Page 123 of Aru Shah and the End of Time

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.

“What’s so funny?” asked Mini.

“Shouldn’t we do something about her?” asked Aru. “Who was that?”

“That,” said Boo, “was your sister.”

Aru’s eyebrows skated up her forehead. “WHAT?” she and Mini said at the same time.

“But she…she’s a beast!” said Mini, shrinking.

“She’s abeast,” said Aru, admiringly.

“And she probably stole that!” said Mini. “She’s a thief!”

“You know what they say,” said Boo. “Can’t choose your family.”

Mini started knocking her head against the doorframe. “But wejustfinished a quest…” she moaned.

Aru looked beyond her, to the now empty sidewalk and the near-wintry light. The world still smelled like almost-Christmas. There was a hint of frost in the air. But there was something else, too…a current of magic that Aru could feel singing through her veins.

Beside her, Mini had begun to tug at her hair. The Death Danda, as if it were matching her mood, hopped and danced, then turned from a purple compact into an imposing stick at the blink of an eye. As for Vajra, the lightning bolt had stayed silent. Waiting. Lately it had stopped assuming the form of a ball. It now preferred to take on the shape of a slim golden bracelet around her wrist.

Boo soared near the ceiling, gleefully shouting, “I told you so! This is why you need to do your homework! Evil strikes whenever it pleases!”

In spite of herself, Aru smiled.

She was Aru Shah.

A reincarnated Pandava. Daughter of the god of thunder.

She had her best friend at her side, a slightly deranged pigeon, and the Otherworld’s knowledge to guide her. She could handle whatever came next.

“What are you thinking, Aru?” asked Mini.

Aru tapped Vajra at her wrist. The bracelet turned into a gigantic bolt of lightning that stretched from the floor to ceiling.

“I’m thinking that we should start working on a battle cry.”

“What aboutAAAAAAHHHH-don’t-kill-me?” suggested Mini.

Aru frowned. Okay, maybe she wasn’t 100 percent sure that they could handle whatever came next. But she waskind ofsure.

Which was way better than last time.