“Hurt is all you’ve been for the past six months, Damon,” she said more quietly. “I have tried to be patient with you but you continue to display this, this…weakness.”
Angrily, I approached her and jabbed my finger in the air next to her nose, effectively ignoring the barely noticeable yet appealing dusting of freckles across it and the long lashed green eyes a man could lose himself in. “Let’s get a couple of things straight, Anna; first, how I feel is my business and second,” I paused then as I heard her suck in a breath. Concerned that I was frightening her, I backed up a step and stopped shouting. “Second, when we’re in public, I am Damon, but when we are alone, please call me Kishan.”
I turned my back to her, raised my hand to the trunk of a nearby tree, and let the angry fire she always brought out in me dull back down to dead smoking embers. Concentrating on slowing my breathing, I didn’t notice her approach until I felt her hand on my arm. Anamika’s touch always shot warm tingles through my skin, a part of our cosmic connection.
“I am sorry…Kishan,” she said. “It was not my intention to anger you or bring your volatile emotions to the surface.”
This time her irritating comments didn’t bother me. Instead I laughed dryly. “I’ll try to remember to keep my ‘volatile emotions’ in check. In the meantime, if you quit pestering the tiger he wouldn’t be so quick to show you his teeth.”
She studied me silently for a moment then walked past me, heading back towards our home with a stiff back. The fading sound of her muttering disappeared as she moved through the trees but still I caught the phrase, “I am not frightened of his teeth.”
I felt a passing guilt at letting her return home alone but I’d noted that she wore the Damon Amulet and knew there was nothing on this earth that could harm her. When she was gone, I stretched and wondered if I should return to the home we shared, shared being a relative term, or if I should stay the night in the forest. I’d just decided to find a nice piece of grass to sleep on when my body stilled, sensing the presence of another person. Who would be here? A hunter? Had Anamika returned?
Slowly, I circled, making little to no sound and when I’d fully revolved I jumped back, my heart slamming in shock.
A little man stood before me as if he’d appeared out of nowhere, which he probably had. Moonlight shone on his bald head and, as he shifted, his sandals crunched the grass. We hadn’t seen the monk since that fateful day when I gave over my fiancée, the girl I loved more than life, to my brother. The day I watched my dreams, my hopes, and my future leap through a vortex of flame and disappear, extinguishing like a lamp run out of oil.
I’d been depleted ever since.
“Phet,” I said simply. “What brings you to my version of hell?”
The man took hold of my shoulder and peered at me with lucid brown eyes.
“Kishan,” he said gravely, “Kelsey needs you.”
Study Guide
1) Despite the danger, Isha stayed with Yesubai. Was the sacrifice worth it?
2) Lokesh takes out his anger on his daughter and constantly threatens her. Why does he keep her alive?
3) Why do you think Yesubai decided to wear a golden veil to the king’s party even though she knew her father preferred lavender?
4) Yesubai inherited powers from her father yet her father cannot heal or become invisible. Why do you think her powers manifested differently?
5) How does Yesubai feel when the king announces she will be married? Why?
6) Flowers and gardens are a theme in this book. Yesubai compares herself to a flower that’s been shut away from the sun. Are there other comparisons you can make between Yesubai and a flower?
7) When Yesubai drives up to the king’s home with her father, she passes three gates guarded by animals—monkeys, tigers, and elephants. All of these creatures are found in the Tiger’s Curse series. Were there any other symbols or references you noticed that are recurring themes?
8) Lokesh met Kishan in the king’s hanging garden. What do you think was Lokesh’s true purpose? Was it more than what happened on the surface?
9) Is Deschen different than how Ren and Kishan described her previously? How so?
10) The story of the koi fish leaping up a waterfall held significant meaning for Yesubai. Do you think she was truly granted a gift from the gods?
11) Yesubai wonders if the Rajaram family and the world would have been better off if she had never been born. What would be different about the Tiger’s Curse if she hadn’t been?
12) A theme for this story is “the apple not falling far from the tree.” Is Yesubai doomed to become a villain like her father? How is she different from him?
13) Ren says that Lokesh is a coiled cobra and his poison runs through them all. In what way is this true?
14) The main theme for the Tiger Series is that true love requires sacrifice. Did Yesubai truly love Kishan? Did Kishan truly love Yesubai? Did he love Kelsey? How has he changed after his experience with Yesubai?
15) How are Kelsey and Yesubai similar and how are they different?
16) Is the opening poem Early Death reflective of Yesubai’s experience? How so? Was her death “kind”?
17) Why do you think Yesubai was unable to heal herself at the end of the book? Could there be more than one reason?
18) Durga kept Yesubai alive long enough to ask one question. What was it and why was it an important one?
19) Assuming Durga had the kamandal and could have saved Yesubai’s life, why didn’t she?
20) Is Yesubai a different person than you expected? Do you like her more or less than you did before? Why?
Acknowledgements
There are a few people I wanted to show appreciation for in helping me get this novella organized and ready to share. First, I want to thank my agent, Alex Glass, for his tireless support and effort on my behalf. I think he was nearly as excited as I was to get to work on this project.
Thanks to Cliff Nielsen for his beautiful art once again. You are an inspiration and a delight to work with.
Heartfelt gratitude goes to my early reading group. My sisters, Linda, Shara, and Tonnie. My mom, Kathleen. My brother, Jared, and his wife, Suki, and my friend Linda. You guys are all awesome and inspiring and you’re always willing to grab an oar and help move this ship along.
Deep appreciation goes to my copyeditor, Amy Knupp at Blue Otter Editing, and to the e-publishing team at Trident Media Group, Elizabeth Parks, Emily Ross, Lyuba DiFalco, and Nicole Robson. You guys all deserve a party.
Finally, a standing ovation for all my dedicated readers, tweeters, and bloggers who constantly beg me for anything tiger. This one’s for you. =)
About the Author
New York Times Bestselling Author Colleen Houck is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include action, adventure, science fiction, and romance. Her first four novels, Tiger’s Curse, Tiger’s Quest, Tiger’s Voyage, and Tiger’s Destiny were New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestsellers. Formerly a student at the University of Arizona, she worked as a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter for seventeen years before switching careers to become an author. Colleen lives in Salem, Oregon, with her husband and a huge assortment of plush tigers.
www.colleenhouck.com
goodreads.com/colleenhouck
facebook.com/tigerscurse
twitter.com/colleenhouck
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