He brushed against my hand in the darkness.
‘Okay, there are five parts. The first thing we need is an animal/human, so that’s you. Here, stand next to me. You can be Ugra Narasimha, and I’ll be the demon king. Next, we need to stand somewhere that isn’t inside or outside, so let’s look for some steps or a doorway.’
I felt around the statue. ‘I think there was a little doorway here, near the statue.’ I stretched out my hand and felt the stone door frame. We both stepped under it.
‘The third part was neither day nor night. It’s too late for dusk or twilight. I guess I can try using my flashlight.’ I clicked my little flash-light on and off, hoping that would be enough. ‘Then there was the part about claws. You do have those. Umm, I think you have to scratch me. The story says kill, but I think scratching me might work.’
I flinched. ‘You might need to draw blood though.’
I heard his chest rumble in protest.
‘It’s okay. Just do a small scratch. It’s no big deal.’
He growled again softly, lifted his paw, and set it gently on my arm. I’d seen him hunt from a distance and had also seen his claws during his fight with Kishan. As the flashlight shone on his extended claws, I couldn’t help but feel a little scared. I closed my eyes and heard a soft grunt as he moved, but I didn’t feel anything.
I shone the flashlight all over my legs and didn’t see any blood. I knew he’d done something, though, because I’d heard his claws tear through flesh. Immediately, I had a suspicion and aimed the flashlight on his white body, searching for where he’d hurt himself.
‘Ren! Let me see. How bad is it?’
He lifted his leg, and I saw vicious rips where his claws had raked through his fur to the flesh. Blood was freely dripping on the ground.
I was angry. ‘I know you can heal fast, but really, Ren. Did you have to wound yourself so deeply? You know it might not work anyway if I don’t bleed. I appreciate your sacrifice, but I still want you to slash me. I’m the one representing the demon king, so cut me . . . preferably not as deep as that.’
He wouldn’t lift his paw. I had to bend over and actually lift his heavy paw myself. When I finally positioned it over my arm, he retracted his claws.
I begged, ‘Ren. Please, please cooperate. This is hard enough as it is.’
He allowed his claws to peek out halfway, and he lightly scratched my arm, barely leaving a mark at all.
‘Ren! Do it, please. Now would be good.’
He growled softly in disapproval and scratched me harder. The scratch marks left angry red welts down the length of my forearm. Two of the scratches bled lightly.
‘Thanks.’ I flinched. I adjusted my flashlight to see his scratches again, which were almost healed already. Satisfied, I moved on to the last item.
‘Now, the last one was that the demon king can’t stand either in heaven or on the earth. Ugra set the demon on his lap, which means I guess I’ll have to . . . sit on your back.’
Awkward. Even though Ren was a big tiger and it would be like riding a small pony, I was still conscious that he was a man, and I didn’t feel right about turning him into a pack animal. I took off my back-pack and set it down wondering what I could do to make this a bit less embarrassing. Mustering the courage to sit on his back, I’d just decided that it wouldn’t be too bad if I sat sidesaddle, when my feet flew out from under me.
Ren had changed into a man and swept me up in his arms. I wiggled for a minute, protesting, but he just gave me a look – the don’t-even--bother-coming-up-with-an-argument look. I shut my mouth. He leaned over to pick up the backpack, let it dangle from his fingers, and then said, ‘What’s next?’
‘I don’t know. That’s all that Mr. Kadam told me.’
He shifted me in his arms, walked over to stand in the doorway again, then peered up at the statue. He murmured, ‘I don’t see any changes.’
He held me securely while looking at the statue and, I have to admit, I totally stopped caring about what we were doing. The scratches on my arm that had been throbbing a moment ago didn’t bother me at all. I let myself enjoy the feeling of being cuddled up close to his muscular chest. What girl didn’t want to be swept up in the arms of a drop-dead gorgeous man? I allowed my gaze to drift up to his beau------tiful face. The thought occurred to me that if I were to carve a stone god, I’d pick Ren as my subject. This Ugra half-lion and half-man guy had nothing on Ren.
Eventually, he realized I was watching him, and said, ‘Hello? Kells? Breaking a curse here, remember?’
I just smiled back stupidly. He quirked an eyebrow at me.
‘What were you thinking about just now?’
‘Nothing important.’
He grinned. ‘May I remind you that you are in prime tickling position, and there’s no escape. Tell me.’
Gads. His smile was brilliant, even in the fog. I laughed nervously.
‘If you tickle me, I’ll protest and struggle violently, which will cause you to drop me and ruin what we’re trying to accomplish.’
He grunted, leaned close to my ear, and then whispered, ‘That sounds like an interesting challenge, rajkumari. Perhaps we’ll experi-ment on it later. And just for the record, Kelsey, I wouldn’t drop you.’
The way he said my name made goose bumps rise all over my arms. When I looked down to quickly rub them, I noticed the flashlight was off. I switched it on, but the statue remained the same. Giving up, I suggested, ‘Nothing’s happening. Maybe we need to wait till dawn.’
He laughed throatily while nuzzling my ear and declared softly, ‘I’d say that something is happening, but not the something that will open the doorway.’
He trailed soft, slow kisses from my ear down my neck. I sighed faintly and arched my neck to give him better access. With a last kiss, he groaned and reluctantly raised his head.
Disappointed that he’d stopped, I asked, ‘What does rajkumari mean?’
He laughed quietly, carefully set me down, and said, ‘It means princess. Let’s find a good place to sleep for a couple of hours, shall we? I’ll run back and tell Mr. Kadam that we’re planning to wait till dawn to try again.’
He took my hand and led me to a grassy spot hidden from view. Once I was settled, he left. I bunched my quilt up under my head and attempted to sleep. Restless until Ren returned, I gratefully snuggled against his tiger back and fell asleep.
I awoke to find myself moving, nestled in Ren’s arms. He was carrying me back to the doorway. I sleepily mumbled, ‘You don’t have to carry me. I can walk.’
He smiled. ‘You were tired, and I didn’t have the heart to wake you. Besides, we’re here already.’
It was still dark outside, but the eastern horizon was just starting to lighten. The statue was the same as we’d left it – with red snake eyes glowing and mist seeping out from the mouth. We stood in the door-way for a moment. I immediately felt something twist and move. It was Fanindra. She suddenly came alive, swelled to her normal size, and unwound herself from my arm.
Ren lowered me closer to the ground so she could drop delicately to the dirt below. She wound her way toward the statue and found a way to climb up to the top where the snake heads were resting.
We watched from the steps as she weaved over and under the seven snakes. As she passed them, they too came alive and writhed back and forth. We could see the coils that the statue was sitting on slowly change to scaly flesh.