Claimed by Sin: an Urban Fantasy Novel (The Gatekeeper Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  Great, we’d uncloaked a pulp of flesh. But wait…it was bubbling and seething: white bone, brown marrow, blood, veins, and muscle rippled into being. It was remaking itself. Growing and expanding until a huge, skinless, humanoid form stood before us. Its white eyeballs stared at us, unseeing. They rolled in the thing’s head to reveal emerald-green irises and pupils flecked with silver.

  I remained rooted to the spot, fascinated as the thing grew warm brown skin and sprouted hair as dark as a raven’s wing. His nether regions remained unformed, just a smooth expanse of skin where a penis should have been. He blinked, his eyes focusing on me.

  “Diya?” His voice was a low rumble.

  He thought I was my mother.

  “No. You’re not her. What? What am I doing here?” He looked down at himself, as if noticing his nakedness for the first time, and then the part that was missing burst into existence.

  “Oh my.” Carmella giggled.

  I shot her my best quelling glare, and she clamped a hand over her mouth.

  Ajitah quickly stepped over a stunned Drake to hand Toto—the hinn—the throw off the sofa. The hinn wrapped the fabric around his waist, his gaze traveling over us warily.

  My dog was a hinn. Toto wasn’t Toto. But he was looking at me now. His eyes, although not dark and beady, still held the imploration that Toto’s always had when he’d wanted something.

  I cleared my throat. “It’s all right. You’re safe. You were a dog. Do you remember being a dog?”

  He blinked rapidly as if struggling to access his memories. “I…was hiding. I changed, but then I…I forgot.”

  “Who were you hiding from?”

  The corner of his lip twitched. “It wanted to send me back, but I needed time to find Diya. To give her back her—” His eyes narrowed, his muscle-packed shoulders tensing. “You want it. You want to take it from me.” He tried to back up but walked into Loki.

  “Easy…” Loki placed his hands on the hinn’s back to steady him.

  The hinn glanced over his shoulder at the earth witch and blanched. “You don’t belong here.”

  Loki quickly stepped away. “Maybe we should give Malina the room.”

  A murmur skated through the crowd, and everyone began to file out toward the kitchen. Suddenly, I was alone with my mother’s nanny…a huge, hulking nanny. He watched me guardedly, as if expecting me to attack at any moment. Yeah, I’d be avoiding that if possible. He could probably squish me with one fist. Although from the look on his face, he didn’t seem to realize this.

  Fine, I could go with that. “I’m not going to hurt you.” I sat down on the nearest sofa and forced myself to relax. “I just want to talk.”

  He stared at me for a long beat before giving me a halting nod.

  “I’m Diya’s daughter. Vasuki told me you’d followed Diya into the reality she’d planned to settle in, so the fact you’re here tells me this was that reality. The original version of my mother settled here, and all other versions were spawned from her.” Loki’s theory of our reality being a linchpin had been right after all.

  He didn’t reply, but the sudden intensity in his face told me he was paying attention.

  “You were looking for her, and you found me. You’ve been my…pet for a few months now.”

  “You…you took care of me.”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I did, and I need something from you now. I need my mother’s nagamuni.”

  “No. No.” He backed up, shaking his head. “I will give it only to Diya.”

  Shit, he actually looked scared. How could such a powerful-looking creature be afraid of me? Vasuki had said hinn were simple creatures. Had he meant simpleminded? “What’s your name?”

  His mouth made an O and his brows flicked up. “I don’t recall. I…wait…Vinnay. My name is Vinnay.”

  Keeping my tone low and unthreatening, I continued, “Vinnay, Diya is in danger. She’s host to a powerful entity that plans to consume her. The only way to save her is to give her back her nagamuni, to reconnect her to the naga collective. She can draw on the power to free herself.”

  “Yes, it gives her power. The naga power.” His lips turned down. “She should never have left it behind. Careless Diya.”

