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Stardust stopped suddenly. “Oh no, look who’s here.”
Up ahead, Darius leaned against the souvenir stall selling snow globes, leisurely tossing and catching one in the air as if it was no concern to him whether or not such a pricey treasure broke.
Stardust tugged me in the opposite direction. “Let’s go this way before he notices us.”
Too late. He spotted us and waved me over with a lopsided grin. An unexpected jolt tickled my stomach, the opposite reaction I wanted when all my anger from having discovered his betrayal boiled anew. I deliberately made eye contact before storming off the other way.
“Wait, Eden!”
I ignored him and kept walking, trying to outrun him even while the urgings of my heart compelled me to linger. It treacherously lifted when he caught up a moment later and jogged beside me. “I’ve been looking for you. I thought we were going to spend the festival together.”
I glanced sideways at Stardust for her reaction to this revelation and was unsurprised to find her glaring at me. “I changed my mind,” I said curtly.
He blinked at me, looking first surprised by my hostility, then quite hurt, and for a moment I felt a pinprick of doubt in my suspicion towards him.
I quickened my pace but he kept up easily, tossing his snow globe as we walked, oblivious to the burning emotions spreading through me like molten lava.
It seemed to take great effort for him to clear his expression and force a smile. “What do you think of your first festival? Isn’t it amazing? Although I prefer it when the Nightmare Realm hosts due to their decorations not being quite so sparkly, I must admit the Dream Realm puts on a fantastic display.”
I took a sharp turn and darted through a large crowd of startled Dreamers, hoping to shake him off, but Darius followed with ease.
“Did you get a chance to see the hall of mirrors showcasing famous scenes from history? I thought that might be something you’d enjoy. Or how about the gallery of moving paintings?”
If I just ignored him maybe he’d go away, but like a bad dream he lingered, chatting easily about the various festival highlights without a hint anything was wrong. Whether his indifference was due to ignorance or was on purpose, it only fueled the fire simmering within me. How could he act so nonchalant after spilling my greatest secret to his Nightmare cronies?
At my continued silence, Darius’s brows finally furrowed and he stopped tossing his snow globe. “What’s wrong? Why are you so sulky?”
“It’s nothing.” I so badly wanted to confront him, but I wouldn’t give him the pleasure of knowing I’d discovered him. A nice dose of the silent treatment would have to suffice.
His smile faltered. “Don’t give me that, something’s obviously bothering you. No one should be so gloomy at the festival. What’s wrong?”
“As if you didn’t know.”
“Idon’t.”
“Why don’t you leave her alone?” Stardust interjected, giving him a deliciously malicious glare. “Can’t you see she doesn’t want to talk to you?”
He frowned. He was silent for a moment before he brightened. “I know what will cheer you up. Would you like to watch the flying colors with me?”
I froze so suddenly Stardust floated into me. “What?Why?”
He grinned crookedly through the light blush that had accompanied his invitation. “You did promise to spend the festival together, and I’d never miss an opportunity to get to know you better.”
Probably so he could gather more secrets for the Council, making the invitation nothing more than a ploy.
He gave my shoulder a playful nudge. “Come on, you know you want to.”
“Actually I don’t. Don’t jump to your usual conclusion that everyone is as in love with you as you are with yourself.”
He sighed. “You wouldn’t object to us at leastwalkingto the show together, would you?”
I gritted my teeth. Since he was so determined to get his way I didn’t have much choice in the matter, but I made sure to ignore his overly cheerful small talk as I trudged towards the meadow where the show was to be held.
After several annoying minutes of him commenting about how he’d gotten through the challenging cloud maze in record time and been one of the few to scale to the top of the rock-climbing wall, he finally gave up trying to engage me. I risked a sideways glance to find him looking rather disheartened. Despite my best attempts to school it, guilt wrenched my heart. Even after his betrayal, I didn’t like to see him unhappy.
We walked in silence as we strolled past the various booths, slowing when Stardust became distracted with the display of souvenirs, which she eagerly browsed.
“A crystal ball that allows you to relive moments from the past, I’ve always wanted that. Oh look, and a jewelry box that holds secrets, I want that too. Ooh, aunicorn spottingmemory; I must havethat.”
