Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quartet #3) - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,95

the plants. The one cupped in her hands was now violet, and its ink-black roots waved around like the tentacles of an octopus. Nikita raised her head, grinning.

“This one knows!” she said. “But it has trouble talking…bit of a root lisp, so keep it quiet.”

Aru was severely offended.

HELLO, she wanted to say, did you not see the miraculous feat I just performed? Well, probably not. Aru continued to move her hand back and forth over the baby plants, who kept turning their heads to watch Vajra, hypnotized by the light. It was now totally silent in the plant nursery. Behind her, the mongoose statues took a step back, and Aru’s heart rate slowed. Soon, they’d be against the wall again and—

“WAHHHHH!”

A huge piercing wail rose from Aiden and Rudy’s section. Nikita held her plant closer and glared at the boys. “I said quiet! You’re scaring this one!”

A squat green potato-plant baby with one orange spike on the top of its head sat between Rudy and Aiden, howling.

Rudy picked it up and bounced it in his hands. “It’s your fault!” he said to Aiden. “It liked chewing on the jewel, and you took it away!”

“Because it could choke!” said Aiden, tossing one of Rudy’s shiny gems over his shoulder.

“They’re plants!”

“And that jewel could cut its roots!” said Aiden, snatching back the baby and awkwardly patting its spiky head. “Shh…”

“You’re so controlling!” said Rudy, reaching for the plant baby.

Aiden gripped it harder, giving Rudy his shoulder. “You’re reckless!”

“Uh, boys?” tried Aru as the ground began to tremble.

“Well you’re boring!” said Rudy. “At least I’m fun—”

“Fun? Fatal? What’s the difference to you?” demanded Aiden.

“AIDEN,” shouted Brynne.

He stopped and swiveled around. The statues all took one thunderous step forward. Aru wondered if she could just zap them backward with Vajra, but the moment she moved her wrist away, her baby plants started to wail.

In three more steps the yalis would be at the boundary.

“Stay where you are, Aru,” said Mini. “I’ll make sure they can’t get to us.”

She let loose her Death Danda, but the violet glare woke her plants and set them howling.

“Oh no!” said Mini. “Don’t be frightened! Remember the cardiovascular system? Wasn’t that fun?”

Her plants howled louder, as if saying It was not fun!

The yalis were now two steps away. Small pebbles quivered and tumbled on the ground and the statues’ feet sent up tiny dust storms when they moved.

“I’ve got this!” yelled Brynne.

She brandished her wind mace but only succeeded in kicking up the dust and sending it swirling around the plant-nursery bed. A chorus of wails sliced through the air. The statues towered over the babysitters, casting a cold shadow over everything. The Potatoes couldn’t leave the baby plants, but they’d be killed if they stayed put. The mongoose statues slowly raised their fists as each lifted a foot to take the final step….

“Almost have it!” yelled Nikita. “Just make it quiet!”

Aru was torn. Any movement from her would only make her plants scream louder and the statues move faster. Vajra, equally torn, kept shifting back and forth between a spear and a bracelet.

A sound cut through the plants’ crying and the statues’ creaking movements….

A song.

Aiden was singing a lullaby. All the baby plants began to nestle contentedly in the dirt. Some of them propped clumps of soil behind their fronds like loamy pillows. The yali statues stepped back.

Aru wasn’t even sure the song had lyrics. Aiden’s singing was like Rudy’s gift with the jewels. It summoned a feeling of contentment, like spending the whole day out on the lake or at the pool, drowsy with sunshine.

Brynne’s warning rang through Aru’s head: Don’t look at him. He’s using one of his apsara powers.

Aru tried her best, but the lure of the song was too strong…. She couldn’t help herself. She looked.

Aiden appeared backlit by the sun. An invisible wind stirred his dark hair, and the plants beneath him glowed.

She knew the stories about apsaras. How they were not just beautiful, but capable of drawing the whole world’s focus. It made them dangerous and sought-after. All this time, Aru had thought it was all just poetic exaggeration….

But when she gazed at Aiden now, the nursery fell away. Aru imagined the world was frosted over, snow spangling like diamonds, and she and Aiden were dancing the way people did in movies. Not a movie where the wind was blowing her hair and all the landscapes kept changing and people could somehow dance and sing at the same time, but dancing the