Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) - Sonali Dev Page 0,117

and come on in.”

Brandy turned around and threw a tortured look at China. “Are you all right? Are you ill? Can I do something?”

China scooped up Chutney and started walking to the stairs as though she hadn’t even heard Brandy. Then she stopped and turned. “No. But thank you.” She sniffed, unable to stop her tears. “I’m going to try and get some sleep.”

“Excuse me.” Tara gave Brandy’s shoulder a squeeze and followed China.

Brandy stood there, her miserable gaze following China. India recognized the longing emanating from her only too well. Suddenly Brandy seemed to remember why she was here and turned to India, and India knew something was very wrong.

It was one of those moments when the air around you darkens with news you know is coming. Before India knew what she was doing, she had grabbed Brandy by the arm. “What happened? Is Yash okay?”

Brandy didn’t answer immediately. She stroked India’s hand, soothing her as though she were a skittish kitten.

“Brandy, please,” India said, unable to keep the desperation out of her voice.

Please let him be all right. Please.

“We don’t know where he is. It’s been four hours since he left the hospital after seeing Abdul, and no one has heard from him. The last person he spoke to was Nisha, and now he’s not answering his phone. The family is frantic. I thought maybe you’d know where he is.”

India pressed a hand to her heart, needing to physically push back the sense of doom. “He hasn’t called me since . . . do you know what happened when he went to see Abdul? Did Arzu say anything?”

“Just that they had a great visit. She said Yash was ecstatic to see Abdul, and Abdul was too. Yash got a little emotional before he left, when they talked about how well the campaign was going. Arzu said they told him how excited they were that he was going to win and how much they were counting on him. None of that sounds unusual. Yash has been waiting for Abdul to wake up the entire time that I’ve known him. He should be celebrating.”

India found her hand fisting the material of her yoga top. This was what she’d been dreading. She wasn’t surprised this had happened, but she was surprised by how much it hurt.

And it was never going to stop hurting. Not ever.

“I know where he is.”

“Where?”

“I’ll call you when I find him. Tell his family not to worry.” Grabbing China’s car keys, India ran out the door.

It took her no time to find the place. Because, idiot that she was, over the years she’d gotten in the habit of coming back here to think.

The sun had disappeared from the sky and the thickness of the trees along the trail made it even darker. What was Yash thinking? Why was he here alone? There were snakes here. As if on cue, something slithered in the shrubbery next to her and she sped up. India trusted almost every creature in the universe except snakes. Especially snakes she couldn’t see.

There was some light from her phone flashlight, but she had it on the lowest setting because, one, she didn’t want to attract snakes, and two, she didn’t want to run out of charge. She would need the light to come back down the mountain. She’d need the phone if Yash was hurt. God, what if he was hurt? Surely he would have called someone if he wasn’t hurt.

She broke into a run, flip-flopped feet slipping and sliding on the gravelly path. If she had stopped to think, changing into sneakers would have been the smart thing to do when she knew climbing a mountain was involved.

Yash had carried a lantern when he’d brought her here the night before Nisha’s wedding. A camping lantern with the kind of white light that mirrored the moonlight and picked out the glitter in their clothes. It had turned the sequins on her ghaghra into a million stars that merged seamlessly with the silver threaded through his kurta, the endless universe of possibility inside them reflected around them.

In all the times she’d come back here by herself, India had never let herself think about the magic of that night. She’d told herself her being here had nothing to do with him. It was simply a beautiful place. The one good thing she’d gotten out of being taken for a fool.

As she emerged into the clearing at the end of the trail, India held up her phone