Page 187 of Tiger's Voyage

Ren added, “We need to hide her.”

“Wait a second,” I interjected. “You need me. I have power, and there are dozens of Lokesh’s pirates to face. We saw them.”

Mr. Kadam tapped a lip. “I concur with Miss Kelsey. I believe if we are to win a fight without losses, we’ll have to hit them quickly and hard. I don’t believe that they will try to kill us. Most likely, they will use stun weapons again. We’ll use the framework of the boat as a shield and use your power from a distance first. Hand-to-hand fighting will be a last resort, and Miss Kelsey is a good distance weapon. I will come up with a specific plan of attack while the three of you sleep. Get as much rest as you can. We will hope to escape his notice but we will prepare for war. Tomorrow we need to be battle ready.”

Ren turned to face a dark window and asked, “Why did you keep this from us, Kelsey?”

Rubbing sweaty palms against my jeans, I answered, “I didn’t want to distract you. If we didn’t make it to the surface, it wouldn’t have mattered. I hoped there would be plenty of time to tell you later.”

He turned to face me. “Next time, just tell me. I can handle disturbing news better when everything’s out in the open, and you are honest with me.”

“Okay,” I agreed but broke eye contact uncomfortably.

With the meeting adjourned, I headed back to my room with Kishan at my elbow and Ren trailing along behind at a discreet distance.

“We have the Necklace. You two can be men for eighteen hours a day now. Only one more task to go.”

Kishan nodded distractedly, kissed my forehead, and stopped at my door. “Eighteen hours, huh? That sounds like a lifetime.” He smiled. “Ren and I need to talk.” He brushed a finger across my cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

Confused, I nodded and went to bed.

Kishan never returned to my room, and it was just as well because I woke repeatedly from nightmares. I ended up turning on a soft light so that I’d stop imagining I was under the black water again. When I opened the connecting door, I found Kishan lying on his stomach, sleeping deeply.

Softly, I closed the door and headed to breakfast. Mr. Kadam and Nilima had already eaten and told me to make a plate up for myself. I settled across from them at the table just as a freshly showered Ren turned the corner. He heaped a plate high with pancakes, spread peanut butter over the tops, sliced up a banana, and doused his whole plate in maple syrup.

I hid a smile by sipping milk. He sat next to me, and we bumped shoulders.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. You?”

“I’ve slept better,” he said and smiled as if remembering a specific incident. “But it was good enough. Where’s Kishan?”

“Still sleeping. I didn’t want to wake him.”

He frowned. “He should be more vigilant where you’re concerned. He should have woken when you stirred.”

I shrugged. “It’s not like I was in any danger, and I don’t think he was sleeping deeply. That’s how he sleeps as a tiger too. Besides, it’s possible he didn’t hear me.”

“Why wouldn’t he hear you?”

“He slept in his own room last night.”

Ren grinned. “Had a fight, did you?”

“No. And where he sleeps isn’t your business.”

“It is if he doesn’t take care of you.”

I sighed and picked up my plate. “Do you know if we are under way yet, Mr. Kadam?”

“Yes. We should arrive at our chosen coordinates in a few hours. Relax for now. I’ll alert you with plenty of notice before we get there.”

Ren polished off the last bite of his pancakes and asked, “Would you like to play a game of Parcheesi while you wait for …” he frowned, “while you wait?”

“Sounds good. But no Parcheesi. I need to teach you the train game. We do have that one, don’t we, Mr. Kadam?”

“Yes, and the others you recommended as well.”