I blinked. Then turned aside. What is wrong with me? Am I missing Kelsey so much that any female will do? My tiger nose alone should have been deterrent enough, what with the scent of battle and death that still hung on me. Switching to a man had helped, but I needed a long shower to get rid of the stench of blood and sweat. Ana should have smelled just as bad but she didn’t. Every time I was close to her, it was like stepping into her garden. Roses and jasmine wafted around her and clung to her hair. Had she somehow bathed when I wasn’t looking?
My mind suddenly shifted to Ana languishing in her bubble bath, and I shook my head to get the image out of my mind. She was like a sister. Wasn’t she? Sure, she was beautiful, powerful, striking even. Especially in battle. My response was most likely the result of being on my own for too long. I backed away several feet, which was way too obvious and probably confused her. The thing was, even from a distance, I could still smell the jasmine.
Closing my eyes, I gritted my teeth. Without answering her question, which hung in the air awkwardly between us, I turned around and walked into a nearby shop. She followed me and entered just after I did, marveling at the wares while I asked the shopkeeper the date and time and if he had a business card. He did.
When he handed it to me, I read the card and sucked in a breath. Mangalore. What was Nilima doing in Mangalore?
All at once, I knew.
“Come on,” I said and held out my hand, knowing she’d hate it if I grabbed her. She took it slowly, placing her hand in mine consciously, deliberately. It meant something to her. To me, too, but I didn’t want to think about it at that moment. “Which way’s the ocean?” I asked the man.
“West,” he replied and I headed outside.
After a quick glance at the sun, we darted between stores and down streets at a quick enough pace that people moved aside so we wouldn’t trample them. When the ocean finally came in view, I heard Ana gasp in wonder. I scanned the coastline, and when I found what I was looking for, I blew out a breath, my heart thudding in my chest as if I’d just run five miles.
“They’re here,” I said.
“Who?” Ana asked, glancing warily up and down the street.
Lifting my arm, I pointed out to the ocean toward the object that had caught my attention.
“What am I supposed to be seeing?” she asked.
“It’s the Deschen,” I answered. “Our boat. The one you found me on before where I was watching Kelsey. Do you see it?”
“You mean…you mean that great white whale out on the water?”
“It’s not a whale. It’s a yacht. A big boat,” I explained when I saw she didn’t understand.
“What does this have to do with Nilima?”
I headed to the shade beneath an awning where I could still see the ship. When Ana joined me, I said, “We docked here to go to the temple of Durga. This was after Shangri-La and before the dragons.” Over the past few months I’d patiently illustrated the timeline to her regarding the curse and the different places we’d been as we’d gone through the steps to break it by fulfilling the prophecies that Kelsey had discovered. Still, I could see she was confused. I didn’t blame her.
“So if we seek out Nilima, we will meet your past self as well?”
I scraped my hand over my jaw. “I wasn’t in the city until we went to the temple at night. I could only be a man for twelve hours at a time here. My best guess is that I will be onboard the ship, napping as a tiger during the day.”
“Then you believe we are safe in the city?”
“For now, yes,” I replied.
She nodded and paused, lifting her chin as if listening to something. “She calls to me,” Ana said. “I can hear her.”
I strained my ears to try to hear what she did, but without her hand on me, connecting me to the power of the goddess, all I could make out were the typical sounds of the city—people, barking dogs, noisy cars, the distant ocean, bicycle bells, and vendors advertising their goods. Ana stared off in the distance, her eyes glossed over and her lower lip pinched between her teeth. I stared at those lips for a too long minute before asking, “What is it?”
“It’s…it’s the women of this city. Many of them have been seeking my aid regarding…regarding finding a mate.”
Anamika turned shocked eyes to me. “What am I supposed to do?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you need to do anything?”
“I’ve never helped in this regard. I have no experience. War is more comfortable for me than affairs of the heart.”
She’d gone as white as the surf. “Perhaps these are the types of supplications you just listen to. Like a therapist,” I suggested.
“What’s a therapist?”
“A counselor. A teacher.”
“But teachers help.”
“Yes,” I acknowledged.
“How can I teach them? Offer advice when I need it myself?”
I smiled. “You need help finding a mate?”
“Yes. No. I never thought to take one. Why do these women not simply choose to live alone?”
“Living alone is difficult. Even if they choose to ignore social convention, a solitary life is no life. Trust me in this.”
“Then perhaps you can help them.”
“Me?” I gave a stunted laugh as she slapped my arm softly, thinking that I was ridiculing her.
Ana’s green eyes were dagger sharp. “Do not mock me in this, Kishan.”
The seriousness in her face took me by surprise. “Do you really want my help?”
“Yes.”
I sighed deeply. “If you’re certain, then yes, I’ll try to help you, but I really don’t think it’s necessary. You’re the goddess of battle.”
Her face fell like a pet that had been kicked by a master. “Despite my skill with such, I don’t wish to be only known for battle,” she said.
“No, I…” I dug the toe of my soft new shoe into a broken paver stone, suddenly uncertain of exactly how to fix what I’d obviously messed up. “Look,” I said, “I didn’t mean you can’t be the goddess of other things. You provide food, you heal the land… Think of all the people you’ve helped. Battle was just on the forefront of my mind.”
“I understand,” she said softly. “How can I expect people to remember me as human, as a woman, when all they see is the warrior-goddess?”
Stretching out my hand, I wrapped my fingers around hers. Tingles shot up my arm and I felt the strength of our connection link us together. “The goddess Durga already is much more than a warrior.”
I brushed my knuckles beneath her chin and waited for her to look at me. When she did, I could see she was anxious, vulnerable. “Can you find them?” I asked gently.
She nodded.
“Then lead the way and I’ll help the best I can.”
“Thank you.” This time she took my hand, grasping it tightly, and she gave me a warm smile that stirred my middle like we’d leapt in time again.
As we walked through the streets, I added, “Keep in mind that I’ve never had a fully successful relationship either.”
“Yes, but you have loved women before.”
I coughed. “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”
She nodded. “You will give good counsel. For you are a man as blunt and as braying as all the others. Surely you’ll be able to help me tell these women what a man really wants.”
“Hold on a second,” I said, irritation making me forget she didn’t like to be grabbed. I took hold of her elbow and spun her around. “Did you say blunt and braying? I don’t bray.”
“Of course you do. Granted, you’re not as demanding as some, but you bray and bemoan your fate just as loudly as any.”
Just like that, I forgot my recent adoration of the warrior-goddess and my fascination with her lips as I was reminded of all the reasons I left her alone all the time. Chief among them was her mouth. If anyone was blunt, it was Anamika.
“Demanding?” I half shouted so as not to draw attention to us in public. My voice squeaked in a humiliating sort of way.
I was about to light into her, knowing a verbal spat would follow, when her eyes widened as she spotted something behind us. She yanked me into the darkness of the alley and hissed when I opened my mouth, cupping her hand over it. “It’s Kelsey!” she said, her voice barely audible as she moved her hand away. She’d brushed it over the stubble of my cheek, and the tingle that resulted made all coherent thoughts fall from my mind.
“What?” I whispered back.