Tiger's Voyage (57 page)

When she picked up the section covering her right upper body, I gasped softly. She had scales alright. They were all over her. Her arms, face, and back were human, but the scales from her fish tail traveled up most of her torso and banded around her neck like a halter top. When she turned to look at her reflection in the water again, I saw that the whole front of her upper body was encased in cat-suit-style scales that seemed somehow more provocative than her being nude. Kaeliora’s scales were a kind of purplish-green and gray like those of a rainbow trout. She was gorgeous and seemed to be seeking Ren and Kishan’s attention.

Turning my eyes deliberately to the snapping turtle, I said, “So? The key? You won’t have to get your hair wet. I’ll do it.”

“Fine, but first, where’s my present?” She fluttered her fingers.

“What present?” I asked.

“You
know
… something bright and living?”

“Uh … sorry. We didn’t bring you anything.”

She pouted. “Then I guess I can’t help you after all.”

“Wait,” Ren said. He opened his bag and took out Durga’s lotus lei. “The prophecy said to lay the wreath on the Sea of Milk. Is this what you want, Kaeliora? Flowers?” He placed the flowers on the milky water, where they floated to the mermaid’s outstretched fingers.

“Oh!” She picked up the wreath and cradled the blossoms to her face. “I haven’t smelled a fresh bloom in thousands of years. It’s perfect.”

She settled the lei around her neck and splashed her tail happily.

We stood around for a minute waiting for her to notice us again. The mermaid admired the reflection of herself, the flowers, her hair, and so on.

Finally, I said, “The key?”

“Oh! You’re still here? Very well,” she mumbled as she studied her hair for split ends. “It’s back there at the bottom of the lake.”

“The bottom of the lake! How do you expect us to get it?” I asked.

She raised her head and grinned. “By swimming, of course. What a silly question.”

“But the water is frozen, and it’s too deep!”

“It’s not
that
deep. Only twenty feet or so, but it is cold. Whoever goes in will probably freeze before getting back to the surface.”

“I’ll go,” Ren softly volunteered.

Something snapped inside me, and I couldn’t stop it from bursting out. “Of
course
you’d say that!” I yelled. “Always willing to put yourself in harm’s way, aren’t you? Can’t resist a worthy cause, no matter how dangerous! Why not? He’s faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings.
Naturally
, you want to go.”

“Why should I stay?” he asked quietly.

“No. You’re right. You have absolutely no reason to keep yourself safe. It’s just another day at the office for you, isn’t it, Superman? No, Iceman would be more appropriate in this case. Why not? Go ahead! Fly off and save the day, like you always do. Just make sure you don’t come back as Mr. Freeze. He was the bad guy.”

Kishan stepped in. “I think you’re overreacting, Kells.”

“Sure I am. But we all have our roles to play, don’t we? I’ll play the part of the irritating girlfriend who holds everyone back. You can be the nice guy who stays behind, consoles the girl, and pats her hand, and Ren can go off and save the world. That’s how all this works, am I right?”

Ren sighed, and Kishan looked at me as if I was out of my mind,
which I was
, and the mermaid wrinkled her nose and giggled. “Isn’t this fun?” she said. “But it doesn’t matter anyway.
He
can’t go. Only this one can.” She pointed to Kishan and then became fascinated with her fingernails.

“What? Why him?” I asked.

“Because
he
drank the
soma
. If this one tried to enter the water,” she pointed to Ren, “it would kill him immediately.”

“Drank the
soma
? You mean that drink at Phet’s house?”

“I don’t have any idea where he drank it. I just know he did. The power just shimmers on his skin. Can’t you see it? It’s very enticing.”

I peered at Kishan. “Nope, can’t really see his power.”

“Well, the water is full of it. Power, I mean. My job is to stir it once in a while so it doesn’t settle to the bottom. Dip a finger in, and you’ll get the shock of your life. An arm, and your brain shuts down. Your entire body? Zap! You’re just nutmeg floating in the eggnog.”

“Great,” I mumbled.

