(Tiger Saga #1) Tiger's Curse

by Colleen Houck

  “A . . . radish, please.”

  The fruit shimmered and glowed like a golden diamond, and a radish appeared in my free hand. I examined it thoughtfully and then chucked it in my trash can.

  I mumbled ironically, “See? Even I don’t want a radish.”

  I immediately wanted to share this exciting news with Ren and ran for the door. I twisted the knob, but then I hesitated. I didn’t want to undo all the things I’d said last night. I meant it about staying friends with him, but, ironically, I was the one who couldn’t be his friend right now. I needed time to get over him.

  I decided to wait for Mr. Kadam to come back; then, I would tell Ren about the Fruit.

  I dug into my crepes and enjoyed my meal—all the more special because it was magical. Then I got dressed and decided to read in my room. After awhile, someone knocked on my door.

  “May I come in, Miss Kelsey?” It was Mr. Kadam.

  “Yes. The door’s open.”

  He entered, shutting the door behind him and sat down on one of the easy chairs.

  “Mr. Kadam, stay right there. I have something to show you!” I got up excitedly and ran to the dresser. Pulling out the Golden Fruit, I unwrapped it and set it carefully on the table. “Are you hungry?”

  He laughed. “No. I just ate.”

  “Well, wish for something to eat anyway.”

  “Why?”

  “Just try it.”

  “Alright.” His eyes twinkled. “I wish for a bowl of my mother’s stew.”

  The fruit twinkled, and a white bowl appeared in front of us. The tangy aroma of an herbed lamb stew filled the room.

  “What is this?”

  “Go on, Mr. Kadam, wish for something else. Food, I mean.”

  “I wish for a mango yogurt.”

  The fruit sparkled again, and a small dish of mango yogurt appeared.

  “Don’t you see? It’s the fruit! It feeds India. Get it?”

  He picked up the fruit carefully. “What an amazing discovery! Have you shared this with Ren?”

  I blushed guiltily. “No, not yet. But you go ahead.”

  He nodded, stunned, and turned the fruit in his hands, looking at it from all angles.

  “Umm . . . Mr. Kadam? There’s something else I wanted to talk with you about.”

  He set the fruit down carefully and gave me his full attention. “Of course, Miss Kelsey. What is it?”

  I let out a deep breath. “I think it’s time . . . for me to go home.”

  He sat back in his chair, steepled his fingers, and looked at me thoughtfully for a moment. “Why do you believe so?”

  “Well, like you said, there’s the Lokesh thing, and there are also other . . . things.”

  “Other things?”

  “Yes.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as . . . well, I don’t want to take advantage of your hospitality forever.”

  He scoffed, “Nonsense. You are a member of the family. We owe you an eternal debt, one that can never be repaid. This house is as much yours as it is ours.”

  I smiled at him gratefully. “Thank you. It’s not only that, though, it’s also . . . Ren.”

  “Ren? Can you tell me about it?”

  I sat on the edge of the couch and opened my mouth to say that I didn’t want to talk about it, but the whole thing came spilling out. Before I knew it, I was crying, and he was sitting next to me patting my hand and comforting me as if he were my grandfather.

  He didn’t say a word. He just let me spill out all of the hurt, confusion, and tender new feelings. When I was done, he patted my back while I hiccupped with tears dropping onto my cheeks. He handed me an expensive cloth handkerchief, smiled, and wished for a cup of chamomile tea to give me.

  I laughed wetly at his delighted expression as he handed me the tea; then, I blew my nose and calmed down. I was horrified that I had confessed everything to him. What must he think of me? Then another thought pierced my despair: Will he tell Ren?

  As if reading my thoughts, he said, “Miss Kelsey, don’t you feel bad about what you have told me.”

  I begged, “Please, please don’t tell Ren.”

  “Rest assured, I will never break your confidence.” He chuckled. “I am very good at keeping secrets, my dear. Don’t despair. Life often seems hopeless and too complicated to hammer out a happy result. I only hope I can offer you some of the peace and harmony that you have given to me.”

