Page 15 of Tiger's Destiny
“Mr. Kadam, please tell us what happened to you,” I asked.
He leaned back, stroked his short beard, and briefly paused, as if undecided. “The amulet protected me on the ship. When I saw the harpoon heading toward Nilima, my only thought was to save her. I wrapped my arms around her and the next thing I knew, we were transported to another place.”
“Where?” Ren asked.
“I’m not sure it was a ‘where,’ for we were no longer on Earth.”
“What do you mean?” I sputtered, shocked. “Was it like one of Durga’s other-worlds, like the City of the Seven Pagodas?”
“No. We traveled to a time beyond time, a place beyond space. It’s an experience I fear I will have difficulty in describing. Suffice it to say we are safe and we are home.”
I could sense that Mr. Kadam wasn’t telling us the whole truth. He was holding something back, but I had no idea what it could be or why.
“I will be very busy in the next few weeks,” Mr. Kadam continued. “It is imperative that we begin our journey to find Durga’s fourth gift soon. If we leave too early or too late we will miss our window of opportunity and the success of our endeavor will be jeopardized.
“Above all else, I must impress upon you the need to trust me. I will ask some difficult things of all of you in the near future, and you must heed my direction without question. There are certain things I have been made aware of that I cannot share with you.”
Mr. Kadam looked at me kindly. “Your safety and your happiness is and has always been my priority. Please don’t question me on this, for I can say no more.”
“Will you need help with the research?” I offered.
“Not this time, Miss Kelsey, but thank you.”
Something was wrong. Mr. Kadam had never closed himself off from us before. He seemed distracted, uncomfortable. To break the silence, I said, “Perhaps now would be a good time to share what I’ve learned.”
Mr. Kadam nodded for me to begin describing my experiences with Lokesh. I told them about his history, of how he killed his brother and still wore his father’s and brother’s rings, and about the powers I’d observed him use.
I explained, “He can make wind tunnels and blue static electricity at his fingertips. He freezes not only people but things, which makes me wonder if he has control over ice or water because he doused fire.”
“It’s a reasonable assumption,” Mr. Kadam acknowledged.
“Thanks to Kishan, we now know the amulet I wear is connected to fire, and he’s discovered more uses for it in a month than I could have in a year.”
My thoughts turned briefly to the golden flame that was a result of Ren’s touch, but somehow I knew that the special power didn’t come from the amulet or even my henna tattoo. It was something I only felt when Ren and I connected.
Swallowing, I turned to Mr. Kadam, who nodded sagely, but his expression was strange, as if he already knew what I was going to say.
I cleared my throat and said quietly, “Lokesh also used his power to . . . touch me.”
Mr. Kadam interrupted. “Perhaps it is too uncomfortable for you to speak of.”
“No, I think you all should know. He used invisible fingers of air that could penetrate my clothing and right before we left I felt him scratch my skin from the inside out. He could’ve probably rearranged my insides.”
“If that devil wasn’t already dead, I’d strangle him with my bare hands,” Kishan spat.
Mr. Kadam sat up, clearly fascinated. “You believe he’s dead, then?”
“We hope so,” Kishan answered. “We left him hung, speared, and burning.”
“Interesting.”
Ren leaned forward and pressed his head into his hands. “This is my fault, Kelsey. I should have kept you by my side constantly.” He turned to me and took my hands. “Forgive me. I sent you away. If I had kept you by my side Lokesh couldn’t have abducted you.”
“There is nothing to forgive. Please don’t blame yourself. I’m safe because you rescued me.”
He raised his head and nodded but said nothing, so I continued to recap what I had learned. “The amulet keeps Lokesh young. He looks about fifty years old, but he’s actually much older than all of you. He said he was born around 250 CE. With the combined power of the amulet pieces, he can manipulate his appearance at will.”
Mr. Kadam looked off into the distance but said nothing. In fact, it seemed as if his thoughts were somewhere else.
