Aiden looked shocked…and then furious as he walked back to them.
“Didn’t the shadow lady say not to touch anything?” whispered Rudy.
Brynne swatted him upside the head. “Real helpful, Rudy.”
“Ow!”
“I’m so sorry,” said Aru quickly. “I saw my mom, and I just forgot about everything else—”
“She told younotto look!” yelled Aiden.
“I said I’m sorry!” said Aru.
“Why don’t you ever listen to anyone?” said Aiden.
“Ido!” retorted Aru, her face growing hot. “You would’ve looked too if you saw what I did!”
“No, I wouldn’t have, becauseIknow what we could lose,” said Aiden.
“Uh…guys?” said Rudy.
Aiden batted at the air. “Not now, Rudy—”
“Lose?”Aru barked out a scornful laugh. “What do you know about loss?”
“Plenty,” snarled Aiden.
“Um, guys?” said Brynne.
Aiden and Aru ignored her.
“How about losing your dad because he tried to avoid his terrible destiny?” shot back Aru. “Or losing your mom because she disappeared when you needed her most and now you have no idea where she is? Or losing all yourtrustin people, because they keep failing you!”
Aiden, still furious, closed and opened his mouth for a few seconds before speaking. “I know all that, and I’m sorry for you, but what we could lose if we don’t get back to Lanka in time is even worse, Shah,” he said, staring at her. “We’d losehope.We’d lose hope that any of it could change, or that any of this awful stuff happened for a reason.”
“Guys!” shouted Mini. “Enough! We have to move—now!”
Aru spun around and stopped short. A tiny seam was now visible in the pillar of Prophecies Unheard and Unwanted. Smoky wisps snaked out of it, forming words that were spoken by a disembodied voice:
Those whom it does not concern shall not hear…. Whowillhear us hear us hear ussssss…?
A giantcrack!ripped through the air, and the pillar split open like an egg, exhaling a few more prophecies like a grievous sigh. One of the smoky ribbons coiled toward Aiden, growing brighter as if it recognized him.
Aiden Acharya…it said.
And then, at once, all the prophecies spilled out. A wave of them crashed into a nearby pillar, unleashing strange birdsongs. Another wave crashed into the pillar of politicians’ truths, and the voices of men and women clamored in the air.
“Run!” yelled Aru.
The Potatoes sprinted forward, Kubera’s eye zooming along with them. Brynne hauled Kara off the slow-moving cloud and carried her over the shoulder. Aru panted as the end of the hallway drew closer. She thought there’d be a hidden staircase there, or maybe a door would magically appear, but no. They stopped short at a sharp drop into nothing.
“Where do we go?” screamed Brynne.
Aru panicked. Even if she turned her lightning bolt into a hoverboard, they’d never make it back down to Lanka in time.
Right on their heels, the avalanche of prophecies swarmed toward them. Aru grabbed Kubera’s eye and shook it. “C’MON!” she yelled. “Help us! We’ve done everything you asked!”
But when she released the eye, it seemed to do nothing but glare at her.
