Aiden nodded. “Yes.”
“Good.”
“Good,” said Aiden. “She started taking up baking.”
At the same time, Menaka asked, “Has she any new hobbies?”
“Baking? That’s…good,” added Menaka.
“Yeah,” said Aiden.
WHY WON’T THEY JUST HUG SO WE CAN MOVE ON WITH OUR LIVES? demanded Aru through the mind link.
Grandmother and grandson were now locked in anI’m-not-staring-I’m-staring-at-youcontest.
OKAY, I’M JUST GOING TO SAY IT—
No, Aru!scolded Brynne.Leave them alone!
I can’t take this.
“So, Aiden, how much time do we have?” asked Aru.
He frowned, glancing at his watch before his face went a little pale. “We’ve got two hours until our audition for the Final Stage.”
“TWO?”repeated Aru. “That’s not enough time to learn some kinda magical instrument thing!”
“Trust me, that’s plenty,” said Menaka, snapping her fingers.
On the wall thirty feet to her right, a golden archway appeared. Aru caught the flicker of screens in the distance, and the muffled sound of music.
“There’s only one person who can help you,” Menaka said. “Come.”
“We also brought our friends Mini and Rudy…” said Brynne, gesturing to the front door.
Menaka closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she smiled. “They’ve been summoned. They’ll meet up with us. Now come. Tumburu, lord of the gandharvas, is waiting.”
The hallway was very short and very dark. The walls seemed to function like two-way mirrors, allowing the Potatoes a glimpse of the inner workings of the apsara wellness spa. Here and there, Aru saw Otherworld denizens in the middle of yoga classes or struggling through cardio choreography sessions led by apsaras who floated through the studio and adjusted people’s posture. Aiden walked ahead, a few paces behind Menaka, who kept sneaking glances at him, though he didn’t seem to notice.
In a matter of moments, the hallway opened into a large recording studio. To the right, enclosed by a panel of mirrors, stood a platform with microphones and floating headphones. In the middle of the room was a circular mixing board with a thousand lit-up switches and buttons and a huge wingback chair facing away from them. Two walls were covered with instruments. There was a guitar-like sitar and an elongated drum called a tabla, along with avenuand abansari, two kinds of wooden flutes. Aru recognized them from her mom’s exhibits on Hindustani and Carnatic musical traditions.
The last wall held multiple television screens, all of them showing the same video feed. A blue-skinned yaksha in a sparkling suit spoke into the camera: “We’re coming to youlivefrom the audition field of THE FINAL STAGE, the multiverse’sonlytalent show for what may very well turn out to be thelastandfinalage!” The yaksha let slip a frantic laugh. “Which is fine! Everything is…fine. So, um, let’s meet the newest contestants, shall we?”
“WHAT DRIVEL,” groaned a voice from the chair.
“Tumburu, I have some people I’d like to introduce you to,” said Menaka.
Aru braced herself as the chair slowly swiveled around. She knew that a gandharva was a celestial musician, but she’d never heard the name Tumburu before they arrived here. Was he going to be awful and condescending? What if he refused to help them?
Do you know anything about this guy?asked Aru through the mind link.
Nope,said Brynne.But he’s a gandharva, so he’s probably going to be super tall, super handsome, and—
Tumburu was a horse. Well, at least he had the head of a horse, which was not what Aru had expected. Short, glossy sea-green hair covered his face and neck. His mane, which was sea-foam green with white ends, had been artfully coiffed to one side. From the neck down, he was a well-dressed man. A white silk scarf hung around his throat, and beneath it he was wearing a navy Nehru jacket with golden cuffs, black pants, and a pair of satin loafers with the wordsTHESE COST A LOTembroidered along their tops.
Tumburu must have been just as surprised as Aru, because when he saw them he skittered backward in his chair, hand clutching his scarf.
“OH, DEAR LORDS!” he exclaimed.
