A rush of air hit Aru just asTakshaka lunged.
Brynne.
Withher wind mace, Brynne had lifted a shelving unit into the air. She tilted it until it formed a barricade between Takshaka’s jaws and Aru’s body. Her face shone with sweat.
Where the shelves used to be, Aiden was scaling the wall, using his scimitars as grappling hooks. He climbed quickly, but he didn’t reach the exit fast enough. Brynne created a gust so strongthat Takshaka was blown backward. He slammed into the wall Aiden was climbing, and the vibration sent the boy tumbling. He hit the floor with a nastythudand didn’t move.
“Aiden!” shouted Aru, scrambling out of the lightning net.
He didn’t answer.
Aru and Brynne huddled close. Aru shut her eyes as wind lashed around them. Vajra, now back in bolt form, flickered weakly. Aru felt helpless. Therewas no way they could get out of here, which meant Boo and Mini and the Heartless would be imprisoned forever. And forget about being exiled from the Otherworld—she’d just die here instead.
And then …
Thump-a thump-thump. Thump-a thump-thump.
Rhythm shook the floor. More treasures quivered and fell off the shelves. Takshaka hissed, pulling back as the sound of drums filled the air.
Brynnelifted her head, frowning. “Is that … is thatbhangra?”
Bhangra is a kind of upbeat music that is often played at Indian weddings. Aru had no idea how to dance to it, but then again, neither did any of the brown uncles at parties. Their favorite bhangra dance technique was to pretend to screw in a lightbulb and pet a dog at the same time. And then start jumping.
Brynne’sshoulders began to moveup and down to the beat.
“Now is not the time!” said Aru.
Then again, it was almost impossiblenotto dance when it came to bhangra. Even Takshaka, who had recovered, started swaying. His tail thumped to the rhythm as Panjabi MC and Jay-Z started rapping. The Panjabi lyrics filled the room:
Mundiya to bach ke rahi
Nahi tu hun hun hui mutiyarrr
But then, over the music, came a new sound: “RUN!”
Aru’s gaze flew to the other side of the room. A section of shelves opened like a door, allowing a naga boy about her age to enter before it swung closed behind him. He had come from some kind of secret passageway. From the waist up, he wore a bright orange hoodie, but from the waist down he had a crimson snake tail banded with yellow stripes. He also wore sunglasses, which was absurd, consideringhow dark the chamber of treasures already was. His ears were covered by a pair of heavy DJ-style headphones. He held up two speakers, pointing them at Takshaka. The serpent writhed as if someone had doused him with spiders.
“RUN!” the boy said again.
Brynne was the first to act. She hoisted Aru to her feet and the two of them rushed over to Aiden. Aru tried to lift him by the arm and stumbled.
“I got this,” said Brynne. She gathered him up like he was a bundle of blankets and threw him over her shoulder.
They ran to where the naga boy stood by the door. Hisheadturned toward them when they approached, but his focus seemed like it was elsewhere, as if he was looking at something just to the left of them.
Now that she was close to the door, Aru could see that it was a portal. It wasslightly ajar, and through the crack Aru could glimpse street signs and a cement sidewalk, cars disappearing around corners, even people in winter coats walking their dogs.
But just as Brynne reached to pull it open all the way, a low hiss startled them, and the door slammedshut. At first, Takshaka had been enthralled by the bhangra rhythm, swaying back and forth, even happily rapping along.But now he was stiff and alert, his blind eyes fixed on the boy.
“You!” he snarled. “You are not fit to call yourself my dessscendant.”
The boy with the headphones flinched, but he didn’t drop the speakers. “What you’re doing is wrong, Dada-ji.”
Dada-ji. That’s what you called a grandfather. Who was this boy?
“Do you fancy yourself some kind of hero?” hissed Takshaka. “Ssstep aside and I mayforget how your very existence is a disss-grace to my lineage.”
“Hero?” repeated the boy. “I mean, yeah, I guess, if you call stopping murder on a Saturday heroic. Be mad at me all you want—you probably won’t even remember this later.”
