Aiden stepped forward, his face a little pale, his camera hanging dejectedly from his hands. He set his shoulders, stretched his neck, and said, “The apsara Malini.”
The yaksha squeaked. “Malini?”
Aiden merely shrugged. “Yeah, you know, formerly one of the biggest celebrities in the cosmos? With a voice that once summoned a tsunami?”
The yaksha’s sunglasses dropped off his nose. “No one has seen her in ages! You can’t possibly know her!”
Aiden held out his camera, the display reeling backward to show a picture of his mom. It must have been the last picture he took at home before this quest. His mother’s expression was both hopeful and worried. The sun was streaming through their kitchen windows, capturing her Otherworldly loveliness. Aiden changed the display so it revealed something more casual—a selfie with his mom.
“Oh my god…” said the yaksha. “It’s reallyher. You reallydoknow her!”
A stray wind ruffled Aiden’s hair. The outline of his body took on a glow.
“This is kinda overkill,” muttered Rudy.
Uh-oh, here comes the Wifey smolder, said Mini.
“I’m her son,” said Aiden. “I’m the only one who inherited her gifts before she renounced the Otherworld completely. I mean, c’mon, look at me.”
Don’t look, said Brynne through the mind link.
Aru squeezed her lids shut. The apsara powers Aiden had inherited from his mother were a fearsome weapon. When hereallywanted to—and he rarely did—Aiden could make it seem like all the light had been sucked out of the world and into his eyes. His voice would take on a starry, velveteen quality, and mortals taken by surprise would end up doing something stupid in response. Like waltzing without music. Or singing. (Not that Aru hadeverdone anything remotely embarrassing when Aiden showed off his apsara powers….)
“You believe me,” said Aiden.
When he spoke, a warm breeze swirled around them. The air took on the sweet smell of lilacs. Aru’s cheeks warmed.
“You know who I am,” said Aiden. “You’ll let us in without any more questions.”
“I see,” said the yaksha in an entranced voice.
“Good.”
Aru opened her eyes when Aiden’s voice lost its sparkling quality and became normal again. The red door seemed a little farther away now.
“The son of Malini is always welcome,” said the yaksha pleasantly. A moment later, a hard look reentered his eyes as he considered the rest of the Potatoes. “But what aboutthem?”
Aiden glanced at them all, and Aru could see a small battle being waged in his face. Then he sighed.
Next to her, Rudy sucked in a breath, whispering, “Oh my god. It’s happening, isn’t it?”
“What is?” asked Mini.
Aiden closed his eyes as he turned back to the yaksha. He raised his hand, gesturing at the Potatoes. “This…”
Oh no, thought Aru.
“This is my band.”
Rudy barely restrained a squeak.
The yaksha watched all this rather indifferently. He shrugged. “Very well. I’ll giveyouthis chance, son of Malini, but the judges will want some real proof that your band deserves a spot on the Final Stage, or you’re out. Understand?”
The big red door moved back sulkily.
Part of Aru was delighted. They’d gotten in!
The other part was not so thrilled. Aru wouldn’t exactly call herself musically gifted….She could play what she called “the nose guitar”—humming a tune while holding down one nostril and pretending to strum the other side of her nose—but it was not very popular at parties. In fact, Brynne had said on more than one occasion that it would be a very useful torture technique for prisoner interrogations.
