Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Quartet #1)(43)

Mini’s face turned white.

Then the Sleeper faced Aru. Something flashed in his eyes. “And you. Well. You and I might as well be family.”

“What are you talking about?” Aru blurted. “You’re crazy! I—”

He cut her off with a look. “Summon me just before the new moon, or I will do more than just freeze your loved ones.”

“Never!” said Aru. “We’ll fight if we have to, and—”

“Tsk-tsk,” said the Sleeper. “Before you even think about fighting me, know that I am gathering my own friends.” He gave them a cruel smile. “And trust me, you won’t like meeting them.”

He disappeared, taking Boo with him.


For a whole minute, Aru and Mini didn’t budge. Aru felt like she was spinning even though she was standing still.

Too many things were zipping through her head. Boo had fought for them just now. But once he had been the Pandavas’ enemy. Was that why he was being forced to help them in this life, in the form of a pigeon, no less? And then there was the fact that the Sleeper knew her mom—and Mini’s family. How was that possible?

Around them, the books began to run about, desperate to restore some order. Their pages ruffled like birds settling back down to sleep. Without the Sleeper covering it, the ceiling now looked like open sky. Bruised purple storm clouds drifted across it. Aru scowled. It didn’t make sense for the magic around them to look so beautiful when she felt so…ugly.

What was the point in even trying to get to the Kingdom of Death without Boo? The Sleeper was right. She had caused all this. And she had failed everyone.

“Why?” croaked Mini.

She didn’t have to say the rest.

Why had Aru lied about the lamp? Why had Boo hidden his past? Why was any of this happening to them?

Aru was tired. Tired of lying. Tired of imagining the world as it could be and not as it was. She was tired of making herself bigger and better in her own head when it was clear that she never would or could be in her real life.

She pulled the coin that she’d gotten from Adulthood out of her pocket. It had faded to dull silver.

Aru couldn’t meet Mini’s gaze. “I knew a little of what would happen if I lit the lamp—my mom had told me, but I didn’t really believe her—and I lit it anyway. What the Sleeper said was true: I did it to impress some classmates that I thought I wanted as friends.”

Mini’s shoulders shook. “My family is in danger because of you,” she said. She didn’t cry or yell. And that made it so much worse. “You lied about everything, didn’t you? Were you just laughing at me the whole time?”

Aru looked her in the eyes now. “What? No! Of course not—”

“Why should I believe you?” Mini cut in. “You said you thought I was brave. And that it wasn’t a bad thing to be the Daughter of Death.” She stared at Aru as if she could see straight through her. “You even told me that you wouldn’t leave me behind.”

“Mini, I meant all of that.”

“I don’t care what you say, because you’re a liar, Aru Shah.” Mini snatched the bite of Adulthood from Aru.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like I’m doing?” said Mini. She put the coin in her backpack along with the sprig of youth. “I’m finishing this. I have to try to save my family.”

“But you need me,” said Aru. She had that hot, stuffed-inside-a-sausage feeling that always happened before she cried. She didn’t want to cry.

“Maybe,” said Mini sadly. “But I just don’t trust you.”

Mini pressed the image of the last key on her hand, the wave of water shimmering across her fingers.

“Mini, wait—”

She stepped through a cut of light. Aru tried to grab her hand, but only found air. Mini had disappeared.

Aru was left standing by herself. The books around her tittered and gossiped. There was no place left for her here in the Otherworld. The Sleeper didn’t even think they were enough of a threat to bother with killing them. She should have felt grateful, but she just felt invisible. Useless. On top of that, Boo was hurt, and Aru had earned and lost a sister in a matter of days.

At the thought of days, Aru slowly turned over her hand. She felt like she was being handed back a quiz that she’d definitely failed and was doing her best to turn over the paper as slowly as possible.





What the heck was that?

Whatever number it was, it definitely wasn’t the number six. Mini would know what it meant. But Mini wasn’t here.

Aru was running out of days, and if ever there was a time to cry, it was now.

But she couldn’t. She was too tired. And angry.

She paced. There was no way she could go back to the museum. What would she do, sit under the elephant and wait for the world to end? And yet she couldn’t follow Mini, either. Mini didn’t want her help. Aru had nothing to offer. Her only natural gift was lying.

That wasn’t a very heroic quality.

Aru was nearly at the end of the library’s row A when a strange book caught her eye. It was small and bright green. It bounced up and down when she got close. The title was simple: Aru.

Curious, she reached for it and opened the front cover. There she was. There was a picture of her at school. And there was another picture of her waiting at home for her mom. She rifled through the pages, her heart racing. There was even an illustration of her and Mini at Madame Bee’s beauty salon. Aru was in the middle of talking. In the next painting, Aru was looking down triumphantly in the Court of the Seasons.