ini gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. “Sheela must be terrified!” she said. “We have to go right now—”

On Aru’s wrist, Vajra blew off sparks of angry electricity. “I bet it was the Sleeper.”

“No way we’re letting that fly,” said Brynne rolling up her sleeves.

Boo hovered before them. “I know you want to go after her, but you can’t stray from your mission,” he said sternly. “You have only two days left to find the tree. No doubt the Sleeper’s army took Sheela to locate it because of her ability with plants—”

“Oh gods,” said Aru. A cold pit opened in her stomach. “They took the wrong twin! They meant to take Nikita, but they took Sheela!”

At this, Boo paused. Something flashed in his eyes, like irritation, and Aru couldn’t understand that. Why wasn’t he angry? Or worried? Or flapping about and shedding feathers?

“Where was she last seen?” asked Aiden.

Rudy held up his messenger bag. “I think I’ve got a gemstone here that helps locate—”

“No,” said Boo again. “If they get to the Tree of Wishes before you, then everything is lost, including Sheela. The best way you can help her is to find Kalpavriksha before they do.”

Aru set her jaw. She hated how coldly he’d said it, but Boo was right. Maybe the moment they found the tree, they could wish Sheela back to their side. And Nikita, too. Aru couldn’t imagine how she must be feeling now, with no parents, no Pandavas, and no sister.

“I’m going to coordinate with the Maruts right now. We’ll start the search for her,” said Boo, rising in the air. “Stay safe! I don’t want to lose any more feathers!”

And with that, he took off.

Aru watched him go, unease coiling at the back of her brain, though she couldn’t pinpoint why.

“We need to talk to the twins,” said Mini.

“You’re right,” said Aru.

But the only way to do that was through their dreams.

“I don’t think I can fall asleep after all this.”

“I can help with that,” said Rudy, pulling out something that looked like a moonstone wrapped with strings. It made a soft jingling sound.

“Maybe Sheela will tell us where she is,” tried Brynne hopefully.

“Maybe…” said Aru, but she didn’t think it would be that easy.

The three Pandavas headed back to their tent as Rudy released a song like snow falling lightly on the ground just before bedtime.

“You’ve got fifteen minutes,” said Aiden. “Then we’re waking you guys up.”

Aru, Mini, and Brynne got into their sleeping bags and linked hands.

“We’ll fix this,” Aru muttered sleepily as she immediately drifted off.

When Aru opened her eyes, she was in the dream studio where Nikita had previously made their outfits for the Crypt of Eclipses. Only now the walls and worktable were empty.

Nikita stood before them in a plain white robe.

“Where’s Sheela?” asked Brynne, turning around in a circle.

“Gone,” said Nikita, her eyes dull.

“What happened?” asked Brynne. “Have you heard from her at all?”

Nikita wouldn’t look at them. Aru noticed that her flowery tiara was missing, and there were scratches on her forehead, as if she’d torn it off.

“The Maruts were taking us to the House of the Moon by cloud carriage,” said Nikita, rubbing her arms.

Aru felt a new stab of fear. The storm deities—the defense guard of the entire heavens—had been protecting the twins, and still it hadn’t been enough.

“One moment Sheela was looking out the window, and the next, the door was ripped open and this…this…demon just plucked her out! It said she would lead them to victory.” Nikita shuddered at the memory. “The Maruts went after the demon, but it vanished. They don’t even know how it got into the heavens.”

“Did she get hurt?” asked Mini, her face paling.

Nikita screamed, “I DON’T KNOW!”

Oily vines—dark as shadows, and with thorns sharp as blades—emerged from the dream ground.

“I don’t know where my sister is! I saw them do something to her tracking symbol…. I don’t know if she can reach me in her dreams.” Nikita sobbed. “You have to go after her! Promise me you will!”

Nikita looked at all three of them as she said this, but her gaze lingered on Aru.

