Page 13 of Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

Through their Pandava link, Brynne added,That was PAINFUL to witness.

Mini winced.Stop! I’m sure he didn’t notice.

Aru darted a glance at Aiden, who seemed extremely preoccupied with his camera. His face looked a touch red.

He definitely noticed.

Aiden frowned and crossed his arms, not looking at them. “So, uh, we’ve got two days left to get to Lanka and answer Kubera’s summons, but there’s literally no way to get there—”

A tinythudmade the four of them whip around to look at Kara. She had woken up, and in the process of sitting up, she’d let the book she’d carried from the Sleeper’s lair fall to the floor. Kara immediately hunched her shoulders, looking around nervously.

“I, um, I think I can help you,” said Kara in a small voice.

Brynne stood up.

The blue choker around her neck, which held Gogo, her camouflaged wind mace, glowed slightly. “Do you really think we’d take help from the daughter of the Sleeper?”

Really, Brynne, scolded Mini.

Kara turned to Aru, her eyes shining. Aru forced herself to stand still. She wanted to defend Kara, but she was afraid that if she did, it would make her look like the “untrue sister” from Sheela’s prophecy. The rest of the Otherworld already thought she was bad news. She couldn’t have her Pandava sisters thinking the same thing.

Kara looked down, hurt, and her hands curled into fists in her lap. “My name is Kara, and I’m not his only daughter, you know.”

The whole room fell silent for a couple of moments. Aru felt her palms turning hot. She was about to go to Kara’s side when there came the sound of a chair scraping back.

“This is ridiculous,” grumbled Aiden.

He swiped a glass of water off the table and walked over to give it to Kara. As she drank, Aiden bent down, picking up the book that had fallen off her lap. He turned it over, a soft smile growing on his face.

“A book of Emily Dickinson poems?” he asked, handing it back to her.

Kara flushed. “Her work has always made me feel…less alone.”

Aiden’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and his gaze lingered on Kara. As Aru watched, something painful nudged at her heart.

“Okay, okay, this isn’t book-club time,” growled Brynne. “What do you really want?”

“I want to help—” Kara started.

“Why?”demanded Brynne.

Mini frowned. “Easy, Bee…”

“Why do you want to help us when Aru says that the Sleeper rescued you? Youowehim, and he’s your dad, so you probably—”

“Love him?” finished Kara quietly. “Yes, of course I love my dad.” Kara looked at them, lifting her chin. “I believe he can be both a good dad and a bad person. I can want to stop the evil things he might do and still want to protect him. Maybe, by helping you guys, I can stop him before he makes a big mistake…. I could give him a chance to change.”

Kara’s words knocked all the breath out of Aru’s lungs. There was an ease and confidence in the way she spoke, and instead of pity, Aru felt…envy. Kara was at peace with an ugly situation. But Aru? Aru was angry.

Sometimes she felt so angry that she wondered if holding it in was the only thing that kept her pinned to the ground. Otherwise, the force of all the unknowns in her life might pull her apart.

Aru tried not to think about what she couldn’t know, but the worries snapped at her anyway. Was her mom safe? Where was she? Why couldn’t Aru stop missing Boo? Why couldn’t she erase the memory of who the Sleeper had once been? Why couldn’t she un-see the smudged ink of his inscription inWhere the Wild Things Areand un-know that it was proof he’d been racing to get back to her?

Mini sighed, and the sound of it shook Aru out of her thoughts.

“I think the only way to deal with this whole thing fairly is to put it to a vote,” said Mini decisively. “So…do we accept Kara’s help or no?”

“Leave me out of it,” said Aiden, holding up his hands. “This is between you guys.”