yes. But the other two demons who happened upon me? Who almost relieved me of my warrior Apsara head? I was unfortunately only able to eliminate,” Vee fashioned air quotes in the air as she spoke the word eliminate, “one of them.”

  “Other two demons?” Karan was now at the edge of the park bench, turning to face Vee, his olive skin darkening.

  She nodded, sitting back again with a sigh. She was so tired. Was this what her best years were supposed to feel like? Constant, never-ending direness? “Pey demons. A mated pair from what I saw.”

  “Were they together?” Karan paused as my eyebrows rose. He gave a short shake of his head and said, “I mean with the bhayakara?”

  Vee shrugged. “I didn’t stop to chat. A little in a hurry to prevent the whole-being-ravaged-by-a-pey thing.” Vee let out a long breath and shook her head. “Sorry. Tired.”

  Karan nodded in silence, appearing not to have been affected by her shortness. He spent a few seconds staring off at little floating boats as the sound of laughter and yelling from the children around the pond rose and fell on the chilly morning air, a starkly mundane backdrop to the horror of the New York demon underworld.

  “Let me try and figure out what that means. I didn’t have any Intel on this particular demon working in a group. Do you think this could have been a coincidence?”

  Vee shook her head, frowning as she thought back to the attack of the hellish couple, how they’d moved in utter silence, approached without her even hearing them. “They knew what they were doing. They were coordinated, moved as though each step had been planned. They were either there for the bhayakara or for me.”

  Karan was already nodding, his train of thought meeting Vee’s with little effort. “I will look into it and let you know.” He got to his feet and turned, as if to bid Vee goodbye.

  Scowling, Vee surged to her feet. “That’s all you have to say? I come within an inch of losing my head for good, three times in ten minutes might I add, and all you have to say is you’ll look into it?”

  Karan shifted his gaze to Vee, his eyes now glowing a feline gold. Blood rushed to her head as she registered a sudden silence in the park. She swallowed hard as she turned to scan the area around her. The kids around the pond were frozen in place, hands pointed, mouths open. A little boy, faces scrunched, stared at the scoop of ice cream that was falling from his cone, bound for his feet. Up the hill, a man had thrown a Frisbee, and his cocker spaniel had frozen in mid-jump and was hovering in mid-air, jaw open wide, teeth glinting.

  Behind the park bench a little boy had climbed a tree and was balancing on the branch, one foot in the air. His face was filled with laughter, although a small hint of consternation shadowed his expression.

  Vee turned to the coffee cart, and her heart stilled. A woman carrying a baby was walking past the cart while the last customer was in the process of turning away from Mauro, a cup of steaming coffee in each hand.

  The mother was smiling and whispering to the pink-swaddled infant who was staring up at her, a wide grin on the baby’s face. She remained unaware of the danger.

  Vee turned to stare at Karan, unsure if she should be yelling at him for being so careless or if she should really be wondering if he’d known the danger the mother and child had been about to face.

  “What are you doing,” Vee whispered, afraid that if she spoke too loudly, the frozen time might shatter and people would get hurt.

  Karan, who had been watching the boy in the tree, turned to look at Vee. “The world is so full of unknowns that even when you believe that you see everything around you, you know nothing at all, you are blind.”

  “I don’t understand what you mean. Or what it is you hope to achieve. All I see is someone playing games with the lives of innocent people.” Vee dragged in a rattling breath as her gaze flickered back to the mother and child. “I’ve debriefed you. I was hoping you’d have something constructive to t
ell me other than to play games with the lives of innocents.” Vee waved her hand at the frozen park, catching sight of the kites overhead. Though mostly still, there was a hint of movement, a flicker of a tail here, an undulation of a wing there.

  Vee’s attention snapped back to Karan—he was surveying the park as if drinking up a stunning view. Heat had built up inside her head so much that she felt her skull was about to explode. Stress, fatigue, and the gods only knew what else, built up the pressure inside her brain. She was about to yell at him to stop this insanity when he shifted his gaze back to her.

