Rakshasa Book I, Part #3: Tigerheart Read Free

our shoulders, we made sure we weren’t followed and then headed off into the woodlands and up the mountains.
    Ishan carried the silver, wrapped in more cloth to shield us from the effects.
    “Asena didn’t seem too sanguine of our chances,” I observed, putting one shoe before the other as I climbed up the steep hill with ease, “neither did the others.”
    “Eclipse is a powerful, dangerous foe,” Ishan said, “and while his ultimate goal is clear, his short-term motives are opaque. Rakshasa… tend not to work together very well. We’re individualistic. We’re not pack animals. Helping others doesn’t come naturally to us, even our own kind.”
    “Why couldn’t I be a were-wolf instead,” I joked, but Ishan shot me a sober look.
    I stared at him. “Wait, don’t tell me they’re real?”
    “There are none in Australia,” Ishan reassured me, “at least, not that we know of. But yes.”
    I couldn’t think of anything to answer to that. “Well, what else is real?”
    Ishan smiled. “It’s a very long list, none of which concern us very much at this point.”
    “I want to know,” I pressed, but Ishan shook his head.
    “When Katelyn’s safe we can discuss it, but I want your mind to be unburdened.”
    “Okay.”
    We walked for a little while in silence, cresting the hill and beginning down the next slope. The sun had long set but despite the lack of landmarks and light I felt as though I knew the way, drawn to the place instinctively as though the distant cave, our home, was a place I’d always known.
    “What’s Eclipse’s power?” I asked, breaking the comfortable silence as we descended.
    “Hmm?”
    “His power. We all seem to have them. You said he was once part of the Altaican clan: the Rewa seem to know a lot about us, so did you know what he could do?”
    Ishan was silent for a moment. “Yes.”
    “Tell me?”
    “Eclipse was once an Altaican in good standing, yes, but he was removed from your coven for his recklessness. Although they were once friends, despite our rivalry, Eclipse killed Hailstone’s brother, Shadowheart. When they found the corpse, it was completely drained of blood.”
    “He’s some kind of weird arse vampire?”
    “In a manner of speaking, yes. Eclipse can ‘borrow’ the powers of other Rakshasa, for a time, by consuming their blood. But their energy soon fades from him.”
    I nodded. “You told me that he believes the power of the Rakshasa is finite, spread between all our kind, so… by killing them and drinking their blood, he’s taking their power instead of letting it return to the pool?”
    “Close. He believes that at the moment of death, if he drinks of a dying Rakshasa’s life force, a portion of that strength stays with him permanently, in addition to the share he’d get from the death.”
    I looked at Ishan, able to see his face clearly in the gloom through my glasses. My night vision had improved dramatically. “Does it?”
    He didn’t meet my eyes, looking down at the sloped ground before him. “We don’t know. It does seem… plausible.”
    I didn’t know what to say, so we walked further. Finally Ishan stopped, shrugging off his backpack. “We are close to Altaican territory now. I can’t come any closer.”
    I grimaced. It was almost midnight and if we were to meet the Champawat Tiger at dawn, Ishan would have a long trek ahead of him. “Not even if I wanted you to come?” I shuffled slightly. “I could… use your company tonight.”
    Ishan stepped towards me, sliding his hands around my body and drawing me close to him. I melted against his form, gripping him tightly, pressing my lips to his. We kissed in the cool, thin mountain air as the gentle breeze brushed my hair across my face.
    “I’ll be with you, in your dreams.”
    I bumped my nose against his, rubbing fondly. “I know.”
    “Now sleep,” Ishan said, leaning forward and kissing my lips again, his warm hands holding me for a few moments longer. “We’ll need