  Of course, he didn’t know my mother had deliberately relinquished her nagamuni. He didn’t understand it was the only way she could have remained with my father. The nagamuni was a tether to Nagalok, and the multi-verse wouldn’t tolerate it for long, which was why, for millennia, naga had only taken short forays into other realities. Naga could never really be part of any reality while they carried their nagamuni, and my mother had wanted to make a home with my father.

  It was time to set the record straight. “Diya left the nagamuni behind on purpose. She couldn’t remain here with my father if she carried it. It’s why the multi-verse is hunting you. You’re an anomaly to it. A threat.”

  He began to heave, panic written all over his face.

  “It’s okay, though. You can give it to me, and I can pass it on to her. You can both go home.”

  “We can go home…” He smiled, and the action transformed his face into something truly beatific. “You are her daughter. I can smell her essence in you, and I can give you what you need on one condition.”

  “Name it.”

  “You allow me to pass it to her.”

  “Look. It’s easier if you just give it to me, and then I can go do my thing. I can’t guarantee your safety when we face the entity.” I doubted he knew how to use those huge muscles of his. “Plus, if you continue to carry it, the multi-verse will act.”

  “We can go now. I’m not afraid. I abhor violence, but I will fight if I must.”

  “It’s not that easy. I have to find her first.”

  “You don’t know where she is?”

  “No. But I’m sure I can lure her out, given a little time.”

  He glanced about. “It knows I’m here. And now that I’m no longer hidden, it will come for me. I made myself forget. But now I remember, and it will find me. Can’t you feel it? It hunts me.” His shoulders drooped. “All I ever wanted to do was return what she left behind. She left without saying goodbye, and I…I wanted to return it to her.”

  “Vinnay, you need to give me the nagamuni now.” I wasn’t sure how long the multi-verse would let me carry it, but since I was born here, it couldn’t exactly eject me, could it? “Vinnay? Are you listening to me?”

  “Yes, yes. I understand now. Quick, come close.”

  I stepped up to him and he gripped my shoulders, lifting me off the ground until my face was level with his. And then he leaned in as if to kiss me.

  “Whoa, back up.”

  He frowned. “There is no time. This is the only way.”

  His mouth came down over mine, his grip surprisingly tight. I stared at his face, his wide-open eyes looking into mine as my mouth began to tingle. What the fuck? I tried to pull away, but he wasn’t having any of it. Even my hellhound strength was no match for his determination. And then an invasive chill slid down my throat to settle somewhere around the region of my diaphragm. This was it. This was the nagamuni. It was inside me. Vinnay’s eyes fluttered closed and he inhaled, his mouth softening against mine. Was that his tongue?

  Suddenly, he was torn off me by an extremely irate Ajitah.

  “What the fuck!” Ajitah shoved him hard.

  My dog had just kissed me…“It’s okay. He was giving me the nagamuni.”

  “Looked more like he was slipping you some tongue,” Drake said from the doorway.

  Vinnay blinked down at Ajitah. “She smells like Diya.” He hung his head.

  Oh man. Vinnay was in love with my mother…

  “Hang on a second,” Drake said. “He had to kiss you to give you the nagamuni?”

  I wiped my mouth. “Yeah.”

  “So, does that mean you have to kiss the Daughter of Chaos to give it back to your mother?”

  Oh, shit.

  14

  Vinnay’s surprise
at still being with us was disarming. There was a definite air of a gentle giant with this one. It was in the softness of his gaze and the hesitant movements when we asked him to sit. I explained to him that because he no longer carried the nagamuni, he was no longer a threat. He could choose to stay here and become part of our reality, or he could go back to Nagalok once we liberated my mother. His eyes lit up at that, but I noted how Aria’s expression dimmed. She’d been his caregiver, more so than me, the past few months. It was natural for her to feel attached to the hulking figure who sat on the sofa sipping hot chocolate. Even though he’d been a cute canine when in her care.

  Aria found him some clothes that fit, and he looked almost…normal, if one could call a man the size of a mini-Hulk normal.

  Loki hovered in the doorway and jerked his head in my direction.

  I joined him by the front door. “Hey. You off to check on the club?”

