The Tiger at Midnight (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy #1)(104)

One day he would. Kunal lodged that hope in his chest as he prepared to leave.

What would come next for him? He didn’t know, but he was ready.

Kunal set his jaw and strapped the remaining knives onto his belt, gathering up one of the packs—the young soldier’s. Inside it had enough provisions for a few days until he found Esha.

The soft morning dew decorated the tangled undergrowth of the jungle, bugs swarming around, and Kunal took care not to slip as he padded away from the camp, heaving a sigh as he escaped the first ring of trees.

A rustle. He froze.

Kunal glanced up to where the sound came from and caught a glimpse of movement in the trees above. It had looked like a young woman’s face shrouded in a hood. He changed direction and padded back a few steps to confirm what he had seen. Her face was one that would never leave his mind. If she was here, he would need to get her out before the soldiers woke.

Another rustle behind him startled him, his hand flying to his knife as he whipped around.

Curses, Esha.

But it wasn’t Esha’s laughing brown eyes that stared back at him.

“Going somewhere?” Laksh asked, coming out of the shadows.

He had an odd expression on his face.

“Just heard a noise and went to scout it out.” Kunal shrugged, thinking quickly. He tried to loosen his limbs so he didn’t look as guilty as he felt.

How much had Laksh seen as he had been preparing to leave? Would his friend believe him if he lied, hate him if he told the truth?

He wanted to feel relieved that it was only Laksh, but it was a weight instead. So, he did what Esha would do, reverting to that quipping humor she always used.

“Looks like Jageet fell asleep on guard duty,” Kunal said with a small chuckle, keeping his stance loose.

“Animal or human?” Laksh asked quickly.

Kunal shook his head, not wanting Laksh to wake up the other soldiers. His friend stepped closer to him, his gold cuffs glinting in the dim light of morning. He stared at Kunal, crossing his arms around his torso.

“Or perhaps it was a snake? I hear they’re common to this area of Dharka. Especially Vipers.”

Kunal’s head snapped up to meet Laksh’s eyes. He swallowed hard. Laksh smirked, revealing that his choice of words was no coincidence.

Esha. In his haste to leave, Kunal had forgotten what this whole trip had been about, how four of them had set out with one goal—to capture her and become the next commander of the Blood Fort.

Clearly, Laksh hadn’t forgotten.

“No, no snakes. Just a deer. I was heading back to camp, actually, but stopped for some water. Sorry to have woken you up.”

Kunal began to edge closer to the tree, where the rustle had come from above. Laksh nodded, staying rooted to his spot.

He hoped he had imagined Esha’s face and that she wasn’t nearby. If she was, and Laksh realized, she would be in grave danger. They both would be.

“Do you always scout out noises with all your belongings?” Laksh asked, startling Kunal, who had been focusing on the sounds within the jungle.

“It never pays to be too caref—”

Laksh cut him off. “You can stop, Kunal. It’s painful. You are a horrible liar.” Kunal said nothing. “I saw the whip and more important, I saw you with her.”

Kunal felt that knife edge of fear.

He knew. Laksh knew Kunal had defied his orders, but worse, he knew Esha’s identity. Still, Kunal tried to keep his voice even, steady. Lie through his teeth. There was a chance he could convince Laksh he was wrong.

“That girl?” Kunal scoffed.

“Don’t you mean that girl with the beautiful eyes, the one who’s also secretly the Viper?”

“What?”

“No point denying it. Stop pretending you didn’t know. I know you, Kunal, like a brother.”

Kunal coughed, trying to give himself a second to think, wondering if he was imagining the note of hurt in his friend’s voice. He had wanted the time to explain his choice before, but would Laksh listen? Or would his hurt at Kunal’s deception cause him to finish the task he had set out with?

“Laksh, it’s not what you think.”

“No?” Laksh smiled, a wry one. “What I think is that you’ve been lying to me, maybe since Faor, maybe since before. I saw you two in the clearing yesterday looking cozy and then made the connection when you mentioned the Viper was a woman. Leaving a whip this morning was the final clue.”

Kunal couldn’t spot the right path forward. If he admitted it, he revealed Esha, endangered her. If he continued to lie, he’d lose Laksh’s trust, maybe even his friendship.

Either way, he’d lose something precious.

“You’ve been holding out on me, Kunal. How long have you known?”

“You have to believe me, I never meant to lie to you but you said yourself, it was a competition.”

“It was a competition, but I thought we were friends, Kunal,” Laksh said, the first sign of a break in his facade showing through. It only drove the knife deeper into Kunal’s gut.

“We are, Laksh.”

“I eavesdropped yesterday when I found you both in the clearing. Your conversation was touching, heartbreaking almost when you turned away . . . but you did turn away. You turned back to the Fort. I brought you back to keep an eye on you. Hoping I was wrong.”