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My stomach jolted as my gaze lifted to the darkened sky, swallowed in stars and night. I groaned. “Oh, no.” I tried to scramble to my feet but froze as Darius rested a firm but gentle hand on my shoulder. He studied me for a long moment, his frown deepening with his perusal.
“What’s wrong, Eden?”
“Nothing,” I said hastily, but the word was nothing more than a lie.
“I know something is bothering you; despite your attempts to hide it during our weavings, I’ve sensed your being out of sorts all week.” His fingertip lightly traced around my puffy eyes, causing me to shiver. “You’ve been crying.” A look that almost seemed likepainovercame him, a reminder of the unconventional friendship we’d slowly built, which only increased my need to confide in someone. My secret struggled to escape, but I tried to contain it. If I couldn’t tell Stardust or my best friends, surely I couldn’t tell my weaving partner.
But Darius had becomemorethan my weaving partner. There was a connection between us that I still couldn’t understand, a warmth deeper than friendship, feelings I was afraid to examine closely but which urged me to turn to him. My heart whispered not only that my secret would be safe with him, but that he’d be able to help.
I tried to speak but couldn’t find the words, yet somehow he understood what I couldn’t say. “Something has happened,” he said. “Would you like to talk about it?”
My terror at the prospect was nowhere near my desperation to understand this new, frightening part of myself, to turn to him. Yet still I hesitated.
“But we haven’t time,” I protested. “The Weaving—”
“—will wait,” he said. “Our Mortals don’t need to dream the moment they fall asleep. We have all night. So please, confide in me.”
He stood and offered his hand, an invitation to trust him. Despite my longing to, a part of me still held back. Accepting his hand would acknowledge that what was developing between us was something different than what was expected for our world. Dreamers and Nightmares were the gravest of enemies; they didn’t help one another with Weavings, go to tea shops together, or confide their deepest fears.
But for the first time in my life I wanted something more than to belong…I wantedhim.
My heart took control, allowing me to rest my hand in his. Warmth enfolded me like an embrace from just that single touch, dispelling the chill that had enveloped me when examining the nightmare flower. He gently lifted me to my feet, but even after I’d stood he didn’t release me. Instead his fingers laced through mine, tugging me closer, even as his eyes bored into mine.
I basked in the beautiful feelings filling me…until fear took control, extinguishing the warmth like the flame of a candle. Surely feeling so comfortable with a Nightmare meant…I gasped and yanked my hand from his.
No, I’m a Dreamer. But this time the affirmation felt more like a question.
“Forgive me,” Darius said. “I’d hate to rush you.”
My brow puckered. Rush me for what? But I didn’t have much time to ponder the meaning of his words before he spoke again.
“Let’s go somewhere we can talk.” He started to offer his hand once more before blushing and hastily withdrawing. It was only after he’d taken away the invitation that I realized just how much I wanted to hold his hand again.
What’s wrong with me?
I tried to sort out my confusing feelings, as tangled as the webs Darius liked so much, as I followed him deeper into the park. He paused in front of a wall of ivy and honeysuckles, which he parted like a curtain. I ducked inside and immediately stilled, my breath catching in wonder. “Oh.”
Hidden behind the ivy was another section of the park that I’d never seen before, one made entirely of floating paths and waterfalls, whose cascading rapids changed color to music, as tranquil as a lullaby. Despite night having settled, the sky here was tinged with dawn, as if time was measured differently in such an enchanting place.
Darius’s eyes were aglow as he watched not the waterfalls but me, seeming to take true pleasure in my delight. He blushed when our gazes met. “Do you like it?” Hope filled his voice.
I could only nod breathlessly. “I’ve never seen such a lovely place, even within the Dream Realm.”
“Both worlds hold their own enchantment, even the Nightmare Realm.”
I instinctively stiffened at the words, a reaction not lost on him. Worry furrowed his brow as he bridged the distance between us, allowing the curtain of ivy to close behind us.
“Come, let’s talk.”
This time he didn’t hesitate to take my hand before leading me to a waterfall more secluded than the rest. There we settled on the flower-dappled lawn, shrouded in the mist coming from the falls, whose rapids were a soft green, like Darius’s eyes. With each note of the gentle music I felt some of my unease slip away.
I glanced sideways at Darius, who waited patiently, his expression open.Trust him, my heart whispered, and at its silent urging I reached into my bag and shakily removed the nightmare flower.
“I—”
But once more my words faltered, unable to confess what had happened out loud, so I simply handed him the flower. It seemed to lean against his touch in a way that it hadn’t mine, as if recognizing it was in the presence of a Nightmare Weaver, which gave me the slightest glimmer of hope that perhaps I wasn’t who I was beginning to fear I was.
Darius examined the flower carefully before raising a questioning gaze to mine. “Where did you get this?”
