Tabassum Naaz leads the way, and half an hour later, we find ourselves in front of the Bara Imambara. I have never seen this place, though I remember the nawabs who frequented the kotha talking about it. Of course, in their conversations, the place was under construction. It is a grand building originally built to house people who gather to worship.

“Come this way,” Tabassum Naaz says. “Everyone here is a middle worlder, and I can’t magic you invisible since magic won’t work on you. What I will do instead is magic the air around you so it is opaque. As long as you stay together within the circle of magicked air, no one will see you.”

It is ten in the morning in Lucknow, and the place is not yet busy. We move swiftly and without interruptions and take the stairs to the labyrinth housed on the second floor of this building. The labyrinth is known as the Bhool Bhulaiyaa and was commissioned to create jobs for people during a drought when work was scarce. It has seemingly no purpose except to get people lost.

Tabassum Naaz seems to know her way through it quite well. “This used to be my playing grounds. As much as the old man hated me, he kept me close for a period of time. I used to tag along with my cousins, who walked as if this place belonged to them. There was one area in which we were forbidden entrance, so of course I was determined to get into it. It was where I discovered the keeper.”

We slip between the pillars and stop when Tabassum Naaz holds up her hand. A few meters in front of us is a magically created chamber. It is a sizable place. Half of it lies in shadow. The other half is dimly lit by both the daylight and some lamps that glow a dirty yellow. There are five not-human men sitting on chairs and on the ground, presumably waiting for Taraana.

Tabassum Naaz signals with her eyes and we move past the not-human men, using the darkness their eyes cannot pierce, until we have moved to the other side of the chamber. We can still see into it through the pillars that make up its wall. We gather close to each other, sit down, and wait.

Every second that passes brings to mind a different scenario starring Taraana and pain. I hate myself a million times over for suggesting this stupid plan, for putting him at risk. I wish I could reassure you that everything is going to go as we have planned, but I cannot. Things have already gone wrong. Time, it goes by agonizingly slowly, but finally, we hear sounds of people coming up the stairs and into the maze. We hear the sound of something… someone being dragged, and I attempt to get to my feet before the other girls pull me down.