The blade tripped the rakshasa. He let out a terrifying roar right before he knocked his head on a telephone pole and promptly passed out.
Aiden, Brynne, and Mini dropped their weapons and surrounded their unconscious foe. Vajra the net gave the demon one last squeeze before boomeranging back to Aru’s wrist as a bracelet.
“That. Was. Amazing,” said Mini.
“Correction,” said Brynne, pocketing her mace. “We are amazing.” She nodded toward three other rakshasas that she and Aiden had knocked out and dragged to the side of the road.
“That too,” said Aru.
“Aren’t we forgetting someone important…?” said Aiden. “The clairvoyant? The ginormous prophecy?”
Mini pointed to a booth three spots up from the sizzling ground-level compartment. Brynne summoned a new wind that turned the Ferris wheel gently. Once it stopped, Mini waved Dee Dee and the air in front of one booth rippled and twisted, as if someone were tearing down a curtain to reveal a compartment wrapped in black vines. From within, a green light pulsed faintly.
“You guys can come out now,” called Aru.
The light cut off abruptly, and the vines started to retract with a wet, suctiony sound, like tentacles letting go. Aru lifted her chin proudly. They’d done it. They’d rescued the twins and beaten back the rakshasas and kept the prophecy out of the Sleeper’s clutches. Aru grinned, thinking of how the Council would react once they got back.
Two days before the assignment, Aru had overheard Boo loudly defending them: The Pandavas are ready for anything! I’d stake my feathers on it!
Don’t worry, Boo, Aru thought now. Your feathers are safe and sound.
And when Aru caught sight of herself in a rain puddle, she thought her hair looked pretty good. So that was a plus.
Aiden moved beside her. As usual, he was reaching for his camera, Shadowfax. But this time…this time he was aiming it at…her? Aru felt like a bunch of hot needles were drifting down her skin—which sounded awful, but in reality was strangely pleasant. She tucked her hair behind her ear, adjusting her posture so that Vajra got a bit more of the spotlight, and moved in front of him.
Aiden looked up at her. “Aru?”
She ignored him.
Indifference, the apsara Urvashi had told her, was the key to success in all things boy.
“Aru,” said Aiden once more.
“Hmm?” she said.
“Could you move? You’re blocking my shot of the Ferris wheel.”
Aru deflated instantly. Just as she slunk back, the compartment door swung open. Nikita, the stylishly dressed twin, took a dainty step forward. Sheela staggered out next, her face pale and sweaty.
“Careful, careful,” said Mini. “There was a lot of swinging around…. You might feel dizzy. Or even nauseous.”
Mini offered Sheela a hand, only for Nikita to step in front of her sister, swatting Mini away like a fly.
“No touchie,” Nikita snapped.
Brynne’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. “Uh, excuse you? Where’s the thanks?”
Sheela groaned and clutched her stomach, swaying to a stop in front of Brynne.
“The prophecy!” said Brynne. “Is it coming now?”
“Uh, Bee, you might wanna—” started Aiden.
BLERGH! Sheela vommed all over Brynne’s shoes.
Aru winced. “Aaand…too late.”
Aiden snapped a picture. Brynne looked like she was going to toss the Ferris wheel into oncoming traffic.
“I cannot believe you just did that,” Brynne said to Sheela. “Don’t you know who we are?”
“Pandavas,” said Nikita. The little girl lifted her chin and grabbed her sister’s shaking hand. “And so are we.”
No New Friends
Aru stared at the twins.
More Pandavas? Of course she knew two more existed. But did they have to show up right now?
Aru could just picture Boo fainting from dealing with all five of them at once. He’d already been complaining recently that he’d had to start taking pinion supplements because the Pandava sisters were making his feathers go gray. And he hadn’t appreciated Aru pointing out that he was already gray…because he was a pigeon.
“You haven’t been Claimed already, have you?” Mini asked the twins.
“Obviously not,” said Brynne, blowing her shoes clean with her wind mace. “If they had, they would’ve been acknowledged with a physical object.” She raised her weapon as an example and then turned to the twins. “Has your soul father ever made himself known to you in some way?”
Nikita and Sheela shook their heads.
Brynne lifted an eyebrow. “Then what makes you think you’re Pandavas? You might just be gifted. Besides, you’re way too young, and there’s no such thing as a Pandava who can tell the future.”
Nikita glowered. “There was no such thing as a girl Pandava, either.”
Aru couldn’t help herself. Under her breath she muttered, “Zing!”
Brynne rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Aru, they’re, like…eight.”
“Ten!” retorted Nikita.
“Gasp,” said Brynne drily.
A crown of bloodred roses wove around Nikita’s tiara, sprouting thorns aimed in Brynne’s direction.
“Okay, okay,” said Aru, stepping between them. “Let’s put the spiky flowers away—”
“Poisonous flowers,” corrected Sheela, patting the air above the blossoms’ heads.
“And you’re letting them get that close to your skin?” said Mini. “But you could—”
“At this point we could all die,” interrupted Aiden. “Maybe they’re Pandavas, maybe they’re not—the Council will reveal the truth. The big question is: What are we going to do about these guys?” He swung his scimitar to indicate the four rakshasas passed out around them.
Aru felt a knot form in her heart. Rakshasas could absorb experiences even while in an unconscious state. If these were allowed to go free, important information could get back to the Sleeper. The last thing Aru wanted was for their enemy to find out that two potential new Pandavas had joined their team. Especially since one of them knew a prophecy about him.
Another cold wind brushed against her skin, and Aru shivered as she looked around. It was fully dark now. If the Sleeper was expecting his soldiers back, he would’ve noticed they’d been gone too long.
He might even send more.
They had to move. And fast.
“We should bring the rakshasas to the Court of the Sky,” said Aru. “Let the Council deal with them.”
“Bring enemies into our territory?” said Brynne. “No way, Shah!”
“But they know too much,” said Mini, chewing her lip.
Brynne grumbled. Which was Brynne for All right, fine.
“True,” said Aiden. “But even if we want to bring them back, how do we do that? The Night Bazaar has serious safety restrictions. The twins are under twelve, so they can’t legally travel through a portal without clearance from the Council. Which leaves a magical dead zone as our only option to access the Otherworld. And who knows how far away one of those is—”
“One point one five kilometers,” said Brynne, holding up two fingers. Being the daughter of the god of the wind meant that she could always call up exact coordinates when they needed them. “Which is easily a ten-minute walk.”