Aru Shah and the City of Gold - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,49

the picture book with its smudged inscription to her: Love, Dad.

Kara had said that he’d left the two of them behind to keep them safe. What would he do when he found out that Kara and Aru had left him behind? Had the necklace of memories changed anything for the Sleeper, or, when they were standing on opposite sides of the battlefield, would he still attack Aru? If the latter was the case, nothing they were trying to do mattered. She was, after all, just a “blip of mortality.”

In that second, fury scorched Aru’s veins. Vajra prickled on her wrist, sparking with electricity to match her anger.

Aru was tired. She was sick of always trying to prove herself to people who thought the worst of her. She wanted to stop avoiding battle and fight already. She wanted to fight Boo for not believing in them. She wanted to fight Kubera for mocking her. And, most of all, she wanted to fight the Sleeper for failing her in every way.

If she could, Aru Shah would take on the whole world.

“Ooh…you’ve got a feisty look in your eyes, little demigod!” said Kubera.

Through the mind link, Aru heard Brynne say, Uh-oh…Did he just call Shah “feisty”?

Mini warned, Aru, I know you hate that word, but—

“Do I look like a taco sauce to you?” Aru blurted, taking a step toward Kubera. Ropes of lightning spiderwebbed up her arms.

Kubera clapped. “Is this a plot twist? Are you going to attack me? Fun!”

“We’ll do your trials, and we’ll earn your army, but you’re going to give us more than that. We want Hanuman and Urvashi returned to us, and we want the antima astra, too.”

At her mention of the weapon’s name, the sky rippled with thunder, and a powerful wind gusted through the chamber, carrying with it the unmistakable whiff of rot and death.

The smile fell from Kubera’s face. “Do not utter that weapon’s name in my presence. You may call it the astra and nothing else.” His voice was so powerful that the gold surface of the walls began to melt and drip down.

Then he relaxed into his throne with a deep chuckle. “You want more, Pandavas? You may have anything I control. How’s that for generous?”

“What’s the catch?” asked Aru.

“Shah…” said Aiden warningly.

Aru ignored him, and Kubera’s smile widened.

“The catch is, well, me. My throne is the seat of my power. You want something that’s in my power to give? Well, then you must reach my throne in three steps. That’s all you get.”

Kubera snapped his fingers and his throne zoomed backward. The golden chamber expanded so that it seemed as if Kubera and his throne were practically a mile away.

Brynne glared. “Even if I turned into a cheetah and took three giant leaps, I wouldn’t be able to get to him.”

Aru crossed her arms. “Yeah, but if you were a dinosaur—”

“We’ve been through this, Shah,” said Brynne. “I can’t turn into anything that’s extinct! And Kubera is too far away!”

Aru scowled, staring at the ginormous room. She hated how she felt: small and powerless.

“Aru, are you okay?” asked Mini.

“No,” said Aru. “I’m annoyed. Kubera doesn’t care about the war, no one cares that we’re trying to help, and honestly, I wish I could just stomp on this whole stupid palace and be done with it!”

Mini touched her arm. “We can’t do that.”

A thought tickled the back of Aru’s brain….

“Actually,” said Aru, “I can.”

Aiden lifted an eyebrow, and from the look in his eyes, Aru could tell that he knew. He laughed. “I see you, Shah.”

Aru, Mini, and Brynne lined up, careful to keep some distance between them.

“We’re ready to take the steps,” said Aru.

Kubera’s laughter echoed through the halls.

“Silly, silly,” he started to say, but Aru had stopped listening.

Instead, she concentrated on Tara’s promise to answer if Aru was ever in need. It felt like something molten in the center of her heart. Aru mentally called upon the queen. Your Majesty, mind if I use that power now?

The transformation took place instantly. Aru felt as though a thousand needles swept over her skin, and there was the slightest stretching sensation in her arms and legs as her bones lengthened, her clothes sized up, and her stomach bulged. The floor pulled away from her in a matter of seconds, and the top of her head nearly poked out the open ceiling. From up here, Kubera’s throne room looked like part of a glamorous dollhouse. Aru swayed, careful not to move her feet as she