“But the water does do wonders for a girl’s scales. Milk baths are all the rage when your tail dries out. Don’t
you
try it, though. There’s not just creamy goodness in
that
lake. All kinds of special powers are in there, and only an elite few can access them. You might call it the swimming pool of the gods, and only those who have a pass can enter. It’s a members-only kind of thing. Neither of you belong to the club. He’ll probably still freeze anyway, but at least
he
has a sporting chance. Oh, and I forgot to mention, you’d better make it quick. My toes are freezing already, and if the fountain refreezes before you get back, you can’t enter or exit the lake, and I won’t be able to tell you how to get the Necklace.”

We stood there dumbfounded.

“Shoo. Go on now. Hurry up.”

The three of us took off at a run, slipping and sliding back through the tunnel to the lake. I heard the soft complaints of the mermaid whining about her tail not getting enough moisturizer. Then we turned the corner, and I couldn’t make out her words anymore.

Kishan threw off his coat and slipped out of his shoes while I used my heat to make a hole in the ice big enough for him to enter.

We could faintly hear Kaeliora shouting, “It’s gold! Shines in the dark! Can’t miss it!”

Kishan shook out his limbs, kissed me hard, and dropped straight down into the ice. He stayed down several minutes before his head cracked the thin glaze now covering the hole. Taking a deep breath he said, “Don’t see it yet.”

I stood there stewing, biting my lip, and trying to think of a rational excuse for why I didn’t act the same way with Kishan diving in the dangerous water as I had with Ren. I was soon able to convince myself that it was just because I hadn’t had the time to process my feelings.

Two more times Kishan surfaced. On the last time, he said, “I saw it, but it’s pretty far. I’m sure I can get it though.” His teeth chattered, and his lips were blue.

Kishan submerged again, and the mermaid called out in a loud but still-bored voice, “He won’t make it. He’s freezing to death. You can help him, you know.”

“How?” I hollered back.

“You already
know
how.”

I let another few seconds go before ripping off my coat and yanking off Ren’s. He didn’t say anything, and he already seemed to know what I was going to do. I pushed up the sleeves of my shirt and threw my firepower at the lake. Ren pulled me back into his chest, pressed his cheek against mine, and slid his hands down my arms. I felt the hot flames lick my skin as golden fire burst from not one of my palms, but both of them. He twined his fingers with mine, and the heat intensified.

Steam rose from the lake and the hole grew quickly and began to expand across the entire surface. A head emerged halfway down and Ren whispered, “He’s alright. I can hear him breathing. Can you do more?”

I nodded and continued to warm the lake until I could no longer see ice and Kishan started swimming toward us in the milky water.

He got closer and shouted, “Hey! This feels pretty good. Almost like a sauna! Too bad you two can’t try it!”

Seeing he was safe, I jerked myself away from Ren, who raised an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing, and asked the Scarf to make towels.

Kishan stood up, waded out of the water, and shook himself like a dog. He grabbed me, gave me a very soggy kiss, and pressed the key into my hand. While Kishan stayed behind and changed into dry clothes, I ran down the now muddy path back to the fountain with Ren following along silently behind me.

I slid to a stop by the half-frozen mermaid, gave her a blast of heat, and then showed her the key. “We’ve got it. Now what?”

“Good. Now listen to me very carefully. You obviously seek the Necklace and have Durga’s favor.” Kaeliora paused to delicately sniff the lotus blossoms again. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be helping you. Continue to follow this path. The tunnel will lead you back to the ocean. I suggest you move through the ice quickly, because some of the world’s most ancient creatures make this realm their home, and they aren’t too keen on intruders.”

“The white dragon didn’t tell us about that,” I commented as Kishan caught up to us.

“Yes, well, he hasn’t been down here in a long time, and what doesn’t faze a dragon can be deadly to a human. Some of the ocean’s most terrifying predators are mere pets to one such as Yínbáilóng. Once you arrive at the pagoda, use the key to open the doors. The Necklace will be found inside the shell of a large oyster in a pool of milky water so make sure only he,” she nodded at Kishan, “goes in to search for it. That’s the easy part.”

“Wonderful,” I muttered.

“The hard part is—” she wiggled her tail and softly grunted. “I seem to be frozen again. Would you mind?”

I sighed and lifted my hand but nothing happened.

“

“She can’t. She’s exhausted,” Kishan explained.

