Ren spoke then, distracting me from my thoughts, and said softly as he stared at the trees where she’d gone, “I can’t live without her, Kishan.”
So what does that mean? That I should just walk away? Forget happiness? Forget my future? Forget the family I longed for, the one I saw in vision?
Rubbing my hand over my jaw, I considered my brother. That he loved Kelsey was certain. If I stepped away, I knew he would make her happy. The question was…could Kelsey be happy without Ren?
I knew the answer in an instant.
No.
She’d try her best, but a part of her would always grieve for him.
The choice was suddenly obvious. The tiger that stayed behind would have to be…me.
Letting that idea sink into my mind was about as painful as being shot full of arrows. Hundreds of little hurts stung me at once. If someone had come along and yanked my beating heart from my chest, I would have thanked him for the favor. Even breathing hurt.
Phet glanced at me urgently once again and I nodded slightly.
Marveling that I had the strength to do it, I put my hand on my brother’s arm and said, “You won’t have to, brother. Just let me…let me say good-bye,” I murmured.
Ren turned surprised eyes on me, then gripped my arm as well. He nodded, with an expression of relief and gratitude.
The pain eased a fraction. It still crushed me unbearably, but I was finally able to look my brother in the eye. After centuries of guilt and distrust, I felt the sweet relief of forgiveness and sensed my sacrifice had mended the gulf that I’d caused between us—a divide that should never have been. Suddenly, I felt as if I were the wiser, older brother.
As I moved through the trees to say good-bye to the one I loved, a part of me hoped that she’d deny it, that she’d insist on me returning with her. When she erupted into hysterical sobs upon seeing me and I realized she was crying not for me but for him, I knew that my cause was lost. That her love for him was, and would always be, stronger. She claimed she couldn’t let me go but the fact was…she did.
I’d regretted my choice ever since. I’d been an idiot for allowing it to happen. For allowing my need to mend broken fences with my brother to influence my decision about Kelsey. I rationalized that Kelsey was distraught because she thought Ren was staying behind and that if she had had a few minutes longer to consider my staying in the past, she would have been just as upset.
Now, here Phet stood before me, six months later, and said that Kelsey needed me. Inwardly, I thrilled at the idea. Perhaps all was not lost. Perhaps she’d realized that she did love me after all.
I let out a pent-up breath and asked, “Is she in danger?” when what I really wanted to ask was, “Does she miss me?”
“She is. Kelsey is in grave danger. But not the kind you’re thinking of.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. Then another thought rose to the surface. “Wait a minute. You called her Kelsey, not Kahl-see.” I folded my arms across my chest. “What exactly is going on here?”
Phet exhaled slowly and said, “Perhaps it is best if you know everything.”
He clutched a necklace emblem hidden beneath his robes, and the familiar gesture confused me. A sense of foreboding trickled through my veins and I took a step back. “What…what are you doing?”
The little man straightened to his full height and smiled as he said, “Divine Scarf, please return me to my normal form.”
Brown robes shifted as threads wound around his body. What I was seeing made no sense. I knew the Divine Scarf was, right now, in Durga’s care, and even if he’d gotten ahold of the scarf somehow, then why was he changing to a different form?
The magic swirled around him, obscuring his face, and then, when the threads finally settled, I fell to my knees and tears blurred my vision.
“It’s not…not possible,” I whispered, unable to believe my own eyes.
“You know that it is,” he answered gently.
“How did you—?” I swallowed thickly, overcome by emotion. “When?”
“Ah…the when is a bit complicated. The how I will show you.”
He took hold of my arm and helped me to stand. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled and said, “It is good to see you, Kishan.”
“Words cannot express how it feels to see you once again, Kadam.”
“Yes,” he murmured somewhat distractedly. “Now, let’s see what we can do about saving Miss Kelsey, shall we?”
I nodded, completely overwhelmed that my mentor, friend, and surrogate father had somehow returned from the dead.
Chapter 2
Saving Kelsey
“Shall we?” He found an overturned log and took a seat.
I still couldn’t believe that he was here. That he was alive.
“How have you returned?” I asked.
“I haven’t. Not exactly. When you witnessed my death, I did pass from this world. But you need to understand that this event, though it has already occurred in your timeline, has not yet happened in mine.”
“Not yet happened? I don’t understand.”
Kadam smiled patiently and asked, “Do you remember when I appeared with Nilima after you rescued Miss Kelsey from Lokesh?”
“Yes. You’d been missing for weeks.”
“Correct. I shared with you then that a power had whisked away Nilima and me when the harpoon shot toward us.”
When I nodded, he pulled the broken piece of the Damon Amulet he used to wear from his shirt and went on, “And since then you have discovered that the piece of the amulet I wear is the one that controls space and time.”
“Yes. But how is it that you are wearing the amulet once again when I know that your particular piece, the one used to send Lokesh to the past, has been restored to the whole and is currently around Anamika’s neck?”
“I have this piece because I still wear it in my own time.”
Standing, I began to pace. Kadam pulled a jar from his pocket and unscrewed the lid. A spicy scent wafted up. “Frankincense?” he offered. “It calms the nerves.
