get a better look and started laughing. I was still yanking on the small gourd.
“What is it? Why are you laughing?”
“Stand back a second, Kells.”
I moved out of the way, and he placed his hand on the gourd.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to prove. It won’t move.”
Kishan twisted and pushed. “It’s a knob, Kelsey.” He laughed and pushed open the section of wall that was now obviously a door. On the other side, we found more steps that led higher into the tree.
He held out his hand. “Shall we?”
“You know, I’m never going to look at pumpkin pie the same way again.”
His laughter echoed through the tree trunk.
After a few hours of climbing, Kishan called a halt. “Let’s stop and eat something, Kells. I can’t keep up with you. I wonder how long your special energy drink is going to last.”
I stopped about ten steps ahead of him and waited for him to catch up. “Now you know how I feel trying to keep pace with you tigers all the time.”
He grunted and slung the backpack off his shoulders. We made ourselves comfortable on a large step. He unzipped the bag, took out the Golden Fruit, and rolled it between his palms. After thinking for a moment, he grinned and spoke in his native language. A large plate shimmered and solidified. The steam coming from the vegetables smelled familiar.
I wrinkled my nose. “Curry? Ugh. My turn.”
I wished for scalloped potatoes, cherry glazed ham, green beans almondine, and rolls with honey butter. When my dinner appeared, Kishan eyed my plate.
“How about we share?”
“No thanks. Not a curry fan.”
He finished off his meal quickly and kept trying to get me to look at imaginary monsters so he could steal bites from my plate. I ended up just giving him half.
Another hour of stairs and my power juice wore off. I felt drained. Kishan let me rest while he looked for the next house. When he returned, I was writing in my journal.
“I found the next doorway, Kells. Come on. It might be better to rest there.”
The dusty circular steps inside the trunk of the world tree led us to a cottage overgrown with thick ivy and flowers. Tinkling laughter could be heard inside.
I whispered, “There are people in there. Let’s be careful.”
He nodded and untied the chakram from his belt while I nocked an arrow.
“Ready?”
“Ready,” I whispered.
He carefully opened the door, and we were greeted by the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. They ignored our weapons and bid us welcome to their home.
A gorgeous woman with thick waves of long brown hair, green eyes, downy soft, ivory skin, and cherry lips dressed in a shimmering, blush-colored gown took Kishan’s arm.
“You poor things. You must be tired after your trip. Come inside. You can bathe and rest from your travels.”
“A bath sounds great to me,” said an entranced Kishan.
She paid absolutely no attention to me. Her eyes were locked on Kishan. She stroked his arm and murmured to him of soft pillows, hot water, and refreshments. Another woman joined the first one. She was blonde and blue-eyed and wore a gown of sparkling silver.
“Yes, come,” she said. “You will find comfort here. Please follow us.”
They’d started to lead Kishan away when I protested. Kishan turned and a man approached. Six feet of tanned, muscular, bare chest, blue-eyed, blond male turned all of his attention to me.
“Hello, welcome to our humble home. My sisters and I rarely have any visitors. We would love for you stay with us for a while.” He smiled at me, and I blushed furiously.
I stammered, “Umm, that’s very generous of you.”
Kishan frowned at the guy, but the girls turned their long-lashed fluttery charm on and distracted him again.
“Uh, Kishan, I don’t think—”
Another man came out from behind a curtain. This one was even better looking than the first. He was dark-haired with dark eyes, and his mouth riveted my attention. He pouted and said, “Are you sure you can’t stay with us? Just for a while. We’d love to have some company.” He sighed dramatically. “The only thing we have to keep us occupied is our book collection.”
“You have a book collection?”
“Yes.” He smiled and offered me his arm. “Will you allow me to show it to you?”
Kishan had left with the women, and I decided to check out the book collection. I rationalized that I could always blast the guys with lightning if they tried something.
They did indeed have a book collection and happened to have