Ren removed his glove and caught my bare wrist before I could move out of range. Golden light surged out from my palm to warm the entire fountain. Steam rose from the water, and the mermaid sunk deeper, sighing with pleasure.

“
That
is absolutely lovely. You don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been truly warm. Thank you.”

“No problem.” I lowered my hand and tried to inconspicuously jerk my wrist away from Ren’s grip. Sheepishly, I took a step closer to Kishan, who seemed shocked. I glared at Ren, who just looked away. It’s not like I was exactly
cheating
on Kishan, but I felt like I’d just been caught lip-locked with Ren. There was something different, something special, about the golden flame, and I didn’t want to explore the uniqueness of it.

“It’s nothing,” I whispered.

The mermaid disagreed. “Oh, I’d definitely say it’s something. I haven’t seen a connection that strong in millennia.”

“What do you mean by connection?” Kishan inquired politely but with an edge in the undertone.

“That light. It’s more powerful than she can make alone. He acts like … well, like a filament. She pours her energy into him, and he heats it. Then he sends it back into her just like a light bulb. They create a kind of vacuum between them; that is the connection I am referring to. It’s very special and rarely seen. When they’re touching, nothing else exists outside the two of them. All they are aware of is each other.”

My first reaction was shock.
That explains a lot.
The mermaid was dead-on accurate. There was only one problem with her theory. Ren didn’t
need
to touch me to create a vacuum. I could feel him—all warm and powerful—
all the time
. All I needed to do was close my eyes, and he could wrap me in a bubble so strong I’d forget everyone and everything else. Ren was just
that
potent.

My connection to Ren was
cosmic
.
Makes sense.
We were destined to find each other to break the curse. That’s all. And if I just avoided touching him, I could probably do a better job at being Kishan’s girlfriend and, as a result, be less plagued by guilt. I might even be able to forget
what’s-his-name
and love Kishan completely with my
full
heart, which was my goal.

Kishan looked at me with hurt and confusion, probably misunderstanding the emotions that were crossing my face. I took Kishan’s hand and downplayed the parts I didn’t want to think about.

“Well, I guess that explains why we can create the golden light together,
if
you can take an ice mermaid’s word on the whole light bulb analogy. As if she would know. Like she’s changed a lot of bulbs down here in the ocean.” I laughed though no one else did. Clearing my throat, I stammered on, “It’s definitely a handy tool though. Saved your life a little while ago, Kishan.”

I squeezed his hand, a silent message that we would talk later, and asked Kaeliora to continue with what she was
supposed
to tell us. I also sent her a warning look not to mention other things that should remain unmentioned.

“Oh, yes … what
was
I talking about?”

“The hard part,” Ren furnished.

“Oh, right. The hard part is not getting in. It’s getting out. The Necklace will help you escape. Just ask it for a way to the surface. It can manipulate water, much as your other item manipulates cloth. But a great predator lurks outside the Seventh Pagoda. It doesn’t eat. It doesn’t hunt. It doesn’t sleep. Its only purpose is to prevent you from doing what you are going to do.”

“Will it be able to break through the ice tunnels?”

“It won’t have to. You cannot return through the tunnels.”

“Why not?”

“Because once you pass the threshold into the pagoda, the tunnels will melt to prevent any potential thieves from escaping. The only way to the surface is through the ocean.”

“But the pressure will kill us!”

“Not if you have the Necklace. It’s still very dangerous though. Understand that before you make your choice. You can still turn back if you don’t want to risk it.”

Both men looked at me.

I bit my lip. “We’ll go on. We’ve come this far.”

“Very well. Before you go, I have a gift for you, Keyfinder. You may fill your flask from my well,” she said with a grand flourish.

“My flask?” asked Kishan curiously.

“Yes. A flask. A container of some kind. Don’t you have one? Durga should have given you one.”

“Durga?”

“Yes, yes.”

“A container from Durga? It’s the
kamandal
,” I burst out excitedly. “Are you wearing it?”

He yanked on the thong around his neck and pulled the conch shell out of his shirt. “You mean this? But it doesn’t have a stopper.”

“That doesn’t matter,” the mermaid said. “Just dip it into my fountain. You won’t need a stopper. Not a drop will be spilled unless you wish to use it.”