Page 42 of Tiger's Destiny
I sat down heavily on the log again. “When the bad guys came for me—he stayed behind and got captured. When he couldn’t give me CPR—he broke up with me and handed me off to Kishan. When an evil man got too close to finding me—he sacrificed his memories of us. Every time something threatens me, he rushes ahead to face it without thinking about what will happen to me ifhedies. He was supposed to be a king. Maybe that’s where he gets his overdeveloped sense of duty from.”
“Then easy pick. You choose other brother,” the old woman concluded.
“I want to be a good wife for Kishan. I’ll love him, and we’ll raise a family together. And hopefully that will mean that Ren will stop hurtling himself into the arms of death.”
She clucked her tongue. “Is good but which mans make you happy? Make you feel so much?”
“I feel for both of them.”
“Huh,” she grunted. “You most happy time who?” she insisted while peering at me shrewdly.
I squirmed then admitted softly, “Ren.” Her thick eyebrows rose and she wore an “Ah-Ha” expression. I quickly explained, “But it doesn’t matter. I’mchoosingKishan. I promised Kishan I’d never let him be alone again. And hewill, I mean hedoes, make me very happy. I love Kishan.”
“But your heart is divide.”
“Yes. And the truth of it is . . . most of my heart belongs to Ren. I never stopped loving him. When we were apart, nothing mattered. I was lost. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that someday we’d be together again. That, and Kishan needed me. Ren thinks that as long as IliveI’ll be okay. But he’s wrong. If he is killed, and I have to put him into a grave next to Mr. Kadam, I won’t recover.”
I smiled wanly and turned to face the quiet jungle. “You see? Ican’t livewithout him. So to keep him safe, to keep my heart safe, we can’t be together. Do you understand?”
A familiar voice answered, “I think I do.”
The breath froze in my body. Saachi’s voice had changed to a silky, smooth tone, like caramel and honey. It was a voice I was very familiar with. Closing my eyes, I turned to face the man standing behind me.
I took a deep breath. Slowly I opened my eyes, and my anguished heart beat thickly when I saw his expression.
“The Scarf . . .” I said, realizing how he had tricked me into admitting the truth.
“Yes,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion. He lifted his hand to sweep his hair from his face and let out a shaky breath.
I took a step toward him. “Please, try to understand that none of this matters. It doesn’t change anything. I’ve already decided upon a course of action, and I intend to follow through with it.”
“I wanted to know. I needed to know. You’ve kept your true feelings from both of us. Kelsey, why didn’t you share these worries? These fears?”
“Would it have changed anything? Does it really make a difference?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. But at least all the cards are on the table now.”
I bit my lip. “Are you going to tell him?”
“Don’t you think he needs to know?”
“I don’t see how it will help.”
He stood quietly as he considered me and then sighed. “I suppose for now we can keep this just between the two of us.”
“Thank you.”
Feeling awkward, I gathered up my bag and turned on my heel to head back into town. My skin prickled with the awareness of the man following along silently behind me.
13
barren island
Finally Nilima announced it was time to go. I stood on the dock yawning at four a.m. while Ren and Kishan peeled back a tarp covering a futuristic looking Disneyland type of ride that bobbed in the water.
“What . . . is that?” I asked Nilima with a slight accusatory edge to my voice.
Kishan moved past me as he untied some ropes. “We call it the Skimmer.”