I waved his offer away and he shrugged, taking a piece for himself before screwing the jar lid shut. “Then tell me when you are from,” I pressed.
Kadam replied softly, “I am visiting you from just before my death. You all believed that I was under the weather after my return, but in fact I was doing the work that destiny had assigned me.”
“You were missing often,” I mumbled. “Distant.”
“Yes,” he answered. “Very distant, in fact.”
Kneeling before him, I pleaded, “You can go back then and undo what has happened. We can defeat Lokesh alongside you. There’s no need for you to sacrifice yourself. You don’t have to die. It hasn’t happened in your timeline, so we can prevent it.”
He shook his head. “Lokesh is too powerful. If you had helped me, Miss Kelsey would have been taken.”
“But we could’ve—”
Kadam interrupted by raising his hand. “Kishan, son, trust me when I say that my death is and was the only way to send Lokesh to the past, and his defeat in the past affects the future. Without a monster for Anamika to defeat, without a goddess”—he smiled—“or two, riding into battle on the back of a tiger, the fabric of our world would unravel. This is much more important than prolonging my life.”
When I didn’t respond, he reached over and gripped my arm. “Please accept this. Leaving you will be the hardest thing I’ll ever have to do, but I know, it must be done. Somehow, when the time comes, I’ll try to find the courage.”
Dismayed, I pressed my forehead to his knee. My eyes stung with unshed tears. “I know you will,” I said, grieving anew for his impending loss.
When I raised my head, I asked, “Did Phet ever exist or has he always been you?”
“Phet’s purpose was to orchestrate the tiger’s curse. I am Phet and he is me…most of the time,” he demurred.
“But we would have smelled you. Both Ren and I would have figure
d it out long ago.”
Kadam shook his head. “I was able to stifle my scent, not only by filling the hut with copious amounts of herbs but by shifting myself slightly in time. You have this ability as well. Both of you could see me and touch me, but if you think back, you will not recall that Phet had a personal essence.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Kishan, as much as I would like to, discussing Phet’s place in our world is not the reason I am here today. Today you must journey into the future to save Miss Kelsey.”
“Save her? How? Has Ren—”
Kadam held up his hands to stop me, stood, and said, “It will be easier to show you. You’ll need the Damon Amulet. Borrow it from Anamika but do not share with her that you’ve seen me, not yet. Meet me back here in one hour, and I will give you the instructions you need to fulfill your purpose.”
I blinked and he was gone, leaving only the crushed blades of grass where he’d stood. My world had been upheaved once again, but this time the idea electrified me. Every nerve was on edge, and adrenaline pumped through my veins as I ran through the trees. Unsatisfied with my pace, I switched to tiger form and covered the distance to the base of Durga’s mountain in a short time.
Carved into the towering Himalayan peak called Mt. Kailash, Durga’s palace was rarely seen since it often hid within the clouds, but when the sun chased away our dewy blanket, the vision of our home was stunning. It was modeled after the style of a Chinese temple with towers, pavilions, and archways that conformed to the contours of the mountainside. Five stories were connected by stairways and long corridors, and the steep rooftops were laid with glazed tiles that sparkled in the sunshine.
In the center of two symmetrical towers, Anamika had used her power to produce a soaring fountain that spilled over the granite stones on the lower level and then freely flowed down the mountainside, creating a waterfall that reflected rainbows when the afternoon sun slanted in just the right way.
Surrounding the fountain was an expansive flower garden with dozens of varieties of roses, and in one corner she had fashioned a large pond, where she cultivated lotus blossoms, her favorite flower. When I stayed in the palace, I preferred spending my time in her garden. At night I drowsed on the soft cut grass under a sky brilliant with stars and imagined what could have been.
A zigzagging staircase was cut into the stone leading from the palace down to the base of the mountain, where acolytes gathered to beg favors of the goddess. It was the only way for mortals to access our home, and because of this, it was gated and heavily guarded. There were always a good number of people camped directly under the palace, begging for admittance. Only a few special people were allowed to gain an audience with Anamika. Even then, as they climbed to the top, they were always escorted by the loyal remnants of Durga’s army.
Wanting to avoid being seen, I headed around the back side of the mountain to a private entrance only Anamika and I used. As dramatic as it was to ascend and descend on a cloud every day, we’d both decided we wanted something more practical and built secret entrances into the mountain palace that had once belonged to Lokesh.
Switching to human form, I placed my hand into a sunken depression where we’d created a lock of sorts using our power. It had been my idea to create handprints that would only read and accept us. I knew Kelsey had been able to use the magic of Phet’s henna design to enter the different realms where the gifts of Durga had been hidden, and the idea stuck with me.
The hidden door opened, and I made sure it shut behind me before heading up the long staircase. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me and I stopped cold on one of the steps. I realized that there had never been a henna design given by Phet. It had always been Kadam’s design. He’d been the one to start Kelsey on her journey. Shaking my head, I tried not to think about the strangeness of Kadam being Phet and focused instead on Kelsey. The stairs seemed endless most days but especially when I knew I’d be seeing Kelsey soon.
