An Asura had landed on the canopy. My heart pounded.

“It’s okay,” Pip whispered in my ear. I felt his small hand wrap around my slightly smaller one. “They don’t know we’re here because the house keeps us hidden. They can’t hear us, or see us, or smell us.”

“They can smell you,” Suki couldn’t resist whispering back. “Remember what happened last time?”

Pip looked offended. “I told you, that was a stink bomb!”

“A likely tale.”

“Both of you shut up,” Ashwini hissed. “How many times do I have to tell you we can’t keep testing the limits of the house’s power? Just stay still and stay quiet.”

I watched the shadow above us. The Asura was very still, as if it were waiting for something. Panic climbed up my throat, choking me. Did it know we were here? Did it know I was here? In spite of everything Pip had said, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering if maybe the house’s power wouldn’t work on me. If maybe the monsters would always be able to find me, no matter what.

Suddenly, the Asura struck. There was a shrill squawk, and then there was silence.

The Asura flew into the sky.

Still, I didn’t move. I was too busy watching a sparrow’s feather drift down from the canopy.

It could so easily have been a crow.

13

Fat and golden, the moon hung low in the sky. The Kaveri sparkled underneath it and the jewel-bright rooftops of the city glowed, from the narrowest house to the opulent domes of Mysore Palace. Even my pastel castle in the clouds was lit up like it had swallowed the moon whole.

The city was so beautiful that all I wanted to do was draw it. Which was kind of weird because it only looked like this because I had already drawn it.

My unicorn pajamas were in the wash, and I was pretty sure my pencil had accidentally ended up in there with them, but I had all the art stuff the house had given me. I crossed my little room to the desk in the corner and found a couple of sheets of thick watercolor paper, a box of colored pencils, and one black-ink pen. My hands longed to draw, and not just because the view outside my window was so amazing, but because my brain needed to stop thinking about what happened up on the rooftop.

But before I could get started, I heard a low thud outside my bedroom door, the squeak of wheels, and a girl’s voice saying “Shhhh!” louder than any of the other sounds. How many of the Crows were out there?

“Hello?” I said curiously.

The door opened and Pip, Jojo, and the twins came in and unceremoniously shut the door behind them. Suki had a tray laden with cups of hot chocolate and a box of Mysore pak. She set it down on the floor and the four of them made themselves comfortable in various parts of the room. I watched silently, baffled.