Page 107 of Tiger's Curse
“At least wait until you’ve eaten something.”
“Toss me an energy bar, and I’ll eat on the way.”
“But, Kells—”
My eyes locked briefly with his cobalt blue ones, and I said softly, “I need to get out of here.”
I turned and started gathering our things. He just sat immobile, watching me closely, his eyes burning into my back. Iwasdesperate to get out of there. The longer we were together, the more my resolve wavered. I was almost to the point of asking him to stay here with me forever and live among the needle trees and the Kappa. If I didn’t get the tiger part of him back soon, I’d lose myself to the man forever.
Finally, he said slowly, almost sadly, “Sure. Whatever you say, Kelsey.” He stood up, stretched, and then put out the fire.
I walked over to Fanindra, who was spiraled into an arm cuff, and stared down at her.
“She saved your life you know. Those bites healed you,” Ren explained.
I reached up and touched my neck where the Kappa had bitten me. The skin was smooth, without a pucker or a scar. I crouched down.
“I guess you saved me again, huh, Fanindra? Thanks.”
I picked her up and positioned her on my upper arm, grabbed my backpack, and then walked ahead a few steps.
I spun around, “You coming, Superman?”
“Right behind you.”
We entered the mouth of the black cavern. Ren held out his hand. I ignored it and began walking into the tunnel. He stopped me and held out his hand again, staring at it pointedly. I sighed and gripped a couple of his fingers in mine. I smiled sheepishly and was again too obvious in my attempt to avoid physical contact. He groaned in disgust, took my elbow, and yanked my body up next to his, settling his arm around my shoulders.
We walked through the tunnels quickly. The other Rens and Kelseys moaned and beckoned even more aggressively than before. I closed my eyes and let Ren lead me through. I gasped when the figures approached and tried to lay ghostly hands on us.
Ren whispered, “They can’t become corporeal unless we pay attention to them.”
We walked through as quickly as possible. Evil shapes and familiar forms clamored for us to notice them. Mr. Kadam, Kishan, my parents, my foster family, even Mr. Maurizio all shouted, begged, demanded, and coerced.
We made it through the tunnel much faster than the first time. Ren still held my hand in his warm grip after we emerged, and I tried to gently and inconspicuously free my hand from his. He looked at me and then at our entwined hands. He raised an eyebrow and grinned maliciously. I started tugging harder, but he merely tightened his grip. I finally had to wrench it away to get him to let go.
So much for subtlety.
He smirked at me knowingly while I glared back.
It wasn’t long before we faced the needle tree forest again and Ren headed boldly toward the treeline. Striking with thegada, he moved slowly forward creating a path that I could walk through safely. The branches abused him violently and ripped his shirt to shreds. He tossed it aside, and I found myself staring in fascination first at the rippling muscles of his arms and back and then at his cuts as they healed before my eyes. Soon he was soaked with sweat and, and I couldn’t watch anymore. I kept my eyes on my feet and followed along silently.
He headed toward the trees. Banging on them with thegada, we skirted through the prickly forest without further incident.
In no time at all, we were climbing the rocks leading to the cavern, heading back toward the Ugra Narasimha statue in Hampi. When we reached the long tunnel, Ren started to say something several times but stopped himself. I was curious, but not curious enough to start a conversation.
I pulled out my flashlight, angled my stride to put distance between us, and ended up hugging the other side of the cavern. He looked over at me once, but he allowed me to maintain my distance. Eventually, the tunnel narrowed enough that we had to walk side by side again. Every time I glanced at Ren, I saw that he was watching me.
When we finally reached the end of the tunnel and saw the stone steps that led to the surface, Ren stopped.
“Kelsey, I have one final request of you before we head up.”
“And what would that be? Want to talk about tiger senses or monkey bites in strange places maybe?”
“No. I want you to kiss me.”
I sputtered, “What? Kiss you? What for? Don’t you think you got to kiss me enough on this trip?”
“Humor me, Kells. This is the end of the line for me. We’re leaving the place where I get to be a man all the time, and I have only my tiger’s life to look forward to. So, yes, I want you to kiss me one more time.”
