He grinned, ‘Who else, bilauta?’
I squealed, darted up the pool steps, and rushed over to him. He opened his arms to me and laughed as I gave him a big wet hug.
‘I can’t believe you’re here! I’m so glad.’
He looked me up and down with his golden eyes, so different from Ren’s, ‘Well, if I knew that this was the kind of welcome I’d be getting, I would have come here a lot sooner.’
I laughed. ‘Stop teasing me. How did you get here? Did you get six hours back too? You have to tell me all about it!’
He raised his hand and chuckled. ‘Hold on, hold on. First of all, who’s teasing? And secondly, why don’t you go get changed, and we can sit down for a long talk.’
‘Okay.’ I smiled at him then faltered, ‘But can we meet out here by the pool?’
He cocked his head, confused, but smiled. ‘Sure, if you want to. I’ll just wait for you right here.’
‘Alright. Don’t move. I’ll be right back!’
I ran up the back steps to my room and quickly showered, got dressed, and brushed out my hair. I also ordered two root beer floats, courtesy of the Golden Fruit, and carried them down with me.
When I got to the pool, he had moved two deck chairs over into the shade and was sitting back and relaxing with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. He was wearing a black T-shirt with jeans, and his feet were bare. I sunk down into the other chair and handed him a root beer float.
‘What’s this you’ve brought me?’
‘It’s called a root beer float. Try it.’
He took a sip and coughed. I laughed. ‘Did the bubbles go up your nose?’
‘I believe they did. It’s good though. Very sweet. It reminds me of you. Is it from your country?’
‘Yes.’
‘If I want to answer your questions before nightfall, I guess I’d better get started.’
He took another sip of his root beer and continued, ‘First, you asked me if I got six hours back. The answer is yes. You know, it’s strange. I’ve been content being a tiger for centur-ies, but after you and Dhiren visited, I’ve felt uncomfortable in my black hide. For the first time in a long time, I wanted to be alive again, not as an animal but as myself.’
‘I understand. How did you figure out you had six hours, and how did you get here?’
‘I’d been changing to a man every day and had also started sneaking into nearby villages to watch people and see what the modern world offers.’ He sighed sadly. ‘The world has changed much since I was last a part of it.’
I nodded, and he went on, ‘One day, about a week ago, I’d changed to a man and was watching the children play in the village square. I knew my time was almost up, so I moved back into the jungle and waited for the tremors that come before a change. They didn’t come.
‘I waited one hour, then two, and still no change. I knew that some-thing had happened. I walked back through the jungle and waited until I felt the pull of the tiger take over again. I tested myself the next day, and the next, and the time was the same every day.
‘That’s when I knew that you and Ren had been at least partially successful. After that, I returned to the village as a man and asked some people to help me place a call to Mr. Kadam. Someone finally figured out how to reach him, and he drove out to pick me up.’
‘So that’s where Mr. Kadam was for the last couple of days.’
Kishan looked me up and down then leaned back and sipped his float appreciatively. He raised his glass to me. ‘I have to say, I had no idea what I was missing.’
He smiled at me and stretched out his long legs in front of him, crossing them at the ankles.
I said, ‘Well, I’m glad you’re here. This is your home, and you belong here.’
He looked off soberly in the distance. ‘I guess it is. For the longest time, I felt I had no spark of humanity in me. My soul was dark. But, you, my dear,’ he reached over, took my hand, and kissed it, ‘have brought me back into the light again.’
I put my hand lightly on his arm. ‘You just missed Yesubai. I don’t believe your soul was dark or that you had lost your human-ity. It just takes time to heal when your heart’s been broken like that.’
His eyes twinkled. ‘Perhaps you are right. Now, tell me of your adventures! Mr. Kadam filled me in on the basics, but I want to hear details.’
I told him about Durga’s weapons, and he expressed a keen interest in the gada in particular. He laughed when I shared the tale of the monkeys attacking Ren and looked at me in horror when I described the Kappa that had almost eaten me. It was easy talking to him. He listened with interest, and I didn’t have any of the nervous butterflies I felt when I talked with Ren.
When I got to the end of the story, I stared at the pool, while Kishan carefully studied my face.
‘There’s something else I’m curious about, Kelsey.’
I smiled at him. ‘Sure, what else do you want to know?’
‘What exactly is going on between you and Ren?’
A vise clamped down on my chest, but I tried to play it cool. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, are you two more than just traveling companions? Are you together?’
I clipped off a fast, ‘No. Definitely not.’
He grinned. ‘Good!’ He grabbed my hand and kissed it. ‘Then that means you’re free to go out with me. No girl in her right mind would want to be with Ren, anyway. He’s very . . . stuffy. Cold, as far as relationships go.’
My mouth hung open for a minute, shocked, and then I felt anger shove the shock aside and take over. ‘First of all, I am not going to be with either one of you. Second, a girl would have to be crazy not to want Ren. You’re wrong about him. He’s not stuffy or cold. In fact, he’s considerate, warm, drop-dead gorgeous, dependable, loyal, sweet, and charming.’
He raised an eyebrow and measured me thoughtfully for a minute. I squirmed under his gaze, knowing that I had spoken too quickly and said way too much.
He ventured carefully, ‘I see. You may be right. The Dhiren I know has surely changed in the past couple of hundred years. However, despite that and your insistent claim that you will not be with either one of us, I would like to propose that we go out and celebrate tonight, if not as my . . . what is the correct word?
‘The word is date.’
‘Date. If not as my date . . . then, as my friend.’
I grimaced.
Kishan continued, pressing his point, ‘Surely, you won’t leave me to fend for myself on my first night back in the real world?’
He smiled at me, encouraging my acceptance. I did want to be his friend, but I wasn’t sure what to say to his request. And for just a moment, I wondered how Ren would feel about it and what the consequences might be.
I questioned, ‘Where exactly do you want to go to celebrate?’
‘Mr. Kadam said there’s a nightclub in town nearby with dinner and dancing. I thought we could celebrate there, maybe get something to eat, and you can teach me how to dance.’
I laughed nervously. ‘This is my first time in India, and I don’t know a thing about the dancing or the music here.’
Kishan seemed even more delighted by that news. ‘Fantastic! Then we will learn together. I won’t take no for an answer.’ He jumped up to rush off.
I yelled, ‘Wait, Kishan! I don’t even know what to wear!’
He shouted back over his shoulder, ‘Ask Kadam. He knows everything!’
He disappeared into the house, and I sunk glumly into a depres-sion. The last thing I wanted to do was try to be happy when I was emotionally wrung dry. I was pleased that Kishan was back and in high spirits though.
In the end, I decided that, although I really didn’t feel like celebrat-ing, I didn’t want to dampen Kishan’s newfound enthusiasm for life. I leaned over to pick up our discarded root beer glasses and found that they’d disappeared.