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Sharp fear clamped around my heart, suffocating my brief moment of bravery until none remained. She couldn’t be serious...could she? But by the fierce look in her eyes, I knew she was. Whatever mask she’d been hiding behind for months was now slowly coming off, and I hated what it was revealing beneath it.
I swallowed back the tears I knew she hated as Mother stepped forward, her hardened glare piercing. “You know you need to trust me; you don’t have a choice.”
I flinched both at her cruel words and the way they made me want to comply, and her glower immediately softened into her usual false smile. She stroked my hair and I jerked away from her unwanted touch.
“My poor, confused Eden, to have misplaced some of your special jars. Perhaps you should clean your room more often. Will you do that for Mother rather than falsely accuse your family? After all, you do want to please me, don’t you?”
And she gave me a piercing look that dared me defy her. I swallowed and, hating myself for the gesture, nodded. Because once again, the image of myself as a little girl curled in a corner, abandoned and alone, made me a puppet in her hands. I felt the chains binding me to her tighten, too thick to possibly break.
It was hopeless.
Chapter 27
Iwatched as tonight’s Weaving earnings seeped into my locket and the magic turned lilac while Caspian looked on with a dejected expression.
I gave him a wan smile. “You almost beat me tonight.”
He sighed. “I was so close, but my dream was lacking. I’ll fix my mistakes and try again tomorrow.” He hesitated. “My magic is getting low again...will you allow me to win a few Weavings?” He’d made the request several times the past few weeks after I’d begun making more of an effort to talk with him.
Even though my answer was always the same, I made a show of considering it before nodding. “I’ll be sure to create an elaborate nightmare that does little to touch on Easton’s personal experiences.”
I winked and Caspian managed a grin, one I welcomed after the animosity that used to exist between us. “I really appreciate it, Eden. See you tomorrow.” He turned to leave but paused to frown outside Easton’s bedroom window. I glanced out too, just as Stardust darted inside.
“Eden,” she managed through huge gulps of breath. “Your—nightmare—jars—”
Apprehension clenched my gut. “What happened?”
It took her a moment to catch her breath enough to find her voice. “I just received news that strange magic has been released into the Dream Realm.”
Horror seeped over me, momentarily rendering my speechless. But I managed to stir and scramble onto Stardust. “You must take me there.”
She shook her head. “If you’re discovered at the scene of the crime, you’ll once again take the blame for something you didn’t do. You could be suspended.”
I hesitated even as the selfish Eden that had been a part of me since my arrival in the Nightmare Realm flared to life once more. Though she offered the safer road, I didn’t want to be her any longer. I set my jaw. “I bottled those nightmares and didn’t guard them carefully enough. If they’ve been unleashed, then I have to do my best to make this right, no matter the consequences.”
Stardust opened her mouth, likely to launch into a fresh wave of protests, but at the determination filling my expression she instead gave a curt nod. “The scene of the crime I find most imperative to investigate is the Nature Artistry Studio.”
Caspian lurched forward. “That’s where Angel planned to go following her Weaving. Please, I must come with you.”
The moment he’d settled behind me, Stardust took off into the sky, her explanation coming almost as quickly as she flew. “From what I can gather, three of the nightmares have been unleashed: a thick darkness was dropped in a village on Earth to create indefinite night, spiders were released in the Dream Council chamber to disrupt their proceedings, and a nightmare of a tornado was unleashed in the Nature Artistry Studio, wreaking havoc. Everyone is in a panic.”
Guilt rose along with the panic clawing at my throat. It appeared my horrendous mistake of dropping the lava nightmare in the Cultivating Fields had given Mother another idea for how to tip the balance. I could only imagine the mayhem an untamed nightmare of a tornado could create...as well as the other nightmares. And though I was grateful only a few of the stolen nightmares had been released, my unease only deepened at the realization that with more in Mother’s possession, she had a tool to create additional havoc in the future.
My breath froze in my chest when we finally arrived at the studio to assess the damage. It was worse than I’d anticipated. The paint used to create sunsets seeped across the marble floor, while broken pieces of cloud sculptures and wilted plants lay scattered everywhere like fallen soldiers.
In the midst of the chaos the tornado continued to rage, twisting and twirling in a thick, silvery cloud of fierce wind, destroying everything in its path. Dreamers rushed around, some trying to escape its destruction, others trying to rescue some of the nature artistry before the tornado swallowed it up, while a few brave souls attempted to use their magic to stop it. The sound was deafening, and debris flew everywhere from the tornado’s fierce wind.
Stardust immediately morphed into her detective notebook to sketch the crime scene, following me as I pushed against the intense wind, each step a struggle as I picked my way through the mess, Caspian close behind as he anxiously searched for Angel. He finally spotted her kneeling midst the rubble of her now broken cloud statues. Iris—who must have rushed here to investigate the moment she heard—sat beside her with a comforting arm wrapped around her shoulders.
Caspian released a whooshing breath of relief. “Angel!“
She looked up at the sound of his voice, her tear-streaked face twisted into a murderous expression, which cleared the moment she spotted her Pair. “Caspian!“
He rushed towards her as she scrambled to her feet and met him halfway. He embraced her, holding her so tightly he lifted her off the ground. “Are you alright?” He had to shout to be heard above the fierce wind.
Angel buried herself against his chest. “The studio...I don’t understand, what sort of magic could cause such a phenomenon?”
“Eden says it’s a nightmare.”
