Calligraphy formed out of floating candles spelled out:
FOR THE RAVI AND TRENA PARTY, PLEASE ENTER!
“Where is everyone?” asked Mini softly as the four of them crept inside.
It was very quiet. Too quiet, thought Aru. The inside of the hotel opened into a marvelous atrium where enchanted snow sifted down from silvery clouds.
“They had those specially commissioned for the winter-wonderland theme,” said Mini. “Superexpensive magic. My cousin threw a fit when the first artist tried to use cold Styrofoam pellets instead of real snow.”
“Weddings are so overrated,” said Brynne, dusting snow off her shoulder. “So, where’s the food?”
“Guys?” said Aiden.
All three sisters snapped at him. “WHAT?”
Aiden flinched, then pointed to a pair of wide-open doors on the right. A faint shimmer on the threshold told Aru that the place had an enchanted sound barrier, which explained why they hadn’t been able to hear anyone inside. Guests were already seated on either side of a long aisle decorated with snowy branches and floating candles. At the end of the aisle stood the mandap—the wedding tent—which had been adorned with hundreds of snow-dusted roses. From here, Aru could detect the faint whiff of the sacred fire. The bride and groom sat behind the flames while the priest threw in offerings.
“The wedding already started?” said Mini, starting to hyperventilate. “We were supposed to be here before all this! I must’ve gotten the time wrong! What are we going to do?”
Aru reached into her pocket—All skirts, she thought, should come with pockets—and touched the Agni coin. It was hot against her skin.
“Simple,” said Aru. “We’re going to walk down the aisle.”
As long as we don’t make a sound, Nikita said, our outfits SHOULD keep us camouflaged, said Aru through their Pandava mind link as they tiptoed down the long aisle in pairs. Fortunately, the eyes of the five hundred guests were all on the couple up front.
Super comforting, said Brynne.
She had insisted on bringing up the rear with Mini in case something tore out of the ground and attacked them, because “weddings never go according to plan.” And since Aru had to be in front to throw the Agni coin in the fire, that left her walking down the aisle with…Aiden.
By now, they were about fifteen feet away from the sacred fire.
Slowly…No sudden movements, people, said Brynne.
What are we going to do when we get there? asked Mini. What if we ruin the wedding?
The entire world versus…a wedding, Mini, said Brynne.
Tell that to my mom’s family.
The altar was coming up—less than ten feet away. The bride and groom looked radiant. They kept sneaking smiles and glances at each other. They didn’t seem to notice what was going on around them, which was probably for the best, considering how the guests kept gossiping during the ceremony.
“Did she murder her hairdresser’s family? That’s the only way to explain that hairstyle….”
“What a waste of money….I hate capitalism.”
“I heard from her cousin’s sister’s ex-boyfriend—”
Aru almost tripped trying to hear that last one, but Aiden caught her and gave her one of his Meaningful Looks™. There were a few small steps left before the sacred fire, barely two feet away. Aru half expected that the fire would be huge, but it was in an aluminum container the size of a large shoe box. As the priest chanted, he threw coins and petals into the flames.
If all went according to plan, nobody but the Pandavas would notice that something extra had been thrown in.
Okay, here goes nothing….
Aru crossed her fingers on one hand, hoping that the magic of the coin would only affect them and no one else would see anything. She raised the coin high with her other hand, preparing to—
Throw UNDER, not over, Shah! scolded Brynne.
Whoops, thought Aru, adjusting her windup.
In one smooth arc, the Agni coin toppled into the smoke.
Aru braced herself. She thought the fire would explode or the ground beneath them would quake, but instead, there was nothing but the quiet crackle of the flames.
Aru was turning to look at her sisters when a short, light-skinned man in an unfortunate denim kurta stood up from his seat in the second row and said, “DON’T GO THROUGH WITH THIS, TRENA! He’ll never make you happy!”
A loud gasp ran through the crowd. Even the priest stopped chanting. Aru bounced on her heels, rubbed her hands together, and said, “Well, this just got messy!”
Oops.
One moment the guests were staring in horror—and delight—at the guy who had just spoken up. The next, every eye was trained on Aru. The bride and groom stared at her over the flames.
“Who are you?” demanded the groom.
“Family?” piped up Mini.
“Congrats!” said Aru.
Aiden smacked his forehead.
The groom stood up. “What do you think—”
But he was interrupted by a loud gurgle coming from the fire. In the blink of an eye, the flames shot up fifteen feet. Then they parted down the middle like curtains drawing open.
“The decorations!” wailed one of the aunties.
“I told you we should’ve eloped,” muttered the bride.
From within the flames, a woman’s voice called out, SACRED FLAME CONNECTION CONFIRMED. YOUR CALL IS BEING TRANSFERRED. PLEASE HOLD.
“What is going on?” shouted the groom.
One column of fire spiraled toward the Pandavas, elongating into a flaming tunnel.
“Hold on tight!” yelled Aiden as he grabbed Aru’s hand.
Aru flung out her other arm, and relief surged in her chest when Brynne and Mini drew close. A blast of hot air blew back Aru’s hair as the flames pulled them all into the portal. She tried to blink, but the gusts of wind and flames forced her eyes shut.
The last thing Aru heard was one of the guests calling out, “Are you still serving lunch after this?”
Aru felt like she’d landed on hot asphalt. Her arms tingled as heat crawled through her skin. She blinked, trying to get ahold of her surroundings, but something blocked her sight. Something with coarse hair and…hooves? Aru shot upright, scuttling backward, only to find herself face-to-face with…a goat.
The goat didn’t look like other goats. For one thing, it was wearing a shirt that read MULTIVERSE’S G.O.A.T. On top of that, its fur was the color of cinnamon and its horns were stubby orange flames. It regarded her with its rectangular pupils and then bleated indifferently, as if to say Your presence is vastly underwhelming. With a snort, the goat wandered out of her sight.
Only now could Aru finally get a look at where they were. Brynne and Mini were already standing on her left. Brynne had a scimitar out, and Mini was blotting her face with a moist towelette.
“This place is so hot!” said Mini. “I’ve run out of water, too. We could get heatstroke!”
Aiden, who was standing to Aru’s right, held out a full water bottle.
Mini instantly brightened. “Thanks, Wifey!” she said, reaching for it before casting a guilty glance at Aru.
Aru knew, logically, that it was only a bottle of water. And yet some grumpy corner of her brain muttered, Betrayal…