Page 141 of Tiger's Destiny
He stroked my hair softly and said, “Once, a long time ago, you asked me to let you go. Do you remember?”
I nodded against his chest.
After a moment, he took my hands and turned them over. He pressed a gentle kiss on each of my palms and said, “Now I’m asking you, Kelsey, to letmego.”
I trembled. “Is this what you truly want?”
He hesitated only briefly before answering. “It’s what needs to happen.”
I cried with renewed vigor while Kishan rubbed my shoulders and
back and pressed kisses along my hairline. Finally, he sighed and asked, “Are you ready?”
“No,” I dashed my hands across my cheeks. “I promised you a happy ending.”
He smiled. “My ending hasn’t been determined yet.” He took my face in his hands and vowed, “I will always hold a piece of you in my heart, Kelsey Hayes.”
“And I will keep a place for you in mine, Kishan Rajaram.”
Taking my hand, he pressed a golden key into my palm and closed his fingers over mine decisively.
“But it belongs to you,” I protested.
“Take it with you and build a home like the one we talked about.”
“I will,” I whispered.
He kissed my closed eyelids. “It’s time, Kells.”
Tucking my hand around his arm, we walked back toward the others. Just before we stepped through the trees, he paused. “You’ll remember me?”
“How can you even ask?”
He grunted. “Promise me something.”
I looked into haunted golden eyes full of heartbreak and sorrow and said, “Anything.”
“Promise you’ll be happy.”
I nodded as he wiped some tears from my cheeks with his thumbs and then guided me out of the trees.
“We’re ready,” Kishan announced. He led me over to Ren and put my hand into his brother’s. Ren’s bright blue eyes were red rimmed and full of unshed tears, but they met mine unashamedly, and he squeezed my hand gently.
“Take care of her,” Kishan said to his brother.
Ren clasped Kishan’s arm in his and said with a quiver in his voice, “Yours in life, Kishan.”
“Yours in death, Dhiren,” Kishan finished.
“Thank you,” Ren said softly.
“Strive your whole life to deserve her, brother.”
When Ren nodded, Kishan stretched out his fingers to trail them briefly down my jaw before turning away. He stopped next to Durga and folded his arms across his chest. Neither of them looked at each other.
Phet stepped forward. “A sacrifice has been made. Kishan will henceforth be known as Damon, the tiger of Durga. He will keep his power to heal as well as his ability to shift into tiger form, though there is now no limit on how long he can remain human. As for Ren . . .”
Phet lifted the Damon Amulet and murmured a few words. A bright light circled around the amulet. It seemed to draw a white mist from Ren’s body and pull it through the disk.