  “Yes. Work helps me think, and we need a way to either lure the entity out or track her.” He ran a hand over his face. “Back in my reality, we could always find Elara by following the droves of adoring worshipers. Kosmos used to say Elara was a flower filled with sweet nectar that everyone wished to sip. I suppose now we should be looking for droves of dead bodies or something, because she’s not Elara any longer. She’s the void.”

  I stared at him openmouthed, sure I’d misheard. “What did you just say?”

  He cocked his head. “That we’d have to look for droves of dead bodies to… never mind. I’m just tired.”

  “No. Wait. You said Kosmos…”

  Loki’s expression was immediately alert. “You’ve heard that name before?”

  Fuck yeah, I had. No wonder the male voice I’d heard from the closet had sounded so familiar. “We met a man in the Red Zone—a tiny man who could do…things. He called himself Kosmos.”

  “Son of a bitch!”

  “Could it be the same person? Could Elara’s brother be alive and here?”

  Loki’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. “I think it’s highly probable. In fact, I think the multi-verse is gathering its aces, ready to play her hand.”

  “So we go to the Red Zone. We make him help us find his sister.”

  “Malina, quick!” Carmella rushed into the foyer and tugged on my arm.

  I followed her into the sitting room to find everyone gathered around the huge flat-screen television. A scene of devastation was playing out on the monitor. Tinny screams and muted explosions.

  “The attacks began half an hour ago,” the reporter at the scene said. “All aerial trams have been taken out. Reports are coming in of strange supernatural creatures terrorizing the city.” She placed a finger to her ear, her eyes going wide. “Breaking news, Shaitan Enterprises is under attack. The mega-million dollar corporation was just invaded by what eyewitnesses are describing as a horde of flying yaksha. The IEPEU has been dispatched.”

  Figures clothed in combat gear rushed past behind the reporter. The cavalry had arrived, but if the reports scrolling along the bottom of the screen were legit, then both the IEPEU and the regular enforcement units would be stretched to capacity.

  “This is it. The Kubera and the Daughter of Chaos are making their move,” Drake said.

  Yeah, but what was their goal? Attack the city and achieve what? Widespread panic? This wasn’t going to get the gate open. To do that, they needed me. My phone buzzed to life in my pocket. The number was unknown.

  I answered. “Who is this?”

  “Hayes, it’s Parker.”

  “What the fuck is going on out there?”

  The room around me fell into silence as all ears trained in on my conversation.

  “A distraction,” Parker said.

  “What?”

  “The fuckers have us spread too thin, and the attacks are a decoy. While we’ve been running around trying to diffuse the chaos, they attacked The Pit in force. The Kubera have taken the prison.”

  “What do they want with The Pit? Crap. The prisoners…they want to add to their army.”

  “It’s the only reason I can think of for them to take the building.”

  “And we’re certain it’s the Kubera?”

  “We hacked into the CCTV footage, and the woman who spoke to you at the warehouse is there, along with a bunch of fucked-up creations.”

  The entity was there in my mother’s body. I had the nagamuni. This was my chance.

  “I’m low on men, Hayes. I was hoping—”

  “I’m in. Where do I meet you?”

  15

  “This makes no sense,” Ajitah said. “Taking The Pit, terrorizing the city…what do they hope to achieve?”

  “To take over,” Loki said. “If they have the numbers, they can take the city.”

  Drake swore under his breath. “I need to call my grandmother, find out if they succeeded in cutting the witch-vampires off from the skein.” He wandered out into the foyer to make the call.

  “Maybe the gateway isn’t their agenda anymore?” Carmella suggested.

  “It may not be theirs, but it most certainly is hers,” Loki said. “The entity wants to be free; there has to be something in it for her.”

  “We don’t have time to figure that out. Parker needs backup. I’m going in, join me if you want. I won’t hold it against you if you don’t.” I headed out to the foyer, toward the stairs. I needed to suit up.

  “Malina.” Drake followed me up the steps. “The hybrids still have access to the skein.”

  Not good. I nodded. “We’ll have to work around it.”

  “I’ll meet you in the van.”

