ru stared at the twins.

More Pandavas? Of course she knew two more existed. But did they have to show up right now?

Aru could just picture Boo fainting from dealing with all five of them at once. He’d already been complaining recently that he’d had to start taking pinion supplements because the Pandava sisters were making his feathers go gray. And he hadn’t appreciated Aru pointing out that he was already gray…because he was a pigeon.

“You haven’t been Claimed already, have you?” Mini asked the twins.

“Obviously not,” said Brynne, blowing her shoes clean with her wind mace. “If they had, they would’ve been acknowledged with a physical object.” She raised her weapon as an example and then turned to the twins. “Has your soul father ever made himself known to you in some way?”

Nikita and Sheela shook their heads.

Brynne lifted an eyebrow. “Then what makes you think you’re Pandavas? You might just be gifted. Besides, you’re way too young, and there’s no such thing as a Pandava who can tell the future.”

Nikita glowered. “There was no such thing as a girl Pandava, either.”

Aru couldn’t help herself. Under her breath she muttered, “Zing!”

Brynne rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Aru, they’re, like…eight.”

“Ten!” retorted Nikita.

“Gasp,” said Brynne drily.

A crown of bloodred roses wove around Nikita’s tiara, sprouting thorns aimed in Brynne’s direction.

“Okay, okay,” said Aru, stepping between them. “Let’s put the spiky flowers away—”

“Poisonous flowers,” corrected Sheela, patting the air above the blossoms’ heads.

“And you’re letting them get that close to your skin?” said Mini. “But you could—”

“At this point we could all die,” interrupted Aiden. “Maybe they’re Pandavas, maybe they’re not—the Council will reveal the truth. The big question is: What are we going to do about these guys?” He swung his scimitar to indicate the four rakshasas passed out around them.

Aru felt a knot form in her heart. Rakshasas could absorb experiences even while in an unconscious state. If these were allowed to go free, important information could get back to the Sleeper. The last thing Aru wanted was for their enemy to find out that two potential new Pandavas had joined their team. Especially since one of them knew a prophecy about him.

Another cold wind brushed against her skin, and Aru shivered as she looked around. It was fully dark now. If the Sleeper was expecting his soldiers back, he would’ve noticed they’d been gone too long.

He might even send more.

They had to move. And fast.

“We should bring the rakshasas to the Court of the Sky,” said Aru. “Let the Council deal with them.”

“Bring enemies into our territory?” said Brynne. “No way, Shah!”

“But they know too much,” said Mini, chewing her lip.

Brynne grumbled. Which was Brynne for All right, fine.

“True,” said Aiden. “But even if we want to bring them back, how do we do that? The Night Bazaar has serious safety restrictions. The twins are under twelve, so they can’t legally travel through a portal without clearance from the Council. Which leaves a magical dead zone as our only option to access the Otherworld. And who knows how far away one of those is—”

“One point one five kilometers,” said Brynne, holding up two fingers. Being the daughter of the god of the wind meant that she could always call up exact coordinates when they needed them. “Which is easily a ten-minute walk.”

“Magical dead zone,” repeated Aiden, massaging his temples. “That means Vajra won’t work there. Neither will Dee Dee or Gogo. Brynne is strong, but it’s not like she can carry four fully grown rakshasas by herself.”

“Challenge accepted,” said Brynne, rolling up her sleeves.

“Challenge not accepted!” said Mini. “You could strain yourself, and there’s no way to secure them.”

They stared at the rakshasas for a moment, and then Sheela cleared her throat and poked her twin in the arm.

“Fine,” said Nikita dramatically. “I guess.”

Sheela beamed.

“I’ll take it from here,” said Nikita, stepping forward.

She stretched out her hand and green light radiated from her fingertips. The sidewalk trembled as weeds between the cracks grew taller, multiplied, and spread outward until they had formed four rectangular cushions on the ground. Fluffy silver dandelions—or “wishing weeds,” as Aru liked to call them—sprang free from the dirt, quadrupled in size, and rolled under the cushions to form wheels. Vines snaked out from Nikita’s tiara and grew several feet long before they snapped off and wound around each of the rakshasas, binding them tight. Then the vines dragged the unconscious bodies onto the trolleys. Lastly, all four of Nikita’s trolleys grew sturdy pulling-ropes that bloomed with small pink and white flowers.

