22
Escape
When I opened my eyes, I was staring up into Ren’s face.
‘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’t want to 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’s hand 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.
Small black and brown figures leapt across buildings following us. The screeches became cacophonous, and the noise level was incredible.
I yelled over at Ren as I ran, ‘Perfect! Now we’re being chased by hordes of monkeys! Perhaps you would care to name their species as we’re attacked, just so I can appreciate the special traits of said monkey as it kills me!’
He ran along beside me. ‘At least when the monkeys are harassing you, you don’t have any time to harass me!’
The monkeys were getting close. I almost tripped over one as it darted in front of my legs. Ren leapt over a fountain with his tiger power. Show-off.
‘Ren, you’re holding back. Just get out of here! Take the backpack and go.’
He laughed acerbically as he ran ahead of me; then, he turned to look at me while jogging backward, ‘Ha! You wish you could get rid of me that easily!’
He ran a bit farther ahead of me and switched to the tiger. Then he barreled back toward me and actually leapt over my running body into the throng of monkeys to slow them down.
I shouted back at him while still running, ‘Hey! Careful where you jump, Mister! You almost took my head off!’
I kept on course, pumping my legs as fast as they would go. I heard terrible noises behind me. Most of the monkeys had switched to full-on attack mode. Ren was biting, slashing with his claws, and roaring thunderously. I looked back over my shoulder. Brown, gray, and black monkeys covered his body and clung to his fur. A dozen or so monkeys were still chasing me, including the huge baboon from the reflecting pool.
I turned a corner and finally saw the drawbridge. A monkey leapt and latched itself onto my leg, slowing me down. I tried to shake it off as I ran.
Batting at him ineffectually, I hollered, ‘Stu-pid mon-key . . . get . . . off!’ In response, he bit my knee.
‘Owww!’ I shook my leg harder as I ran and stomped my foot down hard to make the ride as jarring as possible for the little hitchhiker. Just then, Fanindra animated the top half of her body. She hissed and spat at the monkey, who screeched and immediately let go of my leg.
‘Thanks, Fanindra.’ I patted her head as she settled back down on my arm again.
I reached the gate, crossed the bridge, and stopped on the other side. Ren was bouncing toward me trying to shake monkeys off his back.
Several monkeys were storming toward me. I kicked at them viciously, quickly threw off my backpack, and took out the gada.
I started swinging the gada like a baseball bat at the monkeys. I hit one with a sickening smack, and it whimpered and hightailed it back to the city. The problem was that I was able to hit a monkey only every third try or so. One jumped on my back and started pulling my hair. Another attached itself to my leg. I continued swinging the gada back and forth in front of me, and eventually ended up being able to get rid of most of them.
Ren ran down the drawbridge with about fifteen monkeys clinging to his fur. He bounced over, leapt into the trees, and banged his body up against the trunks, first on one side and then the other. He leapt up high to rub his back on a branch and scrape the remaining monkeys off.
The needle trees came alive, shot leafy tendrils down to ensnare the malicious simians by their legs and tails, and then pulled their shrieking bodies up into the branches. They were too lightweight to fight back and soon disappeared into the treetops.
Meanwhile, I swung the gada at the gray baboon but he darted around to avoid being hit. He was too fast for me and chattered at me violently. He swung his long arms and hammered my body at every opportunity. He was strong enough to make his blows hurt. Each pound from his monkey arms battered against my already tired muscles. I felt like I was being tenderized. A tiny monkey sat on my shoulder and tugged on my braids so hard that it brought tears to my eyes.
Free of monkeys, Ren jogged over, detached the monkey’s fingers from my braids, plucked the tiny monkey off my shoulder, and threw him hard back through the city gate. The tiny monkey bounced, rolled on the ground, and then got up, hissed at us, and disappeared. Ren took the gada from my hand and raised it to threaten the baboon. The baboon must have realized that Ren’s aim was better than mine because he shrieked loudly and headed back to the city too.
I sat down hard on the ground panting. The city became eerily quiet. Not a monkey hiss or screech could be heard.
Ren turned around to look at me. ‘Are you okay?’
