“Threaten us all you want, but you need us to get those keys, don’t you?” asked Aru. “You can’t see them. You don’t even know what theyare.”
The Sleeper grew quiet and stroked his chin thoughtfully. Finally he said, “You’re right.”
Aru couldn’t believe it. Had she talked him down?
The Sleeper raised his hand, curling his fingers. Boo zoomed into his palm. The bird wasn’t moving.
“I do need you,” he said. “I would’ve taken the key you have now, but it may lead you to the other two. And it doesn’t matter that I can’t see them, becauseyouare going to deliver all three to me by the new moon.”
He squeezed Boo, and Mini began to whimper.
The Sleeper turned toward her. “I know so much about you now. From listening to your heartbeats,” he said with mock sweetness. “Your father wears a cross beneath his shirt and anagimatnecklace passed down from his family in the Philippines. Your brother hides a photo of his soccer teammate beneath his pillow, and when you found it, he swore you to secrecy. Your mother’s hair smells like sandalwood.”
Mini’s face turned white.
Then the Sleeper faced Aru. Something flashed in his eyes. “And you. Well. You and I might as well be family.”
“What are youtalkingabout?” Aru blurted. “You’re crazy! I—”
He cut her off with a look. “Summon me just before the new moon, or I will do more than just freeze your loved ones.”
“Never!” said Aru. “We’ll fight if we have to, and—”
“Tsk-tsk,”said the Sleeper. “Before you even think about fighting me, know that I am gathering my own friends.” He gave them a cruel smile. “And trust me, you won’t like meeting them.”
He disappeared, taking Boo with him.
For a whole minute, Aru and Mini didn’t budge. Aru felt like she was spinning even though she was standing still.
Too many things were zipping through her head. Boo had fought for them just now. But once he had been the Pandavas’ enemy. Was that why he was being forced to help them in this life, in the form of a pigeon, no less? And then there was the fact that the Sleeper knew her mom—and Mini’s family. How was that possible?
Around them, the books began to run about, desperate to restore some order. Their pages ruffled like birds settling back down to sleep. Without the Sleeper covering it, the ceiling now looked like open sky. Bruised purple storm clouds drifted across it. Aru scowled. It didn’t make sense for the magic around them to look so beautiful when she felt so…ugly.
What was the point in even trying to get to the Kingdom of Death without Boo? The Sleeper was right. She had caused all this. And she had failed everyone.
“Why?” croaked Mini.
She didn’t have to say the rest.
Why had Aru lied about the lamp? Why had Boo hidden his past? Why wasanyof this happening to them?
Aru was tired. Tired of lying. Tired of imagining the world as it could be and not as it was. She was tired of making herself bigger and better in her own head when it was clear that she never would or could be in her real life.
She pulled the coin that she’d gotten fromAdulthoodout of her pocket. It had faded to dull silver.
Aru couldn’t meet Mini’s gaze. “I knew a little of what would happen if I lit the lamp—my mom had told me, but I didn’t really believe her—and I lit it anyway. What the Sleeper said was true: I did it to impress some classmates that I thought I wanted as friends.”
Mini’s shoulders shook. “My family is in danger because of you,” she said. She didn’t cry or yell. And that made it so much worse. “You lied about everything, didn’t you? Were you just laughing at me the whole time?”
Aru looked her in the eyes now. “What? No! Of course not—”
“Why should I believe you?” Mini cut in. “You said you thought I was brave. And that it wasn’t a bad thing to be the Daughter of Death.” She stared at Aru as if she could see straight through her. “You even told me that you wouldn’t leave me behind.”
“Mini, I meant all of that.”
“I don’t care what you say, because you’re a liar, Aru Shah.” Mini snatched the bite ofAdulthoodfrom Aru.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
