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Thankfully, Darius seemed to sense what I couldn’t say. “I’m looking into that too, Eden,” he murmured quietly. “I haven’t found an explanation yet, but I’m sure there is one.”
I feared there was.You’re a Nightmare. The dark voice that just wouldn’t go away returned, dark and slithery. I tried to push it away, but the tension and terror lingering from my confrontation with the Council made it nigh impossible. Tonight had only confirmed my deepest fears. If I were truly a Dreamer like I desperately hoped, then wouldn’t my place in the Dream Realm be easier to keep?
“No one must find out,” I stuttered. “If the Council learns of it, especially now that I only have one more chance…” My stomach clenched. One more chance was hardly any at all. But it had to be enough. I had to remain here, no matter what happened.
I lifted my gaze to meet Darius’s green eyes, wide and reassuring. And although the anxieties pressing against me didn’t leave, in that moment I felt…peace. For I trusted him.
He gave my shoulders a reassuring squeeze before releasing me, leaving me yearning for his comforting touch again. “I’ll keep trying to help you. In the meantime, we should begin our Weaving.”
The last thing I wanted was to weave a dream, but my assignment left me little choice. Unsurprisingly, I found myself quite distracted; it was all I could do to concentrate on each careful stitch, but Ineededto, for it’d never been more crucial a time for me to focus.
But even my best efforts produced a rather mediocre dream, one that certainly wouldn’t improve my standing with the Council. It was as if everything I touched wasn’t good enough. I bit the inside of my lip to suppress the tears fighting to escape.
To my surprise, I still managed to win. Instead of feeling elated, I only felt numb. There was no way I could have pulled off one of my rare wins on my own while in such a state.
I frowned at the dream dust pouring into my locket before lifting my questioning gaze to Darius. “Did you let me win on purpose?”
His eyes widened almost too innocently. “Why would I do that?”
Warmth filled my heavy heart, all the more welcome after the icy terror that had clenched it unceasingly since standing before the Council. His sweet gesture was like a shaft of light in the darkness that had shrouded me since first fearing he’d betrayed me, and despite the worry hovering over me like a heavy shadow, I managed a smile, which he returned.
His smile caused a fluttering feeling to fill my heart, similar to what I’d experienced while sitting with him at the Alcove of Waterfalls, but deeper, as if the connection between us was only growing stronger. And even though those feelings were undoubtedly dangerous and forbidden, in that moment they brought me nothing but joy, right when I needed it the most.
* * *
“The Council suspectedyou?”Angel gaped at me over her doodles of cloud-shaped designs she’d scribbled in her sketchbook. “Based on what evidence?”
After our Weavings, I’d wasted no time in summoning Angel and Iris to my room to tell them what had happened. Even sharing the recent events didn’t make them any easier to understand.
I groaned. “Loads. If I wasn’t certain of my own innocence, evenIwould have suspected I was guilty. Frankly I’m surprised they didn’t suspend me.”
“Don’t exaggerate; I found the evidence entirely circumstantial,” Stardust said. “Not to mention I put up an impeccable defense. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Investigations Team sends me an invitation to join.” Her magnifying glass form bristled smartly.
“It wasn’t good enough for Nightmare Ember. It’s obvious she doesn’t trust me.”
Angel tapped her lips with her quill. “Perhaps she’s involved somehow and seized the first opportunity to pin the blame on you.”
Iris sighed. “Oh Angel, someone so respected would never do something so shady.”
Angel rolled her eyes. “You have too much faith in people. The fact that she’s a Nightmare is reason enough.”
“Definitely,” Stardust chimed in. “Every Nightmare is a potential suspect. The question is: which one is the true culprit?”
I buried my face in my hands. “Thousands attended the festival. It could have been anyone.”
“Then it’s up to us to discover which one it was. Here’s a list of our prime suspects.” Stardust morphed into her notebook and scribbled out a list,Spiderwebwritten at the very top, followed byCreepy Nightmare Pair, whom I assumed to be Blaze and Trinity.
“It couldn’t have been Darius, not when he’s the one who got the Council to back off.”
Angel gasped. “He didwhat?”
“He wasn’t really defending her,” Stardust said. “A Nightmare is incapable of such compassion.”
I frowned. “But he’s the one who presented the possibility I’d been framed.” Not to mention she’d been witness to the compassion he’d displayed at our Weaving—not that I was about to bring that up in front of Angel and Iris.
“Yes, but by confessing in a way that made it appear he was sticking up for you, he deflected the blame from himself. Such a trick is a common diversionary tactic amongst criminals.”
Angel stroked her chin. “She has a point.”