I waved my hand at him dismissively. He crouched down, touched my cheek, looked me up and down, and then smirked.
‘That was a pygmy marmoset, by the way. Just in case you were wondering.’
I wheezed. ‘Thank you, oh Walking Monkey Dictionary.’
He laughed and got out bottled water for both of us, then handed me an energy bar.
‘Aren’t you going to eat one?’
He put a hand on his chest and scoffed. ‘What, me? Eat an energy bar when the jungle is full of delicious monkeys? No thanks. I’m not hungry.’
I nibbled my energy bar in silence and checked the Golden Fruit to make sure it wasn’t bruised. It was still safely wrapped up in my quilt.
Between bites, I said, ‘You know, all in all, we made it out of the city fairly unscathed.’
His mouth fell open. ‘Unscathed? Kelsey, I have monkey bites all over my back and in other places that I don’t even want to think about!’
‘I said fairly.’
He grunted at me.
After a quick meal and rest, we started the walk back on the pebbly path between the trees and the creek. Ren banged the trees extra hard as we passed. I started to feel guilty about the way I’d been treating him. I watched his stiff shoulders as he paced angrily in front of me.
This was hard. I missed his friendship. Not to mention all the other things.
I was almost ready to apologize when I realized that Kappa were sticking the tops of their heads out of the water and were watching us.
‘Uh, Ren? We have company.’
Looking at them only seemed to empower them to more action. They slowly raised their heads out even farther and followed our progress with inky black eyes. I couldn’t stop staring at them. They were horrible! They stank like a fetid swamp, and when they blinked, their lids moved sideways like a crocodile’s.
Their flesh was pale, almost diaphanous, and their pulsing black veins could be seen under their clammy skin. I increased my pace. Ren moved between the creek and me, raising the gada as a warning.
‘Try bowing to them,’ I suggested.
We both started dipping our heads and bowing as we passed, but they ignored us and rose up farther out of the water. They were now standing up and moving forward slowly, mechanically, as if they’d just awakened from a deep sleep. The water currently came up to their chests, but they were getting closer. I turned around and did a deep curtsy type of bow, but it still didn’t work.
‘Keep going, Kelsey. Move faster!’
We started jogging. I knew I wouldn’t have the stamina to keep up this pace for long, even with Ren taking on the extra weight of the backpack. More Kappa emerged from the water, several feet in front of us. They had long arms and webbed hands. One of them smiled at me, and I saw sharp, jagged teeth. A shiver tore down my spine, and I ran a little faster.
Now I could see their legs. I was surprised that they had legs like humans. Ridges ran down their backs like a fish spine. Their powerful, muscular legs were covered in brine and pond scum, and their long tails curled like a monkey’s, but ended in a transparent caudal fin. The Kappa swung back and forth menacingly, pulling their feet out of the muck with loud sucking noises while they made their way to the river bank.
The Kappa were careful to keep their heads level, which made their bodies disjointed. The head stayed in one place while the torso bobbed and swayed, zombie-like. They were about a foot shorter than Ren and I, and they moved quickly, picking up speed while shifting awkwardly forward on webbed feet. It was eerie seeing their bodies accelerate while their heads remained virtually still.
‘Faster, Kelsey. Run faster!’
‘I can’t go any faster, Ren!’
A horde of white Kappa vampires descended on us, closing the distance quickly.
Ren shouted, ‘Keep running, Kelsey. I’ll try to slow them down!’
I ran ahead a good distance then turned and jogged backward to see how Ren was faring. He had stopped to try bowing to them again. They paused to assess his action, but contrary to Ren’s mother’s story, the Kappa didn’t bow in return. Gills on the sides of their necks opened and closed, and they opened their mouths to bare their teeth. Viscous black droplets trickled from their mouths as an insipid gurgle turned into a piercing squeal. They surged toward Ren, closing in on their prey.
He swung the gada mightily at the nearest one and sunk it deep into the creature’s chest. The monster sprayed filthy dark fluid from its mouth and fell to the creek bank. The other creatures didn’t even notice their fallen comrade. They just closed in on Ren.