  He sat back and thoughtfully stroked his short beard. “Perhaps it is time for you to go back to Oregon. You are right that Ren needs time to learn how to be a man again, although not quite in the way you believe. Plus, I have a lot more research to do before we set off looking for Durga’s second gift.”

  He paused for a moment. “Of course I will arrange for you to go back. Never forget, though, that this home is yours too, and you can always call me at a moment’s notice, and I will bring you back. If it’s not too forward of me, I consider you a daughter.” He laughed. “Or perhaps, granddaughter would be more accurate.”

  I smiled at him tremulously, threw my arms around his neck, and sobbed anew on his shoulder. “Thank you. Thank you so much. You are like family to me too. I will miss you terribly.”

  He hugged me back. “And I will miss you. Now, enough tears. Why don’t you go out for a swim and get some fresh air while I make the arrangements.”

  I swiped a sparkling tear from my eye. “That’s a good idea. I think I will.”

  He squeezed my hand and left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

  I decided to take his advice, changed into my bathing suit, and headed for the pool. I swam laps for a while, trying to put my energy into something other than my emotions. When I got hungry, I tried wishing for a club sandwich and one appeared next to the swimming pool.

  This sure comes in handy! I don’t have to even be in the same room! I wonder what the range on that thing is.

  I ate my sandwich and lay out on a beach towel until my skin got hot, then I hopped back in the pool and floated lazily for a while to cool off.

  A tall man walked up and stood by the pool directly in front of the sun. Even shading my eyes, I couldn’t see his face, but I knew who it was.

  I scowled, “Ren! Can’t you leave me alone? I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

  The man stepped out of the sun, and I squinted up at him.

  “You don’t want to see me? And after I came all this way?” He clicked his tongue, “Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Someone needs to teach you some manners, Miss.”

  I gasped, “Kishan?”

  He grinned, “Who else, bilauta?”

  I squealed, darted up the pool steps, and rushed over to him. He opened his arms to me and laughed as I gave him a big wet hug.

  “I can’t believe you’re here! I’m so glad.”

  He looked me up and down with his golden eyes, so different from Ren’s, “Well, if I knew that this was the kind of welcome I’d be getting, I would have come here a lot sooner.”

  I laughed. “Stop teasing me. How did you get here? Did you get six hours back too? You have to tell me all about it!”

  He raised his hand and chuckled. “Hold on, hold on. First of all, who’s teasing? And secondly, why don’t you go get changed, and we can sit down for a long talk.”

  “Okay.” I smiled at him then faltered, “But can we meet out here by the pool?”

  He cocked his head, confused, but smiled. “Sure, if you want to. I’ll just wait for you right here.”

  “Alright. Don’t move. I’ll be right back!”

  I ran up the back steps to my room and quickly showered, got dressed, and brushed out my hair. I also ordered two root beer floats, courtesy of the Golden Fruit, and carried them down with me.

  When I got to the pool, he had moved two deck chairs over into the shade and was sitting back and relaxing with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. He was wearing a black T-shirt with jeans, and his feet were bare. I sunk down into the other chair an
d handed him a root beer float.

  “What’s this you’ve brought me?”

  “It’s called a root beer float. Try it.”

  He took a sip and coughed. I laughed. “Did the bubbles go up your nose?”

  “I believe they did. It’s good though. Very sweet. It reminds me of you. Is it from your country?”

  “Yes.”

  “If I want to answer your questions before nightfall, I guess I’d better get started.”

  He took another sip of his root beer and continued, “First, you asked me if I got six hours back. The answer is yes. You know, it’s strange. I’ve been content being a tiger for centuries, but after you and Dhiren visited, I’ve felt uncomfortable in my black hide. For the first time in a long time, I wanted to be alive again, not as an animal but as myself.”

  “I understand. How did you figure out you had six hours, and how did you get here?”

  “I’d been changing to a man every day and had also started sneaking into nearby villages to watch people and see what the modern world offers.” He sighed sadly. “The world has changed much since I was last a part of it.”

