When she came to, the sky outside was a blend of evening blues and purples. She’d just meant to take a quick nap.

A warm hand touched hers, and she sat bolt upright.

Venkat crouched by her bed, smiling down at her. Moonbeams braided themselves into his inky hair, turning him as ethereal as a naga prince from a private lagoon of dreams. He was much cuter than the kangaroo, that was for sure. “Sleeping Beauty,” he teased. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

Her stomach did a little backflip. His soulful eyes were such a beautiful shade of brown, as rich as maple syrup, and so curious as they slid over her face. So beguiled, the way they’d been at the Lake of Lovers’ Tears.

Suddenly Tanvi understood the night bride. She forgot about Asha, about Nitya, about the garudas. For a second, she even forgot to breathe.

It was just the two of them, and he was so close to her. She couldn’t look away from his full lips. All she’d have to do was tilt her head up . . .

Then his mouth flattened into a line. “I’d love to let you keep sleeping, but I can’t. We have to go.”

Tanvi fought to focus. There was something she needed to tell him, but her woolly brain couldn’t remember what. “How’d you get in here?” she finally ground out. “The door’s locked.”

A surly attendant had installed the forbidding metal rectangle that morning, so she hadn’t even been able to check on the other runners.

“Not from the outside,” Venkat said sourly. “Listen, the boons are just dreams, Tanvi. Your dreams. I think that’s why that bracelet you made yesterday didn’t last.”

Tanvi’s head spun. “What do you mean, I made it? I invoked it! Didn’t I?”

He shook his head. “I’ll tell you more later. Right now, we have to go.”

She’d wanted nothing more than to escape this holding cell of a room, but Tanvi found herself burrowing deeper under the blanket. “But— I thought we can’t leave here? I mean, Madhu’s keeping tabs on us!”

She touched the spot on her collarbone where her pendant should have been. Madhu had taken that, too.

Madhu. That’s what I was going to tell him. About the garudas.

“Asha’s going to sneak us out,” Venkat explained before she could. “But only if we leave right now.”

Asha? Starting to wonder if this was one of Venkat’s door-and-key dreams, Tanvi let go of the blanket and got up. Venkat turned away as she threw on her Prithvi outfit. Out of habit, she groped for her pouch. “Where are we going?”