Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quartet #3) - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,40

and squeezed Mini’s shoulder as she walked toward the cramped service-and-maintenance entrance. “So we have to go through here?” she asked.

Rudy nodded. “It’s the only way to get into the House undetected. It’ll take us to December twenty-first, I think.”

“And they leave it unguarded like this?” asked Aru.

“I think they just assume nobody would ever want to go through the river tunnel.”

Aru looked at the dark, narrow entrance. This close, she thought she could hear the Yamuna River beneath them, cool and secretive. It raised the hairs on her arm.

“C’mon!” said Rudy.

Aiden looked to Aru. “Do you really think this is going to work?”

Aru almost reached for something silly to say, to make it less serious…less scary. But Aiden wasn’t the only one focused on her. Rudy’s eyes were full of hope. Mini’s gaze was nervous, but unwavering. Even Brynne, who normally wanted to lead the way, was waiting expectantly for Aru’s answer.

Aru squared her shoulders. “Of course the plan is going to work.”

The Plan Does Not Work

The maintenance entrance was no more than three feet wide and five feet high. Next to the tunnel opening, a little yellow sign read DO NOT DRINK THE WATER, which struck Aru as kinda weird. Who would want to drink river water anyway? Gross.

At first the group thought about entering in a single-file line, but that would be too risky if something went wrong and only one person could see ahead. So the plan became to send in a scout who could check things out and report back.

Rudy didn’t seem to have a clue about how long the passage was. Aru didn’t know much about the river herself other than it was named for a river goddess who once parted her waves to allow a baby god, Krishna, to escape when his evil uncle wanted to kill him. That sounded pretty dramatic, but Aru had learned that having one of your relatives want to put your head on a stake was par for the course in mythology.

“It must be short,” said Rudy, trying to feign casualness. “The House of Months isn’t far from here. Maybe it opens into a bridge—”

“Or maybe the tunnel ends suddenly,” cut in Aiden, “and you have to swim the rest of the way. Could be they only hire people from the aquatic parts of the Otherworld.”

Mini whimpered, and honestly, Aru wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of swimming through those dark waters either.

“Come on, guys,” said Brynne, rolling her eyes. “It probably just stretches over a stream.”

Aiden coughed lightly, which he’d started doing after Aru once threatened to electrocute him for beginning a sentence with Well, actually…

“What is it, Ammamma?” asked Brynne.

“The Yamuna River is the second-largest tributary that connects to the Ganges.”

“Meaning?” prompted Aru.

“Meaning it’s huge.”

“Well, one of us has to go in first to make sure it’s safe,” said Brynne.

“I agree completely,” said Rudy, taking a step back. “Be my guest—”

“Rudy,” said Brynne. “Since you’re the only one of us who actually has permission to be inside the House of Months, you have to go first. That way, if you get caught and sent back, we can troubleshoot what to do next.”

Rudy looked like he’d swallowed a bug. “But—”

“You’re a prince,” said Aiden. “I’m sure no one will mess with you.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m…a prince,” echoed Rudy sadly.

He looked from them to the entrance, then steeled himself. “Fine.”

He drew a gemstone out of his messenger bag. It looked like a chunk of quartz, but when Rudy held it tightly, it released the sound of raindrops gently hitting a windowpane. The white noise sanded down the sharp edges of Aru’s anxiety and slowed her shallow breathing. Without another glance, Rudy walked into the entrance, disappearing into the dark and humming to himself as he went.

Eventually, the sound of Rudy’s singing vanished, replaced with the rush of water.

“Rudy?” called Aiden.

No response.

The four of them exchanged worried glances.

“He should’ve been able to call back,” said Aiden nervously. “My mom is going to kill me if anything happens to him.”

“He’ll be fine,” said Brynne, crossing her arms.

But two minutes turned into three…then seven.

“I’m going in after him,” said Aiden finally. He touched the ends of his sleeves and his scimitars shot out. “Shah?”

Aru flicked her wrist and Vajra crackled to life. She brought it to Aiden’s weapons and electricity ribboned down his blades.

“You’ve got two minutes, then we’re going in after you,” said Brynne.

“I’m sure he just got distracted looking at his reflection,” said Aiden.

And in he went.

Once more they