Serpentine Love (6 page)

His silence confirmed her worst
fears.

“
I couldn’t tell you the
truth,” he said. “Would you have believed me if I’d said I could do
magic and lived in another world.”

“
My mother was from another
world. She came here, searching for a mate. I heard stories from
her about magic, monsters, witches and wizards.” She sighed. “In
any case, I don’t blame you for not telling me but why can’t you
understand that I couldn’t share my secrets with you.”

“
But I fell in love with
you,” he said.

Her heart stopped. Love was too strong
a word. “I’m sorry if I led you on. It wasn’t my intention to do
so. I just wanted you to drop this quest. We, the inagimi, deserve
our privacy and freedom. And you’ve no right to take it away from
us.”

Arya pressed his eyelids with the tips
of his finger. “I can’t think…”

Maya touched him gently on the
shoulder. “You need rest. I’ll get you something to eat and drink.
We’ll talk about this later. You just sit right here.”

She walked inside the cave once more. A
while later, she came back out. Her hands were loaded with berries
and plant roots.

“
That’s all I could find in
the forest while you were sleeping. It’s enough to nourish you.
Tomorrow you can have a proper meal at the cottage.”

“
Will they send a search
party since we didn’t go back last night?”

“
Perhaps.” Maya peeled a
plant root for him. “I can’t promise that this will taste good but
it will help you heal faster.”

The meal was a silent one, both of them
lost in their own thoughts. Maya worried how to convince him to let
go of his ambitions to take an inagimi to his world.

“
Hi.” A voice startled her
out of her reverie.

“
Zeba, Leon.” Maya ran to
the two strapping boys who stepped into the cave. A rapid
conversation in their native language took place. “Isaac sent them
to search for us. He must’ve realized we were in trouble. They have
a litter also, just in case one of us was not able to walk back,”
she said.

“
Great!” Arya threw down the
plant root and stood on wobbly feet.

Seeing his condition, the two boys
stepped forward to support him.

“
The litter is outside,”
Maya said. “Why don’t you go with them and I’ll join you later.”
She needed to stay in the cave and offer a prayer. Perhaps the god
of the mountain would help her figure out how to persuade him to
let things be?

“
Once you’re back, we’ll
talk,” Arya said.

Maya nodded and watched as the boys
took him outside. He knew her true identity. She couldn’t escape
from him, even if she wanted to. Her only choice was to plead with
him to let her live in obscurity--and somehow she had to figure out
a way to do that.

Twilight had crept in by the time Maya
made her way back to her car. All day she had prayed at the base of
the giant tree, seeking guidance from the god of the mountain and
the snake goddess.

She cared for Arya. Perhaps, loved
him?

None of it mattered because they had no
future together. She would never forget the horrorstruck look on
his face when he realized that she was an inagimi. At that point,
she had given up all hopes of a life together.

Now, all wanted was to salvage her
dignity and privacy. Somehow she had to convince him to let her
identity remain a secret. Perhaps, he wanted monetary compensation.
She had access to gold. In the form of a snake, she could explore
untapped mines of gold and precious stones. She could give him
enough money to make rich beyond belief for the rest of his
life.

Would that be enough?

Who did he intend to sell her to? And
why?

Maya made her way to her grandfather’s
cottage. In the distance, Mount Kenya stood as a sentry, its twin
peaks gleaming in the fading sunlight. In the far off distance, she
heard the faint sounds of drums, a sure sign that some kind of
celebration was taking place in the nearby village.

She wondered what it was, a birth or a
wedding?

She parked the car, and got out. There
was no light in Arya’s window. Perhaps he was with her grandfather?
Maya debated, and decided to visit her grandfather first, mainly to
assure him that she was all right and also to seek his advice as to
how best to tackle her situation with Arya.

Perhaps he could talk to the younger
man and influence him to give up on his quest to publish the
inagimi secret?

The main door to the cottage was open,
as always. Locks were never required, everyone knew each other and
safety was not an issue.

The muffled sounds coming from her
grandfather’s office surprised Maya. Quietly, she crept up to the
door and opened it. The lights were off and the room was in
complete darkness. With her keen eyesight, she detected a man bound
to a chair behind her grandfather’s desk. Throwing caution aside,
Maya stepped in the room and switched on the lights.

It was Arya. He was tightly bound with
thick ropes, his mouth gagged and a blindfold covered his eyes.
There was no one else in the room.

“
What happened?” Maya said.
Rushing to his side, she removed the ropes and took the gag off his
mouth. “Where is Isaac?”

“
They took him.”

“
Who did?”

“
Archan and his men.” Arya
stood up, his legs trembling with fatigue.

“
Archan?” Maya took a step
back as anger bubbled deep inside her. “You…you’re involved with
Archan?”

She knew about Archan, although she had
never had met him personally. The man was evil personified; a mad
wizard who had gone awry and sought the gift of immortality to
further his thirst for power. Her mother escaped his clutches forty
years ago by coming to this world, and yet it seemed he was still
after the grand prize of an eternal life.

“
I had a contract with him.
To deliver the inagimi.”

“
Why did he take
Isaac?”

How could she have trusted this man and
sent him back to her grandfather when she knew that he had
knowledge of her true identity? He must have called Archan and told
him to come.

Arya rubbed his wrists. “I don’t know,
ok? Do you think he would’ve tied me and left me here if I was a
part of his plans?”

