Her mother groaned, rubbing her temples. “Don’t call me that!”
“Sorry, Anila,” said Brynne, hereyes shining. “I just thought you’d want to see—”
“If I wanted to see how you’re doing, I would have stayed.”
Inthe vision, Brynne’s chin lowered. Her shoulders caved in.
Aru shook the real Brynne. “It’s a nightmare, Brynne!”
But it was as if Brynne were sound asleep and couldn’t hear her. Aru let go of her arm and ran to Aiden. He pressed his hands tightly to his face, and he rolled backand forth.
“Hey! Snap out of it!” she said, waving her hand in front of him.
But he too remained in a trance.
Aiden’s nightmare blasted like a horror film in his hound’s eyes.
Mrs. Acharya was weeping. “Maybe if I’d never had you, he would still love me. You ruined everything.”
“Don’t cry, Mom. Please don’t cry. I can fix it,” said Aiden, reaching out for her. “I’ll get an arrow from Kamadeva.Then everything will go back to normal, I promise. Mom?”
She started to fade.
“Aiden?” asked Aru.
But he didn’t answer. He just closed his eyes tighter as the next nightmare began to play.
A cold shadow fell across Aru. She froze. Behind her, the growl of the third hound made her shiver, but she held still, refusing to look at it. Vajra glowed bright in her pocket, but there was nothing herlightning bolt could do. She couldn’t strike down a nightmare. It would be like telling someone to go punch fear. It was impossible.
The hound moved closer. With every step, Aru sensed her nightmares scratching at the base of her skull, like a monster reaching out from under the bed.
The Sleeper’s voice taunted her:You were never meant to be a hero.
When she blinked, she saw the image thatalways hauntedhernightmares—her Pandava sisters all lined up to fight her, hate twisting their features. It felt like a prophecy in that moment, that no matter how hard she tried to be a hero, something inside would always cause her to fail. That was why she hadn’t been able to defeat the Sleeper. That was why Boo was locked up, his hope for her slowly dwindling.
The Sleeper’s voice kept whispering,dark and terrible….
You are a deceiver, Aru Shah.
Just like your father.
Aru wanted to disappear. Her heart felt like an open wound. She knew better than to look at the hellhound, but it was so hard to resist. Something about that nightmarish voice promised that if she only turned around, she’d see whether or not its visions were true.
But Aru didn’t want to end up like Brynne and Aiden. Shestared at the ground instead, where a bright glint caught her eye. The silver fruit had rolled close to her feet. Unfortunately, it had a reflective surface, and in it she saw …
Not the nightmare hound.
No, only a big, fluffy white dog, like the Great Pyrenees she had always wanted. It panted heavily before lying down next to her with a grunt.
The Sleeper’s voice at the back of her head fadedto an echo, something she was used to ignoring….
“Dog?” she asked.
In the reflection, the dog lumbered to its feet and wagged its tail. When she risked a peek behind her, she still saw a hulking, snarling form. How come it looked different in the reflection? She looked back at the fruit, and an idea came to her….
She couldn’t punch a nightmare. But she could end it bywakingup. Right beforehe’d fallen into his bizarre nightmare coma, Aiden had said they weren’t real. He was right.
Aru couldn’t fight fear by ignoring it. She had to look it straight in the eye.
