“We’ll be ready,” said Aru fiercely.
I’ll be ready, she thought.
An hour later, Mini hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders. In her hands, the Death Danda had shrunk to the size of a purple compact. She stuffed it into her pocket.
“Do you want me to come with you?” asked Aru’s mom.
The stone elephant had once more knelt to the ground, lifted its trunk, and opened its mouth, offering Mini a way back home. The barest trace of magic stirred the air.
“No, that’s okay,” said Mini. “Thanks, Auntie.”
Some people might find it strange that Mini was already calling her Auntie when they’d only just met (although Minididknow a lot about Aru’s mom by now). But that’s how the girls had been raised. Anyone who was a friend of your parents was automatically called “auntie” or “uncle.”
“Your mother and I will talk again soon,” said Aru’s mom. “It’s…it’s been some time.”
“I know,” said Mini. And then she turned bright red. “I mean, I don’tknowbecause I’ve, like, seen your deepest, darkest secrets or anything.”
Boo, who had only recently been filled in on everything, squawked loudly. It very clearly meantShut up while you’re still ahead.
Mini threw her arms around Aru for one last hug. “See you soon,” she said.
And with that, she climbed through the elephant door. Boo watched her go, shouting, “Don’t forget to hydrate at home! Pandavas arealwayshydrated!”
Boo flew to the tip of the elephant’s trunk to address Aru’s mom. It’s not exactly intimidating when a pigeon speaks to you from the ground. Then again, a pigeon talking at all doesn’t conjure a portrait of solemn respectability.
“Krithika,” he said gently. “Perhaps we should have a few words.”
Aru’s mother sighed. She pulled her arm away from Aru’s shoulder, and Aru felt a rush of cold. Then she tilted Aru’s face and smoothed the hair away from her forehead. She looked at Aru hungrily. As if she had never looked at her long enough.
“I know you have a lot of questions,” she said to Aru. “I will answer them. All of them. But Boo is right, there are some things he and I need to discuss.”
“Can Boo live with us?”
“I’m not some stray you found on the side of the road!” huffed the pigeon.
“I’ll get you a nice cage?”
“I am not a pet!”
“I’ll hug you and squeeze you, and name you George—”
“I am anall-powerful sorcerer—”
“And I’ll get you the softest pillow.”
Boo cocked his head. “Pillow, you say? Well, Icoulduse a nap—”
Before her mother could object, Aru said, “Yay! Thanks, Mom!”
Then she ran into the Hall of the Gods. If her mom and the rest of the world had recovered, then surely by now…
Aru flipped on the light switch. There, huddled in a corner with the broken remnants of the lamp’s glass case, stood Burton, Poppy, and Arielle. They were staring around the Hall of the Gods, utterly confused. They glanced at the smashed glass, then up at the window.
Arielle frowned. “I thought…I thought we got here in the afternoon?”
But all confusion disappeared when Poppy caught sight of Aru. “Knew it,” she said gleefully. “What a liar! You couldn’t even admit the truth, so you had to break the lamp? That’s pathetic.”
“I didn’t lie,” said Aru casually. “That lamp was totally cursed. I just got back from fighting an ancient demon in the lobby.”
