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  Why did family have to be so frustrating? One would think that the general aging of all parties involved would mean that interactions, and reactions, would be a little more mature.

  One would think wrong.

  She ignored the large white box on the counter beside the door, and began to pace.

  Vee’s father’s pendant. The strange invitation. Revenge. Her mother’s inability to give a damn.

  She let out a groan and dragged stiff fingers through her hair. Why couldn’t the woman just do something for Vee for once, without considering herself first? Vee had seen the emotions play across her mother’s face.

  Devi thought she was so good at hiding her feelings, schooling her features, but little did she realize Vee knew her far too well. And what she’d seen in her mother’s eyes, the fear, the hesitation, the denial, had been enough for Vee to know what Devi was going to say. Even before she’d opened her mouth.

  Filled with the need to vent some of her fury, she kicked an innocent trashcan, sending it soaring into the air before it fell, clanging loudly on the pristine white tiles as it hit the floor.

  Instead of feeling better, she felt guilty for being immature and losing her cool.

  Just great.

  Letting out a stale breath of air—one she’d had no idea she’d been holding—Vee spun on her heel, figuring it was time to check on her package.

  She’d barely turned when a buzzing filled her ears, daggers of sound piercing her eardrums and making her flinch.

  Vee looked over her shoulder.

  Pain spliced through the side of her head and she went flying into the air. She hit the shelves above the counter, smashing into the beakers and microscopes all inventoried and lined up so neatly.

  Glass shattered and angry shards embedded themselves into Vee’s back as her torso slammed into the debris. Then she dropped, hit the counter catching her skull on the edge, and fell to the floor.

  A moment of awareness flickered through her mind as she regained her senses, re-centered her balance, and landed in a low crouch. The impact jarred through to her bones, and her head throbbed where she’d been hit.

  Vee blinked hard, seeing red for a few seconds as blood dripped into her eyes. She swiped it away with the back of her hand and scanned the room, searching for her attacker.

  He stood a few feet from her, black armor gleaming. Oddly, Vee found it hard to make out his features, as if his face was a smudged section of her vision that she couldn’t blink away—similar to a torn contact lens or an injury to her cornea.

  “What the hell do you want?” she yelled, then gasped as the effort sent a thrum of pain through her skull.

  He didn’t answer.

  Glowing behind his steel mask, flames flickering red and orange and white-hot, her attacker’s eyes focused on Vee.

  Eyes filled with the promise of death.

  Chapter 14

  The black-armored attacker advanced, the ground vibrating with every step. Vee’s heart pounded in time with each of his footfalls.

  Who was he and what the hell did he want with her?

  Instinctively she backed away, then realized what she was doing and halted mid-motion.

  She changed course and stepped toward him, closing the distance between them. She feinted a punch at his head, and as he bent to the left to avoid it, Vee landed a solid punch to his midsection. Her fisted fingers crunched against the stoney surface of his armor and pain seared her hand.

  She had no time to react, leaving herself open for the punch that he aimed at her head. Almost too, late she blinked away her shock and veered right. The buckles on her attacker’s arm-brace scraped her cheek as it surged past, but Vee barely registered the injury as he landed a fist to her gut.

  The blow thrust the air from her lungs and she wheezed, struggling to inhale again. Panic filled her as she found it impossible to inhale, but she didn’t have the time to waste on a minor thing like breathing because he backhanded her with such force that the impact lifted her into the air like a rag doll.

  Time slowed and she threw her arms out, swinging them wildly in a desperate hope to be ready when she hit the ground.

  Instead, she crashed into the large upright refrigerator behind her, leaving a deep imprint of her skull and shoulder in the gleaming metal. The impact sent the appliance wobbling back and forth.

  Vee slid down the fridge door, absently registering the crashing of beakers and bottles of chemicals within the fridge, and it occurred to her that, with all the different liquids stored inside, there could potentially be a bomb coalescing from the combination of fumes and chemicals.