He whacked several more, then spun around and ran in my direction again. He waved at me. ‘Keep running, Kelsey! Don’t stop!’
We were able to keep ahead of them, but I was tiring quickly. We stopped for just a moment to catch our breath.
I gasped for air. ‘They’re going to catch us. I can’t keep running. My legs are giving out.’
Ren was breathing heavily too. ‘I know. But we have to keep trying.’ Taking a big swig of water, he handed me the rest of the bottle he had taken from my backpack, and grabbed my hand, leading me to the trees. ‘Come on. Follow me. I have an idea.’
‘Ren, the needle trees are awful. If we go back there, we’ll have two things trying to kill us instead of just one.’
‘Just trust me, Kells. Follow my lead.’
When we entered the needle trees, the branches immediately began reaching for us. Ren pulled me along as we raced through. I seriously didn’t think I could keep going, but somehow I did. I could feel the thorns whipping my back and ripping my shirt.
After several minutes of running, Ren stopped, told me to stand still, and beat the trees all around me with the gada.
He leaned over, panting. ‘Sit down. Rest for a while. I’m going to try to get the Kappa to chase me into the trees. I hope it works on them as well as it did with the monkeys.’
Ren changed into a tiger, left me with the gada and backpack, and then leapt back into the waving branches. I listened carefully and heard the trees moving, trying to snag him as he passed. Then it became deathly quiet. The only sound was my jagged breathing. I sat on the mossy ground as far away from the trees as I could and waited.
I strained my ears to listen but heard nothing, not even birds. Eventually, I lay down and rested my head on my backpack. My sore body and muscles throbbed, and the scratches on my back stung. I must have drifted to sleep because a noise startled me awake. I heard a strange shuffling noise near my head. A sallow grayish-white shape lunged out of the trees toward me, and before I could even get up, it grabbed my arms and jerked me up to a sitting position. It leaned over me and drooled black spittle on my face.
I swung my arms wildly, beating on its chest, but it was more powerful than I was. Its torso was covered with cuts oozing murky droplets; the trees had torn off pieces of its flesh. Alien eyes blinked several times as it pulled me up closer, bared its teeth, and sunk them into my neck.
It grunted and suckled at my neck, and I kicked my legs hard, trying to escape its clutches. I screamed and thrashed, but my energy quickly waned. After a moment, I couldn’t feel it any longer. It was almost as if it were happening to someone else. I could still hear the monster, but a strange lethargy stole through my frame. My vision fogged up, and my mind drifted until I felt a dreamy peace.
I heard a crash, followed by a very angry roar. Then I saw a warrior angel rise up above me. He was magnificent! I felt a slight tugging on my neck, and then a weight lifted off my body. There was a juicy splat, and the handsome man knelt beside me. Although he seemed to be speaking urgently to me, I couldn’t understand his words. I tried to respond, but my tongue wouldn’t work.
Gently, he brushed the hair away from my face and touched my neck with cool fingers. His dreamy eyes filled with tears, and a sparkling diamond drop fell to my lips. I tasted the salty tear and closed my eyes. When I opened them, he smiled. The warmth of that smile enveloped me and wrapped me in a blanket of soothing tenderness. The warrior carefully lifted me in his arms, and I slept.
When I regained consciousness, it was dark, and I was lying in front of a green-and-orange tinged fire. Ren sat nearby staring into it, looking broken, exhausted, and forlorn. He must have heard me move because he came directly to me and lifted my head to give me water. My throat suddenly burned as if I had swallowed the campfire. The heat moved deeper into my body until it exploded in my core. I was on fire from the inside out, and I whimpered from the terrible pain.
Ren set my head down gently and picked up my hand to stroke my fingers.
‘I’m so sorry. I should never have left you alone. This should have happened to me, not to you. You don’t deserve this.’
He stroked my cheek. ‘I don’t know how to fix this. I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know how much blood you lost or if the bite is lethal.’ He kissed my fingers and whispered, ‘I can’t lose you, Kelsey. I won’t.’
