The Serpent's Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #1)(8)

“Somebody’s gonna have a terrible migraine!” Neel drawled as he dismounted.

I managed to slide ungracefully off the horse, holding my aching ribs. It was a relief to see the demon lying across my lawn, out cold.

“I was doing fine there without you, Mr. Late-to-the-Show!” I snapped at Neel. “You didn’t need to swoop in at the last moment and do the whole princely rescue shtick.”

Neel gave me a hard look that made my face warm. Then he looked at my torn sweatshirt and my now exposed right upper arm. He raised his eyebrows, but only said, “You’re welcome.”

Humiliation washed over me. I hated people seeing my scars. I tugged the torn material over the freakish mark and glared back at him, imagining little daggers coming out of my eyes.

With a most casual air, Neel walked up to the rakkhosh, plucked his own slobbery sword from the monster’s mouth, and then retrieved Lal’s sword from its nose. He handed the weapon to his brother, who was just waking up.

“Werewevictoriousbrother?” Lal slurred.

“Yup.” Neel got super busy cleaning off his slimy sword on a leafless hedge. “You completely kicked that demon’s butt, Bro.” Then he glanced up at me. “With a little help from this one.”

“Whatever.” I mopped up the blood on my cheek with my sleeve. I didn’t like being called “this one” almost as much as I didn’t like getting nearly decapitated with a sword. Even by somebody who saved my life.

Neel put his sword into a sheath I hadn’t noticed on his back, and petted his horse’s sleek nose. It was like he’d totally forgotten about the rakkhosh. And why was he lying to Lal and not taking credit for defeating the demon?

“Aren’t you going to … uh … kill it?” I asked in a low voice. Whether adults could see it or not, how I was going to explain an unconscious demon on our front lawn was beyond me.

Neel shook his head. “Yeah, I’m not really into the whole rakkhosh-killing business; that’s all a little too show-offy for me.” He nodded at his brother. “There’s only room for one storybook hero in this family.”

I saw something twitch in Neel’s face—what was that, jealousy? But that couldn’t be right. Neel was bigger and tougher than Lal and definitely—by most people’s standards anyway—cooler. Maybe it was that Lal was more movie-star handsome? But that didn’t seem right either. Boys were weird.

“Come on, let’s go!” Neel urged. “That demon ain’t going to sleep forever.”

I bit my lip, suddenly super unsure.

“Lady.” Lal’s words were gentler than his brother’s. “I know this is all confusing right now, but you need to trust us.”

I remembered Ma’s letter, but I hesitated, looking from one brother to the other, and then finally down at myself. As I did, I realized I was a mess. The scratch on my cheek was still bleeding a little, my now one-armed, hoodless sweatshirt was covered in demon snot, and I was pretty sure I smelled like a skunk after a hard night partying with some dung beetles.

Neel dug a grubby-looking handkerchief out of his pocket, but I shook my head. I didn’t meet his eyes, but swiped at my face again with my sleeve.

“I’m not a damsel in distress, you know; I can take care of myself.” Despite my words, my voice sounded shaky.

Neel’s mouth quivered a little, somewhere between a smile and a smirk. “Fine, suit yourself.”

“You must hurry and pack a few things,” Lal urged. “We should be on our way to find your parents.”

A cloud parted within me. Ma and Baba!

“Are they okay? You guys know where they are?”

“I thought you didn’t want our help,” Neel reminded me with an annoying raise of one eyebrow. “I thought you could take care of yourself.”

“Brother, for shame!” Lal scolded.

“That’s right.” A flash of anger shot across Neel’s face. “The shame of the family, that’s me.”

“That’s not what I—” began Lal before I interrupted the brotherly interchange.

“Could we get back to the part where you guys tell me where my parents are?”

“They have passed through the mouth of the beast into that other place,” Lal said.

I really, really hoped this “mouth of the beast” thing was some kind of metaphor. My heart hammered as I thought about the demon’s lolling tongue, its enormous teeth.

“Are you trying to tell me they got eaten by the rakkhosh?”

“No.” Neel turned his back to me as he tightened his horse’s saddle. “Not literally eaten.”

“How do you get eaten un-literally?”

“They have been transported into another dimension.” Lal spoke like he was reciting something he’d memorized. “These protective spells—like the one that was over your family—they are very unstable once they reach their expiration date.”

I knew he wasn’t talking about spoiled milk. “It’s my twelfth birthday,” I blurted. But the brothers nodded, like they already knew that. Everywhere in my body felt shaken and scared and raw. I needed some answers—now.

I made my voice as firm as I could. “What. Happened. To. My. Parents?”

“You wouldn’t understand. It’s too complicated to explain …” Neel grumbled.