Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quartet #3) - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,33

that fast,” she said. “Eventually you might have suffered from asphyxiation—that’s when you suffocate.”

“Um, thanks?”

“You’re welcome!” said Mini brightly, before adding, “Brynne protected us, too.”

Aiden crawled over to make sure Brynne was okay. She gave him a thumbs-up. “Cleverness saves the day again,” said Brynne, nodding with genuine appreciation.

Aru closed her fingers around the cool silver object in her palm. As she did so, she felt as if she were seeing the past few months in a new light. Something had begun to shift among the group. She felt the weight of her friends’ reliance on her, as if she were supposed to know what to do when she was just trying to figure it out like the rest of them. Brynne was right that Aru usually came up with the plan, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be in charge of what they did. That much trust…it felt like a burden. What if she let them down? Aru thought of Opal’s words: Or you! The flesh-and-blood daughter of the Sleeper…

Aru wanted to respond, but just then a voice thundered above them:

“YOU’RE PANDAVAS?”

No One Signed Up for a Horcrux Hunt

The five of them were transported back to Mr. V’s office in the blink of an eye. The god of architects was standing behind his mahogany desk, his four hands splayed on the surface, his four heads craned forward, and his four sets of eyes wide open.

Aru held the key close to her chest, and as she did, it seemed to squirm not just in her hands, but also in her heart. A long-buried memory wormed through her thoughts, conjuring her sixth-grade semiformal dance. It was a big deal at her school. She’d been so excited to go, and her mom had even let her borrow one of her real gold bangles. But it had opened with a father-daughter dance, and Aru had panicked. She couldn’t stand the idea of leaning against the wall, clutching her cup of fruit punch, while her lack of a father shone on her like a spotlight. The moment the dance started, she pretended to slip and sprain her ankle. One of the teachers had driven her home in silence while Aru fought back tears the whole way. If she’d had a dad, would he have danced with her? Or at least driven her there and back, lecturing about boys the way dads did in movies?

You do have a father, whispered a voice in her head.

And he’d gone looking for the Tree of Wishes, just like she was about to do.

Aru abruptly dropped the key. Instantly, all those thoughts and feelings were sucked back into their usual hiding places, and her pulse slowed to normal. She made no move to pick it back up.

The sound of the key hitting the floor seemed to bring Vishwakarma back to himself. His eight eyes roved from the key to the Pandavas’ faces, and he crossed his four arms, a shrewdness sneaking into his gaze.

“What do you want with such a key, Pandavas?” asked Head One.

All five of them burst out at the same time.

Rudy pointed at his own face and said, “Prince, not Pandava.”

Brynne said, “I invoke architect-client confidentiality before I say anything to you!”

Aiden grumbled, “Technically, I’m not a Pandava—”

Mini cautiously said, “I’m not sure we should disclose that information. Sorry…”

But the key had unlocked something new and terrible within Aru: honesty.

“To save the Otherworld,” she said. “We only have five days.”

The rest of them fell silent as Vishwakarma’s eyes snapped to her. He seemed to look both past her and into her.

“The key is a very dangerous thing to use for that purpose,” said Head One.

“I think we know how to open a door,” retorted Brynne, but she cowered when the four heads swiveled in her direction.

“This is a living key, child,” said Head One. “Living things cannot help but be curious, to demand answers. There is a cost to opening doors that are meant to stay closed. Some have paid the price quite dearly.”

Aru shivered, remembering the key sparking her thoughts and feelings like someone had flashed a light into her brain’s dark corners.

“Are you going to tell the devas that we came here?” asked Brynne.

Mr. V regarded them silently for a moment before Head Three finally said, “No. I am a builder of grandeur, not an agent of destruction—”

“Well, then maybe you could build something grand for us—” started Aru.

“Do you think you are so clever?” asked Head Four in a rasping voice. “Perhaps