We swam back across the lake. The water soothed and healed now instead of stealing our vitality. When we got to land, Anamika used her power to quickly dry us and fashioned new clothing. At the fountain, Ana paced briefly and then snapped her fingers, warming it. The mermaid’s frozen skin slowly warmed and she shivered violently, but Ana took no pity on the girl. She glared down at the siren with all the fury of a warrior goddess. “You tricked us,” she said, pointing her finger menacingly. “As such, you will be punished.”
“It’s not like he didn’t like it,” the mermaid said, twirling her finger in the water. The mermaid didn’t get that it was absolutely the wrong thing to say. “I was just having a bit of fun,” she continued. “I didn’t know he belonged to you.”
I glanced at Ana. If she was taken aback by that statement, she didn’t show it. Do I belong to Anamika then? Does she want that? I’d told her that I wouldn’t dally with her affections but was that true for her as well? I’d never been one to doubt myself regarding women, but I didn’t exactly have a good track record. Maybe she just wanted a strong arm to lean on once in a while or a willing partner she could trust, one who could satisfy her curiosity about what goes on between a man and a woman.
If that was the case, it wasn’t enough. I’d seen what the future could hold for me and I wanted every aspect of it. I’d always wanted it, in fact, and had spent the better part of my time in its pursuit. That dream was a major part of the reason I had such a difficult time letting Kelsey go.
But that was then.
Now everything had changed. Now I believed Ana was the girl in my dream. More than that, in my heart, I knew that she was. And if I was being honest with myself, I did belong to her. Had belonged to her from the beginning. As a tiger. And as a man. Now I just needed to find out if she wanted to belong to me as well.
The mermaid kept talking. “Besides, I noticed the two of you were busy heating things up in the lake, so there wasn’t any real harm done.”
I wondered how she’d noticed that when she’d been frozen. Then I remembered her ability to shift into fog. Perhaps she wasn’t as trapped by the ice as she appeared to be.
The mermaid pouted. “Don’t be angry. It’s just our way. I’ll stay and help your friends just like I promised. Mermaid’s honor.” She flicked her tail, crossing the fins as if touching her heart.
Sighing, Ana said, “Very well. The Ocean of Milk has enough of our residual power to sustain you until they arrive and even for a time after should you choose to stay.”
“Oh, it has enough power. That’s for sure. Oh! I have an idea. Maybe I’ll invite over a few friends to keep me company while I wait.”
“No. You will not. In fact, to be certain that you do not deceive us again, I will freeze the Ocean of Milk.” Ana waved a hand.
The mermaid protested, “But what about me?”
Ana drained the fountain and refilled it with the milky waters of the lake. “There. That will carry you over. You will not allow anyone but the man touched by the goddess to enter the lake or to go after the necklace we are leaving behind. Do you understand?”
Kaeliora nodded impatiently.
“No one else can withstand the energy in the Ocean of Milk. Once they retrieve the key and fill the kamandal, tell them to head to the seventh temple through the tunnels that way.” Ana pointed to a dark tunnel leading away from the fountain.
“Yeah, yeah. Got it.”
“Now there is the matter of you seducing my…my companion,” Ana said.
I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“I believe a fitting punishment will be for you to remain frozen until my friends arrive. By my estimation, that will happen within a week or so.” There was a flurry of splashing and angry shouts that quickly changed to weeping and pleas. Ana, ignoring all of it, turned to leave, but before she did, she gave a final warning. “And if you even think about kissing any of my friends, I’ll see to it that you remain frozen for one hundred years. Do we understand one another?”
The sulky mermaid shoved a handful of water over the lip of the fountain, splashing our feet. “Yes, Goddess,” she said.
“Good.”
Ana blew the girl a kiss and the fountain froze. With a quick snap of her fingers, she also blurred the mermaid’s memory of me so she wouldn’t recognize me when she saw me again.
“Feel better?” I asked Ana.