  I nodded, and he went on, “One day, about a week ago, I’d changed to a man and was watching the children play in the village square. I knew my time was almost up, so I moved back into the jungle and waited for the tremors that come before a change. They didn’t come.

  “I waited one hour, then two, and still no change. I knew that something had happened. I walked back through the jungle and waited until I felt the pull of the tiger take over again. I tested myself the next day, and the next, and the time was the same every day.

  “That’s when I knew that you and Ren had been at least partially successful. After that, I returned to the village as a man and asked some people to help me place a call to Mr. Kadam. Someone finally figured out how to reach him, and he drove out to pick me up.”

  “So that’s where Mr. Kadam was for the last couple of days.”

  Kishan looked me up and down then leaned back and sipped his float appreciatively. He raised his glass to me. “I have to say, I had no idea what I was missing.”

  He smiled at me and stretched out his long legs in front of him, crossing them at the ankles.

  I said, “Well, I’m glad you’re here. This is your home, and you belong here.”

  He looked off soberly in the distance. “I guess it is. For the longest time, I felt I had no spark of humanity in me. My soul was dark. But, you, my dear,” he reached over, took my hand, and kissed it, “have brought me back into the light again.”

  I put my hand lightly on his arm. “You just missed Yesubai. I don’t believe your soul was dark or that you had lost your humanity. It just takes time to heal when your heart’s been broken like that.”

  His eyes twinkled. “Perhaps you are right. Now, tell me of your adventures! Mr. Kadam filled me in on the basics, but I want to hear details.”

  I told him about Durga’s weapons, and he expressed a keen interest in the gada in particular. He laughed when I shared the tale of the monkeys attacking Ren and looked at me in horror when I described the Kappa that had almost eaten me. It was easy talking to him. He listened with interest, and I didn’t have any of the nervous butterflies I felt when I talked with Ren.

  When I got to the end of the story, I stared at the pool, while Kishan carefully studied my face.

  “There’s something else I’m curious about, Kelsey.”

  I smiled at him. “Sure, what else do you want to know?”

  “What exactly is going on between you and Ren?”

  A vise clamped down on my chest, but I tried to play it cool. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, are you two more than just traveling companions? Are you together?”

  I clipped off a fast, “No. Definitely not.”

  He grinned. “Good!” He grabbed my hand and kissed it. “Then that means you’re free to go out with me. No girl in her right mind would want to be with Ren, anyway. He’s very . . . stuffy. Cold, as far as relationships go.”

  My mouth hung open for a minute, shocked, and then I felt anger shove the shock aside and take over. “First of all, I am not going to be with either one of you. Second, a girl would have to be crazy not to want Ren. You’re wrong about him. He’s not stuffy or cold. In fact, he’s considerate, warm, drop-dead gorgeous, dependable, loyal, sweet, and charming.”

  He raised an eyebrow and measured me thoughtfully for a minute. I squirmed under his gaze, knowing that I had spoken too quickly and said way too much.

  He ventured carefully, “I see. You may be right. The Dhiren I know has surely changed in the past couple of hundred years. However, despite that and your insistent claim that you will not be with either one of us, I would like to propose that we go out and celebrate tonight, if not as my . . . what is the correct word?”

  “The word is date.”

  “Date. If not as my date . . . then, as my friend.”

  I grimaced.

  Kishan continued, pressing his point, “Surely, you won’t leave me to fend for myself on my first night back in the real world?”

  He smiled at me, encouraging my acceptance. I did want to be his friend, but I wasn’t sure what to say to his request. And for just a moment, I wondered how Ren would feel about it and what the consequences might be.

  I questioned, “Where exactly do you want to go to celebrate?”

  “Mr. Kadam said there’s a nightclub in town nearby with dinner and dancing. I thought we could celebrate there, maybe get something to eat, and you can teach me how to dance.”

  I laughed nervously. “This is my first time in India, and I don’t know a thing about the dancing or the music here.”