  Still, a potential explosion was the least of her worries.

  Her attacker advanced on her and though she tried to scramble away, he proved inhumanly fast for his size and girth.

  And inhumanly strong.

  A gloved hand closed around her neck, the grip tightening as he lifted her off the ground. His height meant the distance between her feet and the ground was too large for a safe landing and Vee experienced a momentary fear of falling.

  But when the fingers around her neck intensified, her full attention focused again on the black-garbed menace who’d stormed into her lab and attacked her.

  She was still at a loss as to why.

  The hold on her throat only tightened as her weight pressed against it and she struggled for breath once more. A gurgling sound rang in her ears and it took long moments before it occurred to her that the frantically hysterical wheezing belonged to Vee herself.

  Raising her hands, she gripped the gauntlets at her attacker’s wrists and pulled, desperate for a breath.

  Dark spots filled her vision, aggravated by bright sparkling lights that only served to blind her, adding to her pain and increasing her vertigo.

  Her eyes fluttered closed and her body began to sag.

  “That will be enough,” a gritty voice called from the other end of the lab.

  Vee forced her lids open, and would have gasped—had it been physically possible. The air shimmered, glistening as if wet, and in the center a golden glow had formed. A glow occupied by an impossibly beautiful man.

  Strong jaw, high brows and cheekbones, aquiline nose, jet-black hair grazing his shoulders. He gave off a regal . . . no, not regal, more like deific air. Vee hung like a rag doll in mid-air as she studied the visitor through half-closed eyes.

  The man took a small step forward, although he didn’t leave his shimmering portal entrance. A smirk spread across his lips, marring his beauty enough for Vee to question her judgment.

  Then again, she was probably suffering severe oxygen deprivation. Maybe she was already dead.

  Where the hell was that damned hellhound when you needed her?

  “Considering the power you possess, I would have expected a much stronger opponent,” he said, the smirk never leaving his lips.

  Opponent? Vee wanted to ask. Opponent, my ass.

  It wasn’t as if he’d bothered to fight his own battles. He’d sent his freaking ogre in his place.

  Vee glanced at the giant who still held her in his unforgiving grip. All she could see beneath the black visor were his flaming eyes. His fingers were warm against her skin, and his armor glistened as if he’d begun to perspire. She ignored him, focusing on the man behind the attack.

  She smiled, a curve of her lips that dripped with daggers of ice.

  He ignored her, as if she didn’t even warrant a flicker of his eyelash.

  “At least I now know what I’m up against. Honestly, now that I have seen it for myself, I am quite offended.” He let out a bark of laughter that ripped at her skin, eager for blood. “You . . . the all-powerful—”

  The door opened, and Devi let out a horrified shriek, her eyes focused on Vee. Vee stared back at her mother, desperately afraid. Devi hadn’t seen the portal, or the man standing within the glowing space.

  And suddenly Vee was terrified of what he’d do to her mother.

  But as Devi stepped into the room,
the man backed away into the portal and the glowing entrance to his world closed. Devi saw none of it as she rushed into the lab, her eyes wide with terror.

  Her mother’s skin paled as she stared at the colossus of a man, hesitating as she considered her options. Get out of here, Mom. Vee wanted to yell the words out to her.

  She tried to swallow and again felt a moistness between her skin and the giant’s hand. Vee struggled harder now, beginning to slip within his slimy grasp.

  Devi took two more steps into the room and the hand released Vee, sending her crashing to the ground in a puddle of oily black sludge. She landed leaning against a half-broken cupboard door.

  “What the—?”

  “Vee,” Devi gasped, sinking beside her daughter. “Are you hurt? What happened? What was that?”

  Vee gave a half-nod as she offered her mother a lukewarm smile. She struggled to swallow, struggled to breathe, as she tried to peer beyond Devi’s shoulder to the far side of the room.

  It remained empty and Vee let out a cry of frustration. Which her mother interpreted as pain.

