Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quartet #3) - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,21

of a brightly colored shrub that seemed to sway even though there was no breeze. “You never know how something could be hidden with just a little bit of”—Sheela poked the leaf—“magic.”

The leaf peeled in half, revealing that it was really the bright green wings of a butterfly, and the insect took flight.

Sheela had a point, thought Aru. If there was enough magic to hide a tree that size, then there had to be enough magic to bring it back to the heavens, where it belonged. They’d figure it out.

“Where could the real Kalpavriksha even be hidden, though?” asked Boo.

Nikita cleared her throat. “When I was reading the roots…I saw something.”

She placed her hands against the tree trunk. Once more, her veins glowed green. Slowly, a palm-size area of bark peeled back. The branches under the Ocean of Milk had been solid gold through and through. Layers of gold covered the duplicate tree, which Nikita easily rolled up to reveal wooden bark engraved with a snake-dragon-thingy biting its tail:

“I know that snake symbol! That belongs to the Crypt of Eclipses,” said Brynne.

“Sounds like something Indiana Jones would break into,” said Aru.

“Indiana Jones?” demanded Boo. “How dare he?! Where does he reside?”

“Hollywood?”

Boo seethed. “He will pay for the presumption….”

“What’s in this crypt?” asked Aru.

“Everyone’s secrets,” said Boo. “That A7 must be a locker or chamber within. Membership to the crypt is by invitation only, and reserved for the aristocrats, deities, and demons of the Otherworld. Aranyani must have hidden a clue to Kalpavriksha’s location in her vault. It would be safe there. After all, the whole place is said to be guarded by a dragon.”

“I’m sorry, did you say dragon?” asked Mini.

“Could we just save ourselves some trouble and talk to Aranyani?” asked Aru. “We could explain what’s happening, somehow convince her to tell us the location…. We could bribe her! What’s her favorite ice cream flavor?”

Boo shook his beak. “Aranyani is famously elusive. I’ve only glimpsed her twice in three centuries. She doesn’t like the heavens very much.”

“Wonder why,” said Aiden.

“Um, what about the dragon?” repeated Mini.

Brynne flexed. “We can totally handle a dragon.”

“Uh, what kinda dragon are we talking about here?” said Aru nervously. “Like Smaug sitting on all his gold, or like a cute friendly little baby Norbert hanging out in Hagrid’s cauldron?”

“Probably the first,” said Aiden.

Mini whimpered.

“Before we worry about that, let’s assume that we somehow manage to get into this ‘invitation only’ crypt thing,” said Aru. “What about the vault? How are we going to open it?”

Brynne touched Gogo, her wind mace, which had taken the form of a choker at her throat. “I might have a plan. It’s said that the architect of the gods can make anything. I bet he could easily make a key that opens any lock. And guess whose uncle works for him?” She pointed her thumbs at herself.

At this, the look of skepticism on Boo’s face melted into something else: hope.

“C’mon, Boo,” Aru pressed. “We can do this. What happened with the twins and the prophecy was a fluke. You’ve got to let us fix this.”

“The devas don’t want you leaving Amaravati,” said Boo cagily.

Aru kept her expression blank. He hadn’t said no. That was a good sign. They just had to play this carefully.

“Then we’ll do it undercover,” said Aru.

“With coordinated outfits?” asked Nikita brightly.

“No,” Aru, Brynne, and Mini said simultaneously.

“Though we will need different sneakers,” said Mini, pointing at hers. “With no tracking devices.”

“Yeah. We’ll leave our sneakers here so everyone will think we stayed put,” said Aru. “No one will be looking for us for the next few days anyway. Everyone will be too preoccupied with the prophecy and Holi preparations.”

Brynne put in, “No one but us even knows that the tree is a fake.”

“And the Sleeper’s army is probably distracted by Hanuman and Urvashi’s mission,” added Aiden.

Boo swayed back and forth, tossing his beak one way and then the next. Finally, he grumbled. “No dawdling at any point in time and throwing off the mission timing,” he said, pointing his wing at Aru.

“No lecturing about all the opportunities for fatality and thus ruining group morale,” he said to Mini.

“No picking fights with things that randomly offend you,” he said to Brynne.

Boo turned to Aiden. “Keep up the good work.”

Aiden beamed, and all three girls glared at him.

“You understand that this can’t be a sanctioned quest,” said Boo. “Stay completely off the grid. If you run into any problems with anyone from the Otherworld, you won’t be