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Just then, a flash of light swept over us and Isha grabbed my hand when the man above yelled for his friends.
“Too late,” she said. “Run for cover!”
We headed straight for the ATV and when I turned behind to check on the men, they had vanished. I found it difficult to believe they had given up so easily.
I was right.
With a muted roar, three quadbikes jumped over the dune and came after us. We picked up speed and made it to our vehicle in time. Isha pushed me towards the driver’s seat.
“You drive,” she said, jumping into the passenger seat.
“I’ll drive, but you need to crouch down,” I argued. “You’re in the line of fire, Isha!”
“Go, go, go! Basanti and I will hold them off,” she yelled, as the bikes caught up with us.
I cursed under my breath and revved the ATV as Isha aimed her assault rifle at the men. I expected to hear a volley of bullets fired indiscriminately, but Isha clearly knew what she was doing. I heard three shots and one by one, the bikes following us spun around and crashed into each other. The drivers jumped out and came after us on foot, and I picked up speed just as they began shooting.
We both ducked as bullets shot past our heads. Isha tried to take aim, but we were going too fast for her to remain steady. With a curse, she crouched down on the seat. I hit the accelerator and we were soon out of firing range. I glanced at her as we got back into the city.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded breathlessly.
“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” I asked curiously.
“We have a firing range at the palace. Bhai Sa believes every girl needs to know how to shoot a weapon so that she can defend herself should the need arise. He thinks it’s even more important than knowing how to make gol rotis.”
“You’re good enough to moonlight as a sniper,” I remarked drily.
“That’s a compliment,” I added when she stared at me suspiciously. “And you still haven’t told me where we were headed.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” she replied with a sigh. “We have bigger things to worry about because it’s starting all over again. And the Goels are involved. Which only means one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“We’re screwed,” she replied gloomily, as we pulled up in the palace courtyard.
CHAPTER 7
ISHA
“Stop yawning under that dupatta. It’s rude,” hissed Diya, adjusting the pallu of her white Chikankari georgette sari over her head.
That was easy for her to say. She hadn’t spent half the night running from smugglers in the desert, I groused silently.
Veer and I had snuck into the palace without waking anyone except the night security who had shot us a knowing look. In their eyes, the Maharaja’s sister and the Maharani’s brother made the perfect match. We didn’t bother to disillusion them because if they found out we’d been dodging bullets on what they believed to be a romantic drive in the moonlight, they would totally rat us out to Bhai Sa.
Instead, I gritted my teeth and batted my eyelashes at Veer as I led him into the house.
“Why are you making that weird face?” he whispered. “Did you bang your head on the side of the vehicle?”
I really should have buried him in the desert, I thought as I turned my back on him and stomped up the stairs to my bedroom.
“Sweet dreams,” he called out as he walked towards his own bedroom.
In response, I held my fist high in the air and slowly raised the middle finger without turning back.
The next morning, I was groggy and exhausted when the staff brought me a tray of bed tea. I had to force myself out of bed because there was one last prayer meeting to get through before we could begin to move on with our lives.
