I felt a tear slide down my cheek as Kaavi took the gun from my hands and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, holding me close, so close that I could hear her heart pounding.

“You’re okay,” she kept saying, over and over. “You’re okay.”

She moved the dead man she called Mr. Ananda and then she adjusted Spencer’s body as well. I was dizzy. Reeling. About to pass out.

“You’re okay,” she said again, and she held my hand as we made our way down the beach.

The sun was starting to set. I could see people, in the distance, making their way over to us. They’d probably heard the gunshot and figured out where it came from. Mr. Fonseka led the pack of them, followed by Tehani, and the wedding guests and hotel security. They were coming. Everyone was coming. I was about to be caught and put in prison and I didn’t even care. My monster was finally dead. Nothing else mattered.

But Kaavi kept dragging me forward, and just before the crowd got close she leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“Just let me handle this, okay? Everything will be all right.”

As soon as everyone caught up to us she collapsed on her knees.

“I’m fine,” she called out, tears gushing down her face. “I’m fine. I’m okay. I was attacked, but Amaya saved me. Amaya saved me.”

34

AMAYA

The Day of the Wedding

Kaavi sat, wrapped in a blanket on her parents’ bed at their suite in the new wing of the hotel. I was on a chair, to her right. Eshanya Padmaraj sat in front of both of us, though she looked uncomfortable as the rest of Kaavi’s family hovered around her, protective and upset.

“Please tell us everything from the start, Kaavi.”

“Okay, yes.” She was speaking in her Instagram voice again. Modulated, low, and alluring. Inviting everyone into her. Pulling us in.

“So, last night was a little, um, shall we say emotional, for me. I was just getting ready to marry Spencer, and while I do love him, it had just struck me that I was about to marry a man that I hardly knew anything about.” Her eyes sought out mine. I knew what she wanted. I stayed quiet.

“I called Amaya. I asked her to come to my room. Just to talk, you know.”

“I thought you and Miss Bloom were no longer friends?” Miss Padmaraj’s interruption brought sighs of annoyance from the rest of the room, but Kaavi gave her a small, tired smile.

“We’ve been friends since we were children, Aunty Eshanya. Yes, we did have a small falling-out, but we spoke about it and have since made up.”

“I see.” Something about Miss Padmaraj’s tone was off, but that didn’t stop Kaavi from going on.

“So, Amaya and I spoke—we had a lot of catching up to do—and then she left. I was feeling much better, of course, but I did still have a tingle of nerves. I thought it would be nice to go for a walk.”