“I believe I do,” she said and gave me a conspiratorial smile as we headed down the tunnel.
When we came up to a dead end, Ana used her power to blast a hole in the rock. She held back the might of the ocean, turning the area ahead of us into a sheet of thick ice, then we walked forward, the ice moving and shifting around us until it created the long tunnel I remembered.
Soon I noticed we were being followed. The giant monsters that swam in the deep caught sight of us. I prepared for an attack. But Ana just cooed at the ugly creatures as they trailed along after us like lovesick puppies, nudging the ice and giving her mournful looks with their strange unblinking eyes. When we’d gone a sufficient distance, Ana lifted a hand, causing an underwater earthquake. Rocks rose and precious metals tore away from the seabed. Her giant pets sped away as she created the temple, complete with a door and a keyhole that would just fit the key she’d made earlier.
Stepping inside the temple, she trailed her hand over the walls, and carvings appeared, spreading out around us like waves. When we passed rooms, I saw gems and marble statues.
“Where did they come from?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I borrowed them from Jīnsèlóng. His hoard was becoming too large.”
I laughed and told her of the incense, the pool, and the thick windows that looked out across the deep. With barely a thought or a whisper from her, everything I described appeared before my eyes.
Her skin gleamed in the dimness of the temple as she walked through each passageway. Ana asked me to help remove the clasp of her black pearl necklace, and after she whispered the words that would grant us six more hours, she dropped it inside one of dozens of giant oysters that each rose to the surface and cracked open their shells hungrily for the privilege of guarding her gift.
I described the statues that we’d found at the top above the pool and the giant shark and the huge jellyfish that Kelsey summoned to take us back to the surface. She was fascinated by the harrowing tale of escape. Her mouth fell open in horror when I said that Kelsey was nearly eaten and how Ren rode the back of the giant shark, sinking the trident into it.
“I would have liked to see that,” she said. “It must have been frightening.”
“Terrifying,” I agreed. “We floated in a giant clam shell for a long time, finally using the scarf like a kite. It guided us back to the ship.”
“It must have been quite the adventure,” Ana said.
“It was,” I answered as I looked out through the darkened glass and saw the flash of something large out of the corner of my eye. “I’m glad we did it. Don’t get me wrong. It was hard, and every corner we turned brought us face-to-face with something that could kill us, but we came through it, you know? There’s something satisfying in knowing that.”
Ana threaded her arm through mine and rested her head on my shoulder. We rested for a while and ate. I told her of the kraken and didn’t even need to embellish the story to see her eyes grow wide. Next I told her of the green dragon hunting us. She gasped and said we should devise some sort of punishment.
“It’s okay,” I said. “When they helped me heal you, I saw their whole lives in a glance. They mean no harm. Not really. And they do try their best to fulfil their duty as you assigned. The dragons just like being the bosses of the sea. They spent a long time being trapped at the bottom of the food chain, and they want to assert their dominance. It’s an animal thing.” I shrugged. “As a full human, er, goddess, you probably wouldn’t understand.”
Ana rose, dusting her hands. “Still, we should visit them from time to time. Help them remember that so
meone is watching.”
“Agreed.”
Ana made the statues with my guidance, gifting them with the power of the scarf so that they might transform me, Ren, and Kells when we appeared. When that was done, she peered up at Shiva, Indra, and Parvati and trailed her fingers over Shiva’s arm. I then regaled her with the story Kadam had taught us.
“He told me that story as well,” she said. “But there were a few things he emphasized that spring to mind.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. He wanted me to especially remember that though Shiva might have forgotten her for a while, anyone who saw him with Parvati would know that they were meant to be together, for they balanced one another’s power.”
“What else did he say?”
“He also added that Shiva was a fool to disregard his wife in the first place.”
“Yes, he was,” I said.
