Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Quartet #1)(74)

“You will,” said her father. “You’ve already done your duty and stolen his heart. I assume he has told you the secret of how he might be defeated?”

Krithika looked away. “He told me out of trust. I would never betray it. I believe that the world could be different. I believe that our destinies aren’t chains around our necks, but wings that give us flight.”

Her father laughed gently. “Believe what you will. You’re a young woman, Krithika. Young, lovely, and smart. All I ask is that you don’t throw away your life.”

At this, Krithika’s eyes turned sharp. “Is it throwing away my life to do what I think is right?”

Her father stopped laughing. “If you insist on taking this path, you will jeopardize your family. You will defeat the purpose of the panchakanyas.”

“I believe we have more of a purpose than just breeding,” she whispered.

Her father’s face puckered. “And you will never be allowed to set foot inside this home again.”

At this, Aru’s mother flinched, but she still raised her chin. “It stopped being a home to me a long time ago.”

“Then on your own head be it,” said her father, slamming the door in her face.

The vision fast-forwarded. Her mother was wearing a hospital gown and cradling a baby: Aru. Slouched in a chair beside her was the Sleeper. He was wearing a T-shirt that said I’M A DAD! Across his lap lay a bouquet of flowers. Krithika watched him as he slept, looking between him and Aru.

Then she lifted her head toward the ceiling. “I love you both,” she whispered. “One day I hope you’ll understand that I’m doing what I must to free you. To free us all.”

The setting changed to the museum. It wasn’t as it looked now. The statues were different, except for the stone elephant, which had yet to be moved to the lobby. Everything was sparkling and new. A small sign on the door read: OPENING SOON TO THE PUBLIC! THE MUSEUM OF ANCIENT INDIAN ART AND CULTURE!

Krithika walked through the Hall of the Gods. White cloths covered all the statues, so it looked like a room filled with poorly dressed ghosts. In her hands, she carried something small and glowing. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

She stopped at the end of the hall, where the diya awaited. “I’m sorry,” she said. “So sorry. I never wanted this to happen. But know that I used your secrets not to destroy you, but to hold you. I bind you with my heart, the same heart that I gave to you willingly. I bind you with something that is not made of metal, wood, or stone. I bind you with something that is neither dry nor wet.”

She dropped the glowing thing—little more than a wispy ribbon—and Aru realized that it was the Sleeper she had just trapped in the lamp. Light burst and haloed around the antique before quickly fading away.

“I was supposed to destroy you, but I couldn’t. But I couldn’t risk Aru’s safety, either,” Krithika went on. “I’ll find an answer. I’ll examine every ancient site, read every treatise. And I will find a way to free both you and Aru. I promise.”


Mini yanked Aru and she drew back, sputtering and spitting. She sat up.

Mini clapped her on the back, hard. “Speak to me, Aru! If you’re dead, tell me! Just talk!”

Aru thought she was going to hack out her ribs, but finally she was able to take a deep breath.

“I’m alive,” she croaked.

“Oh, good,” said Mini. “I was going to do CPR.”

“You know how to do that?”

“Um, not really, but it looks pretty easy on TV.”

“Glad I dodged that one,” said Aru, laughing weakly.

She stared back at the pool. So much new information was racing through her head. Her mother had been the one to bind the Sleeper. And not because she hated him, but because she couldn’t bring herself to kill him.

Did he know that?

Aru didn’t think so, given that he’d called her mom a liar. Not that she blamed him. Being locked up with nothing and no one for eleven years had to be rough.

“Really, Mom?” she muttered. “You had to pick the demon dude?”

“I saw it all, too. The Sleeper was almost your home dad,” said Mini, pretending to gag.

Aru blinked. She remembered what the Sleeper had said to her in the Library: You and I might as well be family.

“Why couldn’t your mom have dated a nice doctor instead?”

“Why does it always have to be a doctor?”

“I dunno,” said Mini, shrugging. “That’s what my mom always says: ‘Go to school, study hard, then go to medical school, study even harder, and marry a nice doctor.’”

A minute of silence went by. For the first time in her life, Aru had nothing to say. What could she say after seeing those visions in the pool? It felt like her life had been completely readjusted.

Was this why she never saw her mom smile? Because she’d had to rebuild her whole life as if she were just some room in the Palace of Illusions? She’d done it not just for the Sleeper…but also for her?

Mini touched her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Not even a little bit.”

Mini gasped. “You didn’t even try to lie. Do you have a fever?” She smacked her hand against Aru’s forehead.

“Ow!”

“Sorry,” said Mini sheepishly. “My patient bedside manner needs some improvement….”