The burning in my blood overtook me until pain clouded my vision. I started writhing. The pain was beyond anything I’d ever felt before. Ren bathed my face with a cool wet towel, but nothing could distract me from the fire burning through my veins. It was excruciating! After a moment, I realized that mine was not the only body writhing.
Fanindra freed herself from my arm and coiled next to Ren’s knee. I didn’t blame her for wanting to get away from me. She raised her head and opened her hood. Her mouth gaped open wide, and she struck! She bit me on the neck, sinking her fangs deep into the ripped tissue.
She pumped her own venom in me, drew back, and then bit me again and again and again. I groaned, touched my neck, and then pulled back my hand to see oozing pus. Golden juices that had dribbled out of the fang punctures dotted my hand as well. I watched a golden drop trickle from my finger to meet some of the pus on my palm. It steamed and hissed. Fanindra’s venom coursed through my body. It felt like ice as it shot through my limbs and entered my heart.
I was dying. I knew it. I didn’t blame Fanindra. She was a snake, after all, and she probably just didn’t want me to suffer anymore.
Ren lifted the bottle of water to my lips again, and I swallowed gratefully. Fanindra had turned inanimate and remained coiled at his side. Ren cleaned my wounded neck gently, washing off all the hissing black blood that had dribbled out.
At least the pain was gone. Whatever Fanindra had done numbed me. I became sleepy and knew that I needed to say good-bye. I wanted to tell Ren the truth. I wanted to say that he was the best friend I’d ever had. That I was sorry about the way I had treated him. I wanted to tell him . . . that I loved him. But I couldn’t say anything. My throat was closed up, probably swollen from snake venom. All I could do was look at him as he knelt over me.
That’s okay. Looking at his gorgeous face one last time is enough for me. I’ll die a happy woman.
I was so tired. My eyelids were too heavy to keep open. I closed my eyes and waited for death to come. Ren cleared a space and sat down near me. Pillowing my head on his arm, he pulled me onto his lap and into his arms. I smiled.
Even better. I can’t open my eyes to see him anymore, but I can feel his arms around me. My warrior angel can carry me in his arms up to heaven.
He squeezed me closer to his body and whispered something in my ear that I couldn’t make out. Then darkness overtook me.
Light hit my eyelids, forcing me to crack them open painfully. My throat still burned, and my tongue felt thick and fuzzy.
‘This is too painful for heaven; I must be in hell.’
An annoyingly happy voice admonished, ‘No. You’re not in hell, Kelsey.’
As I tried to move, my sore, cramped muscles protested. ‘I feel like I lost a boxing match.’
‘You did a lot more than that. Here.’
He crouched beside me and helped me to gingerly sit up. He examined my face, my neck, my arms, and then sat behind me to prop up my back against him and held a water bottle to my lips. ‘Drink,’ he commanded. He held the bottle for me and tipped it back slowly, but I couldn’t swallow fast enough, and some of the water dribbled from my slack mouth down my chin, and then dripped down to my chest.
‘Thanks, now I have a wet T-shirt.’
I felt his smile on the back of my neck. ‘Perhaps that was my intention.’
I snorted and lifted a hand to my face. I poked my cheek and arm. The skin tingled and felt a little numb at the same time. ‘It feels like my whole body was shot full of Novocain and I’m just getting the feeling back. Here, hand me the bottle. I think I can lift it myself now.’
Ren let go of the water bottle and snaked both arms around my waist, pulling me back to rest fully against his chest. His cheek grazed mine, and he murmured quietly, ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Alive, I guess, though I sure could use some aspirin.’
He laughed softly and retrieved the pills from the backpack. ‘Here,’ he said, handing me two aspirin. ‘We’re at the entrance to the caves. We still have to go through the caves and the trees, and then climb back up to Hampi.’
‘How long have I been out of commission?’ I asked groggily.
‘Two days.’
‘Two days! What happened? The last thing I remember is Fanindra biting me and me dying.’
‘You didn’t die. You were bitten by a Kappa. He was making quick work of you when I found you. He must have followed you there. They are nasty things. I’m glad most of them were done in by the trees.’
‘The one that found me was scratched and bloody, but he didn’t seem to care.’