“Voilà,” said Nikita smugly. “Transportation, protection, and, naturally, a touch of beauty.”

Ten minutes later, Aru found herself deeply concerned for the citizens of Atlanta. Not one person seemed to bat an eyelash at the four kids lugging masses of human-shaped vines through the streets of downtown.

“Is anyone else alarmed that no one is alarmed?” asked Aru.

Brynne scoffed. “I live in New York. Trust me, this is nothing.”

“Maybe they can’t see us?” asked Mini. “It is nighttime.”

“Or they’re choosing not to,” said Aiden. “It would mess up their idea of reality, so they just ignore it.”

As they crossed a street corner where a bunch of bikers revved their engines, Aru decided to test Mini’s theory. She called out, “Nice ride! I’ve got a demon!”

“Don’t we all!” hollered one guy with an impressive neon-green mustache. “Have a good one!” And he zoomed off.

Aru turned, ready to make a joke, when she saw the twins huddled together.

“Honestly, Nikki, it’s fine,” whispered Sheela.

“No, it’s not fine!” said Nikita. “We’ve wanted this for so long, and it just—”

Abruptly, she got quiet. When Nikita raised her voice, the red roses of her crown curled into tight buds, the way someone presses their mouth closed when they’ve said something they didn’t want to.

Aru looked from Brynne to Mini and Aiden. For a moment they all stopped hauling the rakshasas.

“Sheela, are you still feeling sick?” asked Mini gently, holding out her hand.

Sheela looked up at Mini, shock giving way to a surprised smile. Cautiously, Sheela raised her own hand, but Nikita stepped in front of her twin.

“I can take care of her,” snapped Nikita.

“But, Nikki—” Sheela started.

“No!” said her twin.

“You know, I get the whole no new friends policy, but we’re actually on your side,” said Aru.

Sheela smiled up at her, but Nikita scowled.

“I’ve heard that before,” she said.

Walking a few paces ahead of them, Brynne pointed across the street to a large concrete overpass. “The entrance to the dead zone is over there, in the shadows.”

Aru eyed the dark area beneath the bridge. In the glare of a nearby streetlight, she could see that discarded blue plastic containers and torn sleeping bags littered the ground in front of it.

“Um, has anyone ever been to a magical dead zone before?” asked Mini.

“I have,” said Aiden. “Once.”

“I saw the dead zone in your dream,” said Sheela quietly.

“You’ve seen our dreams?” asked Aru, panicking.

For a moment, she wondered if the twins knew about her constant nightmare…the one where she betrayed everyone she loved, just as the Sleeper had predicted.

But Sheela shook her head. “Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone about how, in your dreams, Aiden—”

NOPE! blared an alarm in Aru’s head. NOPE, NOPE, NOPE!

“Didn’t your parents teach you better manners?” demanded Brynne. “That’s so rude.”

Sheela clammed up. Her chin fell. “Our parents are—”

But Nikita shot her a silencing look, and before Aru could ask, Aiden gestured them forward.

“Let’s cross now, while we can.”

Pulling the rakshasa wagons behind them, they jogged across the road and stopped in a patch of yellow light cast by the streetlamp. The light ended abruptly five feet away from the shadow of the overpass, as if someone had cut it with a knife. Overhead, the concrete bridge trembled from the rush of cars. The humid air smelled…unstirred, as if it had been left alone too long. Usually, the air near a magic portal was warped in a certain way, or there was a thrumming sensation, as if someone had plucked a violin string and the ripples of sound never quite died. Aru detected none of that.

Vajra wriggled uncomfortably on her wrist.

“We’ll be in the Otherworld soon,” Aru assured her lightning bolt.

Nikita pointed at the garland rope Brynne was pulling. “Don’t break it, ’cause I won’t be able to fix it once we go through.”

Aru looked over her shoulder at the vine-wrapped conked-out demon on her trolley. A tendril of fear wound through her. How much longer would the rakshasas stay unconscious?

As the group walked forward, the long shadow of the overpass transformed. It scrunched up, turned into a square, and then peeled itself off the ground and became a sharply defined door.

Beside Aru, Sheela’s eyes gave off a faint, icy glow. “We should go through,” the twin said. Her voice sounded funny, as if a second voice had been layered on top of it. “Now.”