Tanvi scrabbled in the mud, desperate to find it, but no matter how much she got under her nails, no matter how many pebbles scraped her, the bracelet stayed missing.

She finally got to her feet and brushed off as much mud as she could. No one would know she’d taken the bracelet. She could go back and rejoin the party. Mom and Dad would be mad about the cake, but they wouldn’t say anything in front of the guests.

No, she couldn’t. Everybody knew she’d wet the bed.

Tanvi hesitated. If she didn’t go back, what if they forgot about her? Maybe they’d already lit the candles and let Nitya blow them all out, and everyone was opening presents, and Nitya got them all . . . while still laughing at Tanvi!

It made her so mad all over again. Now she wished she could find the bracelet just so she could throw into the pond and watch it sink forever.

The air started to shimmer. The trees danced, their leaves shushing and swishing in the breeze, and the pond glowed like a jewel. Tanvi could feel magic thick in the air.

“I hope you were not looking for this,” a silky voice said. “Because once an offering is given, it belongs to us.”

Tanvi looked up to see a beautiful teenage girl with a snake tail holding the broken bracelet. A nagini! She’d only ever seen them in illustrations before, and this girl made all those drawings look like chicken scratch.

Her long, thick black hair would have made Mom so jealous; Mom was always scrubbing her scalp with a fine-tooth comb to stimulate her follicles. The girl’s big, kohl-lined eyes gleamed with mischief, and she bared her fangs when she smiled. Maybe that should’ve scared Tanvi, but it didn’t. Of course a nagini would have fangs.

“I like your fangs,” Tanvi said. “I bet you get to bite people when they annoy you.”

The girl smiled wider. “Why, thank you. I suppose you wish you had sssssome, too.”

“Who are you? What are you doing with my sister’s bracelet?”

The girl tossed the bracelet into the water, where it disappeared on contact. Just like Tanvi had wanted to do, which won the girl at least fifty points. “My name is Asha. As for your other question, you summoned me with the offering you made.” She held out her hand. “Now let me pose a query of my own. Tanvi, will you come away with me and leave this realm of misery behind?”

The pond parted to expose a set of circular steps, like a snaky staircase cut from jewels. A staircase to another world.

No more fighting with Nitya. No more trying to be noticed. No more getting disappointed.