Page 75 of Tiger's Voyage

The snake flicked her tongue out a few times and then, leaving Durga’s wrist, wound onto my arm. Liquid gold began rising up the sides of the throne, covering the coral and shells.

“When you get to the City of the Seven Pagodas, seek out the Shore Temple. A woman waits there for you. She will give you guidance on your voyage.”

“Thank you. For everything.”

Durga’s coral-red lips smiled again and hardened. Liquid gold swept over her body and face, and she was soon a statue. The piece of silk was still clutched in her hand as if someone had tucked it into her fist.

“Good-bye.” I turned away from the statue and patted Fanindra’s head. The lights flickered on, and the hall looked as if it had never been disturbed. I inhaled the sweet scent of the lotus flowers as I made my

way back to the Jeep. The flowers smelled like citrus, grapefruit, maybe. The scent was light and floral and feminine, a little bit like jasmine and gardenia. I was thinking so hard about what Durga had said that when a warm hand took my elbow, it startled me.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. You didn’t have to wait for me, Kishan.”

He kissed my forehead. “Sure, I did. Come on. The others are in the car. Let’s get back to the boat.”

When we got back to the ship, Ren gave the trident to Kishan before disappearing again.

11

Beach Party

By the time I woke up the next morning, theDeschenwas under way again. I met Wes, Kishan, and a reluctant Ren in the media room that afternoon for some shark training. We watched DVDs of sharks in their native environment. Wes didn’t believe in watching shark-attack videos. He felt they only created panic.

“The less panicked you are, the better chance you have of surviving,” Wes said. “The first thing you should learn about sharks is how to avoid drawing their attention. Sharks like to hang out between sandbars, near steep drop-offs, and anywhere the fishing is good. If you see a lot of birds in an area, that means lunch, and lunch means sharks. Don’t dive during feeding hours—that would be dawn, dusk, and night. But if the grub is good, sharks will eat any time of the day. Don’t wear shiny, flashy clothes. Muted shades are better, like your wet suit. A flash looks like fish scales in the water.”

Ren raised his head to look at me. “We’ll get you a black swimsuit at the next port.”

“I believe you were the one who insisted I buy a colorful suit.”

“I’m glad you won’t be wearing that one anymore anyway. It’s too … enticing.”

I glared at him across the room. “You don’t get to choose what I do with my life anymore, remember? And if I want toenticesomeone, I will.”

Ren replied in a dangerous tone. “Fine. Entice every shark in the ocean then. Is that what you’re trying to accomplish?”

“You’d probably like that. It sure would be a lot easier on you if some giant shark made off with me. That would solveallyour problems now, wouldn’t it?”

Kishan interrupted after shoving Ren on the arm. “Nobody wants you to get eaten by a giant shark, Kells. Not even Ren.”

Ren and I were staring angrily at each other across the room when Wes howled with laughter. “Whew! You two are blowin’ hotter air than a tornado circlin’ a volcano in Hades. It’s likely ta melt all the bolts holdin’ this boat together.”

“Sorry, Wes, but he started it,” I said huffily.

“And I’ll be more than happy to finish it.”

“I’d like to see you try, you hardheaded—”

Ren smiled coldly and countered, “Unbending.”

“Mulish!”

“Unreasonable!”

“Bullheaded, pigheaded,tigerheaded—”

“Tigerheaded?” Wes asked in puzzlement.