ru woke up to Brynne dangling a package over her head. Mini stood behind her, shoulders bent and face clouded over with worry.

“We got a delivery from the heavens,” said Brynne stonily.

The girls untied the brown silk ribbon and tore open the gold wrapping paper to find a carved white soapstone box. As they looked for a way to open it, Mini asked the question that weighed on all of their minds: “What are we going to do about the twins? They can’t even talk to their parents, and now they’re being held in Amaravati, and they can’t…” Mini trailed off, sniffing loudly.

Fury rushed through Aru. No wonder Nikita acted the way she did. She would’ve been the same way if everything had been taken from her.

“Once we have the tree, we can fix everything,” said Brynne. “No more war. No more doubt—”

“No more nightmares,” finished Aru.

The box sprang open, revealing three gleaming outfits, and a letter tucked inside a fold. Brynne pulled it out, and a slow smile spread across her face as she showed it to Aru and Mini. It looked like instructions, and right on top, in neat black script, was a single line:

Thanks for turning on the light.

Aru grinned.

Fine, she thought. Maybe little sisters weren’t so bad after all.

“We. Look. Awesome,” said Aru, inspecting her enchanted pants.

They were bright-yellow silk with glittery white swirls sewn on the hem. According to Nikita’s notes, the embroidery was made out of sticky threads that could detach and form a nearly unbreakable rope.

Brynne had on a fuzzy sky-blue jacket designed to act as a parachute—while also keeping her comfortable in any temperature. Mini wore a plum-colored sweater and skirt that not only could serve as armor but also coordinated perfectly with Dee Dee.

“Now can we go?” shouted Aiden.

He and Rudy had been forced to wait for them in the hallway.

“Yes, yes,” said Aru.

The boys trudged into the living room. Rudy stepped back. For today’s ridiculous outfit, he was wearing a white denim jacket, a white tee, white jeans, and blindingly white high-tops. Beside him, Aiden looked like an elegant shadow.

Rudy looked them over. “You guys almost look as good as me.”

“Thanks!” said Mini brightly, but then she frowned once she caught on that it was a typical Rudy compliment. Which is to say, it wasn’t one.

Aiden, for his part, didn’t say anything. He just looked from Brynne to Mini and, finally, Aru. His gaze seemed to linger on her a fraction too long. Long enough that Aru wondered if maybe she should’ve put up her hair or borrowed Mini’s eyeliner or—

“Aren’t you going to agree we look awesome?” she blurted out, lifting her chin.

On one level, Aiden’s opinion didn’t matter. Aru thought she looked awesome and her sisters thought the same, and that was enough. But another part of her wanted him to notice that she wasn’t just some kid scuttling around with a lightning bolt and making Sméagol sounds. That she was a demigod and looked the part.

“You look…” he started to say, before suddenly glancing away.

Aru leaned forward, her skin prickling, but she knew it wasn’t Vajra this time.

“Yeah?”

“Fine,” said Aiden flatly.

Fine. Something behind Aru’s chest sagged a little with hurt, but she shrugged it off. Well, okay, then, she thought, and marshaled everyone to the door.

“Time to make like a tree and—”

“Oh, Aru, please don’t,” groaned Mini.

“I can’t take it,” said Brynne with a sigh.

“LEAVE!” Aru cackled.

Using her ability to conjure exact coordinates, Brynne led them to a busy crosswalk. Around them, bright-yellow taxis honked and scooted their way down the streets. Tall trees swayed beside glossy, luxurious storefronts showing mannequins draped in jewels and silks and lots of other stuff Aru couldn’t imagine actually wearing because it looked super itchy. Across the street lay the alley they were looking for, only it was blocked by a hot dog stand whose owner was fast asleep.

Brynne rubbed her stomach and sniffed the air hungrily. “I could really go for a hot dog.”

“How can you be hungry when we just ate breakfast?” asked Mini.

“I’m a growing girl,” said Brynne daintily.

Aiden rummaged through his camera bag and tossed Brynne a protein bar.

“Woot!” She grinned. “Thanks, Ammamma.”

Rudy looked deeply horrified. “Hot dogs?” asked Rudy. “That’s messed up.”

“They’re not actual dogs,” said Brynne.

“Oh, so they’re like mutant chimera creatures that you just call dogs,” said Rudy, nodding as if this were completely sensible.

“No,” said Brynne.

“Now I’m confused,” said Rudy, shaking his head.

They ventured into the alley, which was crammed with trash and (at least) two dead rats. Aru wasn’t usually squeamish, but hello? Her new yellow pants had not been made for this.

“This is the entrance to the super-fabulous House of Months?” asked Aru.

“Trust me,” said Rudy.

Mini turned to face the opening of the alley. The hot dog owner was still asleep. A couple of people walked by toting their small dogs in huge purses or staring down at their phones.

