Page 113 of Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

Aru swiveled around, dazed. Was this victory? She squinted, trying to find the exact slab on which she had carefully placed Boo. She needed to go to him. Maybe he wasn’t really dead…. Maybe he was just injured….

You know what you saw, whispered a sad voice in her heart.

Aru stifled that thought. She didn’t want it to be true.

No matter how she looked at it, this didn’t feel like a victory. Something was wrong. And it wasn’t just Boo’s death that made her feel that way.

“No!” Aru heard Urvashi scream. It sounded like it was coming from someplace far away.

Beside Aru, Kara winced sharply. Her hand flew to the back of her neck, where a dime-size glow of light flashed like a beacon. Aru’s heart seized. Kara’s ward allowed her to feel when the Sleeper was near….

“Run!” Aru yelled.

But the second she turned, a shadowy sphere curled over her. Too late. The Sleeper had trapped her and her friends.

He stood before them, as tall and handsome as a king, but far too gaunt. His cheekbones looked carved, and his mismatched blue and brown eyes were intense and obsessive. When he saw Kara, surprise—and a slight frown—flitted across his face.

He barely spared a glance at the others, and instead addressed Kara and Aru. “Daughters,” he said in his smooth, dark voice. “I am impressed by your battle prowess, but family does not fight family. What on earth do you think you’re doing here? And Kara…My dear, I expected so much better of you.”

Aru’s face burned, and Kara made herself small.

The two of them had come so far together. They had busted out of the Sleeper’s lair, risked their lives in a series of trials, and faced overwhelming odds in combat. And now, after everything, he was talking to them like adisappointed parent?

“I’m…I’m doing what’s right,” said Kara.

“What’srightis rejoining your family,” said the Sleeper calmly. “You both must come back with me at once. If you do not, there will be consequences.”

A shadow glided from his fingertips and snaked toward Rudy, Brynne, and Aiden….

“No!” said Kara, slamming down her trident. Sunlight radiated around her, bleaching the shadows gray. “We’re not going back with you. I—I’m sorry, Dad. But what you’re doing is wrong. It’s evil.”

Sunny glowed even brighter with those words. The Sleeper looked at it intently, his eyes flashing between Aru and Kara. Around them, Aru noticed Aiden had raised his swords and Brynne had hoisted her wind mace. Mini lifted her Death Danda high over her head, and Rudy—still in his full naga form—reared taller on his coils.

“All of you would fight me?” asked the Sleeper quietly.

“I’ve known this chick for exactly twelve hours,” announced Rudy, gesturing at Kara, “but I will happilydestroysomething on her behalf.”

Kara scowled.“Chick?”

“Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean what you think it does,” muttered Aru.

The Sleeper didn’t seem amused. His eyes widened slightly as he took in their weapons…as if he was just now seeing how much more powerful they had become. On the one hand, it made Aru feel hopeful. On the other hand, if this was the first time he was noticing, that meant he hadn’t been watching the battle.

So where had he been?

The Sleeper’s gaze scanned his fallen army. “You performed well in my little test today.”

“Test?!”Aru screamed in outrage. “People got killed—”

He held up a hand to silence her. “Don’t you see? Every time we meet, you realize more of your potential. Without me, what is a Pandava? Just a child with a fancy toy it does not understand.”

“Better that than spreading lies and hurting people,” said Kara, her chin high.

The Sleeper leaned forward and stroked her cheek. “One day, my lovelies, you will recognize what I have done for you, and on that day, you will join me.” He stood up. “That day will come sooner than you think.”

He spread his arms wide, throwing open the shadowy sphere he’d pulled down around them. The force of his gesture tossed Hanuman and Urvashi backward.

Power surged from the Sleeper’s fingertips. With a scoop of his hand, each of his soldiers was wrapped in a veil of mist and lifted into the air. He twirled a finger and several eddies appeared in the sea. One by one, he deposited his troops into the whirlpools, which Aru guessed were portals back to his headquarters, wherever that was.