They’d moved here just over three years ago, and it was living here that had brought her and Navin together. On the one hand, she gave daily thanks for the serendipity that had led Paige Underwood to purchase the house next door to the Sharma family in an effort to blend in with ordinary people. On the other hand, it was hard to be thankful when all she’d managed to do was drag her best friend into a whole world of crazy. From her spot in the back seat, Donna glanced in the rearview mirror and caught Aunt Paige’s relaxed expression. Navin was in the passenger seat—he’d called shotgun, much to her aunt’s irritation and Donna’s amusement. They’d escaped from Simon’s lab just in time, meeting Robert in the Blue Room the very moment Donna had clicked the grandfather clock back into place. The afternoon session that followed had been long and tense, and the alchemists still hadn’t been able to reach a verdict—they wanted one more night to “sleep on it.” Navin had been pleased that they would reconvene for a third day, because it meant he could get out of going to school on Monday.