‘Yes, most of the ones that followed me were torn apart by the trees. Nothing seemed to halt their pursuit.’
‘Didn’t any of them follow you here?’
‘They stopped chasing me once I got near the cave. They must be frightened of it.’
‘I don’t blame them. Did you . . . carry me the whole way? How did you whack the trees and hold me at the same time?’
He sighed. ‘I slung you over my shoulder and banged the trees until we cleared them. Then I stowed the gada, put on your pack, and hiked up here, carrying you in my arms.’
I drank deeply from the water bottle and heard Ren let out a deep breath.
Quietly, he said, ‘I’ve experienced a lot in my life. I’ve been in bloody battles. I’ve been with friends who were killed. I’ve seen terrible things done to man and beast, but I’ve never felt afraid.
‘I’ve been troubled. I’ve also been uneasy and tense. I’ve been in mortal danger, but I’ve never experienced that cold-sweat kind of fear, the kind that eats a man alive, brings him to his knees, and makes him beg. In fact, I always prided myself on being above that. I thought that I’d suffered through and seen so much that nothing could scare me anymore. That nothing could bring me to that point.’
He brushed a brief kiss on my neck. ‘I was wrong. When I found you and saw that . . . that thing trying to kill you, I was enraged. I destroyed it without hesitation.’
‘The Kappa were terrifying.’
‘I wasn’t afraid of the Kappa. I was afraid . . . that I’d lost you. I felt an unquenchable, gut-wrenching, corrosive fear. It was unbearable. The most agonizing part was realizing that I didn’t want to live anymore if you were gone and knowing there was nothing I could do about it. I would be stuck forever in this miserable existence without you.’
I heard every word he said. It pierced through me, and I knew I would have felt the same way if our places had been reversed. But I told myself that his heartfelt declaration was just a reflection of the tense pressure we’d been under. The little love plant in my heart was grasping at each wispy thought, absorbing his words like sweet drops of morning dew. But I chastised my heart and shoved the tender expressions of affection elsewhere, determined to be unaffected by them.
‘It’s okay. I’m here. You don’t need to be afraid. I’m still around to help you break the curse,’ I said, trying to keep my voice even.
He squeezed my waist and whispered softly, ‘Breaking the curse didn’t matter to me anymore. I thought you were dying.’
I swallowed and tried to be flippant. ‘Well, I didn’t. See? I lived to argue with you another day. Now don’t you wish it had gone the other way?’
His arms stiffened, and he threatened, ‘Don’t ever say that, Kells.’
After a second of hesitation, I said, ‘Well, thank you. Thank you for saving me.’
He pulled me closer, and I allowed myself a minute, just a minute, to lie back against him and enjoy it.
I had almost died after all. I deserved some kind of reward for surviving, didn’t I?
After my minute was up, I wiggled forward and out of his grasp. He reluctantly let me go, and I turned around to face him with a nervous smile. I tested my legs, which felt strong enough for me to walk on.
When I thought I was dying, I wanted to tell Ren that I loved him, but now that I knew I’d survived, it was the last thing I wanted to do. The strong resolve to keep him at a distance returned, but the temptation to allow myself to rest wrapped in his arms was strong, powerfully strong. I turned my back to him, squared my shoulders, and picked up the backpack.
‘Come on, Tiger. Let’s get a move on. I feel healthy as a horse,’ I lied.
‘I really think you should take it easy and rest a bit more, Kells.’
‘No. I’ve been sleeping for two days already. I’m ready to hike another umpteen miles.’
‘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 there watching me closely, his eyes burning into my back. I was desperate 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 the gada, 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 the gada, 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.’
I hesitated. ‘Well, if this works, you can go around kissing all the girls you want to. So why bother with me right now?’
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. ‘Because! I don’t want to run around kissing all the other girls! I want to kiss you!’
‘Fine! If it will shut you up!’ I leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. ‘There!’
‘No. Not good enough. On the lips, my prema.’
I leaned over and pecked him on the lips. ‘There. Can we go now?’
