We’d long since discovered that both of us could access the power of the Damon Amulet no matter who wore it as long as we were within a few kilometers of each other. “What did you do?” I asked incredulously.
“I simply accessed her memory and blocked us from her thoughts. She won’t remember us or see us while we are here.”
“How did you do that?”
“It’s the same thing you did with Kelsey.”
“Not exactly. You made us invisible.”
“Oh, that. It is a trick. The scarf can bend light when used with the time travel piece of the amulet.” She frowned. “It is difficult to explain. Our bodies are blurred so that we walk in a slightly different time that overshadows the old one, and then I use the fire piece to reform the light patterns around us. It is similar to hiding from prey with painted skin or clothing.”
I stared at her in open awe until she fidgeted and asked, “Can we hurry and find your company please?”
Nodding, I took her elbow, guiding her into the elevator, and cursed myself when I saw we’d need a key card. I briefly explained how an elevator worked while pushing the keep-door-closed button, but she placed her palm over the key pad and blue crackles of electricity sparkled from between her fingers. For a technologically illiterate girl, her ability to grasp concepts and keep an open mind was astonishing. In a second, we were racing up to the top floor of the building, where we’d find my office.
This time I had the upper hand, literally, as I palmed the lock and the door opened. I handed her a Japanese chocolate bar and a bottle of soda from the mini-fridge before leaving her to explore my office while I checked the computer. Watching her find delight in a fish tank, raid the mini-fridge, and gasp at the view of the city from my office window was distracting, but I still managed to skim through Nilima’s email and discovered the announcement that Ren was taking over Rajaram Industries as president.
There was a newspaper article on how he had reacted to the sad news of the passing of his beloved grandfather, Anik Kadam, and his brother, Sohan Kishan Rajaram. I let out a sigh when I read about the fabricated story of our deaths. Apparently we’d been the victims of a plane crash in the Indian Ocean. The plane went down and our bodies were never discovered.
Ren wasn’t wasting any time in taking over the company or settling into a normal human life. Envy snuck its dastardly way though my veins but I stomped it down mercilessly. It had been a long time since I felt jealous of my brother over material things. I could care less about the company. What I needed to know was what was going on with Kelsey.
Scrolling through other headlines and company announcements, I froze when I saw Rajaram Industries Head, Dhiren Rajaram, Takes a Bride! I clicked on the article.
Multibillionaire and heir to the Rajaram Industries corporation, Alagan Dhiren Rajaram, is engaged to marry American college student Kelsey Hayes in a ceremony that will take place right here in Japan on August seventh! The wedding will be a private celebration but various VIPs and Rajaram Industry officers have been issued invitations to the couple’s reception, which will take place at the top of the esteemed luxury hotel, the Rajaram Grand Towers, which is owned by the groom.
Alagan Rajaram inherited the corporation upon the death of his grandfather, Anik Kadam, who essentially ran the company through his niece Nilima Mehta. Reclusive and media shy, Anik Kadam was known only to a few of the members of the board, and even they didn’t know that he had grandsons until he introduced them to the company less than a year before his death.
It is unfortunate that just as the Rajaram family was being discovered, the world lost both the president of the company, Anik Kadam, as well as Dhiren’s co-heir and younger brother, Sohan Kishan Rajaram, but as Nilima Mehta, acting president, states, “Everyone at Rajaram Industries is waiting eagerly for the handsome young heir to the Rajaram fortune to take his position as president. I, for one, am looking forward to taking a long vacation after he gets settled in. For now, I wish him and his new bride happiness as they begin their life together.”
When we asked how the billionaire bachelor met his future bride, the young Mr. Rajaram joked, “At a circus, of course.” Perhaps one day we’ll be lucky enough to hear the real story of how an unknown American girl-next-door was able to take this catch of the decade off the matrimony market.
We, too, wish them luck and a happy union and hope that their newfound contentment in each other will offset the grief of losing a brother and a most honored ancestor!
I sat back in the chair quietly absorbing the news of Ren and Kelsey’s impending wedding. This time I let the jealousy I felt run rampant. Not only was Ren gifted with humanity but he got my girl too. And me? I got to run around the jungle with my tail between my legs.
It wasn’t that I didn’t expect him to propose to Kelsey. I knew Ren loved her and I had asked him to take care of her. It was just so soon. They were marrying less than two months after they returned. Had she forgotten me that quickly? Was she happy? The fact that maybe she felt she didn’t have any other options came to my mind. I fixated on the idea and didn’t let it go.
My thoughts were so set on Kelsey that I didn’t even hear Anamika approach.
“What it is, Kishan?” she asked softly as she placed her hand on my arm. “You are troubled.”
It wasn’t until she came around in front of me and perched on my desk to look me in the face that I acknowledged her presence. Running a hand through my hair, I backed away from her, stood, and went to the window. My hand tightened into a fist and I brought it up to the glass. But instead of breaking it like I wanted to, I rested my forehead against my fist and said brokenly, “She’s getting married.”
Chapter 5
Voyeur
“You mean Kelsey is marrying Dhiren,” she said flatly.
I nodded without turning and stared at my reflection in the glass. I hadn’t aged in over three hundred years, but my eyes were old, tired. The sting of disloyalty pierced my heart. Even though I knew that Kelsey had never stopped loving Ren, at least not fully, I’d still kept alive the hope that she might have chosen me if she’d had the option.
Again I berated myself for allowing Ren to leave with her. What choice had I given her, really? I’d pretty much thrust her into his arms and said, Have a nice life. I flattened my hand against the sun-warmed window and imagined the power and energy of the yellow light flowing into my fingers. It filled me with a resolve, one I dared not voice aloud, but the idea filled my mind.
I thought of the young version of Kelsey and knew she’d seen something in me even then. She’d believed I was her protector, relied on me entirely. She had needed someone then, just as I had needed her to bring me from the darkness into the light. Kelsey never gave up on me, and one thing was certain, I wasn’t about to give up on her or just leave her to her fate. I needed to know if marrying Ren was something she really wanted to do or if she was just taking the easy road.
Anamika interrupted my thoughts. “She is marrying Dhiren, isn’t she?”
I rubbed my jaw before replying. “We’ll see.” Determination rushed through my blood and spurred me to action. Spinning, I grabbed her arm and said, “It’s time to go.”
Wrenching her arm from my grasp, Anamika backed away, eyes blazing fury. Her hair fell in long sections as my weak effort to contain it failed. She looked beautiful, like a goddess shedding her human form. Power rippled from her skin as she narrowed her eyes at me and said, “You do not seize me in that manner.”