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

began to glow. “Nikita! It’s coming soon!”

Nikita grabbed her sister. “Are you sure?”

Sheela began to tremble. “Y-yes—”

“Hold it in,” pleaded her twin.

The rakshasa gave a ghastly smile. “Speak, clairvoyant. What do you see?”

Panic shot through Aru. No, no, no! she thought. No one was supposed to hear it but them.

“Don’t tell him!” Aru yelled.

Brynne’s voice called out over the Pandava mind link: BRACE YOURSELVES!

Mini dropped into a crouch. “Hold on!” she shouted to the twins.

With a flick of her wrist, Nikita created a protective screen of black vines over the open door.

Aru’s jaw nearly dropped. What the—?

“Aru!” yelled Mini.

A powerful gust of wind flattened Aru to the outside of the compartment. She grabbed hold of the nearest vine and gripped it hard. Out the corner of her eye, she caught the glimmer of traffic hundreds of feet beneath her and her stomach swooped. Mini, holding tight to a metal support beam, changed Dee Dee from a compact to a stick. Violet light erupted from the tip, ready to make a shield to protect them, but the rakshasa was now nowhere to be seen.

The wind subsided, and Brynne’s voice sounded in Aru’s head: Did I knock him off?

I’M the one who almost got knocked off! replied Aru.

I said brace yourself!

Well, I was NOT braced!

A low, menacing growl filled the air, and the hair on Aru’s neck prickled. On the spoke she and Mini were standing on, Aru saw a series of dents appear, as if left behind by very strong invisible fingertips.

The rakshasa materialized once more, one hand clutching the bridge as his body dangled in the air beneath them. “You will regret that.”

He flung out his other hand, and an S-shaped piece of onyx came hurtling toward Aru. The weapon writhed as it flew, emitting shadows that obscured her vision. Mini swung Dee Dee over her head, and a ray of violet light cut through the blackness. As the glow washed over them, Aru caught sight of something else—tendrils of shadow. One wrapped itself around Mini’s ankle while another slipped under her sneakers, trying to dislodge her shoe suckers.

“Mini, watch out!” screamed Aru.

Aru reached for Vajra, but she was too late. One moment, Mini held Dee Dee. The next, her arms pinwheeled as she fell backward, screaming.

Without hesitating, Aru dove off the metal beam she’d been standing on, cold air rushing into her lungs as she fought to breathe.

Above her, she heard the rakshasa laughing. “Good-bye, Pandavas!”

You just jumped off a Ferris wheel! screamed Aru’s brain. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!

Aru squeezed her eyes shut, then clenched her hand into a fist. “Vajra!” she called out.

Heat clambered up her arm as Vajra activated and leaped off her wrist, transforming into a crackling hoverboard made of lightning. Electricity snapped in the air as Vajra zoomed beneath her and Aru’s feet touched down on it. She opened her eyes, and together, she and Vajra accelerated through the evening sky.

Mini spun fifteen feet below them, caught in a vicious downward spiral. Her panicked thoughts blared through the mind link.

I’M SORRY I DIDN’T FLOSS MY TEETH YESTERDAY. I PROMISE I’LL NEVER FORGET AGAIN! AND I’LL EAT ALL THE VEGETABLES ON MY PLATE! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE—

Look up! Aru called through their mind link.

Aru stretched out her hand, trying to grab hold of Mini’s outstretched fingers, but her sister kept pinwheeling just out of her grasp. With every second that passed, the ground surged closer to meet them. The streetlights came into focus, as well as the red taillights blinking down the highway.

With one last burst of speed, Aru tilted Vajra forward, slicing through the air until the girls caught each other. Mini hugged Aru fiercely as the Vajra hoverboard shot back up toward the Ferris wheel.

“What’re we going to do?” asked Mini. “You heard her! The clairvoyant can’t hold in the prophecy much longer, and the whole mission will be ruined! The Council will—”

A panicked gasp choked off the rest of her words. Aru followed Mini’s horrified gaze up to the rakshasa. He twisted his hand, and a giant sword manifested in the air. He grabbed it and started hacking away at Nikita’s vines. The moment the rakshasa captured Sheela, the Otherworld would be doomed. And Aru refused to let that happen.

Time seemed to slow. Her senses turned diamond-sharp. She could feel the cold light of distant stars, hear the crunch as the rakshasa’s sword hit metal—even smell the tinny residue in the air from the thunderstorm hours ago.

“I’ve got a plan,” she said, thinking