Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quartet #3) - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,27

the sky, and they were above the patchy clouds. Pieces of downtown Atlanta loomed hundreds of feet below.

“I really do not like heights,” whimpered Rudy.

“At least the windows aren’t—” started Brynne.

The windows dropped down, opening and closing like gnashing teeth. Mini held tight to one of the overhead handholds. “I think the vimana’s trying to bite the birds!”

A goose poked its head inside the window, squawked, and grabbed Brynne’s sandwich.

“I think NOT!” yelled Brynne.

She aimed Gogo and blasted the goose with a wind vortex. It got flung out of the car, spiraling into the sky. The geese paused for a moment. And then, as one, they barreled toward the vimana.

“Can’t you do something to make the car ignore the birds?” asked Aru.

“I’m trying!” hollered Aiden.

And he was. His hands gripped the wheel, turning it this way and that, but the chariot continued to swerve in circles like a dog chasing its tail. Or, in this case, a goose. The car lurched again. This time, Aru didn’t fall against the window…she went through it! Wind tossed her hair as she gripped the edge of the door, her feet dangling in the air.

“Vajra!” she screamed.

Her lightning bolt crackled to life, and Aru caught hold of it with one hand. She aimed Vajra, and electricity spangled the air. The geese drew back….

But the sound must’ve frightened the vimana. It veered sharply, and Aru’s one-handed grip loosened.

Don’t look down don’t look down….

She looked at the ground hundreds of feet below, and a wave of nausea hit her. Vajra zoomed beneath her feet as a hoverboard and hurtled her back through the window.

“You made it worse!” said Rudy, now flat on the floor of the chariot.

Brynne couldn’t get a good hold on her wind mace in the commotion. There was no way Aru was going to use Vajra on the geese again. But then Mini stepped up. She didn’t love heights, either, but she staggered to her feet and pointed her Death Danda out the window. With one muttered word she made a huge mirror appear on the back side of the vimana.

“Nothing to see here,” she said quietly. “Just clouds. Only clouds.”

It must have looked that way to the geese. The mirror reflected the sky and disguised the vehicle. The birds fell back. The seesawing motion of the vimana slowed, and Brynne was finally able to use her wind mace. She whisked it through the air to create a cyclone that blocked out the honking of the geese.

Aiden swerved the vimana higher into the clouds, quickly adjusting the autopilot setting so it rode smoothly. And then he promptly collapsed in the backseat.

As they left the birds behind and Mini withdrew the mirror, Aru peered out the window at one last fowl straggler.

“Never feeding you again,” she said darkly.

“There it is,” called Brynne. “VPD headquarters!”

When Aru had heard that VPD had its own skyscraper, she assumed it would look like any of the other tall buildings that made up the New York City skyline. It did not. It was wedged between two huge buildings and seemed, for all intents and purposes, completely invisible to ordinary humans. And it was literally a skyscraper. The building looked like a giant arm made of molten gold, and on top it had fingers that held clouds and swayed back and forth as if it were scratching at an itchy spot on the sky.

The vimana flew toward the slanted golden palm, which had a large dark hole in its center. Brynne explained that it was the opening to a chute that went directly down into the building.

Rudy swallowed hard, clutching the outer edge of the chariot. “Can we take the stairs?”

Beside him, Mini beamed, which made Rudy recoil a bit.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I like that you get scared.”

“That makes you happy?” asked Rudy, inching farther away.

“So, what happens now?” cut in Aru.

“We jump,” confirmed Brynne. “Gunky says all the employees at VPD enter this way. It’s supposed to signify a leap of faith and inspiration or something. I dunno. Architects can be a little weird.”

Brynne pulled Gunky’s employee-ID card out of the front pocket of her backpack. She waved it over the dark opening and a faint light beamed from inside. “Let’s link hands and go.”

She took Aiden’s hand, and he offered his other one to Aru. She hesitated, then started reaching toward him. She knew it was just for the jump, but time seemed to slow as she thought of a thousand terrible scenarios: What if her palm