The Tiger at Midnight (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy #1)(107)

“You killed him?”

Something in him wanted the confirmation, needed it.

Laksh hesitated but nodded. “Kunal, it had to be done. We had to protect the intel we had gotten.”

When Kunal said nothing, Laksh continued, “Kunal, you were one of my first friends at the Fort and that was never false. But this? This is bigger than us. Bigger than your uncle. Even then, I’m sorry to have hurt you.”

Kunal felt in his bones that Laksh’s words were heartfelt. Laksh must have seen the flicker of doubt in his eyes.

He held a hand out to Kunal.

“Join me and let’s end this. No one else has to lose their family.”

And for a second, Kunal got lost in his words, the promise in them.

But were these new Jansan rebels any better than the Blades? Any better than the Fort?

Kunal looked up at Laksh and caught sight of Esha as she moved closer toward them. She was the reminder he needed.

“No.” Kunal shook his head. “You know I can’t.”

Laksh let out a sigh, taking a deep breath as if he was readying himself to go another round to convince Kunal.

“I thought you might say that,” Laksh said, before throwing his knife straight at Esha’s chest.





Chapter 64


Esha ducked, rolling across the jungle clearing. The knife nicked her ear and skittered away from her.

“Stop!” Kunal yelled, rushing forward to block Laksh from taking another shot.

His friend backed away, holding out a second knife. It seemed leaving him with his weapons had been a bad move.

“She’s the key, Kunal. We take her back and this cursed mission has been worth it. We’ll have a commander in the Fort. It could even be you. And I may have killed the general, but the Blades were planning the same thing. They’re no better.”

Kunal knew this, understood it, but he wasn’t choosing Laksh’s rebels or the Blades. Right now, Kunal was choosing Esha.

He dove at Laksh, tackling him to the ground long enough to yell at Esha to run. She looked furious at the mere suggestion, shaking out her whips instead.

It was a good move, for in a few heartbeats, there was the sound of pounding footsteps heading to the clearing.

Saran, Jageet, and Amir emerged from the brush, looking quickly between the three of them. Laksh tossed Kunal off and staggered to his feet.

“It’s him! Laksh is the double agent you suspected, Saran,” Jageet said quickly. Laksh sneered at him.

“Seems the commander was right and we did have a traitor in our midst, though I think we caught ourselves two extras today,” Saran said, a note of pleasure in his voice, his hand sliding up and down his sword.

“You’re the Viper? Kunal wasn’t lying?” Amir stuttered out, his large eyes turned toward Esha. “But you’re so pretty. You don’t have a forked tongue.”

Esha grinned at him. “I like this one.”

She snapped her whip against the ground. The crack made Amir jump back, but the awe remained on his face.

“Capture the traitors,” Saran commanded. “And as for the Viper, the commander said dead or alive.”

Saran charged at Laksh as Jageet rushed Kunal, leaving Amir to Esha.

Esha twirled her whips in her hands, striking them against the ground with loud cracks that made Amir visibly wince. He was obviously reluctant to attack. Within a few seconds, she had knocked him out cold and dragged him to a corner under the shadow of the tree.

She hadn’t forgotten the kindness of the boy the night before at the campfire, or the way he had talked wistfully of life after fulfilling his active duty. Even if he didn’t realize it, his soldier days were at an end.

Tana, Kunal, and now this Amir. She was really going soft. But the thought didn’t hold the venom it used to.

Quickly, she turned to assess the clearing.

Saran had tossed Laksh to the ground and was about to knock him out when Esha lashed him with her whip, pulling him down so that Laksh could scramble away. She might not be fond of this Laksh, but she wanted him alive and she wanted him as her capture. The information he had in that mind would be a treasure for the Blades.

He was the only one here who could tell her how the Jansan rebels had discovered their plans to assassinate the general. A moment of unease had passed through her after she revealed Laksh’s involvement in General Hotha’s murder, but Esha had seen the look on Kunal’s face. The belief he held in this stupid “friend” who lied as easily—no, easier—than she did.

Saran was up again and he staggered back, fury on his face.

Esha raised her knife up as Saran charged forward. She faced off with him, dodging his blows and landing a few of her own. But she was slower than him and her knife wasn’t doing much against the soldier’s cuirass.

The next blow of his fist landed and Esha doubled back, trying not to fall.

Esha pulled up every ounce of strength she had, knowing she would have to rely on her speed, whips, and dirty tricks to get Kunal and herself out of this alive.

This soldier was bigger and stronger—and now too close for her normal tricks to be of any use. Esha rolled away, ignoring the pain in her side. When she put enough distance between them, she readied her whip again.

Time to play.

Jageet came barreling at him, pulling him down with a strength that Kunal wouldn’t have expected.