“Adrishya,” said Mini.

She swiped Dee Dee through the air as if she were drawing a curtain, and a veil of violet light shimmered down between them and the street. When Aru looked through the force field, it was like glimpsing the city beneath water. The images wavered and seemed far away—even the sound had dulled.

Rudy slowly rolled up his sleeves. Aru noticed, for the first time, a pattern of scales around his left wrist. He waved his hand in a complicated gesture.

“I, Prince Rudra of Naga-Loka and frequent visitor to the House of Months”—he mumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like with my mom—“hereby request passage to see the guardian of a day.”

Guardian of a day sounded pretty epic. Yesterday, Rudy had told them that the being who allowed or denied visits to the House of Months was the embodiment of a particular day, though not necessarily the current date. This struck Aru as rather strange. What would a day guardian even look like? Would Friday the thirteenth of October be really creepy? And what about National Cat Day?

Suddenly, the air right in front of Rudy shimmered and rippled.

A large silver door materialized before him. It was engraved with the words FEBRUARY 3 and the notation: THE DAY UPON WHICH RESENTMENT OF THE NEW YEAR SETS IN, AND ALL THOUGHTS OF PERSONAL IMPROVEMENT SLOWLY LEACH FROM ONE’S BRAIN.

Well, thought Aru, that’s cheerful.

In the center of the door appeared a gigantic knocker in the shape of a lion, his mouth pulled back in a gruesome snarl. From his teeth hung a slender iron ring that Rudy lifted and dropped with a bang. At his knock, the lion blinked awake. He worked his jaw back and forth and then spat out the iron circle with a decisive Plah! The circle clattered to the ground, and the lion smacked his lips and glared at them with bleary silver eyes.

“Infants summoned me?” huffed the door lion, before shutting his eyes. “You’re not our clientele. Please go.”

“Excuse me, but I’m a prince,” said Rudy.

The door lion cracked open one eye. “What a novelty.”

“I demand that you let me and my entourage in.”

“I demand meh, meh, meh,” mocked the lion. “No! Now go away!”

“All righty, let’s have some words,” said Brynne, and she pushed up the sleeves of her jacket.

“Ooh, a threat!” said the lion. “What are you going to do, jamb me? Attempt to make me board out of my mind so I let you through? Let me remind you that your entry hinges on my decision.”

Brynne shouldered past Rudy, her hand going to the blue choker at her neck that could immediately turn into her wind mace. Aru grabbed her arm and sent a mind message: If our cover is blown, so is this mission.

Brynne grumbled, but she held still.

The door lion gloated. “See? You can’t get a handle on me.”

Aru was about to steamroll into the door when something happened….

Mini giggled, a smile breaking over her face.

The lion paused, his silver eyes going wide. If he could have tilted its head curiously to the side, he probably would have.

“I made you laugh,” said the knocker, astonished.

Mini looked at her companions somewhat guiltily. “What? It was funny.”

“I’m funny?” echoed the lion. He looked off to the side, as if scanning through all his past interactions. “Nobody’s ever said that to me before. It’s always Open up! Or Shut up! Do you know someone once used my snout as a coat hanger? A coat hanger!”

Aiden crossed his arms, his hand on his camera. “Was it a nice coat, at least?”

The lion considered this. “It was fine, I suppose.”

If this door didn’t like them, Aru realized, they’d never get to the Crypt of Eclipses. An idea came together in her head.

“Wait a minute,” she said loudly. “You’re the door lion of February third?” She took a step back, as if rereading the engraved sign.

The lion’s whiskers twitched. “You’ve heard of me?”

“Of course we’ve heard of you!” said Aru, turning to her friends. “Right? Weren’t we all just talking about how we wished we had a door like you?”

Aiden blinked, then said, “Yeah! We…uh, we totally said that.”

Mini nodded eagerly. Brynne continued to glare.

“I’ve always been sad that my front door doesn’t have a face,” said Aru.

The lion gasped. “No! The indignity! Poor door. How does it bite intruders?”

“It, um, closes really hard on their fingers?”

The lion nodded. “Very sensible.”

“You know, you’re kinda famous, door,” said Aru, shooting a pointed look at Rudy.

Rudy cleared his throat. “It’s true, O benevolent…door.”

The cheeks of the silver lion darkened, as if he was blushing. “Well, I—”

“In fact,” said Aiden, lifting his camera, “could I take your picture?”

“Mine?” asked the door. “I…I…Why, yes! Yes, you may!”

Aiden counted down from three, and a bright flash went off. “Thanks!” he said. “It’s too bad we can’t do some shopping at the House of Months. Maybe we could’ve found at least something that reminds us of you.”

The door lion’s whiskers drooped. “Well, I mean, I suppose I could grant you one peek….”