She stepped forward and jabbed her
finger at him. Her breath came out in one long hiss. “This whole
thing was a setup, wasn’t it? No one tied you. You just made them
do it so that you could take me to Archan yourself? You’re a
wizard. You could have fought them off, taken off your gag and
ropes any time you wanted.”

“
They are wizards too…some
of them have great power. I’m no match for the Archan who has used
decades to study this craft. In any case, I can’t do magic if my
hands are tied.”

“
I don’t believe
you.”

“
Why would I remain
here?”

“
Why?” Maya raised her
hands. “Didn’t you just say you had a contract with Archan? You
want me to trade places with Isaac. Well, you win. I’ll do it.
Let’s go.”

“
Wait!” Arya grabbed her
arm. “Archan doesn’t know that you’re an inagimi.”

“
Don’t you dare lie to
me.”

He let go of her arm. “I’m not lying. I
didn’t tell him anything. He took Isaac because…before coming here,
I’d told him that Isaac might lead me to the inagimi. He just got
tired of waiting for me to get some results. He followed me here,
and kidnapped Isaac because he believes that Isaac can lead him to
an inagimi.”

Maya didn’t care if he was telling the
truth. At this moment, all she cared about was to save her
grandfather. She turned around to leave the room; she could pick up
their scent in no time. Following them, she would find and free her
grandfather--and then there would be hell to pay for the man who
had betrayed her trust.

“
Wait!” Arya blocked her
path to the door. “You’re not going out there alone.”

“
Move,” she said.

“
Did you not hear me? He
doesn’t know you’re an inagimi.” Arya shook her hard. “We can try
to free your grandfather without handing you over.”

“
How?”

“
We’ll find the place and
sneak in,” he said.

She realized what he was saying. If
Archan did not know that she was an inagimi, he would certainly not
be expecting a covert attempt to free Isaac. It was a desperate
plan.

But it was the only one they had, so it
was important to make it work.

“
Do you know where they took
him?”

“
I don’t think they would
take him far,” he said. “The magical portal they used to come here
must be nearby. He must have created it in a secluded place…but not
out in the open as that could be accidently discovered. An empty
building would be the perfect place to do.”

“
The old warehouse an hour’s
drive from the village,” Maya guessed. “The company that built it
is planning to pull it down, but for the moment it is unused. It’s
a likely hiding place. No one ever goes there.”

“
Let’s go.” Arya limped to
the door.

“
I’ll drive.” Maya shot past
him and into the car.

She was worried for Isaac. Despite his
youthful looks, he was an old man and would not be able to endure
hardship or torture. In pain, he might even betray her true
identity--but that wasn’t her prime concern.

She did not want any harm to come to
the old man, he was her only family, and whatever she had to do to
protect him, she would do it…even if it meant exchanging herself as
a hostage in his place.

An hour later, they stopped at the dirt
lane that led to the old warehouse.

Arya noticed the signs of new activity;
fresh tire marks on the lane and the unlocked gate that had been
left partially open. No guards stood at the perimeter. Clearly,
Archan was not expecting any trouble.

“
How many men does he have?”
Maya said.

“
I saw six, excluding Archan
himself,” Arya replied, his keen eyes taking in the appearance of
the abandoned building. Somewhere in its depth were the old
researcher and his kidnappers. “He brought two wizards with him,
and the other four are foot soldiers, useful in a hand
combat.”

What horrors were they inflicting on
Issac? And how long would he endure before giving them Maya’s
name?

The mere thought of Archan getting his
hands on her sent a chill of fear down Arya’s spine. No. he would
lay down his life to see that such a thing never
happened.

Maya drove off, away from the
warehouse.

“
There is a small grove of
trees nearby. We’ll leave the car there. It’s near enough to reach
when we make a getaway. You’ll come with me, and take Isaac away
while I make a diversion and occupy them,” she said.

“
No,” Arya said firmly as
she parked the car, hidden from the eyes of anyone passing on the
road. Overhead, a plane flew by. The airport was nearby. And so was
the town, but going for help was not a good idea, considering that
Isaac was in the grip of a man driven half-mad by the lust of
power. “I’ll not allow you to risk your life.”

She glared at him. “You’re in no
position to dictate your terms. Don’t forget that we’re in this
mess because of you.”

“
I’m aware of that,” he
admitted. “But there’s no need to throw your life away in order to
prove a point to me.”

“
So what’s your
plan?”

“
I’ll enter the warehouse
and search for Isaac. I won’t be discreet and if they’re any good,
Archan’s men will capture me and take me to him. You’ll follow me
in your other shape. While they question me, you’ll rescue
Isaac.”

“
Stealth might serve us
better than an open hostile plan,” Maya said. “Still, you’ll be at
risk. Archan might kill you…before or after I rescue
Isaac.”

Arya stepped out of the car. “I’ll take
the risk.”

“
Fine.” Maya followed him
out of the car. “Let’s do it your way, but if you’re involved with
Archan and betray me, rest assured, I’ll kill you.”

“
If I become the cause of
any harm coming to you or Isaac, I would prefer death.”

Maya ran her hands through her black
tresses and transformed into a thick black cobra. Arya was
astounded at the quick transformation. He should have been shocked.
Instead he was thrilled to see her shape-shift so
effortlessly.

This was a woman who bore an ancient
and powerful legacy he could barely understand. And yet, she
handled it with dignified ease.

The cobra slithered around the trees
and headed for the warehouse. Arya followed. The moon was a thin
sliver on the sky, and its light was barely sufficient for Arya to
keep track of the stealthy movement of the cobra as it glided
towards the building.