“We stole it,” said Aru. “You dropped it when you hit your head on the table.”
Mini stepped back slowly. On one of the salon tables there was a blow-dryer. Mini snatched it quietly, gesturing wildly with one hand. “Can’t hold on much longer,” she mouthed. Her fingertips were turning white from the effort of keeping up the illusion of the sprig of youth.
Just one more second, thought Aru.
Lightly, the asura felt around her own head, careful to avoid touching it with her deadly hand. When the backs of her fingers brushed the true sprig of youth, she sneered.
“You foolish little liars,” said Madame Bee. “The Sleeper has been torn from his shackles. The rest of us may feast without fear. Did you really think you could—”
“Now, Mini!” shouted Aru.
Mini turned on the blow-dryer. Brahmasura screamed as hot air gusted into her face. Her long, greasy hair whipped around, and the demon swatted at it, trying to brush it back without touching it. Mini squeezed her eyes shut, ran forward, and hammered the blow-dryer on top of the asura’s hand.
The demon’s palm landed with a loud thunk on her own scalp. A horrible shriek ripped through the air. Flames burst around Brahmasura’s hand.
Aru yanked Mini out of the way.
Immediately, the smell of something burning filled the place. Brightness flooded the room, and Aru covered her face. Her ears rang with the sound of Madame Bee’s screams.
When Aru could finally look, her eyes flew to Mini, who was on her hands and knees, searching the floor. Finally she sat up, beaming triumphantly.
“It blew off.” She proudly displayed something in her hand: the shining blue sprig of youth. The real one.
Next to her, still pluming with smoke, was a pile of the demon’s ashes.
Bring On the Next Demon! Wait, Maybe Not…
Mini held the sprig of youth at arm’s length.
“Mini, why are you holding it like that?”
“It’s clearly a biohazard! What if it’s contaminated?” asked Mini. “It’s been in a demon’s hair for who knows how long. How’d she even get it there if everything she touches turns to ash?”
Aru thought of the hair products and jars in the salon. “I think she could only burn living things with her touch.”
“You don’t think the sprig is a living thing?”
“It’s a key to the Kingdom of Death,” said Aru. “You can’t kill death.”
“Hmm.” Now Mini looked even more suspicious of the sprig. “What if holding it does something to me? Like make me young forever?”
“How’s that a bad thing?” Aru wouldn’t mind never getting wrinkles. As a forever-kid, she’d get to go to the front of the line all the time. And she could always get the kid discount at the ice cream place.
“Look at me!” said Mini. “I’d be stuck forever at four feet! That’s…that’s scary.”
Aru pulled a crumpled tissue from her pocket. “If you’re worried about that, then use this so you don’t have to touch the sprig of youth for too long.”
Mini eyed the tissue warily. “Is that used?”
Yep.
“Of course not.”
“Then why are you carrying it in your pocket?”
Aru lifted her chin. “British royalty always carry crumpled tissues with them. They call them handkerchiefs.”
“I’m pretty sure—”
“Four feet forever?” asked Aru, dangling the tissue.
Sighing, Mini took the tissue and wrapped it around the branch. They cast one more glance at the ashes of Brahmasura as they walked to the door.
“First demon slaying!” said Aru, holding up her hand for a high five.
Mini recoiled.
“You really don’t want to touch other people’s hands. That’s the fastest way to get a cold. Or the flu. And if you’re not vaccinated, you’ll die.”
“Yeah, but you might not stay dead. I thought Brahmasura was killed a long time ago.”
“Maybe the souls of demons get to be reincarnated? Like us.”
That was not a comforting thought. Aru lowered her hand. (Nothing is more awkward than an unreciprocated high five…especially when too much time has gone by and you can’t pretend that you were just stretching.)
Seeing Aru’s disappointment, Mini offered another suggestion. “How about an elbow bump instead? It’s hygienic and fun!”
Aru frowned. “You sound like one of those posters in the doctor’s office.”
“I like those posters….They’re informative. And colorful.”
Aru laughed. “All right, fine.”
The girls bumped elbows.
As soon as they stepped out the door, Aru was slammed with a sense of wrongness. Before they had entered Madame Bee’s salon, the weather outside had been a little breezy and chilly. Now there was no wind at all, and the temperature felt downright icy. It had been afternoon when they arrived, but now it was nearing nighttime. The sky was the color of a bruise. Aru glanced across the parking lot to where a stunted tree had lost almost all of its leaves. One leaf was slowly spiraling to the ground. A little too slowly.
From above, the flap of wings made Aru rear back and shout, “Stay back, Sleeper, I’m armed and dangerous!”
But then the winged thing turned out to be Boo. “Reckless!” he scolded. “Don’t go about shouting his name!”
He descended on them, muttering, pecking their hair, and peering into their ears. “What took you so long?” he demanded.
“Excuse you, but we are thinking warriors,” said Aru, smoothing her mangled pajamas with as much dignity as she could muster. “We had to plan. We had to analyze the situation. We had to—”
“Scream, almost die, beat back a demon with a blow-dryer,” finished Mini.
“Here is where you stop regaling me with tales of your ineptitude and surprise me?” asked Boo hopefully.
Mini waved the sprig of youth. “One key down, two to go!” she said. “Next up: bite of adulthood.”
Aru wanted to grin, but her eyes kept going back to the tree in the parking lot. Her thin pajamas weren’t doing much good keeping out the cold.
“I’m sure it was sheer luck that saved you,” huffed Boo, ruffling his feathers.
Aru would’ve argued back, but she realized something. Boo cared.
“You like us!” Aru teased. “You were concerned!”
“Hmpf,” snorted Boo. “If you’d died, that would’ve been a black mark on my reputation, so yes, at some base level, I was…worried.”
Aru’s flash of triumph disappeared with his next words.
“And I have even more reason to worry. Did the asura recognize you?”
Aru shuddered, remembering how Brahmasura had crooned Pandavalings….
Mini nodded.
“That’s not good. Not good at all,” said Boo, anxiously pecking at the ground. “The Sleeper is trying to find allies. Show me the map of the second key.”
Mini held up her hand so that the book with flapping pages showed on the side.
“It’s in the Night Bazaar,” said Boo thoughtfully. “We just might be able to convince those arrogant Seasons to give you some armor.”
“The Seasons?” repeated Mini.
Boo ignored her question and continued talking to himself. “This was far too close. It’s even worse than I thought if the Sleeper spoke to Brahmasura.”
“If he knew her, why didn’t the Sleeper just take the first key from Brahmasura?” asked Aru.
“He cannot see the keys, and Brahmasura never knew what the sprig really was. She probably just thought it was a magical bauble that kept her beautiful.”
“Let me get this straight,” said Mini. “The Sleeper can’t see the keys, but he knows that we can….Which means he could be after us right now….”
That icy feeling Aru had wasn’t just autumn turning sneakily into winter….It was him.
In the parking lot, she saw the same shopgirl who had been smoking before. Now she was hunched over her phone, staring, her mouth caught in a frown.
She was frozen.
“Um, Mini? Boo?”
“What?” snapped Boo. “We need to come up with a plan in case he finds you!”
“I—I think he already did.”
Aru watched in horror as a black line broke the sky, as if someone had unzipped twilight to show nighttime lurking just beneath its skin.
“We have to get out of here!” she screamed.