Aru faltered, Boo’s words zipping through her skull. “The best thing we can do right now is find the tree, and then we’ll find Sheela—”

“Liar!” hissed Nikita. “You don’t care about her at all!”

“That’s not true!” said Brynne. “Of course we do!”

“I thought you’d be different,” said Nikita. “I thought you’d be like…”

She clammed up, but Aru knew the word she wouldn’t say. Sisters. Even though it was just a dream, Aru felt the air squeezed out of her lungs.

“We’re doing everything we can,” said Aru. “We’ve already got the next clue to the wishing tree—we just have to take it to the chakora birds. If the Sleeper is looking for the tree, too, he’ll bring Sheela with him as he searches! I know it. Trust me—”

“NO,” said Nikita. “I’m done with that.” She turned on her heel.

“Wait!” yelled Brynne. “We can help!”

“Leave. Me. Alone.”

Nikita snapped her fingers, and Aru jolted up in her sleeping bag, gasping for breath and clutching her chest. Guilt racked her. But she had to believe they were doing the right thing. They could fix this. Nikita would see, and then she’d forgive them.

Would you forgive you? asked a nasty voice in Aru’s thoughts.

Mini looked over at her. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it,” she said quietly. “She’s grieving.”

Aru nodded, still feeling a little numb over the whole thing.

Brynne jumped to her feet, hauling up Aru and Mini. “No more clues,” she said, practically growling. “We’re getting to that tree. It’s the only way to find Sheela.”

For all the bravery Mini had been displaying ever since the House of Months, she could still be pretty jumpy. The Potatoes had been walking for nearly an hour in the forest when Mini hollered, “SPIDER!”

It turned out to be a bunch of twigs on the ground.

“Did you know there’s like forty thousand venomous spiders in the world?” said Aiden.

Mini whimpered.

Aru heard a sharp “Ow!” from Aiden. Brynne must’ve elbowed him in the ribs.

“She likes facts. I thought it would help!” he muttered.

At least they hadn’t encountered any bears. Aru suspected that was because Brynne was too scary and Mini too annoying.

As the five of them wandered, Aru noticed that the stars overhead were starting to fade. Still, they hadn’t yet found a chakora forest. In one of their lessons, Boo had told them that, in the old days, chakora forests were places where humans sometimes accidentally stumbled into the Otherworld at night. They’d see a ton of strange things, and then, as soon as the sun came up, be tossed out.

The Irish loved their Otherworld experiences so much, they made a habit of getting lost in the forests just for the stories, Boo had said.

In the distance, finally, she saw it: a shaft of moonlight breaking through the trees, spreading into a puddle of molten silver on the ground. The hairs on Aru’s arm prickled, and she recognized something familiar in the air.

Magic.

“That has to be it!” said Brynne excitedly.

Aru tapped her Vajra bracelet, and the lightning bolt zoomed into her hand. Now they could see that they were entering a grove of birch trees. In the glow, the bark looked like it was covered in frost. The sky was still dark overhead, and there was no sign of wildlife anywhere. Aru raised Vajra and then heard a high-pitched gasp.

“What was that?” asked Aru, swiveling around.

Brynne, Aiden, and Rudy pointed at Mini, who stared back at them, her brown eyes huge behind her glasses.

“That was not me!” she said.

One of the branches beside them bounced, and the five of them jumped back and turned toward the sound.

It was a chakora bird.

Aru had never seen one up close. It was lovely—the size and shape of a dove, with a faint glimmer to its feathers as if someone had outlined each of them with a trail of glitter. Its crest ruffled up, each plume as long as Aru’s hand and white as snow.

“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” it declared.

That was…a strange thing to hear from a bird. Aru remembered the line from her Shakespeare unit in English class.

“You,” it said with a sigh, its black eyes fixed on Aru. “You’re the most wondrous thing I’ve ever beheld! Refulgence incarnate! What is your name, fair bird? For I must declare that you, and only you, possess my heart.”