Looking at the statues made me think of Ren and Kelsey. Lost in thought, I touched the hand of Parvati. “You know, when the statues disappeared and the three of us were assigned the roles, I was Shiva and Ren was Indra. At the time, I thought it meant I was the one destined to be with Kelsey. That I was her true love. I hoped this even though I felt as if I were a charlatan trying to steal something that didn’t belong to me.”
Ana shook her head. “You had it backwards, Sohan. You were never a charlatan. You assumed the role you were always meant to have. You are the companion of Parvati. Ren and Kelsey were the players in this cosmic game. They represent the mortal half of us, the other side of the coin.” She cupped my neck with her warm hand. “But you, my handsome tiger. You were always the hero of the story. Never forget that.”
I took her fingers and brought them to my lips. “You know, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I think I might believe it.”
“See that you do.”
“Ana?” I said, snaking an arm around her waist. “When Shiva found the necklace, he won a prize.”
Her breath caught. “I remember,” Ana said softly. “He was able to claim his bride.”
“Right.” I drew her lissome body closer. “So, what happens when he gives up the necklace?” I asked.
“Hmm. I suppose the two of us will have to find out.”
Ana spun away before I could push the conversation further in the direction I intended and fashioned the statue of the shark. Leaning over him, she whispered in his ear what he should do when the visitors arrived. I hoped it included not munching down on any of us more than he had to.
Heading to the wall of windows, she twitched her fingers, and tiny, microscopic organisms grew larger and larger until they became the jellyfish I remembered. “What remarkable creatures!” Ana exclaimed, growing excited. “We’ll have to return someday and visit all the places under the sea. I am especially interested in seeing the gold dragon’s treasure trove.”
The idea of exploring underwater via jellyfish made me squeamish. “If we have to.”
“Do not fear to walk where a goddess treads, Sohan,” she said with a laugh. “Come. We must visit Ren next.”
“Ren? When?”
“When he is imprisoned with Lokesh. We must remove his memory of Kelsey.”
I whistled. “Okay, then. Did Kadam give any reason why we have to do this?”
“You know how little he tells us.”
“Right.”
“But in this case, he made an exception.”
She sat down on the window ledge and patted the spot next to her. The assemblage of bulbous jellyfish bodies behind the glass cast a flecked purple light over us that danced on Ana’s arms and face.
“He must have known we’d balk at this,” Ana said, “so he left a short note.”
“What did it say?”
“He said Ren’s memory needed to be taken so that you might have a chance to love Kelsey.”
“But…why? What difference would it have made? Ren’s forgetting her caused Kelsey great pain. I would not wish that on her. Besides,” I added, reaching for her hand, “maybe if I’d never gotten a chance with Kelsey, my mind and heart would have been more prepared to accept—”
“Someone else?” she murmured.
I nodded. I wanted to declare myself right then. To tell her everything I felt in my heart, but one second ticked by and then another, and then the moment was gone.
“What would you have done,” Ana asked, “after you passed through Shangri-La, growing closer to Kelsey every day, then assisting her in saving Ren only to see them reunited upon his return? How would you have reacted?”
“I…I suppose I would have been happy for them. Or at least tried to be.”
“Yes. But then what would you do? Would you follow after them on the next journey to find the necklace?”
“I might’ve gotten on the boat,” I said.
“But you would have distanced yourself.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“Yes. When two people couple together, it is only natural to give them time apart.”
Heat crept up my neck. “Right, but Ren and Kelsey weren’t…coupling.”
She waved a hand. “Regardless, Kadam believes that without the hope of a relationship between you and Kelsey, you would have eventually left them to their own devices, preferring to remain a tiger in the jungle. You would have abandoned their quest, and as a result, Kelsey would have died.”
I stiffened. “How do you know this?”
“Kadam. He said that one of the mostly likely outcomes in the timeline where Ren kept his memory was you leaving them. Kelsey died in several instances. Once she perished in the jaws of the shark. Another time she expired when she fought the Lords of the Flame. In one scenario, she became one of the walking corpses in the Cave of Sleep and Death. The rakshasa queen changed her into something unhuman—”
“Yeah, I get it,” I said, stopping her from continuing. “So, what you’re saying is they needed me.”
