The Tiger at Midnight (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy #1)(54)

“Aw, you said a big loot. All we got are two mismatched cheap shoes that look like they fell apart. You’ve really got to set up your traps better.”

Esha bristled at that. Those shoes had not been cheap.

Another voice chimed in “I could’ve sworn I set it for a heavier weight.”

“Clearly not, Lai. Clearly not.”

“No, I swear. Let me go down there and check. Or at least walk around to the other side. Sometimes little animals hide in the corners. Could be a good dinner.”

Esha shot a look to Kunal, who eyed her, shaking his head.

“Not worth our time. Dharmdev will be back soon and it won’t do us any good if your fat arse gets stuck down there and can’t get up.”

The other person grumbled but didn’t disagree. The voices faded out and Esha allowed herself to return to breathing normally.

“We need to get out of here,” she whispered. She needed to get out of here—and before Kunal. But she’d need his help first.

Kunal nodded in agreement. Esha closed her eyes for a moment, listening for any sign of the two men again. Satisfied, she inched over to Kunal.

“The walls are packed in, but now that we’re free from the trapping, I can try to get up if you give me a push.”

Kunal’s eyes narrowed as his lips pursed.

“And then?”

“And then I’ll drop a rope down or something.”

“Sure you will.”

She took a deep breath.

“You’ll have to trust me. Think you can do that?”

Esha wouldn’t have trusted him if the situation were reversed. But at the same time, he didn’t have much choice. She decided to tell him as much.

“We can’t switch roles—there’s no way I could support your weight or give you a boost. This is the only logical way.”

Kunal looked like he wanted to argue, but gave her a tight nod.

She hopped over to him, discarding the remaining pieces of rope that twirled around her feet. The wall of dirt was packed tight, no sign of pockets for her hands to fit in. She’d have to use her knife to climb. There was only a thin outer border of the floor without resin and they had danced around it so far.

Behind her, Kunal stood unmoving. She turned her head back toward him, blowing air out of her mouth. She had her knife in one hand and patted her pack with the other, slipping her hand inside.

“Are you going to just stand there? Give me a lift.”

Harun would have called that her bossy tone, but she preferred to call it authoritative. If she knew the best way to do something, she should be in charge. It was as simple as that.

Kunal grumbled something she couldn’t hear and moved closer so that she could feel his presence behind her. Calming her pulse, she gave him directions.

She could feel his muscles tensing around her, enveloping her, and it made her heart quicken. The rest of her warred, unsure whether to keep her word or to flee and leave him in the pit. The latter ensured she would get to Amali quicker, and before he could catch her trail again.

Kunal was an interruption. Something that shouldn’t have come into her life, but now that he was here, she was feeling herself change in tiny, imperceptible ways.

And she wasn’t ready to change. She didn’t want to owe or give anyone part of her.

Not yet. Not when her desire for revenge still burned bright and hot. Until that day, she still belonged to the ghosts of her family and the young girl she had been.

With a grunt, he pushed her up, one hand on the small of her back, and Esha drove her knife into the wall as high as she could reach—and made her decision.

“Hold on, I see a rope. Let me tug it down. Can you balance me on your shoulders?” Esha saw a brief nod out of the corner of her eye. “Look up, Kunal. Can you grab the rope?”

She balanced her feet on both sides of his shoulders and leaned against the wall. It freed her hands and with a swift movement she uncorked the rest of the sleeping draft and splashed it onto his face, the rest falling to the dirt in a cloud of gray vapor.

Esha heard him sputter and knew he would fall in a few seconds—she needed to use his body as leverage before that. She hung from the knife and kicked off Kunal in time to jump up and swing around, landing on the edge of the pit.

Below her, Kunal fell to the floor, sprawling in an uncomfortable-looking position, dirt smudging the edges of his face and clothing.

His face looked peaceful, but when he woke, he would have a raging headache. She had never used that much sleeping draft on anyone. Esha crouched and put her head between her legs before taking a shaky breath and rising to her feet.

So tired. She was so tired.

Beneath it was a faint sadness, but she pushed it down.

The victory was hers. She’d be out of here soon. Somehow, it felt hollow.

Esha looked around and spotted the length of rope and tied it to the cistern nearby. She whipped out the piece of charcoal and paper she always had hidden away, scratching out a note, which she tucked into the smooth interior of the pail. She tugged it down and looped it a few times, throwing the edge into the pit.

It’s not like she wanted him to die down there.

She watched the pail land on the soft ground before she turned on her heel and left.





Chapter 36


Kunal woke with a jolt, sputtering out dirt. His eyes darted around, seeing only spots. No Esha.