Page 143 of Tiger's Dream
Ana laughed and handed me a honey cake and a fat piece of fruit. As I popped the cake in my mouth, she touched my arm and we left the land of Shangri-La far behind. The colors of the beautiful land swirled around us and were replaced by a dim grayness. Ana handed me the flagon, and I took a long drink and began eating the fruit as she explored the dusty temple.
“Where is this place?” she asked as she licked her thumb.
“You don’t know?”
She shook her head. “I just told the amulet to take us to the next time and place on the list.”
Glancing around, it became clear immediately. “It’s actually fairly close to our mountain home. This is a temple of Durga in Nepal.”
“Is there anything special about this visit you wish to tell me?”
I rubbed my palm over my cheek as I considered. “Well, it was just me and Kells, this time. Kadam wasn’t here and Ren had been captured by Lokesh. He was languishing in that torture chamber.” Ana shivered delicately. “I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
She waved a hand. “I am fine, Sohan. Besides, hearing of it will not be as difficult as seeing it.”
“We’re going to see it?” I asked.
“It’s further down the list, but yes. We are the ones who will take his memory.”
Blowing out a breath, I walked over to where she stood, looking out a window at the night sky. I put a hand on her shoulder, and she surprised me by covering it with her own and turning to me. The moonlight washed over her face, and almost without thinking, I traced her cheekbones with my fingertips and said, “I like you better this way.”
“What way?” she asked.
“Just as yourself and not as the goddess.”
“Is it the arms that bother you?” she asked with a small grin.
“No.” I slid my hands down her arms, took her hands, and stepped back, considering them. I lifted one of her hands to my mouth and pressed a soft kiss against her wrist. “In fact,” I said quietly, “I have a few ideas about all those arms.”
She lifted an eyebrow. My eyes danced with hers, and slowly, I touched her jaw and cupped her neck. Stepping closer, I lowered my head, thinking to kiss her, but she sucked in a breath and turned away, her body trembling. At first I was confused but then my empty hands tightened into fists. Maybe she found me uninteresting after the time she’d spent with the sirens.
“Sohan—” she began, her back turned to me.
“Don’t worry about it, Ana,” I said stiffly. “I didn’t mean to distract you from your work.”
She sighed and asked what else she needed to know about this temple visit. I quickly ran through everything I could remember. We touched our hands to the temple wall again but this time it was too brief. The print appeared just as we heard footsteps on the stairs. Waving a hand, Ana phased us out of time so we wouldn’t be seen. As usual, our tracks on the dusty floor had melted away. My old self and Kelsey entered, holding hands. I heard the words, “I’ll follow your lead,” and then they knelt at the feet of the statue, placing various offerings.
Kelsey touched her finger to the anklet Ren had given her and I heard the tinkling of bells. They reminded me of Ana now. “Great goddess Durga,” Kelsey said. “We come seeking your help once again. I ask…”
The words faded away as I looked at Ana’s face. She took in Kelsey’s words like the plea they were. They touched her in a way I couldn’t feel. I realized then that she heard the prayers of others in a similar manner. She felt them. Ana responded in an emotional way entirely different than me.Will you hear my prayer, Goddess? I thought.
Almost as if I willed it, Ana turned to face me. A thousand words floated in the space between us but neither of us said anything. I took one step toward her, then another. Wanting, no, needing to bridge the distance.
When my old self began speaking, she stepped away from me and looked directly at him. Though she no longer looked at me, I felt the thick cords of connection between us tighten. “I…don’t deserve a blessing,” I’d said. “What happened is my fault, but I ask you to help my brother. Keep him safe...forher.
While I watched, Ana touched her ghostly hand to the chest of my old self. My own heart beat rapidly as a feeling of warmth and love stole through me. I remembered feeling it then as well, though, at the time, I’d attributed it to the love I was bearing for Kelsey. The old me transformed into the black tiger, and he chuffed softly and, when she stepped back, whined slightly as if he could feel her leaving him.
“This is the scary part,” I heard Kelsey say as she grabbed on to the black tiger. Ana lifted her hands and a cold maelstrom gusted through the open windows of the temple. The entire area transformed into something beautiful. The storm didn’t affect me at all, and I strode over to her, feeling the need to touch her, to place my hand over her heart as she had mine, but she disappeared, merging her form into that of the statue on the other side of the wall.
The temple glistened like Ana’s skin, and I saw the glow of her handprint where we’d touched the wall a moment before. Kelsey moved her hand to the same spot and I watched the wall rotate. Only then did my vision blur as I was sucked into the stone carving beside Anamika.
I heard Ana’s voice echo in the temple, “Greetings, young one. Your offerings have been accepted.” All the random things placed at her feet vanished.
When we’d fully turned, wind blew away the dust that covered us and I shook myself. I was the orange tiger once again. Glancing down at my paw, I wrinkled my nose and sneezed, then sat at Ana’s feet. The goddess was beautiful. As lovely as a pink blossom. I wanted to bury my face in her lustrous hair and inhale. The hand highest over her head fussed with her golden cap.
My mind returned to the passionate kiss we’d shared that morning. The idea of being with her in such a way no longer startled me as it did at first. Maybe the truth stone had not only shown me my future but had actually placed the woman herself in my arms. If a love such as that was what awaited me, I was a lucky man indeed.
As I pondered the possibilities, I wondered if Ana would stroke my back again or play with my ears and if that might lead to other things later. A man, or tiger, could hope. Then again, she hadn’t exactly responded the same way since then. Whatever was going on with her, with us, was confusing, and no matter what I did, I seemed to handle it all wrong.
