Page 102 of Tiger's Curse
“Kelsey! Are you okay? You fell. Did you faint? What happened?”
“No, I didn’t faint!” I then mumbled, “At least I don’t think I did.” He was holding me in his arms, cradling me close, and I liked it. I didn’twantto like it, but I did.
“You caught me?”
He lectured, “I told you I wouldn’t drop you.”
I muttered sarcastically, “Thanks, Superhero. Now put me down, please. I can stand.”
Ren set me down carefully and, to my great dismay, my legs still wobbled. He reached out a hand to steady me, and I howled, “I said I can stand! Back off a minute, would you?”
I had no idea why I yelled at him. He was just trying to be helpful, but I was frightened. Strange things were happening to me that I had no control over. I also felt embarrassed and was overly sensitive about him touching me. I couldn’t think straight when he touched me. My brain got all fogged up like a mirror in a steamy bathroom, so I wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.
I sat down on the stone border of the pool and put my tennis shoes back on, hoping the dizziness would soon pass.
Ren crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at me. “Kelsey, tell me what happened, please.”
“I don’t know exactly. I had a . . . a vision, I guess.”
“And what did you see in this vision?”
“There were three people, Mr. Kadam, some scary man, and me. All three of us wore amulets, and they were glowing red.”
He dropped his arms and his face became serious. He asked quietly, “What did the scary man look like?”
“He looked like . . . I don’t know, a mob boss or something like that. The kind of guy that likes to be in control and kill things. He had dark hair and black, glittery eyes.”
“Was he Indian?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Fanindra had curled up at my feet in her jewelry position. I picked her up, slid her onto my arm, and then looked around desperately. “Ren? Where’s the golden fruit?”
“It’s here.” He picked it up from where it had fallen at the base of the tree.
“We should hide it.” I picked up my backpack and yanked out my quilt. I reached for the fruit and took it from Ren carefully, making sure our hands didn’t touch, and then I wrapped it in my quilt and stowed it in the backpack. I guess I’d been a little bit too obvious in my desire to avoid touching him, because he was scowling at me when I looked up at him.
“What? You can’t even touch me now? Nice to know I disgust you so much! Too bad you couldn’t convince Kishan to come with you so you could avoid being with me altogether!”
I ignored him and yanked my shoelaces into double knots.
He gestured toward the city and smiled mockingly, “Whenever you feel recovered enough,rajkumari.”
I glared and poked him in the chest. “Maybe Kishan would have been less of a jerk. And for the record, Mr. Sarcastic, I don’t like you very much right now.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Welcome to the club, Kells. Shall we proceed?”
“Fine.” I turned my back to him, adjusted the straps on the backpack, and marched off on my own.
He threw up his hands in exasperation,“Fine!”
I hollered back, “FINE!” and walked stiffly back to the city with him following silently behind me, fuming.
When we passed the first building, the ground started shaking. We stopped and turned to look at the golden tree. It was sinking back into the ground, and the two pool halves were moving back together. There was a strange glow coming from inside the four monkey statues.
“Uh, Kells? I think it might be wise to exit the city as soon as possible.”
We double-timed our pace and jogged briskly between the buildings. I heard a hiss and a screech, followed by several more. Monkey statues were glowing and coming to life. Something moved overhead.