  Five minutes to shrug into my favorite hunting outfit. Laser pen, vials of paralytics, Vindra, and my lock picks, and I was barreling down the staircase to find the triplets clinging to Ajitah and sobbing.

  “Please, Daddy. We’re scared. Don’t go,” they pleaded in unison.

  Aria appeared and gently peeled the boys from Ajitah, pulling them into her arms. Ajitah swallowed and looked up to meet my gaze.

  I smiled tightly. “You should stay.”

  His jaw tightened. “Like hell.”

  Aaron headed past. “I’ll be in the van.”

  Vinnay strode into the foyer. “I will come and assist.”

  Thank god we had the van, although it would be a tight squeeze in the back with Vinnay.

  “I’m coming, too.” Carmella lifted her chin, her eyes glinting dangerously.

  Like hell she was. “No. I love you, but you’re not trained.”

  “But I can—”

  “Dammit, Carmella, you’ll be more harm than good out there!”

  She flinched as if I’d slapped her.

  “I didn’t mean to snap, I’m sorry. But I can’t risk losing you.”

  “I hate how useless I am. I just…I need to help.”

  I pulled her into a hug. “You being here helps. You’re my someone to come home to.”

  For a moment, I thought she wouldn’t hug me back, but then her body relaxed against me and she gave me a squeeze.

  “Be safe.”

  We met up with Parker and her four-man patrol on the outskirts of the city. The Pit was in a no-man’s land of turbines and fields, surrounded by a wall that would take Batman’s gadgets to scale. The Kubera had flying Yaksha, vampire-witches, and goodness knows what else. They’d found a way past the many levels of security and were probably recruiting the worst criminals to their cause right now.

  “So, Parker, what’s the plan?”

  Parker glanced at her second-in-command—one of the survivors from the warehouse raid. I couldn’t recall his name. He nodded sharply.

  Parker pulled out a thick, folded piece of paper. “We have no idea how many supernaturals the Kubera brought with them. No idea how many prisoners they’ve recruited. We know there were fifty guards on duty today, and we have the schematics of the building, but that’s all we have. There is no doubt that we’re outmanned on this one. We can’t eliminate the threat, but we can trap it.”<
br />
  “There’s a fail-safe switch in the guard’s tower,” Parker’s second said. “Protocol states that the guard on watch duty should have activated it at the first sign of infiltration.”

  “But he didn’t,” Ajitah said, “which means either it malfunctioned, or he was taken out too quickly to do anything.”

  “Has to be the latter,” Parker said. “Brahma Corp has access to the CCTV and diagnostic reports of all the fail-safes for the prison. They had a practice shutdown run last week. Everything was working fine.”

  “Wait a second,” Drake said. “If we shut it down while we’re inside, then…”

  I sighed. “We’ll be trapped inside with them.”

  Parker nodded. Her expression was solemn. “I should have said something on the phone, but I needed you. We can’t do this alone. The Kubera will expect an IEPEU patrol to go in. They’ll be watching for us, but they won’t be watching for you. We’ll keep them distracted long enough for you to slip in and activate shutdown.”

  “And then backup arrives, right?” Drake said.

  Parker kept her eyes on me. “There is no guarantee of backup. In normal fail-safe activation, the full force of the IEPEU would descend on The Pit, but our forces are otherwise occupied.”

  “There is an evacuation route for the guards we can use after the fail-safe is activated,” her second-in-command said. “We have the code, but there is no guarantee that we’ll be able to get to it.”

  I’d heard enough. Yeah, there were risks, but these were outweighed by the fact that the entity was inside. This could be my only shot to get my mother back and weaken our biggest threat.

  There was no backing out now. “Okay, so we go in. Your patrol distracts the Kubera while my guys focus on getting the guards out. I’ll go for the switch.”

  Parker nodded. “Sounds solid.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Ajitah said.

  “No, I’ll move faster on my own.” This was where I would usually smile to soften my words, but what was the point? “I’m trained for this stuff. You’re not.”

  “Fine,” he said. “But I’m not leaving without you. You flip that switch and get your arse to the evacuation tunnel.”