  Kishan seemed even more delighted by that news. “Fantastic! Then we will learn together. I won’t take no for an answer.” He jumped up to rush off.

  I yelled, “Wait, Kishan! I don’t even know what to wear!”

  He shouted back over his shoulder, “Ask Kadam. He knows everything!”

  As soon as he disappeared into the house, I sunk glumly into a depression. The last thing I wanted to do was try to be happy when I was emotionally wrung dry. I was pleased that Kishan was back and in high spirits though.

  In the end, I decided that, although I really didn’t feel like celebrating, I didn’t want to dampen Kishan’s newfound enthusiasm for life. I leaned over to pick up our discarded root beer glasses and found that they’d disappeared.

  How awesome was that? Not only did the Golden Fruit provide food, it also did the dishes!

  I got up to head back into the house and sensed something. Goose bumps stood out on my arms. I looked around but didn’t see or hear anything. Then I felt an electric sizzle shoot through my body. Something tugged at me and pulled my eyes up to the balcony. Ren was standing there, leaning against a pillar with his arms folded across his chest watching me.

  We looked at each other for a minute, not saying anything, but I could feel the air between us shift. It became thick, sultry, and tangible—like when the air changes right before a storm. I could feel its power envelop me as it brushed across my skin. Even though I couldn’t see it, I knew a storm was coming.

  The sultry air pulled on me like a riptide, trying to suck me back into the vacuum of power Ren had stirred between us. I felt like I had to physically yank myself away from it. I closed my eyes and ignored it, continuing on.

  When it finally let me go, a horrible ripping feeling occurred within me, and I spun out into a void alone. As I dragged myself to my room and closed the door behind me, I could feel his eyes still on me, burning a fiery hole between my shoulder blades. I stiffly entered my dark room, trailing the torn threads of disconnection along behind me.

  I stayed in my room for the rest of the afternoon. Mr. Kadam visited me and expressed his delight that I would be going out for the evening with Kishan. He suggested that a celebration was indeed in order and that we should all go.

  I asked, “So you and Ren wan
t to come too?”

  “I don’t see why not. I will ask him.”

  “Mr. Kadam, it might be better for you to just have a guys’ night out. I’d just get in the way.”

  “Nonsense, Miss Kelsey. We all have something to celebrate, and I will make sure that Ren is on his best behavior.”

  He turned to leave, and I said, “Wait! What should I wear?”

  “You may wear whatever you wish. You can wear modern clothes or dress in more traditional fashions. Why don’t you wear your sharara dress?”

  “You don’t think I’d be out of place?”

  “No. There are many women who wear them for celebrations. It would be perfectly acceptable.”

  My face fell, and he added, “If you don’t wish to wear it, you can wear your regular clothes instead; either choice is appropriate.”

  He left and I groaned. Being alone and trying to celebrate with Kishan was bad enough, but at least he didn’t make me feel like I was drowning in emotional turmoil. Now, Ren would be there. It would be miserable.

  I felt stressed about going out. I wanted to wear regular clothes, but I knew the boys would probably be wearing Armani or something like that, and I didn’t want to stand next to them in jeans and sneakers, so I opted for my sharara dress.

  I pulled the heavy skirt and top out of the closet, ran my hand over the beading, and sighed. It was so beautiful. I spent some time doing my hair and makeup. Playing up my eyes with more mascara and liner than I usually did, I also smudged some purple-gray shadow over my lids and used a flat iron to straighten my hair. The feel of smoothing it out in long strokes was very therapeutic and helped me to relax.

  By the time I was finished, my golden-brown hair was sleek and shining and hung in a curtain down my back. I carefully slipped the purple-blue bodice over my head and then picked up the heavy skirt. I centered it on my hips and aligned the glittering folds, liking the weighty feel of it. Fingering the intricate pattern of teardrop pearls, I couldn’t help but smile.

  I was just lamenting that the Golden Fruit could not create footwear when a knock sounded at my door. Mr. Kadam was waiting for me.