Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quartet #3) - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,86

hissed.

Aru felt a low buzzing in her skull, as if Brynne was trying to get a message to her, but something about the House of Saturn confused it.

“I—I can’t send mind messages,” said Aru.

She concentrated her energy, trying to push words toward Mini and Brynne, but it was as if something had built a wall between them.

“What’s happening?” asked Mini, rubbing at her temples.

Brynne hissed again.

“In snake, that means Shut up,” said Rudy helpfully.

Aru rolled her eyes. “We’re being quiet!”

Aiden fixed Aru with a pointed look, and she went back to tiptoeing over a pit of broken crochet needles, a candle-making kit, three record players, and a paint-by-numbers set. She hoped the mind-message problem would clear up the moment they got back to the human world.

“What a dump,” said Aru, grimacing as she shook a bit of dried paint off her sneakers. “Has he never heard of recycling?”

Just then, a silver beetle scuttled over her foot. “Bug!” she whisper-yelped.

“What’d you expect with this mess?” asked Mini. But she shuddered too when the silver beetle moved closer to her.

By now, the door was within sprinting distance. Brynne slithered faster. Aru felt a reckless hysteria bubbling up inside her chest. This was it. Once they were back in the mortal world, everything would be fixed. Nikita would wake up and help them. Aru cast a sidelong glance at the twin. In sleep, the girl was still frowning, but her crown of flowers had been restored.

A loud Honk! Honk! broke the silence of Saturn’s realm.

“Someone’s here!” said Aiden.

Brynne slithered under a magazine for cover. Mini cast an invisibility shield over the rest of them just as Rudy’s song abruptly went quiet.

They held their breath as they looked out over the littered lawn, trying to figure out where their attacker was coming from…but everything remained still. Maybe it had just been a sound from one of the broken instruments? Maybe a battery was dying out?

Mini lowered the shield. Brynne transformed back to normal. Aru’s heart pounded in relief.

Rudy sighed. “Well, that was close—”

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

To the left of the Door of New Day, at a jet-black gate that marked the edge of Saturn’s mansion, a pale-skinned yaksha wearing a bowler hat rang the doorbell three times. He dropped a takeout box and, without bothering to wait, hopped back into his small silver chariot and sped away as fast as he could.

The ground began to shake beneath them. Brynne motioned frantically for them to run toward the Door of New Day, but the ground was bouncing too wildly and it knocked them off their feet. From inside the palace, a friendly voice rang out.

“Wow! I’m amazed! You know, I’d heard you guys were fast, but two seconds is pretty quick even for Uber Eats’ Celestial Division.”

Shani, Lord of Saturn, chuckled to himself as he emerged from his halls. Aru had never considered what it would be like to meet a planet…and in all her imaginings of Saturn, she’d always thought of it possessing a giant ring like a frozen Hula-Hoop.

Shani did not have a Hula-Hoop.

Instead, he was dressed in a plaid silk nightgown with house slippers shaped like ducks with little mirrors affixed to their foreheads. His skin was a deep violet flecked with stars. But it was his head that threw her off.

Whereas most people would raise their heads to meet you straight in the eye. Shani looked only at the ground. He seemed to frown at his feet, and Aru realized he must be looking at their reflections in his duck slippers.

“Wait…you’re not the delivery guys, are you?” he asked. He waved a bag of coins. “Otherwise, I don’t have enough for the tip.”

And I— Oop!

“We’re definitely not the delivery guys,” said Aru.

“Good!” said Shani, pocketing the coins. “So what are you doing here? Have you come to fix the sink?”

“What’s wrong with it?” asked Mini.

“Well, it’s making this strange growling noise—”

“We’re not here about the sink,” cut in Brynne. “We’re trying to get to the Door of New Day. We’re on urgent business on behalf of the heavens.”

“Urgent business?” asked Shani, perking up. “Do tell! I’ve been a bit out of the loop, unfortunately.”

“We’re in somewhat of a rush, sorry,” said Aru.

Shani paused. “Wait a moment. Young, female, high-pitched voices…access to the Otherworld and the heavens…urgent business…Are you…Are you the Pandavas?”

Brynne lifted her chin. “We are.”

“And there’s also me?” added Rudy resentfully. “A naga prince.”

“And me,” said Aiden, raising his hand. “Not a prince. Or a Pandava. Well, kinda, but it’s more