2. I am the daughter ofdeath~*~dEaTh~*~
3. If I freeze up:WhatWouldAruDo?
Aru’s whole heart ached with guilt. Mini was wrong.Arucouldn’t do anything. Instead, she thought about whatMiniwould do…. Mini wouldn’t want to jeopardize the lives of all those human Heartless…. Mini would put others before herself. Like she always did.
Aru shoved the notepad into the backpack and slung it acrossone shoulder, next to her own pack.
“We’re so close. We can’t leave now, not without the thief’s song,” she said.
“But Mini—” Brynne started.
“Isstrong,” said Aru firmly. “She’s also the key to this. We need the soul songandthe thief’s name. So let’s get the song out of the treasury,thenget to Mini. Immediately.”
“I agree,” said Aiden.
Brynne looked between them and threw up her hands.“Fine! Let’s go. And don’t forget to pick up that stupid jewel the naginis gave us.”
In her concern over Mini, Aru had almost forgotten about the heart of Uloopi.
“I wish we could just go to the Council and throw it in their face,” said Brynne, “but I bet they’d accuse us of stealing it or something.”
With that, Brynne stomped off, and Aiden followed her.
The jewel was half-buried in the sandnear where the first nagini had stood. Aru pulled out the emerald and rubbed it on her hoodie until it glittered. As much as Aru hated to admit it, Brynne was right. The Council of Guardians might not believe them if they showed up without the bow and arrow and the name of the thief. Takshaka would just lie about the heart of Uloopi.
Right now, Aru didn’ttrustthe Council of Guardians. And thatfrightened her. Because if she couldn’t trust the people who were supposed to be looking out for them, who was left?