I marched up the first two steps, and he slipped his hand under my elbow and spun me around, twisting me so that I fell forward into his arms. He caught me tightly around the waist. His smirk suddenly turned into a sober expression.
‘A kiss. A real one. One that I’ll remember.’
I was about to say something brilliantly sarcastic, probably about him not having permission, when he captured my mouth with his. I was determined to remain stiff and unaffected, but he was extremely patient. He nibbled on the corners of my mouth and pressed soft, slow kisses against my unyielding lips. It was so hard not to respond to him.
I made a valiant struggle, but sometimes the body betrays the mind. He slowly, methodically swept aside my resistance. And, feeling he was winning, he pressed ahead and began seducing me even more skillfully. He held me tightly against his body and ran a hand up to my neck where he began to massage it gently, teasing my flesh with his fingertips.
I felt the little love plant inside me stretch, swell, and unfurl its leaves, like he was pouring Love Potion # 9 over the thing. I gave up at that point and decided what the heck. I could always use a rototiller on it. And I rationalized that when he breaks my heart, at least I will have been thoroughly kissed.
If nothing else, I’ll have a really good memory to look back on in my multi-cat spinsterhood. Or multi-dog. I think I will have had my fill of cats. I groaned softly. Yep. Dogs for sure.
I opened myself up to the kiss and kissed him back with enthusiasm. Putting all my secret emotions and tender feelings into the embrace, I wound my arms around his neck and slid my hands into his hair. Pulling his body that much closer to mine, I embraced him with all the warmth and affection that I wouldn’t allow myself to express verbally.
He paused, shocked for a brief instant, and then quickly adjusted his approach, escalating into a passionate frenzy. I shocked myself by matching his energy. I ran my hands up his powerful arms and shoulders and then down his chest. My senses were in turmoil. I felt wild. Eager. I clutched at his shirt. I couldn’t get close enough to him. He even smelled delicious.
You’d think that several days of being chased by strange creatures and hiking through a mysterious kingdom would make him smell bad. In fact, I wanted him to smell bad. I’m sure I did. I mean, how can you expect a girl to be fresh as a daisy while traipsing through the jungle and getting chased by monkeys. It’s just not possible.
I desperately wanted him to have some fault. Some weakness. Some . . . imperfection. But Ren smelled amazing – like waterfalls, a warm summer day, and sandalwood trees all wrapped up in a sizzling, hot guy.
How could a girl defend herself from a perfect onslaught delivered by a perfect person? I gave up and let Mr. Wonderful take control of my senses. My blood burned, my heart thundered, my need for him quickened, and I lost all track of time in his arms. All I was aware of was Ren. His lips. His body. His soul. I wanted all of him.
Eventually, he put his hands on my shoulders and gently separated us. I was surprised that he had the strength of will to stop because I was nowhere near being able to. I blinked my eyes open in a daze. We were both breathing hard.
‘That was . . . enlightening,’ he breathed. ‘Thank you, Kelsey.’
I blinked. The passion that had dulled my mind dissipated in an instant, and my mind sharply focused on a new feeling. Irritation.
‘Thank you? Thank you! Of all the—’ I slammed up the steps angrily and then spun around to look down at him. ‘No! Thank you, Ren!’ My hands slashed at the air. ‘Now you got what you wanted, so leave me alone!’ I ran up the stairs quickly to put some distance between us.
Enlightening? What was that about? Was he testing me? Giving me a one-to-ten score on my kissing ability? Of all the nerve!
I was glad that I was mad. I could shove all the other emotions into the back of my mind and just focus on the anger, the indignation.
He leapt up the stairs two at a time. ‘That’s not all I want, Kelsey. That’s for sure.’
‘Well, I no longer care about what you want!’
He shot me a knowing look and raised an eyebrow. Then, he lifted his foot out of the opening, placed it on the dirt, and instantly changed back into a tiger.
I laughed mockingly. ‘Ha!’ I tripped over a stone but quickly found my footing. ‘Serves you right!’ I shouted angrily and stumbled blindly along the dim path.
After figuring out where to go, I marched off in a huff. ‘Come on, Fanindra. Let’s go find Mr. Kadam.’