The Sleeper did not turn his head. “I am your general, am I not?” he asked calmly. His hands were clasped behind his back as he surveyed the sky. “It is my judgment you trust….It is I who have gotten us this far.”
Overhead, thunder rattled, but the sky was still hidden behind the labyrinth’s barrier.
“Have you noticed how quiet it is?” the Sleeper asked the naga lieutenant beside him.
The naga nodded. “And what of it? Surely that is good!”
“Why is that? Hmm? Is it because the gods have managed to trick us once more? Do they know something terrible will happen to us when we imbibe the nectar of immortality? If it is the grand treasure we were told it was, then why has no one come to claim it?” The naga hissed, his snake hood flaring out as the Sleeper turned sharply to face him. “Do you understand?”
Now that the Sleeper’s head was turned her way, Aru flinched…and felt a familiar wave of emotion. It was hard to look at his features and see only the bad. She could still envision the person who had wanted to be her father. Aru pitied him, and she grieved what they had both lost….But it didn’t change the fact that what he was doing wasn’t right.
“Yes, sir,” said the naga, coiling down on his tail. “But does that mean we are waiting for a battle?”
“Not exactly,” said the Sleeper. “If we can accomplish this without bloodshed, that would be ideal. But I am not opposed to violence, if it is necessary.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” asked the naga lieutenant, growing bold again.
“Test results,” said the Sleeper, turning away again. “Kara has some power over truth, and she told me she had to perform some tests on the nectar to make sure it is safe for our consumption.”
The naga paused for a moment. “And you believe her?”
The Sleeper froze. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Aru was so absorbed in their exchange that she almost yelped when she heard Nikita’s voice in her mind. We will be there soon. Start thinning the barrier.
Won’t they notice? asked Brynne.
Not if I show them an illusion, said Mini.
We’re on it, said Brynne, smiling.
The Sun Jewel lantern—concealed by Mini’s ever-expanding shield—emitted a ray of light that pierced the darkness. Through it, Aru saw a patch of sky…and a flash of lightning. Aru’s gaze flew to the Sleeper, but he didn’t seem to notice. The naga’s question had frozen him on the spot.
“I said, why do you think I wouldn’t be able to trust my own daughter?” he asked, his voice rising.
“Well, she…She…It is rumored that she has a fondness for the Pandavas,” said the naga lieutenant.
The Sleeper snorted. “That is a feeling she no longer entertains. I am sure of it. Nevertheless, she should have her results soon. Bring her to me. Now.”
Can you extend the protective shield, too? added Nikita.
Mini worked her jaw, then stretched her neck. I can manage.
She whispered something to Dee Dee under her breath, and the violet-tinged veil slowly expanded across the terrain behind them. Aru watched in awe as it stretched hundreds of feet. Mini’s teeth were clenched and sweat had broken out across Brynne’s forehead. Aru wanted to help, too, but her talents were significantly louder.
“Dad?” called a familiar voice.
It was Kara…Aru’s sister. She looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes. Her brown hair was greasy and pulled back in a messy ponytail. She wore ratty pajama pants and a hoodie two sizes too big with the words THESPIAN CAMP 1986 splashed across it along with a picture of the ancient Greek tragedy and comedy masks.
Aru recognized the hoodie immediately. It had belonged to her mom—their mom—and Aru had loved wearing it to bed. She’d let Kara borrow it one time, and she remembered her sister laughing at the logo.
“Goat song!” she’d said.
“What?”
“Goat song,” repeated Kara, tapping the tragedy mask. “That’s where the word tragedy comes from! Tragos or goat, and oidos, which means song in Greek. Scholars are pretty divided on how it got that name. People used to compete by performing songs and skits. I think the winner took home a goat.”
“I would riot if someone gave me a goat as a prize,” Aru had declared.
Kara had laughed.
Aru felt a lump in her throat as the memory washed over her. When did Kara get the hoodie? Had she gone back for it when the museum was empty?
“You owe us an answer, child,” said the Sleeper now.
He snapped his fingers and the great golden kalash holding the nectar of immortality appeared in their midst, dragged in by a pair of shadows who gingerly set down the glowing liquid. Even from a distance, the air hummed with the presence of the amrita. A sweet perfume infused the air, and Aru felt a little light-headed. Here it was. The nectar that had united gods and demons, split oceans, summoned wonders, and destroyed lives. Such was the cost of attaining a sip of the eternal.
“What news of the amrita?” asked the Sleeper, gesturing to the pot. “Is it safe for us to consume or not?”
Kara fidgeted. Her eyes were fixed on the ground.
I know that look, said Mini through the mind link.
No, we don’t, said Brynne stubbornly. Clearly we don’t know her at all.
Part of Aru—the wounded part—wanted to agree with Brynne. Kara might be her sister, but she was still a traitor. The Sleeper was her father, after all, and look what he’d done to them.
But something in Kara’s stance nudged a memory in Aru’s skull.
Yes, Kara had betrayed them…but, unlike Aru, she was a terrible liar. And whenever she was about to lie, she looked just like she did now.
“I can’t tell if it’s real yet. I’m sorry,” said Kara, her gaze sliding away from the nectar of immortality. “I think I’m tired. My powers haven’t been working as well. And…and my stomach is hurting.”
Aru rolled her eyes. Your grand excuse is “My stomach is hurting”? Seriously? Always say “I have cramps.” It makes men freak out! No one asks questions after that!
Aru, she does not need—or deserve—your advice right now, retorted Brynne.
I don’t know about that…said Mini through the mind link.
The Sleeper regarded Kara calmly. “There are those in the camp who seem to think you are delaying us on purpose, child. That perhaps your true allegiance lies with those who betrayed you. I told them such a thing would be foolish. I am right, aren’t I?”
“Of course!” blurted out Kara.
“Then what is the delay?”
Kara stammered, “I—I don’t know!”
“Does your allegiance lie with me or with them?” demanded the Sleeper, taking a step toward her.
“You, of course!” said Kara.
But her gaze went sideways, and her right foot hooked behind her left ankle, and Aru knew without a doubt Kara was lying.
Brynne and Mini must have realized it, too. Mini’s violet shield flickered, as if her shock had temporarily arrested her power. The cloud that Brynne had started summoning stopped. All of Aru’s concentration honed in on Kara, and it was as if the past had peeled off the present for this one moment, leaving behind a simple truth: