ACT III- CHAPTER I MACHIAVELLIAN BAITS
The night had gone syrupy by the time Ishaani stepped out of the party.
Not late-late. Not the witching hour. Just that ugly, in-between stretch of time where laughter thins out, where heels start hurting for no good reason, where the city exhales heat and poor choices.
The birthday had been loud and cramped and relentlessly bright-cheap fairy lights strung too low, music recycled until it lost meaning, people clinging to the illusion that they still liked each other.
Ishaani had smiled when she was supposed to, danced when she was pulled, eaten cake she didn't even enjoy.
She had performed normalcy with practiced ease.
Now she just wanted home.
Nayonica bumped her shoulder as they walked, keys already threaded between her fingers, knuckles pale. "You vanished like three times," she said. "One day I'm gonna install a tracker on you."
Ishaani grinned, loose and tired, the grin of someone wrung out but not unhappy. She slung her jacket over her shoulder, fetching her phone from her pocket, "I was breathing, as I took breaks. Occasionally thinking about murder. Very me-coded."
Nayonica snorted. "You're such a liar. You were thinking about Tara."
"Okay, wow," Ishaani said, mock-offended, hand shooting out to place itself over the thump of her heartbeat. "Attacked."
"Never letting you drag me to karaoke again, though" Ishaani added, switching her phone on. "I embarrassed my entire bloodline."
"You screamed Taylor Swift like your life depended on it," Nayonica shot back, pointing her key at Ishaani, "Iconic behavior."
Ishaani laughed, the sound warm despite the ache settling into her bones. The kind of tired that didn't hurt yet. The kind that felt earned.
They were almost at the parking lot when her phone buzzed.
She glanced down.
Ishaani smiled despite herself, thumbs already moving.
Devika was a storm with grey eyes, always alert and assertive; It rarely mattered who she was facing for she scarcely managed to alter her demeanor with anyone except Ishaani.
She had a strange prejudice to emotions when showed towards other humans; she deemed them unfit for any sort of sympathy or empathy.
She had came along with time to raise her sister with pure rationality and protection.
She knew Ishaani was the only one who'd never let Devika down, leaving Devika to be quite proud of whatever Ishaani had and has been achieving.
→Ishaani ?: Yes yes, on my way, don't yell.
Another buzz followed immediately, closer to her heart. As soon as her eyes caught the contact name, her face split into a delighted grin.
That one landed differently. Quietly with its preciseness.
Something loosened in Ishaani's chest, something warm blooming beneath the fatigue. She didn't even try to hide the smile this time. Nayonica caught it instantly.
"Oh," she sang. "There she is. The idiot grin."
"Shut up," Ishaani said fondly, already typing back.
On my way. Missed you. She frowned once as she re-read it, and placed an 'I' before the missed you because somehow this felt better before slipping the phone into her pocket like it was something precious, something she wanted to keep warm.
The parking lot lights flickered overhead. A black car idled near the far end, engine humming too loud, bass thudding through metal. Ishaani clocked it distantly, filed it away, dismissed it just as fast. City rules. Mind your business. Keep moving.
They did.
The whistle cut through the air anyway.
Sharp. Ugly.
"Hey, sweethearts," a voice slurred. "Where you going all dressed up?"
Ishaani didn't slow. She angled her body closer to Nayonica, instincts snapping into place. "Ignore," she muttered. "Keys ready."
Another voice laughed. "Damn. Look at that ass."
Ishaani's jaw tightened.
"Bet she charges by the hour," the first one added. "You working tonight, baby?"
Nayonica stiffened beside her.
That was it.
Ishaani stopped dead and turned. "What the fuck did you just say?"
A car door swung open. Then another. Three men spilled out, unsteady, soaked in alcohol and entitlement. One of them looked at Nayonica like she was something to be owned.
"Relax," he said, hands up in mock surrender. "Just talking. No harm in appreciating the merchandise."
Ishaani felt the switch flip. Cold and hot all at once.
"You don't get to talk about women like that," she said, voice low, shaking with restraint. "Get back in your fucking car."
One of them laughed. Another stepped closer. "Or what? You gonna hit me, hero?"
The third reached out and grabbed Nayonica's wrist.
Everything exploded.
Ishaani moved before thought could catch her-pure instinct, muscle memory, rage sharpened into motion.
She seized his wrist and twisted hard, felt tendons protest under her grip.
He yelped. She drove her elbow into his gut with practiced force, like she was back in the gym, back with the bag, except this one screamed.
Another man lunged. A fist caught her cheekbone-bright, ringing. Stars burst behind her eyes as she tasted blood and smiled through it.
She ducked the next swing and countered, bone cracking against bone. Pain shot up her arm, but she didn't stop. She never stopped once she crossed that line. Rage tunneled her vision, made the world small and sharp.
"ISHAANI!" Nayonica screamed.
The third man locked an arm around Nayonica's shoulders. "Bitch-"
Ishaani lost whatever restraint she had left. She slammed into him shoulder-first, driving him back into the car. Her fist followed.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Each punch ugly and desperate and fueled by something feral. A boot caught her ribs, harder than she could tolerate.
The air punched out of her lungs. White-hot pain flared, stole her breath. Another kick grazed her hip. Another scraped her thigh. She staggered, gasped, swung anyway. Her knuckles split. Blood slicked her fingers. Someone grabbed her hair. She twisted, elbowed blindly, felt a body give.
"Slut!" someone shouted. "You'll regret this!"
Nayonica grabbed her arm, sobbing. "ISHI, STOP-PLEASE-"
Another kick. Scratches burned across her face, nails tearing skin. She barely felt it. All she knew was that she couldn't stop. Wouldn't.
It took Nayonica dragging her back, fingers clawed into her jacket, voice breaking. "Get in the car! Please! They're drunk-they'll do something worse-please!"
The men were backing off now, cursing, bleeding, courage leaking out with the alcohol.
"This isn't over," one slurred. "We'll find you."
Ishaani flipped them off, breath ragged. "Find the biggest manor in Delhi, I'll wait!!"
Nayonica shoved her into the passenger seat and slammed the door. She ran around the car, hands shaking, fumbled the keys. The engine roared. Tires screamed as they tore out of the lot.
For a moment, there was nothing but harsh breathing and the metallic smell of blood.
Then Nayonica snapped.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she shouted, voice breaking. "Do you have a death wish?"
"They touched you," Ishaani said hoarsely. "They talked about you like-"
"I don't care!" Nayonica cut in, her voice ragged with her shallow breaths. "I care that you could've been killed! There were three of them!"
Ishaani leaned back, ribs screaming every time she breathed. "They won't touch anyone again."
"That's not the point," Nayonica said, hands white on the wheel. "What if they had knives? What if they had a gun? What if- GOD!" Nayonica looked at Ishaani again, through her glassy eyes, shaking her head, "I was so scared. So scared."
Ishaani looked at her then. Really looked. Saw the tremor in her jaw, the shine in her eyes. Guilt crept in, extremely heavy and unwelcome.
"I'm fine," Ishaani said softly. "Look at me."
Nayonica laughed, sharp and hysterical. "You're bleeding."
"Minor."
"You're unbelievable."
The Rajvanshi manor rose ahead-iron gates, stone walls, old money watching silently. Nayonica pulled in hard.
The front door flew open before they even touched the surface of the doorbell.
Devika was already there. "What happened?" Her eyes locked onto Ishaani's face. "Who did this?"
Vedika appeared beside her, expression going glacial. "Who touched her?"
Mumma followed, shawl slipping, horror written across her face. "Shona," she whispered. "Oh my god. What did you do?"
Ishaani tried to smile. Failed.
Devika was already hauling her inside. "Sit. Now."
Vedika grabbed the first-aid kit. Mumma cupped Ishaani's face, fussing, eyes darting over every scratch. "Why do you do this?" she scolded softly. "Why do you never think?"
"I thought," Ishaani muttered. "I thought they deserved it."
Tara stood in the doorway.
She hadn't moved. Hadn't spoken. Her face was carefully blank, but her eyes-her eyes were wrecked. Dark with fear, rage, and something held back so tightly it hurt to look at.
"Ishaani," she said quietly. "Are you okay?"
The question was simple. The restraint behind it was not.
Ishaani met her gaze and felt it then-the weight of what could've been lost. "I'm okay," she said. "Promise."
Devika dabbed antiseptic onto her cheek. Ishaani hissed. Vedika hovered like a storm cloud.
"I'm going to kill them," Devika said flatly.
"Feed them to the dogs," Vedika murmured.
Tara said nothing. She just watched. Watched Ishaani wince. Watched her hide her ribs. Watched her pretend she hadn't almost broken.
Nayonica pulled Ishaani into a hug, tight and shaking. "I love you," she whispered. "Thank you for saving me."
"Forever," Ishaani murmured.
When Nayonica left, the house settled into a tense quiet.
Tara didn't.
She stayed. Watching. Memorizing.
And Ishaani-bruised, stubborn, pretending-sat there being cared for, as the night finally bared its teeth.
________________
The mirror was unforgiving in the way mirrors always were at night.
It didn't soften anything. Didn't blur the truth the way daylight sometimes did.
Ishaani leaned closer, elbows braced against the dresser, squinting at her reflection like she could intimidate it into changing its mind.
The lamp behind her cast a warm, honeyed glow, but it still caught everything-the faint split on her lip, the bruise blooming beneath one eye, the way her cheekbone sat just a little wrong.
She tilted her head, assessing the damage with clinical seriousness.
"My pretty face," she announced solemnly to the empty room. Then she pouted. "Yeah. Fucked up."
She poked the bruise experimentally.
Pain flared.
She hissed. "Rude."
The house was silent in a way that felt earned.
The kind of hush that settled only after chaos had exhausted itself.
Everyone was asleep. Even the walls seemed to be holding their breath.
Ishaani exhaled, long and shaky, and dropped onto the edge of the bed.
The adrenaline had drained out of her veins, leaving behind that hollow, buzzing ache that lived deep in her bones.
She rolled her shoulders. Her ribs protested sharply.
"Okay," she muttered, pressing a hand to her side. "Still worth it."
The knock came then.
Soft. Precise.
Her heart jumped straight into her throat.
Before she could talk herself out of it, the door opened.
Tara stepped inside like a ghost-barefoot, wrapped in a dark robe, hair loose and spilling down her back. No makeup. No sharp lines. No armor. Just her. And somehow, stripped of all her usual polish, she was even more devastating.
Ishaani straightened instantly, spine snapping rigid.
This was it. The lecture. The careful dissection.
She braced herself, for the impending scolding slithering her way.
Somehow the mere thought of Tara yelling at her or even explaining to her something in that trademark disappointed tone, made Ishaani wish to claw her ears out.
She could never live with the thought of Tara thinking lowly of Ishaani.
Tara closed the door quietly.
She didn't say anything.
She just stood there and looked at her.
Not angry. Not gentle either. It was that stone-still expression Tara wore when she was sorting through something dangerous inside herself-when emotion lined up like evidence, waiting to be presented. The silence stretched thin. Ishaani shifted, suddenly hyperaware of her own breathing.
"...Hi," she offered, weak and tentative.
Tara didn't blink. "You needn't play saviour each time, Ishaani."
There it was.
"They were-" Ishaani started automatically.
"I know what they were," Tara cut in, voice calm but edged like glass. "And I know what you did."
"I wasn't just going to stand there," Ishaani said, heat crawling up her neck. "Nayonica-"
Tara crossed the room and sat beside her before she could finish. The mattress dipped. The closeness stole Ishaani's words right out of her mouth.
"Ishaani," Tara said, quieter now.
And then, without warning, she pulled her in.
Hard.
Ishaani barely had time to gasp before she was crushed against Tara's chest, face pressed into the warmth of her shoulder, arms pinned by a grip that was firm enough to feel almost desperate.
Tara's hand came up to cradle the back of her head, fingers threading through her hair, holding her there like she was afraid that even a second of distance might undo her.
"I cannot decipher the idea," Tara said, voice low and tight near Ishaani's ear, "of something happening to you."
Ishaani froze.
"You cannot," Tara went on, the words breaking free now, sharp with emotion she clearly hated letting show, "keep throwing yourself into danger like you're expendable. You cannot keep standing in front of every threat just because you think you can take it."
Ishaani nodded into her shoulder, breath uneven. "Okay," she murmured. "Okay."
Tara shifted, restless-and her elbow brushed Ishaani's side.
Pain flared white-hot.
Ishaani sucked in a sharp breath before she could stop herself.
Tara went still.
"What was that?" she asked.
"Nothing," Ishaani lied instantly.
Tara leaned back just enough to look at her. One eyebrow lifted. Controlled. Deadly calm. "Don't."
Ishaani sagged. "It's fine."
"It is never fine," Tara said, already reaching for the hem of her shirt. "Move."
"I swear it's not-"
"Don't," Tara said again. "Move."
The command settled heavy between them. Ishaani went still.
Tara lifted the fabric carefully, exposing skin marred with angry red and blue along Ishaani's ribs and side. The bruises were unmistakable. Proof written in flesh.
For a long moment, Tara just stared.
Then she met Ishaani's eyes. "You're not moving."
She stood, crossed the room, and returned with an ice pack and ointment like she'd already mapped this out in her head. She sat again, knee brushing Ishaani's thigh, and pressed the ice gently to the worst of it.
Ishaani hissed. "Fuck."
"Language," Tara said automatically-and then, impossibly, leaned down and pressed a soft kiss near the edge of the bruise.
Ishaani's brain shut off entirely.
The pain dulled, replaced by warmth, by the quiet intensity of it. Tara's touch was reverent now, careful as she worked the ointment into damaged skin, fingers warm and steady. "Keep the ice here," she said softly.
Ishaani nodded, dumb and obedient.
Tara glanced up catching the look on her face, and paused. Her lips curved faintly, as her eyes scanned Ishaani's yearning expression, "Don't."
"I wasn't-"
"You absolutely were," Tara said dryly, as she swiled her thumb across Ishaani's lower lip, "Focus."
She straightened, resting her hand flat against Ishaani's chest, feeling the frantic rhythm beneath her palm. "You cannot risk the one thing I have wanted so badly," she said, voice quiet but fierce. "Not like that."
Something tight and fragile snapped inside Ishaani. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Tara again-slower this time, gentler. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
Tara held her, chin resting against her hair. "You scare me," she admitted. "And I hate that."
They stayed like that, suspended in warmth and breath, the world narrowed down to the steady thud of two hearts refusing to slow.
"Take care of yourself too," Tara murmured at last. Her hand slid into Ishaani's, grounding. "I cannot protect everyone if you break the thing I want most."
Ishaani smiled, tears burning. "You're going to make me cry."
"Already did," Tara replied, pulling her closer.
The silence might have lasted longer-Tara would have let it-if Ishaani's restless brain hadn't twitched.
She snorted softly. "Guess I'm not sleeping alone tonight."
Tara smacked the back of her head without hesitation and tightened her arms around her.
"Ow!" Ishaani laughed, curling in. "Worth it."
Tara sighed-long-suffering, fond, undone all at once.