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But I’d no sooner had this rather sobering thought than I remembered something Darius had said about our connection beside the waterfall.It’s happened once that I’m aware of, back when the Dream World was first created. Had he been talking about our friendship, or apairedrelationship?
I blinked rapidly to dispel the thoughts and found my friends watching me suspiciously, still awaiting my excuses for tonight. I nervously fiddled with my hair as I frantically tried to come up with another explanation for my outing with Darius other than the wonderful one I was beginning to hope it’d been.
“I had a Weaving question…and he offered to help…”
The excuse only deepened their alarm. “Eden,” Angel said tentatively. “I know you haven’t been in the Dream World long, but…it’s unlikely Nightmare Darius wanted to help you with your weaving.”
My heart sank. “Why not?”
She sighed. “Because Nightmares are not to be trusted. It’s as simple as that.”
“PerhapssomeNightmares,” I ventured. “But—”
“No, Eden,allNightmares.” Angel’s entire manner had hardened. “Their magic is far too different from ours, their world a place of darkness, shadows, and fear, a contrast to our world of light. Nightmares and Dreamers don’t mingle.Ever.”
“That’s not quite true,” Iris said. “While the two realms don’t often mingle outside of weavings, the Council is trying to encourage less animosity between the two worlds.”
“Their efforts will change nothing,” Angel insisted. “Our differences are far too vast for us to ever bridge them.”
I frowned. While in theory I understood the animosity between Dreamers and Nightmares, the rift between the two worlds made little sense whenever I was actually with Darius. Our relationship, while surely forbidden, felt anything but wrong.
“He’s been very kind—” I managed, an inadequate defense for all he was coming to mean to me.
Stardust snorted. “Kind? He’s given you nothing but trouble from the moment you arrived, or need I remind you all the times he’s investigated you, both on Earth and while here?”
A sliver of doubt entered my mind. Hehadbeen paying me a lot of attention of late…I gave my head a rigid shake. “He’s only been trying to help me.”
But then I remembered the notebook I’d found, where he’d carefully chronicled all the information he’d discovered about me. Had I trusted him too easily?
Iris pursed her lips. “Does he have a reason to get close to her?”
“Eden’s powers are rather unique,” Stardust said. “He undoubtedly wants to use them for his own ends.”
I gave her a sharp, warning glare to not be so open about my magic, but the damage had been done.
Angel’s eyebrows rose. “You have unique powers, Eden? What are they?”
I gave Stardust another dark glower and she at least had the sense to look contrite. “I’d rather not share,” I said stiffly.
Angel frowned, looking rather hurt, and guilt prickled my conscience that I was once more allowing my secrets to harm the few friendships I had.
Angel lifted her chin. “Whatever your powers are, the fact that they exist creates the possibility that Nightmare Darius is using you, which explains his insincere interest in you. This wouldn’t be the first time he’s done something like this.”
Foreboding encased my heart like a heavy shadow. “What do you mean?”
“It’s just a rumor—” Iris began, but Angel leaned closer, a dark glint in her eyes.
“Years ago, Darius got rather close to my Weaving Partner, Blaze, and his Pair, Trinity.”
My unease deepened at the mere mention of their names.
“The story goes that Darius and Trinity combined their powers for a sinister purpose,” Angel continued. “No one knows what Darius’s powers are, only that they’re unique and very dangerous. Then, more recently, he and Trinity were discovered together at one of the earliest instances of when the balance began tipping in the Nightmare Realm’s favor. Because he’s the Head Nightmare’s son, Darius avoided suspension. But if he’s still interested in tipping the balance, he’ll need access to unique powers to achieve it.” She gave me a penetrating look.
My apprehension grew. Was there any truth in Angel’s story? By Stardust’s solemn expression, I could tell she believed every word. Sense dictated that I should as well, but my heart had different ideas; it created enough doubt to prevent me from embracing my friends’ warning.
It’s just a rumor, I reminded myself.One spread by the Dream Realm with a bias against all Nightmares. It was similar to what I believed had happened to Mother, who’d been suspended for supposedly dangerous reasons. Yet I knew Mother and had no doubt that the accusations against her had been unjust, just as I suspected Darius’s were now.
Was I naive to trust him so easily?
