“Deven?” I whisper into the darkness.
But his breath is deep and even, and my eyelids are so heavy—I’ll ask him in the morning.
I wake to the tangy aroma of dosa batter, and before I’m fully awake, I sigh appreciatively. And then reality comes rushing back to me and I feel terrible. It seems wrong to want to eat when Mani is somewhere scared and in danger because of me. But my traitorous stomach doesn’t understand the finer points of loyalty and betrays me by grumbling loudly.
Deven pokes his head around the corner. “Hungry?”
“Not really,” I lie. There are no windows in the safe house, so it’s impossible to know what the hour is, but it feels like I slept for a long time.
“You need to eat something,” he says. “You’ll need your energy.” This seems an acceptable trade-off—to eat so that I have energy to search for Mani, to save him if I can. I sit up and stretch. Deven brings me a plate of folded dosas with a dish of coconut chutney on the side. As soon as I take the first bite, I realize that I am famished, and I have to work to slow down so I don’t make myself sick.
“Do you know where the Snake Temple is?” I say between bites. “You seemed to recognize it last night when Gita said that’s where the Naga were taking Mani.”
He sighs and sits on the end of my bed. “I don’t know exactly,” he says. “I’ve just heard it mentioned in meetings.”
“Mentioned by whom?”
He swallows and fixes his gaze on his plate. “The Raja’s men.”
Hope springs up in my chest. “Then that’s where I’ll go next.”
Deven raises an eyebrow. “To Colapi City?”
“Can you think of a better plan?”
“But they aren’t just going to let you walk into the palace and demand an audience with the Raja,” Deven says.
“Maybe they will if I tell them who I am. Didn’t you say you’ve been gathering information about the Naga for years? I’m sure the Raja would want to hear from someone who’s lived with them as long as I have.”
“But didn’t you say that you hardly know anything? That the Naga never shared details with you?”
“Yes, but I still have information. We know they are preparing to make a human sacrifice in a few days. And maybe I know other things that they would find helpful. It can’t hurt to try.”
Deven doesn’t say anything for a moment. He bites his lip and stares off into the distance, lost in thought. Then he shakes his head and sighs. “It’s not a terrible plan,” he says. “I’ll come with you.”
It’s exactly what I hoped he’d say—I’ll have a much better chance of speaking with the Raja if one of his spies is with me—but I try to keep the joy from showing on my face. I shrug. “If you’re sure that’s what you want.”
He holds my gaze a beat longer than necessary and heat creeps into my cheeks. “I’m sure.”
It will take us at least two full days on foot to get to the Raja’s palace in Colapi City. That will leave us only two days to find Mani—assuming we get the information we need. And I’m not ready to assume anything.
“If we hired an elephant, we’d get there so much faster,” I say as Deven and I trudge through the back alleys leading away from the safe house. I’m grateful that Deven was able to find me clothing that was more appropriate for our journey—pants and soft leather hiking boots. The boots are slightly too big but far better than my sandals would have been.
“The Naga are likely searching for you. An elephant is a little conspicuous, don’t you think?”
“A donkey?” I offer.
Deven shakes his head. “Sorry. Walking is the only option.” He glances sidelong at me. He must see the disappointment on my face, because he says, “Don’t worry. We’ll get there in time. I promise.”
I only nod. As we walk, I wonder, not for the first time, about the identities of the rest of the members of the Naga. How many are there? I know of only Gopal, Gita and Kadru, but the way Deven talks about them makes it seem like there must be hundreds. I wonder how many of them know who I am. Would they all make the same choices that Gopal has? Are any of them decent enough to help Mani?
I’m so lost in thought that I trip over a large rock in the road and almost go down. But Deven catches me around the waist before I fall.
“Are you okay?” he asks. He’s close enough that his breath dances across my neck. I close my eyes and feel a flood of warmth rush through me. Ever since I found out Deven is immune, I’ve been far too aware of him. The exact distance between his hand and mine as we walk, precisely how far I would have to reach to intertwine my fingers with his. The way he licks his bottom lip right before he’s about to speak. How he taps his middle finger and thumb together when he’s lost in thought. Now having him this close with his arms around my waist is almost too much.