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“Shh, you must stay quiet and out of sight.”
Before I could protest further, he left me behind a large pine and returned to the edge of the forest. I promptly stepped out to follow him, but I’d only gone a few feet when he heard my footsteps and hurried back to my side.
He rested his hands on my shoulders to gently push me back behind the tree, his touch strangely soothing. “Please, you must stay hidden. I’ll explain why when they’re gone.”
They? I ached to argue further, but after a reassuring squeeze of my shoulders he left me again. I hesitated before obediently ducking behind the tree. I peered around the trunk just as two men shrouded in outfits of grey appeared on the edge of the forest just as the Nightmare emerged.
My gasp escaped before I could stop it. I slapped my hand over my mouth and hastily ducked out of sight. Silence hung thickly in the pine-scented air, the only sound being my palpitating pulse.
“Did you hear something?” one of the men asked the Nightmare.
“No,” the Nightmare said smoothly. “Are you here for the investigation?”
The men were silent a moment more. I held my breath and waited, praying they wouldn’t investigate the suspicious sound they’d heard and discover me.
“We were sent by the Council.” I heard them turn away but I remained frozen, not wanting to risk peeking out from behind my hiding place just to watch. “We’re surprised to find you here, Nightmare Darius.”
Darius…so that was the Nightmare’s name.
“I was sent,” Nightmare Darius explained. “With such a high level of unexplained magic on earth, is it any wonder the Nightmare Council wants to look into the matter personally?”
My pulse pounded more rapidly. So the Nightmare had come to investigate me on behalf of the Nightmare Council, whoever they were. Though I’d been right not to trust him, the confirmation made me deeply sad, as if I’d just lost a good friend.
I gave my head another rigid shake.Stop thinking such ridiculous things.
I took a chance to peer around the trunk, where I found the two men in grey with their backs facing me. “What are your findings?” one asked Darius. “Have you discovered the source of that unexpected surge of power?”
Darius tensed as his gaze briefly flickered to my dream-watching tree where I’d captured my dream, but otherwise he betrayed no other outward emotion. “I’m afraid not. My only conclusions are that it was an unusual power, one I’ve not yet seen, but its source remains a mystery.”
I frowned. What could his motivation possibly be to lie?
One of the grey men heaved an impatient sigh. “Surely you have some theories.”
Nightmare Darius nodded. “Certainly. I’d be happy to share them.”
The two men began asking several urgent questions, which Darius answered smoothly yet vaguely. I quickly tuned out their discussion, already made more difficult to follow with the loud pounding of my heart in my ears, and scanned the forest. Could I risk using their distraction to my advantage and escape? For even if I avoided detection from the strange men Darius was conversing with, I had an unsettling feeling he wasn’t finished with his own interrogation.
But the forest was utterly still and the undergrowth thick, making it impossible for any movement to go unnoticed. With a quiet sigh I slowly sank to the ground, where I waited, eyes closed, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm my panic.
I tensed at the sound of approaching footsteps, soft but unmistakable. They paused near me. “Are you alright?”
My eyes jerked open to find Darius crouching in front of me. “Are they gone?” I asked wearily.
He nodded. “It was quite the feat to get them to leave before they’d had a chance to look around, but they’ll be back, undoubtedly to conduct their own investigation after my vague answers to their prodding questions.” His frown deepened. “Whatever you were doing in that tree was powerful enough to attract the Investigations Team’s unwanted attention.”
The Investigations Team? The name sounded familiar…and then I remembered it was the group of detectives Stardust aspired to join. My blood chilled. “Are they investigatingme?” That was undoubtedly very bad.
He pursed his lips. “If you’re responsible for that strong surge of magic that occurred shortly after dawn, then I’m afraid so. Just what were you doing?”
I couldn’t tell him, not when he was clearly conducting his own investigation, which only gave me more reason to distrust him. Despite his covering for me, I’d have to remain on my guard.
He seemed unsurprised by my refusal to cooperate, but he still looked disappointed. “I know you’re hiding something. Won’t you confide in me?”
My hand instinctively cradled the dream tucked within my apron pocket. I hastily yanked away the moment Darius’s gaze flickered down. Understanding replaced his confusion.
“Do your secrets have anything to do with this?” He withdrew the jar he’d stolen from me the night before. I gasped and lunged for it, but he held it out of reach. “Not so fast.”
“Give that back! It’smine.” I made to grab it again, but once more he held it away.
