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“Did you get the emotions?”
I panted for breath. “Couldn’t find any.” I pressed my hand to my frantically beating heart, while the scaly, slippery feeling of the snakes still clung to my skin and the sound of Wendy’s screams reverberated in my ears. “That was terrifying.”
“It was a dream, Eden.” Mother pulled a snake from my hair that had left the nightmare with me and tangled itself in my ringlets. “Since you failed, you’ll just have to go back inside and try again.”
I shuddered at the thought. “I want to choose a different dream. That one was...creepy.” Horrifying was admittedly a more apt description.
“You’ll do no such thing. I want negative emotions, and those can only be found in nightmares.”
“But there were so many snakes...”
She rolled her eyes. “Comets, Eden, must you be so ridiculous? It was anightmare. It wasn’t real. Now go back inside.”
For a moment a flare of rebellion filled me, tempting me to defy her wishes and search a dream instead. But one look at the nightmare snake slithering away caused my defiance to die. I couldn’t risk entering a dream and accidentally bringing a portion out of it; then Mother would know I’d disobeyed. I was left with no choice but to return to the world of snakes that had haunted Wendy while she’d slept.
And thus passed the long morning. By the time it was over I’d experienced that pool of snakes half a dozen times, heard enough of Wendy’s shrieks to last me a lifetime, and emerged with no emotions to show for it.
Too bad I couldn’t bottle up my own fear, for the nightmare became more chilling each time I viewed it. But as frightening as it was, it nowhere near as intimidating as the disappointment filling Mother’s eyes as she glared at me for my continued failure, and the helplessness pressing against my heart that no matter how hard I tried, I could never please her.
Chapter 8
The summons came unexpectedly. I hadn’t received any since the one from the Council that had forced me to appear before them in order to banish me from the Dream Realm, the one that had changed the course of my life forever.
Ever since entering this dreary place I’d secretly been hoping for a similar summons, but I hadn’t received any messages, not even from my old friends in response to the countless ones I’d sent them before finally giving up; my battered heart couldn’t take any more abuse.
So it was a surprise when a summons arrived at dawn. I’d just returned from winning another Weaving and stealing my seventh nightmare from Darius—another one he’d woven for his other Mortal that was especially powerful, my dream locket bursting with magic, making me feel unstoppable.
I smirked as I showcased my bulging locket and recounted to a rather bored-looking Stardust details about another night of dominating my Weavings. “All of this just proves I’m a Nightmare after all,” I said, trying to ignore the uneasiness knotting my stomach at my own words.
Stardust had just opened her mouth to argue when the bubble message slipped through the crack of my bedroom door. My stomach plummeted. Had Darius finally had enough of my thefts and reported my crime? Was I finally to be suspended? Yet this summons wasn’t gold like those from the Council, but silver, denoting another possibility.
Was this a message from Angel or Iris finally responding to me after all this time? Hope caused my heart to lift. Perhaps they had finally realized my stealing Angel’s magic had been an accident and were ready to set aside our misunderstandings and make amends. And if it wasn’t from them...my stomach fluttered as another possibility occurred to me: perhaps this was fromDarius, who desired to finally reconnect despite my having pushed him away.
My silly imaginings of our reunion—complete with him taking me in his arms and kissing me rather thoroughly—were shattered as the message soared not towards me but to Stardust. It paused in front of her and bounced in the air, urging her to take it. My heart tightened as my ridiculous fantasies concerningthatNightmare fizzled. Why had I allowed myself even to hope? It made my disappointment all the more stinging.
I took a steadying breath in an attempt to quench my rising emotions enough to speak. “Who’s it from?”
Stardust blinked in surprise at the bubble hovering in front of her. “I have no idea.”
At her hesitation, the message bounced impatiently against her frothy body until she gingerly took it and slid her airy touch around the rim to open it.
Feigning indifference for the contents of Stardust’s message, I made a show of rummaging through my weaving bag for nothing in particular, but my façade faltered as my burning curiosity compelled me to watch as Stardust’s message transformed into silvery strands that twisted into cursive scrawl:
The Investigations Team has carefully reviewed your application and is pleased to invite you to join our ranks. Please report at the time and place that will be sent you hereafter.
Stardust gawkedat the glossy words before she squealed and morphed into fireworks, exploding herself all over my bedroom as she bounced off the walls.
“I can’t believe it: I’ve finally been invited to join the Investigations Team. My dream of becoming a famous detective is finally coming true. This is the greatest day of my life! Oh Eden, isn’t this wonderful?” She paused in her hyper flight to beam at me.
Now that she was no longer risking my hearing with her ruckus, I uncovered my ears and frowned at the shiny message before it disappeared word by word with apop.
“Congratulations, Stardust.” I nibbled my lip, deliberating the wisdom in the honest course before I hesitantly continued, hating myself for pointing out the obvious. “Don’t you think it an odd coincidence for you to receive an invitationnow?”
Stardust’s ecstatic expression faltered and her eyes narrowed dangerously. “What do you mean?”
I fiddled with one of my hair clips and avoided her eyes. “Considering my abnormal powers, past criminal history, and my relation to Mother—who’s clearly up to some secretive—I’m the prime candidate for the Investigations Team’s suspicion. What if their request for you to join has less to do with your abilities as a detective and more to do with your connection to me?” I took a wavering breath. “What if their primary motive is to use you against me?”
The silence that followed my hypothesis was deafening. I could feel the swirls of anger emanating from Stardust even before she morphed into a tornado and swirled around the room, creating chaos as books, papers, and clothes were tossed around in the whirlwind.
