I fell back. My head slammed the ground.
Gasping for air, I lay immobilized.
Mr. Green and the Dreamthief stood over me. “As I said, you should have found me sooner!”
“You… monster.” A host of other descriptors came to mind, but I couldn’t think past the pain.
“I allowed you to save your godson, but I can’t allow you to stop the summoning.”
The Dreamthief floated off the ground, past the ladder, and to the top of the catwalk.
I rolled onto my side. Sharp stabs of pain throbbed through my body, threatening to overwhelm me.
At least the children are safe.
I focused on the Dreamthief as it stood on the catwalk. A slim case formed in its hands. It opened the lid to reveal a mirror. Gray fog clouded the silver glass. Sparks of blue electricity crackled through the mirror’s surface. I caught a glimpse of the image forming in the mirror—a dark, mist-shrouded moor with wind-battered trees. The image disappeared as a burst of raw magic poured from the glass.
The Regaymor screamed loud enough to overpower the windstorm. I couldn’t suppress a shudder at the sound of their unnatural wails. The mirror became a vacuum. Gray mist that looked too heavy to be a fog encircled the creatures and pulled them inside the mirror, one by one, until they disappeared.
The Dreamthief snapped the lid closed. The screams stopped.
Although the creatures were gone, the tower’s light remained constant.
“What are you doing?” I asked Mr. Green as the Dreamthief knelt beside the light. Goblins poured in around us. They climbed the ladder and stood with hunched backs beside the Dreamthief.
I caught glimpses of their lean, skeletal faces, their ruby eyes glowing with calculated intelligence.
“We’re doing what should have happened twenty-four years ago. Your death will make an honorable sacrifice that Theht dare not refuse.”
My stomach knotted.
Chanting came from the woman and the goblins. I’d heard those words before.
We summon Theht.
Mr. Green grabbed me under the arms. Several goblins snatched up my feet.
We summon Theht.
“Leave me alone.” My words came out as a weak request. The pain made my vision blur.
We summon Theht.
I wanted to lash out and summon a spell that would destroy them all, but the basita had made my nerves unresponsive. I was doing good to keep my eyes open.
The goblins’ nails scraped my arms as they carried me up the ladder. Their harsh, rattling breaths sounded loud in my ears.
The light grew brighter the higher we climbed. When we finally stepped off the ladder, I got a better view of the catwalk area.
The light came from a wide, round altar. Runes, similar to the ones I’d seen in the Wult caves, were carved into its surface, and the light was emanating from them. They glowed as if on fire, a piercing light so bright I wanted to shield my eyes.
The goblins placed me on the table.
The runes scorched my back. Pain seared from my brain through my arms and legs, into my joints and nerve endings, as if I burned from the inside. I screamed. The agony took over my thoughts. Tears leaked from my eyes.
“Stop.” I managed a hoarse groan.
Mr. Green held up a knife. The smooth, mirror-like blade reflected in the altar’s light. A cold sweat broke out across my body. If only I could move!
We summon Theht.
I concentrated on breathing. I couldn’t move, that was true, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t use magic.
The knife lowered.
“Cirrus,” I whispered. The gust of air took him off guard. He flew back and hit the wall. The others fell back as well, landing in heaps on the floor. My joints screamed with pain as I moved an inch. It wasn’t much, and I was still on the table, but at least I could move again.
I crawled off the table and landed on the floor. My legs tingled as if they’d been electrocuted, but I managed to stand.
I focused on the blade. It lay on the ground a few feet away. I moved forward. Each step felt torturous, but I blocked it out.
Mr. Green stirred. His face, once human, transformed. I stared at a goblin in man’s clothes. He crawled into a crouch.
I lunged for the knife and grabbed it up, but another form swooped in. The Dreamthief. It stood between me and Mr. Green.
“Fool,” it hissed.
Its voice didn’t sound as I expected. The Dreamthief transformed, and the missing puzzle piece fell into place.
I no longer looked at the Dreamthief, but at Mrs. Dickinson. She looked older than when I’d seen her last. Gray hair hung in limp strands over her face. Her robes rustled around her as if caught in a billowing wind. She stayed in her true form for only a moment. Soon, her face morphed, her blue robes changed black, and once again, I faced the Dreamthief.
Mr. Green, in his human form, stood beside her.
“You underestimate everyone you come in contact with,” he said. “She was there from the beginning, watching you, waiting to take your dreamsoul. And now, she will finally have it.”
I couldn’t answer. Shock overrode my rational thoughts. How could Mrs. Dickinson be the Dreamthief? She was Jeremiah’s foster mom for goodness’ sake.
“She wasn’t alone. There were others, of course. Your own companions were traitors from the beginning. No one cares for you, Olive. Believe what you will, but in truth, you are alone. Your attacks on the light-rails, at the Wult tombs, in the pixie kingdom—they were not random.”
My thoughts started to congeal once again. Mr. Green took a step toward me. I clenched the knife. If only he knew how ready I was to slit his throat. I hoped he saw the madness in my eyes.
“The Caxon are everywhere. Infiltrating every nation in Faythander.”
He took another step forward. I didn’t want to listen to him, but somehow, I couldn’t do anything to stop him.
“They were alerted to your presence before you arrived. Instructed to become friends. Find
