Aru’s mom disappeared. A moment later, the twins stepped into Mini’s kitchen. Sheela was wearing a pair of pink pajamas and fuzzy slippers, her hair under a pink bonnet. Nikita was also wearing a nightcap and pajamas, but her outfit was a lustrous gold.
“BIRDIE!” said Sheela, clapping her hands excitedly and rushing toward Aru. BB poked his head out of the burning sweater and blinked at Sheela.
Nikita glared and crossed her arms. “You couldn’t just wait a couple of hours to dream-visit us?” But perhaps she saw something on their faces, because her frown instantly vanished. “Uh-oh…That serious?”
“Kinda?” said Aru. “I mean, the fate of the entire universe is on the line, so I’d rank that…mildly important?”
Over the next twenty minutes Aru explained the whole situation about the Agni coin not working, the impassable barrier of Lullwater Park, and the handful of days they had left to set things right. By the time she’d finished, two things had happened. One, Nikita—who’d been listening in silence and crocheting what looked like a dozen enchanted vines—had almost finished making a nest for BB. And two, Brynne had given in and eaten all the plant-based muffins.
Sheela bit her bottom lip. “I really don’t like to lie, but I think I can fake a prophecy. Something to buy you time…”
“Something dramatic enough that no one will want to be anywhere near us,” added Brynne. “Can you do that?”
Sheela nodded.
Brynne let out a sigh of relief. “Great. Now if only this stupid coin could actually end up doing something for us.”
On the counter beside the fancy red card, the Agni coin glowed.
Sheela tilted her head, examining the coin with a dreamy look in her eyes. “Have you tried setting it on fire?”
“You sound like Aru,” said Mini.
Sheela beamed.
Nikita looked up from her knitting. “Sheela has a point. I mean, heisthe god of fire.”
“How do you set metal on fire?” Aru asked.
Brynne looked around the kitchen. “We could try the stove?”
“It’s broken,” said Mini.
“Got any matches?”
“My parents hid them after the last time Aru visited.”
“I’m both offended and flattered,” said Aru.
At that moment, BB poked his head out of the baking pan, tilted it to the side, and chirped. His wavering blue crest of flames seemed a little taller, as if piqued by curiosity.
“What do you say, BB?” asked Aru, holding out the coin.
“Waaait!” said Nikita loudly. She closed her eyes and her fingers glowed as she made a complicated gesture with her wrists. A moment later, a pair of sunflower-yellow gloves tumbled to the counter.
“Wear these.”
Dutifully, Aru slipped on the gloves. The fabric felt like cold silk but more durable.
“Flame-resistant, timelessly elegant, and also an homage to the 2008 Dior collection,” said Nikita imperiously before smiling at BB. She set the crocheted nest of vines beside him. BB pecked it suspiciously.
“I used the same plant fabric for his crib,” she said. “Honestly, Aru, you can’t put a baby in a baking pan. It’s ugly.”
BB squawked in agreement.
“Wear the gloves, and that way you won’t get burned when you hold him,” said Nikita. “Brynne, yours will be blue. Mini, purple. Hmm…what about Aiden…?”
As Nikita tinkered with a new set of gloves, Aru reached for BB with one protected hand. In the past, touching BB had been like grabbing the handle of a hot pan, but now all she felt was the warm, fluffy weight of the firebird.
