Mini’s parents and Brynne’s uncles, Gunky and Funky, had gone on a Valentine’s Day cruise and wouldn’t be back for another four days. Even Mini’s brother had been dragged along, though Mini had refused to go because it was so close to Aru’s birthday. When Mini’s family heard about the Sleeper’s attack, they’d almost turned around, but Mini had convinced them otherwise. Besides, it was safer for the Pandavas’ families to be as far away as possible.
Brynne slouched on the stool beside Aru. “Mini, how come your parents have no ice cream but, like, ten different kinds of plant-based muffins?”
“They’re health conscious,” said Mini defensively.
“They’re deranged,” muttered Brynne under her breath.
Aru bit back a laugh. She liked Dr. and Mrs. Kapoor-Mercado-Lopez, but they were a little…intense. Much like their daughter. Once, the Potatoes had been tricked into joining a horror-movie night at Mini’s place. It was definitely horrific. But that was mostly because the movie was a documentary on diseases and viruses that could be contracted by kissing and other “activities of an age-appropriate nature.”
Mini had henceforth been banned from hosting movie night.
“I don’t know why Ammamma bolted so fast when we arrived,” said Brynne. “I thought he’d want to see the twins once they get here. Maybe he got tired of babysitting? BB is a handful, and Rudy isn’t around to help.” The naga prince had been summoned home by his family but was waiting to help the Potatoes at a moment’s notice.
Aru looked down at her lap, where BB was snuggled in a slowly charring sweater inside an oval baking pan. This was the closest they could get to a nest without setting something on fire. BB snoozed happily, puffs of smoke curling from his burning blue crest.
So smol! So deadly! thought Aru, resisting the urge to pat him.
“Maybe…” said Mini. “Aiden just seems off lately. What do you think, Aru?”
There was a knowing sharpness to Mini’s voice. Aru faltered. In the midst of everything that had happened, she hadn’t had a second to tell her sisters about the kiss. But she didn’t know what to say now. Aiden was acting really weird. He’d barely said a word to her. What if it had been a total accident? What if he’d tripped and she hadn’t noticed and it just kind of…happened?
Aru was spared from answering by the sudden squawk of the cuckoo clock on the wall. As it chimed loudly, the wall cracked down the middle, revealing an enchanted entryway. Only the Pandavas had direct access to one another in emergencies. (Although Brynne had a very different definition of emergency. Once, Aru woke up to Brynne rifling through the museum apartment’s kitchen for some sugar.) Through the portal, Aru could see the interior of a warm living room. Family photos lined the back wall. Although she couldn’t see who was speaking, she knew it was her mom talking to Mr. and Mrs. Jagan.
“—promise they’ll be safe and go to sleep on time.”
Krithika poked her head through the portal. “Hear that, girls? One hour is all you get. The Jagans were just about to go to sleep.”
“One hour,” Aru repeated.
Her mom nodded. “I’ll stay with the Jagans until you’re done.”
Aru’s mom disappeared. A moment later, the twins stepped into Mini’s kitchen. Sheela was wearing a pair of pink pajamas and fuzzy slippers, her hair under a pink bonnet. Nikita was also wearing a nightcap and pajamas, but her outfit was a lustrous gold.
“BIRDIE!” said Sheela, clapping her hands excitedly and rushing toward Aru. BB poked his head out of the burning sweater and blinked at Sheela.
Nikita glared and crossed her arms. “You couldn’t just wait a couple of hours to dream-visit us?” But perhaps she saw something on their faces, because her frown instantly vanished. “Uh-oh…That serious?”
“Kinda?” said Aru. “I mean, the fate of the entire universe is on the line, so I’d rank that…mildly important?”
Over the next twenty minutes Aru explained the whole situation about the Agni coin not working, the impassable barrier of Lullwater Park, and the handful of days they had left to set things right. By the time she’d finished, two things had happened. One, Nikita—who’d been listening in silence and crocheting what looked like a dozen enchanted vines—had almost finished making a nest for BB. And two, Brynne had given in and eaten all the plant-based muffins.
Sheela bit her bottom lip. “I really don’t like to lie, but I think I can fake a prophecy. Something to buy you time…”
“Something dramatic enough that no one will want to be anywhere near us,” added Brynne. “Can you do that?”
Sheela nodded.
Brynne let out a sigh of relief. “Great. Now if only this stupid coin could actually end up doing something for us.”
On the counter beside the fancy red card, the Agni coin glowed.
Sheela tilted her head, examining the coin with a dreamy look in her eyes. “Have you tried setting it on fire?”
“You sound like Aru,” said Mini.
Sheela beamed.
Nikita looked up from her knitting. “Sheela has a point. I mean, he is the god of fire.”
“How do you set metal on fire?” Aru asked.
Brynne looked around the kitchen. “We could try the stove?”
“It’s broken,” said Mini.
“Got any matches?”
“My parents hid them after the last time Aru visited.”
“I’m both offended and flattered,” said Aru.
At that moment, BB poked his head out of the baking pan, tilted it to the side, and chirped. His wavering blue crest of flames seemed a little taller, as if piqued by curiosity.
“What do you say, BB?” asked Aru, holding out the coin.
“Waaait!” said Nikita loudly. She closed her eyes and her fingers glowed as she made a complicated gesture with her wrists. A moment later, a pair of sunflower-yellow gloves tumbled to the counter.
“Wear these.”
Dutifully, Aru slipped on the gloves. The fabric felt like cold silk but more durable.
“Flame-resistant, timelessly elegant, and also an homage to the 2008 Dior collection,” said Nikita imperiously before smiling at BB. She set the crocheted nest of vines beside him. BB pecked it suspiciously.
“I used the same plant fabric for his crib,” she said. “Honestly, Aru, you can’t put a baby in a baking pan. It’s ugly.”
BB squawked in agreement.
“Wear the gloves, and that way you won’t get burned when you hold him,” said Nikita. “Brynne, yours will be blue. Mini, purple. Hmm…what about Aiden…?”
As Nikita tinkered with a new set of gloves, Aru reached for BB with one protected hand. In the past, touching BB had been like grabbing the handle of a hot pan, but now all she felt was the warm, fluffy weight of the firebird.
With her other gloved hand, Aru reached for the Agni coin and held it up next to BB’s beak. “Okay, maybe you could just give me a tiny hiccup?” she asked him.
BB belched a flame the size of a dinner plate. Aru shrieked, reeling back and nearly dropping the chick as the Agni coin lit up. Sheela laughed. Mini screamed. Brynne started flapping her hands, which only made the coin burn brighter.