  “There has been another murder. But this one is different. It could be connected. I cannot say with any degree of certainty either way. What I do know is that a killer is on the loose, and lives are at stake.” His eyes narrowed as he stared at Vee. “Your life could be at stake. Do not be careless.”

  Vee had opened her mouth to respond but found herself closing it slowly. Then she took a breath. “Scene of the murder?”

  Karan jerked a chin to Vee’s phone. “Already sent. You should get a message soon.” He sighed, and the sound died in the vacuum that surrounded them. “I chose you. Forget my reasons. Consider the choice as having been a task to select the person best suited for the role. Perhaps you have an advantage, and perhaps we need that advantage. But believe me, nobody is exploiting you. At least not for reasons that you yourself would not wholeheartedly agree with.

  “This world…this plane…it’s no longer the place we once loved. Kaliyug is here, and the demon horde has broken free from their chains. I’m helping you, however I can, using whatever means I have at my disposal. I’m sharing information with you, bits and pieces, snippets of whispers on the grapevine that filter to me. I pass what I can verify on to you. I refuse to willingly put you in harm’s way.

  “You are far too valuable in this game. The portal grows with every day, every hour that passes. We cannot be precious or sensitive about our tasks, about what we find ourselves having to do to keep this world safe. The Demon Horde grows stronger every day. And make no mistake, there are entities out there who are just waiting in the shadows for an opportunity to take control of this plane away from the gods. I do what I must. You do what you must.”

  Vee wasn’t sure what to say. His monologue had been lengthy, and she’d been unsure of whether she ought to be asking questions or if she should have gone to help get the woman and her child safely away. She’d remained frozen on the spot, as if she too were caught up in Karan’s web.

  He inclined his head, his expression saying that he wasn’t in the least bit offended that she’d had no decent response to his words. He turned and walked toward the cart and calmly removed the two paper cups from the man’s hands. He set the cups onto the serving counter of the cart and turned on his heel.

  A bird called in the distance and the sound of the wind skimming Vee’s ears almost drowned out the creak of a nearby branch.

  Karan walked across the path, avoiding a jogger whose skin glistened with sweat, and a pair of teenagers whose eyes were focused only on their devices. Vee frowned as she watched him, holding her breath as time began to run again, slowly as if the brakes weren’t strong enough to hold and they were giving a little at a time.

  Vee shook her head, unable to believe the risks Karan had gone to simply to make a point.

  She’d meant to go after him as he walked past her and headed up toward the tree. But she stopped as he paused beneath the branch, then stepped back a foot, as if gauging the distance from the branch to the ground.

  The niggle became a tugging on Vee’s brain.

  Then Karan moved into position below the branch and curved his arms. Just in time. The world righted itself, kids yelled and laughed, and kites bobbed on the icy wind.

  “What the…” the perplexed customer said behind me.

  “Hey, watch it,” growled the mother, a lioness protecting her cub.

  A dog woofed and a man said. “Good boy, Roscoe, good dog.”

  A branch creaked louder until the crack echoed around them when it broke.

  A boy fell from the tree, letting out a shriek.

  He landed in Karan’s arms, staring around him in shock. Karan set the kid on his feet almost instantly. Then he tugged at the hem of his coat, righted himself and strode off down the pathway.

  Before Vee could call out to him, her phone buzzed to alert her that she’d just received a message. She retrieved her cell phone from her pocket and studied the contents of the email. Then she glanced up and scanned the crowd for Karan’s retreating form.

  Her lab work was going to have to wait. She had a crime scene to visit.

  Won’t Monroe be happy.

  As Vee left the park, her mind already focused on the new murder, something Karan had said hit her. He’d said, “That’s why you’re my favorite.”

  Favorite what?

  There were only two options that made sense. She was either Karan’s favorite FBI agent on call twenty-four-seven, or she was his favorite heavenly warrior.

  What in all the gods’ names had he meant by that?

  Were there more Apsaras out there?

