Aru Shah and the City of Gold - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,17

like they were supposed to be sitting together like that. Why didn’t the light ever do that to her? wondered Aru. She gazed out the window. At that exact moment, a fly splatted into it.

Great.

“You know, you really can’t trust any public surfaces,” continued Mini. “It could be hiding a thin layer of E. Coli or staphylococcus. But I also pack these because Aru drools a lot in her sleep and—”

“Thanks for the PSA,” said Aru, grabbing the wet cloth from her. “By the way, I saw the twins.”

“Twins?” asked Kara, looking up from her book.

“Our other Pandava sisters,” said Brynne.

Aru wondered if Kara could detect Brynne’s unspoken next words: Unlike you.

“I’ve seen them before,” said Kara. “How are they?”

Mini, Brynne, and Aru fell silent. Aru had told the group that the Sleeper had been spying on them, but to hear Kara confirm it so casually raised goose bumps on her arms.

Too late, Kara must have realized what she’d said, because she turned a violent red. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“They’re fine, no thanks to your dad,” said Brynne coldly before turning to Aru. “Did Sheela see anything?”

Aru shot a sympathetic glance at Kara, but she was staring down at her lap and didn’t notice.

“It sounded like a prophecy…and not a happy one,” said Aru. She recited it for them.

Mini paled.

Brynne frowned. “Well, that’s cheerful.”

“Could be worse?” said Aru. “Could’ve just been Nice try, you’re gonna die.”

Aiden snorted out a laugh.

As the bus rolled to a stop outside the Dahlonega Gold Mines, Aru looked at Kara, whose expression was growing more and more concerned. She was probably scared. And why shouldn’t she be? She hadn’t gone through what the Pandavas had. They were pretty hard to frighten these days.

“You’ll get used to the feeling of impending doom,” said Aru brightly. “It’s not so bad.” She pulled up her sleeve a little to reveal Vajra glowing brightly on her arm. Aru hoped it said, This lightning bolt has seen a lotta action.

“Well, I’m not used to it,” said Mini, rubbing her belly. “Ugh. Just hearing a prophecy makes my acid reflux act up.”

“Acid reflux?” Brynne looked interested. “Is that a new weapon?”

“Only to my esophagus. It’s being attacked by the hydrochloric acid that lives in my stomach.”

Now Brynne looked horrified.

“To be clear, we’re not always in peril,” said Aiden to Kara.

“Much peril, very danger,” contradicted Aru, stepping out of the bus and into the bright afternoon.

May in Georgia was a time of amiable sunshine before the muggy, awful, hair-sticking-to-your-forehead-heat of June, July, and August. Insects sang in the trees, and a gentle breeze ruffled the fragrant wisteria blossoms draping the brick walls. In the distance, Aru heard the sounds of kids laughing and splashing around in a nearby public pool. According to Aru’s home calendar, school had been out for a week, which meant that Aru had not only missed out on all the fun end-of-year events, but also she was living out her mother’s worst excuse ever. Apparently, Aru’s mom had blamed her daughter’s long absence on mono and promised that Aru would finish all her schoolwork over the summer, which was terrible for many reasons:

1) Mono was called “the kissing virus,” and the closest Aru Shah had ever come to a kiss was when a bumblebee had stung her chin.

2) Now everyone was going to think she had kissed someone, and she’d have to make up a fake boyfriend in Canada.

3) She had never been to Canada.

4) She had to do homework over the summer on top of taking command of a giant golden army in, like, a week.

5) Last, and most important of all, Aru would have given anything to be able to point out these things to her mom in person, but she had no idea where Krithika Shah had gone.

Aru’s spirits rose a little as a small museum came into view. Like her mom, she loved museums. Krithika had once said of them: What we know of the world are blips and fragments. The only people who can truly speak of history are ghosts.

There didn’t seem to be any hint of ghosts here, though. The only sign was a small post with a brass plaque that read:

THE SIDEWALKS OF DAHLONEGA ARE HISTORIC

BE MINDFUL OF YOUR FOOTING!

“Dah-lah-nee-gah,” pronounced Kara slowly. “I wonder what the name means.”

“Does it matter?” asked Brynne. “It’s not like that’s gonna help us find the way to Lanka.”

Kara primly squared her shoulders. “True, but it never hurts to understand a place