  Vee didn’t protest as her mother shifted her and tilted her backward, supporting Vee’s spine until she was flat on the floor. Devi placed her daughter’s head gently onto a rolled-up silk jacket, reached for her phone, and began yelling for paramedics and doctors.

  “Don’t move, honey. I can’t tell if anything is broken so it’s better if you don’t move until the paramedics can check you out.”

  Vee stared at her mother, wincing as she struggled to breathe and to swallow. Something moved in the doorway and Syama slipped inside, hesitant now as she studied the room, the debris, and the victim.

  Syama hurried to Vee’s side and sank onto her knees. “What the hell happened here? I leave you alone for two seconds and you mess everything up.” She shook her head, her voice trembling just enough that Vee was tempted to smile.

  Instead she asked, “Where were you?”

  Syama knelt closer. “I went down to the cafeteria to get you something to eat. You missed lunch.” She lifted a clear plastic bag that held two burgers and a can of cola. Then her expression went cold. “This is the very reason why it’s a bad idea to leave you alone. I should have known. I should—”

  “Syama,” Devi snapped. “There’s isn’t any point in should-haves.”

  Silenced now, Syama stared at Vee’s mother. Then she grunted as she attempted to stand. “What the hell is this?” She grimaced as she lifted her fingers from the floor and studied the oily glop she’d just knelt in. Her face went pale, making her black eyes stand out in contrast.

  “What is it?” asked Devi gently.

  Like Vee, she’d noticed Syama’s expression too, and touched a finger to the black goo. Rubbing it between two fingers she lifted it to her nose and sniffed. “Smells like oil . . . and something else . . . maybe tar.”

  Syama nodded and got to her feet, the bag of food dangling from one curled finger. “Yes. I think I know what this is.”

  Devi raised an eyebrow, as if waiting for the girl to clarify. When Syama walked off to circumnavigate the room, her eyes skimming the damage, Devi gave Vee a questioning glance.

  Vee watched her mother’s frustration with mild amusement, enjoying for a moment that someone else got to experience what she went through daily with Syama.

  But her humor fled as Syama walked straight to the open space where the portal had appeared, turned around on the spot and stared around her at the air.

  Then she looked over at Vee. “Was it here?” Syama asked.

  Vee felt oddly relieved not having to explain what had happened. Given that her throat was so sore she couldn’t swallow, she was glad Syama could explain.

  Devi got to her feet. “What is it?” she asked sharply, this time her tone demanding a response.

  Syama walked over, although her gaze remained behind her as she took one last glance at the space.

  “It’s a portal,” she said softly, her brow furrowed with worry.

  “A portal? What’s a portal doing in the middle of one of the most well-warded locations in the bloody world?” Devi asked, her tone indignant and disbelieving. Then she glanced at Vee. “Was there a . . . portal? Just now?”

  Vee nodded, allowing her mother to absorb that horrific fact while Vee herself tried to wipe the recollection from her mind.

  A few moments went by and then Devi spoke. “What was that thing?” she whispered almost to herself.

  Syama stared at the black liquid in disgust. “It’s magic.”

  “But I saw a man, holding her above the ground.”

  “Not a man. A puppet.”

  Devi scowled, her face going dark. “Like a golem?”

  Syama tilted her head before nodding slowly. She did that sometimes, as if downloading information from some internal storage point, a process that could only occur when she tipped her head to the right at an exact forty-degree angle. “Yes. But a golem is constructed from mud and clay, not oil and tar and silver like this substance.”

  “Silver?”

  Syama nodded again. “Yes, if you test you will find silver. And most likely mercury and blood.”

  Devi’s eyes widened and Vee resolved to just lie there enjoying the edification of Devi Shankar. Her mother was seldom a student, and Vee quite enjoyed the spectacle despite the agony she was feeling.

  A commotion at the door announced the arrival of the medics who checked Vee out, placed a brace around her neck and lifted her gently onto a gurney. The medics trundled Vee and her entourage of two five floors down to the infirmary where she was shown to an empty bed.

