Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Quartet #1)(90)

“Are you coming over tonight? My dad is making pancit!” said Mini excitedly. “It’s my favorite.”

Aru wanted to, but it was the last night before her mom was leaving to go on another archaeological dig. They still hadn’t talked about what had happened between her and Aru’s dad. Sometimes Aru could feel her mom attempting to get the words out before her shoulders slumped. It meant a lot that at least she was trying. Aru still didn’t like it when her mom went away, but now they both tried harder to enjoy the time that they did have together.

“I’ll call every day, and you’ll have Sherrilyn, too,” her mom had promised. “But you have to understand that I’m doing this for you.”

“I know,” Aru had said.

And she’d meant it. Her mom was insistent that somewhere out there, just waiting to be found, was an ancient object that might help them defeat the Sleeper once and for all.

“How do you know he won’t come after you?” Aru had asked.

“Trust me, chuckloo,” her mother had said, sighing. “I’m the last person he wants to see.”

Aru knew how important it was for her mother to continue searching. She understood now that her mom wasn’t only securing artifacts for the museum, but also trying to secure their future. She was looking for answers…and a way to fix her mistakes. Still, it was hard for Aru to go to Mini’s house and see how she was fussed over and coddled and always tucked in at night….

Love looked different to everyone.

Boo perched on Aru’s feet. “Why aren’t you reading poetry or practicing war strategies? You’ve got to be diligent with your training!” he said.

“Boo, it’s Saturday.”

“The Sleeper is gone, but not defeated. Who knows what kind of trouble he’s getting up to?” Boo said. Mini poked him with the Death Danda, laughing when his feathers ruffled and he hooted like an angry owl. “Fiendish child!”

Boo preened himself, taking dramatic pauses to glare at them every now and then. “He’s called the Sleeper for a reason. It could be a long time before you hear from him again, that is how well he hides. But you will hear from him again. Until then, other beings, darker and more dangerous than the ones you faced, will come out and try to test their strength.”

“Killjoy,” muttered Mini.

Aru rubbed her shoulder. It was still sore from their last training exercise. And she was pretty sure Hanuman had sprained her neck just by patting her head.

“Can I live? It’s Saturday!” complained Aru, frustrated.

“You won’t if you don’t take this seriously!”

“We are taking this seriously!” said Aru. “In the stories, the Pandava brothers partied half the time and fought the other half. I’m just keeping with tradition.” She turned to Mini. “I can’t come over today, but how about tomorrow? Should I bring Twizzlers or Twix bars?”

“Twizzlers,” said Mini.

“Absolutely ungrateful—” started Boo.

This was his favorite speech. Aru almost had it memorized. Ungrateful children! The gods would be ashamed to see that this is how you choose to apply yourselves!

But just then, there was a howl outside the museum.

Mini bolted upright. “Did you hear that?”

The girls ran to the window. Boo fluttered after them. Since it was December, Aru had to rub some frost off the latch in order to open it. Aru leaned out, scanning the street.

On the sidewalk, a massive wolf paced restlessly. It was carrying something in its mouth: a heavy golden bow and arrow. No passersby on the sidewalk took any notice.

Aru had a bad feeling about that bow and arrow. It glowed with its own light, the way Dee Dee and Vajra did. Was it a celestial weapon?

“Um, hello?” called Mini. “Giant wolf!”

“Why are we the only ones that can see it?” asked Aru. “Should we go down?”

Vajra flew into her hand, shifting between knife and sword and arrow. Not that Aru could do anything with any of those weapons.

“What’s it holding?” asked Mini.

Right before their eyes, the wolf changed shape. A blue light burst and crackled all around it. The next instant, it became a girl. She was taller than any guy in Aru’s class, but still looked about twelve years old. She had hazel eyes, tan skin, and long brown hair. She clutched the bow.

“That’s not good,” said Mini.

The girl paused, sniffing the air. Was she smelling…them?

A noise must have startled her, because she twitched and turned into a blue bird. She picked up the bow in her beak and flew off.

Downstairs, the stone elephant began to blare its warning siren. It was the Otherworld’s call signal. A call for help.

Aru had the sneaking suspicion that the stolen item everyone was looking for just might be a golden bow.

“How could no one else have seen that?” demanded Mini.

Aru had no idea. But then she looked across the street and spotted someone standing in the window: Aiden. From his surprised expression, it was obvious he had observed the wolf-girl-bird, too.

But that didn’t make any sense. Why would he be able to see something from the Otherworld? Aru frowned as she shut the window and pulled the drapes down.

“This should be entertaining,” said Boo, chuckling.