“That would be very generous of you,” said Mini sincerely.

The lion preened a bit and then the door swung open. As they filed inside, Aru paused to bow at the knocker, who faked a huge yawn.

“It’s really nothing,” he said loftily, but he could not help but grin back at Aru.

The passageway beyond the door was lit with constellation chandeliers. The walls on either side appeared like sheets of pristine ocean dotted with moon jellyfish, their delicate frost-colored tendrils trailing behind them. The floor felt like a lush carpet but was actually packed moss striped with bright wildflowers.

“Where the sky, sea, and stars meet,” explained Rudy, gesturing around him. “Oh, and by the way, you’re welcome for me getting us in here.”

Aru rolled her eyes, trying to ignore him as she gazed up at the world they’d entered. Magic still sometimes caught Aru by surprise. She loved how it made her feel small. Not like she was insignificant, but like the world was so much vaster and more colorful than she could ever imagine. Like she belonged to something greater than herself.

And yet, all that beauty could be so easily destroyed.

In five days, the treasure will bloom and fade,

And all that was won could soon be unmade.

They only had four days left. If the Sleeper won, it wasn’t just the Otherworld that would be destroyed. It was families, too.

Aru stuffed her hands in her pants pockets, thinking of the twins and their mother’s face when she had said I would do anything not to leave you. She felt a sharp wrench behind her ribs, as if the key from Mr. V were back in her hands. Aru’s mother loved her, but she’d never said anything like that to her. And as for her dad…Well, he’d had no problem leaving her behind and didn’t care that she was his kid. The Sleeper was a monster, she knew that—so then why did she want so badly to know if there had ever been a moment where he would’ve fought to keep her safe the way the twins’ mother had?

Aru pushed the thought away as she walked on the path of wildflowers. A few paces down, the floor transformed into glass and the hall divided into two forks. On the left was a tunnel with a sign over it that read STAFF AND MAINTENANCE ONLY. Through the floor on that side, Aru could make out the dark, rushing waters of the Yamuna River. The passage looked too narrow for more than one person to fit through at a time.

On the right side was an ornate, gaping archway, and beyond it…the House of Months.

Aru had never seen anything like it.

It looked more like a mall-meets-a-skyscraper than a house. It was clearly divided into twelve layers, with one floor dedicated to each month. The bottom level was December, and through the windows, Aru could see racks of gowns crafted from gleaming ice and delicate silver. Stacked atop it was November, with drapes made of autumn leaves the color of old gold. Then October, piled with pumpkins, and September, sporting trees heavy with apples. Beyond that, Aru couldn’t see. The building was too high, and she’d have to go through the archway get a better view. Rudy seemed to guess her thoughts. He stepped in front of her, shaking his head.

“That archway documents every person and creature that walks through,” he said.

“And we’ve got to stay undercover,” added Brynne grimly.

Aiden kept staring at the House of Months, his camera already in hand. “But where’s the Crypt of Eclipses?”

“In an eclipse?” answered Rudy in a tone that clearly meant duh.

“How do you…hide a place…in an eclipse?” asked Aru.

“It travels around,” explained Rudy. “Each of those floors includes all the days in a month. Whichever day held the last total lunar eclipse, that’s where the Crypt is. Simple.”

Sure, thought Aru, simple.

“When was the last lunar eclipse?” asked Aiden.

“January twentieth and twenty-first,” said Mini. “It was a super-blood-wolf moon.”

“January twentieth and twenty-first,” said Rudy at the same time. “I think the mortals called it a werewolf’s doom or something weird.”

“Super-blood—” tried Mini halfheartedly before she gave up.

“Mini just said that,” pointed out Aru.

“Oh,” said Rudy. “Didn’t hear.”

“Or didn’t listen,” said Mini sadly.

Brynne reached out and squeezed Mini’s shoulder as she walked toward the cramped service-and-maintenance entrance. “So we have to go through here?” she asked.

Rudy nodded. “It’s the only way to get into the House undetected. It’ll take us to December twenty-first, I think.”

“And they leave it unguarded like this?” asked Aru.

“I think they just assume nobody would ever want to go through the river tunnel.”

Aru looked at the dark, narrow entrance. This close, she thought she could hear the Yamuna River beneath them, cool and secretive. It raised the hairs on her arm.

“C’mon!” said Rudy.

Aiden looked to Aru. “Do you really think this is going to work?”

Aru almost reached for something silly to say, to make it less serious…less scary. But Aiden wasn’t the only one focused on her. Rudy’s eyes were full of hope. Mini’s gaze was nervous, but unwavering. Even Brynne, who normally wanted to lead the way, was waiting expectantly for Aru’s answer.

Aru squared her shoulders. “Of course the plan is going to work.”