  Over the next couple hours, she found her mother either hovering at her side, or speaking in low tones with the doctors. Over the same time, her adrenaline fled to be replaced by the throbbing agony of pain from her bruises and breaks. The fingers of her left hand felt broken, and so did a couple ribs, so it was no surprise when her doctor confirmed the injuries.

  Syama materialized at Vee’s side, a small gym bag looped over one shoulder. She dropped it on the floor beside the bed. “Change of clothes for when they discharge you.”

  They’d cut Vee’s clothes off with a pair of scissors, afraid to jar her in case of broken bones. Not long after, they’d returned to happily announce that she had a fractured rib which would heal fine and an inflamed liver, which also had a good prognosis. A slight concussion too, but Vee had already knew that from the nausea and the dizziness.

  She’d been eager to go straight home but now, three hours after her one-on-one with a reanimated oil-and-tar voodoo doll, she was still happily lounging in a hospital bed in nothing but a hospital gown and a pair of pink panties.

  So much for the badass FBI agent.

  Chapter 15

  Vee blinked, her head snapping back as she pulled herself awake.

  Yes, she’d had her ass kicked, but she wasn’t about to sleep yet. Especially not here in the hospital.

  Where were her badge and gun? Her gaze tracked across the room, and met her mother’s concerned scrutiny. Devi’s brow furrowing even as her mouth moved in response to something the doctor had said. Then she gave the man a neutral smile, nodded, and completed her conversation.

  As she hurried over, the polite smile disappeared to be replaced with a darkness more associated with thunderclouds than dealing with daughters who’d had the crap beaten out of them.

  She was back to being the surly, unemotional mother that Vee knew all too well.

  Devi came to stand beside the bed, setting her gigantic clutch purse next to Vee. She patted it and said, “Gun and badge in here for when you need it.”

  Vee lifted a palm and waited, stifling the urge to raise a demanding eyebrow. She’d been told not to speak, and right this moment she was supremely grateful for that instruction. At least it meant less arguing with the woman.

  With a sigh, Devi relinquished the badge and the gun, which Vee handed over to Syama. She pointed a finger at the gym bag, and the girl nodded and sto
wed the weapon and badge.

  Devi cleared her throat. “The docs are happy for the priestesses to come by and give you a little help in the healing department. Thankfully, whatever that thing was, it didn’t look like it wanted to kill you.”

  “Certainly felt like it,” Vee said, flinching as her voice came out sounding like tires on gravel.

  Devi glared at her. “Can you obey instructions for once in your life? Shut your mouth, and keep it that way until the healers have been and gone. As much as I’d love the peace I’d gain should you not have a voice, I don’t think I could handle it if you lost it permanently. You can’t afford it. Not in your line of work.”

  There it was. That bitterness still very much alive in her mother’s heart.

  When will she ever forgive me?

  A cold voice whispered inside Vee’s mind, Perhaps when you forgive her?

  Vee swallowed and pushed the thought from her mind.

  Devi rummaged in her purse again and handed Vee her tablet and a stylus.

  How considerate.

  Vee glanced at her bandaged hand, the fingers all splinted and wrapped, two broken, one fractured, and the rest bruised and clotted and swollen. Her right hand had fared only slightly better, but thankfully had escaped breakages.

  Vee didn’t want to think about what she looked like. The throbbing of her eye and her cheekbone was enough to guarantee at least one black eye.

  Hopefully the healers would help with some of the damage, although Vee hardly thought they’d have the kind of magical touch she needed.

  Vee took the stylus with her good hand and opened the note-taking app.

  “Sorry,” she typed.

  “What for?” asked Devi, frowning.

  “The destruction. My lab.”

  Devi frowned harder. “Unless you’re telling me that you flung yourself around the place and into the furniture and the walls, then I’m not sure what the apology is for.”