Page 184 of Tiger's Dream
“What do you mean?” he asked. “Who is with you?”
“I am accompanied by my…my consort.”
I snorted, not liking that word at all.
Ana ignored my outburst. “The trigger is an event that will jar your memory. It must be something that will prove to you that she is safe.”
Ren suggested several ideas for triggers, but none of them were the right one—the one that actually happened.
“The trigger was a kiss,” I told her. “When I kissed Kelsey for the first time, he got his memory back.”
Ana gave me a look, frowning. I folded my arms across my chest. If she was going to call me a consort, then she could deal with my past relationship. “Kelsey is safe with your brother, is she not?” she asked, turning back to Ren.
Apparently, when I was phased, Ren could hear me enough to know someone was with the goddess but not well enough to understand my words or recognize my voice.
“With my brother? Yes. She will be safe with him. So, seeing them together will give me my memory back?”
“No. It’s not enough to just see them together. They must be…comfortable.”
Ren laughed. “My brother likes to get a bit too comfortable around Kelsey. He’ll probably take advantage of my absence and try to kiss her at every opportunity.”
He didn’t notice how Ana’s whole body became stiff.
All business now, she nodded. “Very well. Your trigger shall be a kiss.”
“You mean when I see him kiss her, I’ll get my memory back?”
“Exactly.”
Ren pulled away.
“Why do you hesitate, Dhiren?” Ana asked. “Do you not believe that your brother will kiss her?” I raised an eyebrow at the tiny note of hope in her voice.
“Oh, he’ll kiss her, all right,” Ren promised.
“And can you be assured of her safety if you see them kiss?”
“Probably.”
“Ah, you wish there were another way,” Ana said and turned to me. “I also wish there were another way. But what is meant to be is meant to be. Come, Dhiren, it is time to finish.”
As she worked, Ren went into a little trance.
I phased into time fully, knowing she’d take away any memories of me being there. “How much of this will he remember?” I asked.
“Only the parts we want him to,” she answered, her gleaming hand outstretched as she carefully sifted through his memories. It was much easier to wipe a mind completely or to remove everything that happened in a certain time frame than to go about the delicate work of just removing one person and leaving the rest intact.
“Make sure he doesn’t know that I was here then.”
Ana nodded.
I approached and knelt beside the cage. “Hello, brother,” I said.
His bleary eyes shifted to me and he scooted closer.
“Kishan? How…how are you here?” he asked.
“I’m sorry that you have to suffer,” I said, wishing I could take some of the burden away from him. “You’ll be rescued soon. Not that you’ll remember me saying that.”
