Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(66)

“No. Not even a little bit. I’m terrified.”

“I wish I could prepare you for what to expect during your first night of ankathari but you have to go into this completely naive.”

“Mother Raghavan says if I live to be ten thousand, tonight will still be the most difficult night of my life. What am I supposed to do with that?”

“Take it moment by moment. One breath at a time. Midnight will be here before you know it and it will be over.”

“Until tomorrow, when I have to do it all over again.”

“It will never be as bad as the first night. You and Jayesh have worked so hard to get here. This is progress. Try to hold on to that thought if you can.”

Sasha closed her eyes as her sister finished securing her hair back with a black silk scarf.

She was right. Sasha and Jayesh had made so much headway in the weeks since that day at the mangrove forest. He was still the most obstinate man she’d ever met, but they were friends now. There was mutual respect between them.

Now when Sasha entered the training grounds and she knelt to touch her teacher’s feet, it didn’t feel like she was giving him the upper hand the way it once had. After months of struggling, they’d finally found their way through meithari and it was time to move on. Though she knew very little about what she would face tonight.

For months, she and Jayesh studied the kalari forms, sparring together in the evenings. Sasha felt stronger than she ever had before. Now it was time to put all of that training into practice. At sunset tonight, she would enter the place between the outer and inner walls of the temple grounds. There she would face whatever obstacles Jayesh and the mother had planned for her. She would not be free to return to the safety of the temple until the stroke of midnight.

“You are ready for this, sister. Remember, your mind will be your biggest obstacle tonight.”

Sasha nodded and crossed the room to the bench where her weapons lay. Dressed in simple black robes with a golden embroidered belt, she looked every bit the assassin straight out of some fantasy tale. The slim blades hooked at her waist were the only protection she would have tonight. Mastering the assassin’s blade was the whole point of ankathari, and once she did that, she would earn the Chola blade for herself.

“It is time,” Imogen said. “I will be here for you when you return. You will rest in my rooms tonight.”

“Gen … thank you for being here with me. I know the separation from your husband is killing you. But … I love you.”

“I love you too, little sister. Be brave.”

Sasha made her way to the western gate alone. She needed a moment to collect her thoughts.

This is just another obstacle between you and your goals, Sasha. Get it done and move on.

“I don’t know who’s more nervous—me or you,” Jayesh said as he greeted her at the gate.

“Definitely me. I’m the one walking into this with no idea what’s coming.”

“You can do this, Sasha. I’ll be right here the instant midnight strikes.”

“I’m scared,” she whispered, taking his offered hand. Just a few months ago she’d never have admitted her fears to Jayesh. They’d come a long way.

“Drink this. It is part of the ritual.” He handed her a chalice filled with spiced wine.

Sasha nodded, taking a deep breath. She gulped the wine and stepped through the gates into the growing darkness between the walls of the temple grounds.

~~~

The acrid smoke smelled of sulfur and heat, tickling her nose as she made her way along the perimeter of the interior wall. Everything looked different at night.

“Don’t lose your way,” she muttered, keeping her eye on the temple entrance.

Familiar voices echoed behind the swirling clouds of smoke. Sasha wasn’t sure what to expect of this night, but she knew it would be dangerous.

“Aidan?” She whirled around in the unnatural darkness. Her mind was playing tricks on her. Sasha blinked, shaking her head to clear the confusion. She drew her blades and turned in a slow circle, struggling to remember how she came to be in this strange place.

“Sasha?” Aidan called from beyond the veil of fog and smoke.

Sasha stumbled toward the sound of her brother’s voice. She heard them all. Her mother, her father. Chloe, Allie, and her brothers. Everyone who had ever mattered to her whispered in the darkness.

“Sasha?”

“Quinn?” Her voice caught in her throat as he came to her through the swirling fog. He was a shadow at first, but she’d know him anywhere. Sasha nearly threw her weapons down in her eagerness to reach him. Touch him. Feel his arms around her again just to know he was real.

“I’ve missed you so much.” Her tears fell as the gaping hole Quinn had left in her life began to diminish at the mere sight of him. “How did you find me here? I don’t even know where here is.” She couldn’t remember what brought her to this temple. She struggled to even remember her own name. The only thing she knew for certain was that she loved Quinn, but she had to get out of this place with or without him.

Pain surged through her and she reached to grasp her head. “Quinn, please. We have to get out of here. It’s not safe.” But he stood with his back to her.

Sasha touched his arm and he turned on her, brandishing his sword. His dark blue eyes were vacant and cold. She reeled back but the bite of steel against her cheek brought a rush of blood. She cupped her face, astonished that the boy she loved could ever hurt her.