Mini wheezed. “They can if they’re being controlledby something else. Like that bow and arrow.” She pointed her chin toward the now-weaponless Pandava girl. Mini walked over to her, still clutching her inhaler, and Aru followed.
Behind them, the Guardians alighted on the ground.
Aru crouched beside the new girl.
“Hey,” she said gruffly. She shook the girl’s shoulder.
Mini lifted the girl’s wrist and looked at her own watch. “Her heart rateis seventy beats per minute and strong. That’s good.”
Sluggishly, the Pandava blinked up at them. Her hazel eyes grew wide.
“Sit up slowly,” coaxed Mini in her bestone-day-I’m-going-to-be-a-doctorvoice. “That was a rough hit. How’s your vision?”
Leave it to Mini to be super nice to the person who had wrecked their Saturday. Aru crossed her arms, scowling.
The girl blinked again and lookedaround. Then her gaze focused on Aru. She pushed herself off the ground, shoving Mini aside.
“I can see just fine,” growled the girl. “I can see thethiefright in front of me. Hand it over.”
“I’mnot the thief,youare!” said Aru, holding up her hands. “But that rakshasi—the one who looked like me—took the bowandarrow. Just so we’re clear, I’m therealAru.” She gestured at her outfit. “Notethe lack of denim on denim.”
The girl smacked her hands down. The moment they touched, Aru felt a shock, as if a live wire had snaked between them.
Wind stirred the dirt. Then it rose up in a cyclone around the other girl, lifting her off the ground.
Honestly, if it had been Aru, she would’ve started screaming. But this girl justsmiledand raised her arms. Aru really wanted her to say,Allshall love me and despair!But she didn’t. Maybe she hadn’t seen the Lord of the Rings movies.
A pale blue light burst around the Pandava. A flag—the symbol of Vayu, the god of the wind—rotated above her head. It was, Aru had to admit,epic. And the girl didn’t even seem surprised that she’d been claimed! She didn’t blink once when she was lowered back to the ground and a glowing blue weaponthat looked like a caveman’s club thudded next to her. She just picked it up, swung it over her shoulder, and started marching toward Aru.
Whoa,thought Aru.How comesheautomatically gets a celestial weapon?Aru and Mini had been forced to trudge all the way through the Kingdom of Death before their weapons turned into more than a Ping-Pong ball and a compact mirror.
That was … that was completelyunfair.
Only then did Aru notice they had an audience. On the outskirts of the Night Bazaar, shoppers and store owners pressed closer, eager to get in on the drama.
Mini raced in front of Aru and held up her hands. “Listen, sometimes people make mistakes, which you clearly did back there…. But we saved your life! You can’t be mad at us!”
“Iammad,” said the girl, not breaking her stride. “Youstole the bow and arrow. Where are they?” Her stomach growled loudly. She paused, adding, “And I’m hungry.”
“Maybe you’ve got hypoglycemia—very common, and probably makes you irritable,” said Mini, talking fast. “Want a Snickers?” She pulled a full-size bar from her backpack and held it out in front of the Pandava.
Aru was really glad Lord Vayu had placed his soul daughter a good distance awayfrom the two of them. Even so, when the girl swung her club like a baseball bat, wind exploded around Mini and Aru. They both dug in their heels, but the gust lifted Mini into the air. The Snickers bar fell on the ground as she was carried off, shouting, “But I offered you candyyyy!”
Aru waited until she saw Mini safely, though rather unceremoniously, plop onto the ground a few feet away.
“Youcould’ve hurt her!” said Aru angrily.
“So? What areyougoing to do about it?” demanded the daughter of Vayu.
Vajra turned into a lightning sword. Electricity crackled down the blade.
“Oh, so that’s how you wanna play it,thief?”
“You’rethe thief!”
Hanuman and Urvashi raced toward them, shouting, “Okay, girls, there’s no reason to fight!”
Someone off to the side shouted, “Catfight! Catfight!”
Someone else goaded, “Grab her by the horns!”
Another chimed, “She doesn’t have horns!”
“STOP IT, BRYNNE!” shouted Hanuman. “Father will not be pleased.”
“ARU, PUT THAT SWORD DOWN!” hollered Boo.
And then a blast of wind shot Aru straight up into the sky. Her arms started pinwheeling. She glanced down—that was a huge mistake. Everyone looked like really catty ants.
As she fell, the last thingshe saw before blacking out was a pair of giant hands reaching to snatch her out of the sky.
