Page 36 of Tiger's Voyage

I hesitated. “Yes. There’s one more thing. You promised me once that you’d never leave me.”

“I didn’t have a choice. I was taken. Remember?”

“You chose to stay behind.”

“To save your life.”

“Next time, don’t. I want to stay and fight with you.”

“I don’t think I can promise that one. Your life is more important than my desire to have you around. But I’ll stay with you as long as I can. Is that good enough?”

“That sounds likeMary Poppins. You’ll only stay until the wind changes. But I suppose that’s the best I’ll get.”

Ren turned to face me. “There’s one more thing I want out in the open.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“Do you still …loveme?”

I looked at his handsome face and was overwhelmed with emotion. My eyes filled with tears. I paused only for a heartbeat before nodding once. “Yes, I still love you.”

“Then damn the consequences.” He cupped my chin lightly with a shaky hand and touched his lips to mine. He wrapped his arm around me and drew me over so I was stretched out almost on top of him. He murmured against my lips as he kissed me, pressing his hands against my back. “If I … don’t touch your skin … it’s not that bad.” He trailed brief kisses from my mouth up to my ear.

I tentatively stroked his hair. “Does it hurt if I touch your hair?”

“No.” He smiled and pressed his lips to my T-shirt–covered shoulder.

“Is it worse when I kissyou?”

I kissed him at his hairline then moved my lips to his forehead and pressed a couple of light kisses there.

“When you kiss my hair it doesn’t hurt at all, but when your lips touch my skin, it burns. Almost in a good way.”

He grinned lopsidedly. I lowered my gaze to his lips, and he crushed me to his chest and kissed me again. It was passionate and sweet, and I returned his ardor. All too soon, though, his body began to shake. He tore his lips from mine, gasping in pain.

Ren panted, “I’m sorry. Kelsey. I can’t. Be near you now.”

I shifted away from him and moved far back against the headboard. Ren sprang up and to the veranda door where he took several deep breaths. He smiled at me weakly, his face pale, and his limbs trembling.

“Are you going to be okay?”

He nodded and said, “I’m sorry. I can’t be near you now.” Then he disappeared.

I sat on the bed for a while and breathed in his scent from the pillow. I didn’t see Ren the rest of the day but found a note on my bed. It read, “Who could refrain that had a heart to love, and in that heart courage to make love known?”

Who indeed?

Mr. Kadam, determined to uncover Ren’s memory trigger, spent many hours with him trying to figure it out. Ren dedicated himself to that effort with a fervor he hadn’t possessed before. Kishan always took those opportunities to lure me away. We either watched movies or went for walks or a swim.

When I spent time with Ren, we just talked or read. He watched me often, and his face lit up with a smile whenever I looked up to see what he was doing. He often switched into a tiger and sat with me, napping in the afternoons. I was able to hug him then. He would rest his head in my lap while I stroked his fur, but he didn’t try to kiss me again. It must have been a painful enough experience that he didn’t want to repeat it just yet. I stubbornly ignored the voice in my mind that wondered what I’d do if his painneverwent away.

I helped Mr. Kadam research the third prophecy for the next few weeks. It was obvious we’d be going to a temple of Durga again and would be receiving two more weapons—this time a trident and akamandal. Mr. Kadam and I read a few bits out loud, and I took notes on important facts. During one session, I discovered something interesting.

“Mr. Kadam, this book says akamandalis a vessel typically used to hold water, but in myths, it is said to hold the elixir of life, or holy water, and is also a symbol of fertility. The sacred Ganges is said to have originated in akamandal. Huh. Do you have any water from the Ganges? It says here most Indian households keep a vial in their home, and they consider it sacred.”

Mr. Kadam sat back in his chair. “No, I don’t, but my wife did. The Gangesisvery important to the people of India. It’s as religiously important to Hindus as the Jordan River is to Christians. It’s as economically important as the Mississippi is in America or as the Nile in Egypt. People believe the Ganges has curative properties, and the ashes of the dead are sprinkled in its currents. When my wife died, her ashes were spread on the Ganges, and I always thought mine would be spread there as well, but that was a long time ago.”

“Were Ren’s parents cremated?”