Page 174 of Tiger's Voyage

I blushed and said, “I think you may be exaggerating or perhaps you’re suffering from narcosis.”

Ren smiled a brilliant knock-every-girl-off-her-feet-within-a-ten-mile-radius smile and added, “Your modesty makes you even more becoming. You are the loveliest of women, Kelsey.”

I stopped squirming and studied Ren’s expression. He was serious.Who knewIcould bring a man to his knees?Not able to resist, I smiled at the beautiful man kneeling in front of me and smoothed his hair away from his face. He turned his head, kissed my palm, and held my hand to his lips.

Kishan approached and turned a stormy gaze on Ren. “I generally like to give you the benefit of the doubt because I know you lost your memory and all, but can you please step away from my girlfriend and tell me what’s going on? Why did our clothes change?”

Ren moved back to let Kishan approach me—but Kishan also stopped in his tracks.

“You are gorgeous!” Kishan exclaimed.

“Gorgeousis too crass a term to use to describe her,” Ren added quietly. “She is … divine, ethereal, stunning—”

I held up my hand. “Right. Okay, if we could all stop staring at Kelsey now, I’d feel a lot less self-conscious.”

Incredulously, Ren said, “Self-conscious? Why on Earth would you feel that way?”

“Because I’m uncomfortable displaying this much skin. Can we please turn our attention to other things?” I asked in an un-goddesslike way, which seemed to help snap them both back to reality.

Ren and Kishan blinked, and Ren reluctantly turned to tell his brother what we’d seen. I caught them both stopping from time to time to admire my exposed skin. A soft growl from one brother at the other usually brought their attention back to the discussion.

Kishan wore some kind of wraparound loincloth, had several lengths of beads around his neck, and armbands. Half of his hair was pulled back in a bun and wrapped with jewels, and the other half hung down, brushing the top of his massive shoulder. He wore a thin cord belt that hung from his waist, and an attached horn rested at his hip. Golden hoops in his ears clinked when his head moved, and a third eye was painted on his forehead.

I quickly realized something. “Wait a second!”

The boys paused in mid-sentence, and I walked around both of them, scrutinizing their costumes. “Our clothes aren’t random. We’re them! I’m Parvati.”

They both turned to look at me, and Kishan shrugged.

Ren studied me closer. “You’re right. You’re wearing her clothes.”

“Then that must mean that this belongs to you.” Kishan smiled at me and held out a necklace.

I mentally corrected myself. Notanecklace,theNecklace—the Black Pearl Necklace of Durga. Because all I could do was stare at it, Kishan stepped around behind me to snap its clasp. Instead of a chain, tiny diamonds set in silver arcs crossed over each other with tips overlapping. Hanging from each tip was a shiny black pearl the size of my thumb. A cluster of black and white pearls hung from its center to form a lotus flower. The Necklace draped heavily across my neck. I gently fingered the lotus flower.

Kishan brushed his lips across the sensitive skin under my ear and whispered, “They suit you.”

I heard the click of the clasp just as Ren shouted, “Wait!”

Immediately, I was sucked into a tunnel of wind that deposited me in white space. The amulet burned at my throat where it rested. Confused for only a moment, I relaxed my stance and watched as a flash of blurry scenes tumbled into view.

At first, I was back on theDeschenlistening to Mr. Kadam and Nilima as they studied maps. They couldn’t hear or see me, though I tried to communicate with them for several minutes. Then the vision fragmented, and I was whisked away to another ship with what looked like Mr. Kadam’s ghost. Fins broke the water and then disappeared. A twenty-foot great white raised its head above the surface, snapping its powerful jaws and making a horrible sound. Lokesh stood above the fierce creatures, hand to his amulet.

I stepped to the side and gasped when I recognized Captain Dixon. His right eye was swollen shut, and he had bloody lacerations across his chest and arms. I listened to Lokesh question him, but the noble seaman remained defiant, refusing to reveal our whereabouts or our destination— even when held over the rail where the sharks waited hungrily below.

“Perhaps you need further motivation?” I heard Lokesh politely inquire.

The dark magician waved his hand and an unseen force nudged one of his crewmen overboard into a melee of feeding frenzy. His screams were quickly silenced, but the sounds of the sharks feasting were terrible—the chomping, the crack of bones breaking, the splashing of slick torpedo-shaped bodies as they rushed after torn body pieces, tails swishing back and forth as jaws ripped flesh off in chunks to swallow whole.

Lokesh smiled at the sound. “Last chance, Captain. Have you no care for your life?”

The captain answered, “Since I was a young boy playin’ in de water, I know’d dat ma bodee wood be laid ta rest far away from de shores. Ma bones wood lie on de bottom of de ocean. De sea, you see … she is ma wife and yon sharkies are ma childr’n. I go ta her arms ta die in her embrace. I hab no regrets.”

Frowning, the sorcerer flicked his fingers. “Then, so be it.”

With another wave of his hand, Lokesh sent the prisoner over the rail. Silently, the captain fell, dropping slowly as he turned in the air. He descended toward the black water and when he at last touched it, the waves folded over him like a dark blanket.

Without making a splash, his body sank and was quickly sought after by sharks. I gasped in horror, unable to make a sound. Their fins disappeared, and soon the water was as black and as still as the soul of the man at the rail watching.