Ahmad threw open the balcony door and froze. There, leaning over the railing and crooning to itself, was the monkey.

“All right,” Ahmad whispered. “Easy does it.”

He inched forward. Ahmad was never the best at handling delicate operations, whether they were the type that you had to show your work for on a math test, or just navigating the ins and outs of the school day.

But now, he had to try. For his parents, for Winnie’s parents, for Winnie, and . . . for himself. No matter what his teachers thought, no matter the bad days he had, he was a Mirza. He could do it.

If he could just inch forward more . . .

Ahmad snagged the monkey’s tail. It let out an ear-piercing shriek. Below them, the jinn swiveled his head upward, his eyes widening as he caught sight of what Ahmad had in his hands.

“Now, hold still,” Ahmad grunted, squeezing the monkey about the stomach. “This hurts me too, I . . . promise!”

“Stop right there,” the jinn snarled. Another squeeze, and the monkey choked. Something skittered over the tiles. Winnie appeared at the door, her eyes wide.

“Winnie!” Ahmad hollered. “Quick!”

They heard a shriek below them and an eerie moan. The demon army had managed to break into the palace and the Architect and MasterMind were trapped. There was no time to hesitate.

“Ahmad!” a voice called from outside. Ahmad turned, and his stomach unclenched with relief.

“Vijay Bhai!”

Vijay Bhai was leaning out of the basket of a beautiful hot air balloon. It seemed to be some sort of hybrid of the old Paheli style and the MasterMind’s new neon inventions. It had an old-fashioned wicker basket, but a beautiful bloom of a balloon attached, like something right out of Times Square, flashing brightly through different colors like the fabric was cut from an actual rainbow.

“Ahmad!” Vijay Bhai called. “Jump!”

Ahmad skittered toward whatever had fallen out onto the floor. He rushed to the balcony and tossed himself out, but not before calling out over his shoulder, “Winnie! Next room!”

“Got it!” she called back, and disappeared.

For a moment, as Ahmad dived, he felt the sickening lurch of his stomach and gravity pulling his body downward, falling, falling, falling. This was it. This was the end.

But then, the balloon swooped below him, and Vijay Bhai dragged him into the basket, moments before the jinn’s huge fist took off the balcony where he had been standing.

“Yikes,” Ahmad exhaled. “Thanks, Vijay Bhai!”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Vijay Bhai said, his eyes magnified behind a pair of what appeared to be digitized goggles. Numbers scrolled over the lenses. “Brace yourself! He’s going to aim for us now!”

Vijay Bhai jerked, and the entire balloon careened to the side, narrowly avoiding red-tinged fingers.

“Stop right there, balloon boy,” the jinn seethed beneath them. “You can’t keep this up forever.”