Asha harrumphed. “I know that now. In any case, I went back to see what had become of her family. Instead, I found Sameer.” She sounded marginally abashed. “I had not planned to return after that, but who knew mortals could be so endearing? He told me all about Nitya, one of his oldest friends. How Tanvi’s disappearance had shattered their family.”

“And so you decided to set things right—without telling me?” Venkat almost laughed. “Or thinking about how it would affect Tanvi?”

His heart ached again. He was so tired of this. Of everything.

“I do not know!” she cried. “They were all so sad. They believed she was dead, and I knew otherwise. I had to act.”

“And you’re sure Nayan hasn’t figured it out?”

“I am not certain Nayan Uncle concerns himself with these things. His attention is firmly fixed on our realm.” Asha’s smile was melancholy. “Nor do I blame him. Madhu, on the other hand . . .” She hissed. “The garuda assaults have unnerved everyone, and Madhu glories in it. Under her direction, they lock me in here, their inestimable prize, and dog my every step.”

“You think you’re a prisoner?” Venkat held out his arm to encompass the luxury of the sitting room. There were more jewels and priceless objects strewn on one table than most humans would ever see in their entire lives. “What about Tanvi, stuck in her cell? You know, if you hadn’t basically advertised her to the garudas in the first place, you wouldn’t be dealing with this now!”

“That was hardly my intention.” Asha pressed her lips together. “I merely longed to see Sameer’s world again before I wedded Chintu. It seemed my last chance.”

Venkat wished he didn’t understand, but he did. “Okay, but you had no right to drag Tanvi into it.”

Asha examined her reflection in one of the decorative mirrors dotting the wall. “Judge me as you like. I will never regret reuniting her with her sister, and if two objectives could be accomplished at once . . .”

“But what actually happened?”

“What ever happens when fire meets water?” Asha lifted one corner of her mouth, then the other, as if considering her better angle in the looking glass. “They argued—rather dramatically, I might add—but during it all, I observed Tanvi. Despite the initiation, she had never completely forgotten Nitya, nor Nitya her.”

Venkat recalled Tanvi telling him she’d dreamed about a girl like her. No, he grudgingly conceded, he couldn’t be sorry she knew about Nitya any more than Asha could.

“If anything, I wish Sameer would let me apologize,” she murmured, then turned back to Venkat. “And you? How are your days?”