Bursting through the hidden panel and running into the main room, I shouted, “Anamika!”
There was no answer. Skidding briefly on the slick marble and kicking up the corners of a very expensive rug that had been a king’s expression of gratitude for the goddess Durga’s help in overcoming a drought affecting his nation, I searched room after room, my voice echoing in each extensive space.
Opulent and awe-inspiring were two words that easily came to mind upon setting foot in the mountainside palace Lokesh had created for himself. Cut deep into the mountain and filled with more riches than I’d even known existed, it was a greedy king’s dream.
Even if I didn’t already prefer the open spaces of the outdoors, the interior of Lokesh’s home would have driven me there. I suppose it was beautiful in a way. The walls were bordered with gemstone that the evil magician had called forth from the earth.
Durga’s throne, made of pink diamond, was impressive, as was the room where she received ambassadors, but I thought the whole place felt sterile and cold. Anamika had worked to make the large rooms homier, but when the ceiling of each room towered overhead, and there was no one to share the riches with, it echoed in a lonely way. I wandered around in it like a bee left alone in his hive. The space around me felt wrong—devoid of the everyday hum of normal life.
To be practical, Lokesh had been twice the size of a human when he lived there, so I suppose the sheer size of the place had been necessary. He’d merged his body with a buffalo and become a monstrous creature that’d probably needed the giant bed and the fireplace big enough to cook three deer side by side that had become my room.
Frustrated, I headed back to what I called the throne room and called out again, “Anamika!”
I felt her presence before I heard her. “What are you bellowing about?” she questioned irritably.
“Where were you?”
“I was—”
I peered at her through narrowed eyes. “Did you go off to help someone and not tell me?”
She lifted her stubborn chin. “What if I did?”
Exasperated, I ran my hand through my hair. “You know the rule, Ana. You don’t go off without me. What if something happened?”
“You were occupied with your brooding. And besides, these people really needed help. There was a fire and—”
I interrupted. “I don’t care if a whole nation caught on fire, the rule is come and find me first.”
She blew out a breath and mumbled, “Fine,” as she bent over to remove her boots. “Next time I will force your pitiable self to accompany me. Is that satisfactory?”
“Yes.”
She pulled the clasp holding her hair, and mounds of the silky black stuff tumbled down her back. I was riveted as she ran her hands through it and sighed with pleasure at being able to finally relax.
When she turned and announced that she was taking a bath and going to bed, I tagged along behind her until she noticed. She shoved my arm and placed her hand against my chest as if to stave me off. “That wasn’t an invitation,” she said.
The warmth from her touch spread through me, causing a languid feeling of deep contentment. Power flowed between us, rumbling like a gathering storm. The closer she was to my heart when she touched me the more powerful the sensation. I wondered briefly if the connection between Ren and Kelsey was as strong. Then I remembered I didn’t want to think about that.
Stepping away from her and rubbing my arm, I retorted, “Even if it was, I wouldn’t accept. You’re much too bristly to scrub a man’s back.”
Red crept up her neck and sparked her hot temper. “I am well aware that you prefer your women to be soft and malleable. And believe me when I say that I have no interest in even seeing your naked back, let alone scrubbing it for you!”
I held up my hands in surrender. “All right. Calm down. Sorry to upset you. I’m just thinking it would be a good idea to hold on to the amulet while you bathe. Then, if something comes up, I can take care of it while you relax.”
“What happened to us taking care of it together?”
“If it’s something important, I’ll come find you.” I grinned. “Whether you’re dressed or wearing nothing but soap.”
She hissed. “You will not disturb my bath.” She bit her lip in an appealing way as she considered what to do. When she puzzled things out, her green eyes always lit up. Those eyes lifted to mine and then darted quickly away.
“Ana, if I didn’t know you better, I’d say you were blushing.”
“The goddess Durga does not blush,” she declared as she lifted her chin haughtily.
I laughed. “Sure she does.”
With a growl of frustration, she tore the amulet from her neck and shoved it into my hands. “Take it, but do not disturb me for the rest of the night.”
“Not a problem.” She turned away. “Sleep well, Ana,” I said to her retreating back. She stopped and nodded before turning the corner.
I’d only threatened to interrupt her bath because I knew it would distract her from the odd request to hold on to the amulet, but I couldn’t deny that the thought of finding her in a bubble bath was not an unpleasant one. Standing rooted at the spot where she’d disappeared, I stared blankly for a moment, rubbing my jaw and smiling before I remembered I had something to do.
Kelsey!
In two seconds I was out the palace door and used the power of the amulet to transport my body through space back to the place in the forest where I’d left Kadam.
As the trees spun around me—a disconcerting and nauseating feeling—and came to a stop, I wondered if I was in the right place.
“Kadam? Kadam?” I shouted.
He materialized instantly. “I apologize for keeping you waiting. Miss Kelsey was worried about me.”
“She… You just saw her?”
“In my time, yes.”
Shaking off the confusion, I decided not to probe. “You said you had instructions?”
He took hold of my arm and nodded. “Follow my lead, and when the time is right, save her.”
Tiger's Dream (Tiger's Curse Book 5) Page 2