“You have too much free time on your hands,” Baz says.
Ani laughs.
But Stevie has tears in her eyes.
Before I can ask her what’s wrong, she’s on her feet, leaning across my desk to pull me in for an awkward hug.
“Kirin, I could kiss you.” She grabs my shoulders, a grin stretching across her face. “In fact, screw it. I’m totally gonna to kiss you.”
She plants one right on my mouth, soft and sweet and deep, all-too-quickly turning into a laugh.
“Right here, baby,” Baz says, pointing at his mouth. “If you’re handing them out.”
She releases me and turns toward Baz, capturing his mouth in an equally deep kiss.
“Not to beg,” Ani says, holding up a finger, “but—”
I have no idea whether he was kidding or not, but Stevie cuts him off, grabbing his shirt collar and hauling him in close, pressing her lips to his.
Ani’s eyes widen, his hands sliding around her back, a soft moan slipping from his mouth.
By the time she breaks away, all of us are dazed and baffled. And more than a little turned on.
“I know where they are!” she exclaims, her smile stretching wide.
“What?” I ask.
“The Arcane objects!” she says. “Well, the Sword and Wand, for starters. What time is it?”
“Almost midnight,” I say. “Why? What’s happening, Stevie?”
“Call Doc,” she instructs. “Ani, you call Isla and Nat. I’ll call Professor Maddox and Professor Broome. Tell them to meet us at the Towers in twenty minutes. Hurry—we don’t have much time.”
She grabs her phone, and the rest of us follow suit, everyone talking at once.
By the slightly slurred, rugged tone of his voice, it’s clear Cass is half-drunk and half-asleep when he answers my call. Still, I press on, Stevie’s sense of urgency infecting us all.
“Cass, get dressed. Meet us at my office as soon as you can. It’s an emergency.”
Leaving no chance for argument, I hang up.
“Sorry for the late call,” Stevie says, presumably to one of the Professors. “I can’t explain now, but I need you and Kelly to meet me at the standing stones inside Breath and Blade. Bring some blankets and whatever dream potions we need to encourage shared dreaming and dream retrieval.” She takes a breath, her smile still shining bright. “Yes, exactly. It’s only a theory, but it’s solid. I’ll explain everything later. See you soon.”
“Isla and Nat are going to hop on the bikes and meet us there,” Ani says, hanging up his phone.
“We need to go,” Stevie says, grabbing my hand. “Come on.”
My head is still spinning, thoughts crashing together too fast to make any sense inside my addles brain.
“Right now?” I ask. “At midnight?”
“Now is theperfecttime.” She flashes me another grin, her whole body vibrating with adrenaline and excitement. “It’s dream time.”
It hits me then, the realization exploding inside me.
“The objects… They’re in the dream realm,” I say. “Holy shit.”
Stevie nods. “That’s why we can feel the magick at the Towers and the Cauldron, but not the objects themselves. There’s a ripple effect—the magickal connection resonating across realms.”