“Not only them, Sohan. If you didn’t have a chance to love Kelsey, then I would never have had the chance to…to…”
“To love me?” I picked up her fingers, twining them with mine. I saw her mouth had fallen open, the words escaping her. “It’s okay,” I said. “You don’t have to say anything. In fact, please don’t. Not yet.”
“There’s more,” she said. “Ren is very persistent in fighting the goddess’s touch on his mind. He struggles with it and nearly overcame the memory block several times. We will have to thwart his progress at different points in his timeline to reinforce it.”
I blew out a breath. “Okay. Let’s go.”
One moment we were under the ocean, and the next, we were bent over double in a sweltering room inside Lokesh’s compound, adjusting to the change in pressure. The scent of hot tiger, sweat, and mildew permeated the area. The floor was damp with water and chemicals and blood. The two of us had arrived phased out of time but Ren must have sensed something.
“Kelsey?” his weak voice whispered from the confines of the cage.
We stepped closer and Ren wrapped broken fingers around the bars. His eyes were black and one of them was swollen shut. The breath wheezed in his lungs. Anamika twitched her hand, and the power of the scarf remade her in a glowing gown of gold and amethyst. Light gathered around her form and gleamed from her skin. I stepped back in the shadows, obscuring my scent.
“No,” Ana replied softly. “Do you recognize me, Dhiren?”
He gasped in pain as he slid closer. “Durga?” he whispered.
“Yes.”
“Are you real?”
“Yes. I am real,” she said, touching her fingers to a nearby whip and wincing. “I promised Kelsey I would watch over you.”
My poor brother wept in gratitude. “Then you’ll help me escape?” he asked, a pleading sound in his tone that I’d never heard from him before.
“No,” Ana whispered, her voice tinged with regret. “But I can offer help.”
“What kind of help?”
She looked over at me for guidance
but I just nodded encouragement. “I can…take your memories,” she said.
Ren jerked in his cage. If he was shocked, he had reason to be. “How exactly would taking my memories help me?”
“Lokesh has been questioning you about Kelsey, hasn’t he?” she asked.
I hadn’t thought of that. Leave it to Ana to consider every angle. She wasn’t wrong in taking this tack with Ren. He would do anything to protect Kelsey. And maybe she was right that Lokesh would have broken Ren eventually. I didn’t think so. I knew from his own mouth that he’d suffered to death for her, literally. Not once but twice. I didn’t know if Lokesh had already cut out his heart, but if he hadn’t yet, he was going to do so soon.
Ana went on. “I can take your memories of Kelsey so that he will not be able to discover where she is.”
“But my memories are all I have left of her.”
“Dhiren”—Ana knelt in front of the cage and touched her fingers to his—“if you don’t agree to do this, I believe that Kelsey will suffer gravely.”
That much was true. I certainly didn’t want Kelsey’s death on my conscious and I knew Ren didn’t either.
“It must be your decision,” Ana said. “Think on it and I will return tomorrow.”
Backing away from him, she phased out of time and I held my arms out to her. Can we not at least prevent some of his suffering? she asked as her tears wet my shirt.
Now, none of that, I warned. Your tears are lethal.
She sniffled and glanced around for signs that something deadly was happening around us. Finding nothing, she said, Perhaps that only happens when you cause my tears.
I frowned, looking around. A teardrop fell from the tip of her lashes but never hit the ground. It disappeared like our footsteps when we were phased out of time. Interesting.
We stood there, the two of us, our arms around each other while Ana fast-forwarded time. In horror, we watched as Lokesh entered the room and had Ren’s tiger form hauled out of the cage. Impatiently, he jolted Ren’s body with electric shocks until he shifted back into human form. Ren had healed as a tiger but he was starved. Weak. It hindered his body’s natural recovery process.
Tiger's Dream (Tiger's Curse Book 5) Page 58