Page 40 of Aru Shah and the End of Time

A Trip to the Grocery Store

Something touched Aru as she was flung through the Otherworld. Claws scraping lightly against her. Aru didn’t feel safe. She had the prickly-neck sensation that someone was watching her. She looked down and saw something that nearly froze her blood:

The end coil of a thick black tail that was studded with stars.

It slithered over her feet. All the while she murmured, “Don’t look, don’t see, there’s no such thing as me.”

The whole thing lasted maybe a minute. All the while, Aru heard the Sleeper’s voice in her head.Just like your mother. Slippery and deceitful.

How could the Sleeper possibly have known her mom? Did that mean Mini’s mom was a hero, too? Not for the first (or last) time, Aru wondered why all this had been kept from her. How come Mini got to know and she didn’t?

Light broke over her. Aru looked around to see that she was standing in another parking lot. Mini and Boo were there, too. She couldn’t tell what city they were in, but it was a little warmer than the last place. Here, autumn gilded the world. The sky was bright, and the clouds seemed closer, as if they were weighed down by unspent rain.

“Why do we always end up in parking lots?” asked Mini.

“Better than in the middle of a road,” said Boo.

They were standing in front of a Costco. Bright red grocery carts were lined up next to bales of hay. The trees burned scarlet and saffron, so vivid they looked as if someone had covered each leaf with gold foil.

Aru’s palm itched. She glanced at her hand. The number eight had disappeared, replaced by a new, shining mark:

“What the heck doesthatmean?” asked Aru. “Please tell me the universe feels bad for us, and it’s Sanskrit forTreat yourself to a demonless dayand not the number three, which it kinda looks like.”

Mini examined Aru’s hand. “It’s not the number three.”

“Yay!”

“It’s the number six.”

“WHAT?”

“Saat. Six,” read Mini. She frowned and turned to Boo. “But yesterday, our maps said we had eight days left! What happened?”

Boo shook out his wings. “Traveling through the Otherworld requires a cost. Time does not always adhere to mortal standards.”

“But that means…that means I’ve been awake for seventy-two hours,” squeaked Mini. “I should be dead! Am I dead?”

Aru pinched her.

“Ow!”

“Nope. Alive and kickin’.”

Mini rubbed her arm and glared.

“You’re Pandavas,” said Boo. “You need less sleep and food than mortals. But occasionally you do need something to keep your strength up. We’ll get some snacks inside.”

“Inside the Costco?” asked Aru.

Not that she had a problem with this. On the contrary, an industrial-size box of Oreos wasjustwhat she needed.

“That’s not an ordinary Costco,” said Boo proudly. “For Otherworld folks, it becomes a different store depending on who you are and what you need. Forus, it will be the Night Bazaar. Inside, we’ll find the Seasons and ask them to design you some weaponry. After that, we’ll look for the second key.”

Aru dearly hoped the second key would be located next to an industrial-size box of Oreos. But all thoughts of Oreos quickly vanished with Mini’s next words.

“I’ll go anywhere as long as we don’t run into the Sleeper again. Did you see him when we left Valmiki?” she asked. “He wasrightnext to me! I could’ve sworn he wanted something. He eventouchedme!” She shuddered. “At least I think it was him? It was just a giant snake tail. But it felt like him?”

“Did the Sleeper say anything to you?” asked Aru.