  Chapter 8

  Karan paced the narrow portion of carpet that bore no pattern. It was an odd habit. One that had not gone unremarked on by his companions. He’d never been comfortable with walking on something created by the hands of another.

  The intricate beauty of hand-woven rugs always reminded him that a human being had slaved over that piece, weaving the threads, assessing the pattern with a level of scrutiny that only a conscious being could afford. He’d be willing to bet that though a computer—in this modern age—would recreate such a piece with perfect accuracy, that it would still lack what a human would give to the art.

  It had something to do with spirit. Karan believed that everything a creative person touched, a sculptor, an artist, a dress designer, they all created out of a passion that was inherent to them, almost like a song sung to their own individual tune. No two people could create something that mirrored the other to perfection. Even the greatest forgers had a specific style unique to them. So unique in fact, that specialist could identify those particular habits and recognize the artwork as a reproduction by a particular forger with a mere glance.

  Karan had been fascinated by art and the art world. Though he’d been sent to perform an arduous task, his eye had wandered—he’d never admit it—to the art of humanity. Often, he’d wonder if art was the essence of the spirit. Artists toil to bring their work to life. Often not merely for money or for accolades, simply to bring out that inherent need or desire within themselves that seeks the light, that desires freedom.

  Some people would consider an artist a selfish person, in that their service is to their art as opposed to a business or for the greater good. But Karan had never seen it that way. The goddess Laxmi, mother of light, was also the goddess of music, art, and dance. Was it any wonder that those talents were the abilities the goddess of light, the goddess of personal wealth, sought out?

  He heaved a great sigh and stopped his pacing. He knew what had gotten him so restless. His meeting with the Apsara Vaishnavi in Central Park had not gone as he had hoped.

  He had slipped up, said something to her that had made her wonder. He had come to New York with one task—to help guide the apsara toward her destiny. But knowing she was in danger made him feel edgy. He wished he had an army at his command which he could charge with her protection. But he could not make a move. He could not alert those few who would wish to harm her.

  They had been through this all before. Such a long time ago that it had begun to seem like a myth. A story of their past that they were beginning to forget. This world was not made for the gods, and yet here they remained until they could enter their own realm again. The time would come, Karan was sure if it. But he had little idea as to when that will be.

  A knock on the door drew his attention and a demon was ushered inside.

  “Carl,” Karan called out. �
��What do you have for me?”

  Carl was Karan’s contact deep within the demon army. Unbeknownst to the gods—not to mention humanity—the Demon Horde was amassing far faster than expected.

  “I have some information on a sub-sect of the New York Demonic Horde Assembly—the peys,” the man said as he handed over a file. “They haven’t officially broken away, but they are performing as an independent battalion.”

  “What kind of risk do they pose to our mission?” Karan asked, suspicious now in light of the covert attack on Vee by a pair of pey demons.

  Carl tilted his head, his startling fuchsia eyes gleaming. “I’m not sure if they do at all. They seem to be functional and self-dependent. As a whole, they aren’t a danger to either the Demonic Horde or to our goals. The reason I’m mentioning it to you is that this particular sect is mother goddess worshippers. I know from my contacts that their priests have repeatedly attempted to summon the goddess. I don’t know they have ever been successful but that is of a concern to you, I believe?”

  That was not a piece of news that Karan wanted to hear. Had they succeeded in receiving Parvathi’s attention, things could definitely go sideways for the gods. Should Parvathi align herself with the demons, there was no turning back from that. But Karan needed to get a little more information on if she’d ever had any dealings with them before he pointed suspicion in her direction.

  Karan nodded and began to pace again. Carl was a mild-mannered man, not overly eager. As a mole he’d turned out well, a demon with a human wife and two halfling children, merely seeking to ensure the safety of his family in the greater scheme of things. Karan supported his wife and children while Carl went undercover for him.

  Until now, Carl had been his sole source of information from within the Horde. Even Cassandra hadn’t budged on information. He suspected he’d need to pay the scorpion goddess another visit sometime soon, but he put that in the back of his mind.

  “So, what can I go on that is concrete?”