The Sleeper hadn’t noticed the small chalk circle she had drawn in the middle of floor. And walking into it didn’t just mean that he was in the center of the room.
He was in the center of a circle of every single one of the celestial mounts.
The golden tiger prowled out of the wall, her muzzle wrinkled in a snarl. The peacock’s feathers glittered menacingly. The water buffalo began to paw the ground.
The seven-headed horse turned to Aru.
The Sleeper had only a second to look startled, eyes wide and confused, before Aru shouted, “ATTACK!”
Aru Shah Is a Liar
Aru used to think that the nature documentary she’d seen with two lions fighting each other would be the scariest thing she’d ever watch.
She’d been totally wrong.
The demons charged, trampling through the museum as they launched themselves at the heavenly mounts. Aru felt bad for the sign in the lobby that readPLEASE DO NOT TOUCH. Now it was lying on the floor, currently being crushed by a demon with the head of a wild boar.
The tiger flew at one of the rakshas who had the head of a stag. The peacock joined in, its tail sweeping the floor and cutting out the legs of an asura right next to it.
Boo fluttered to the top of Aru’s head. “Nicely done,” he said, impressed. “But a little lacking in terms of sophistication. An ambush is so bourgeois.”
Aru ducked under the guest sign-in table as someone’s head (literally) flew past her. “Now is not the time!”
“Fair enough.”
Mini crawled under the table with her. Everywhere they looked was chaos. Bits of pottery were flung across the room. Heads, too. A bear mount was foaming at the mouth. One of the horns of the celestial ram was bent at an uncomfortable-looking angle. Sweat gleamed on the body of the seven-headed horse. Aru scanned the lobby. Almost everyone was accounted for except one….
The Sleeper.
Where had he gone? The moment the attack had started, he’d disappeared in a flood of demons and animals.
“Boo,” hissed a voice behind her.
“Ugh, what do you want?” snapped Boo before squawking, “AHHHHH!!!”
Aru and Mini jumped, banging their heads on the underside of the table. Behind them, the Sleeper’s face pushed out of the wall.
Goose bumps prickled down Aru’s arm. The Sleeper could moveinsidethe walls. She scrambled backward. Vajra was still in her hand, but although the weapon had been awakened, Aru couldn’t do much with it except hit a couple of things. She’d tried to throw it, but Vajra wouldn’t leave her hand. It just did what it wanted, like a giant cat.
Aru scuttled crablike from under the table. Her hand slipped and she banged her funny bone on the floor. “Owwwww!Not funny, not funny, not funny,” she said, trying to shake the tinglies out of her arm.
Mini, who had not fallen, got out and up on her feet first. She swung Dee Dee around her head. A blast of violet light shot through the end of the stick, but the Sleeper, now fully emerged from the wall, merely batted the beam of light aside. The force of it pushed Mini back. Her arms pinwheeled, but just as she caught her balance, a raksha slammed into her.
“Mini!” called Aru.
Boo dove into the crowd, pecking the demon’s eyes until the asura screeched and teetered backward. Aru glanced up. Dangling a short distance away was a giant, heavy, andverysharp chandelier. It had been handcrafted by a local glassblower and was her mom’s favorite part of the lobby.
“You’re a liar, Aru Shah,” said the Sleeper, creeping toward her. “You lie to your friends, your family, but most of all yourself. If you think you’ve beaten me, you’re wrong.”
Aru moved back some more. Her palms felt slippery. One wrong move, and the Sleeper could end her on the spot.
“I’m not a liar,” said Aru.
The Sleeper took another step forward. Aru let Vajra loose. For once, the lightning bolt did as she wanted. Light sparked from the end of it, slicing the column of the chandelier. She rolled out of the way just as the Sleeper glanced up.
“What the—?” he started.
“I’ve just got a big imagination,” she said, grinning.
