I had to tell him. I needed to trust someone with one of my secrets. What else did I have to lose? “I found this in Mother’s garden,” I whispered, light-headed. “I’ve been hoping for another explanation, that perhaps her plants weren’t as dangerous as I’d feared, but now…”
“You didn’t know?” Darius’s entire manner softened. “Of course you didn’t. I’m not surprised; I suspected your mother never told you about any of her plants or her unique powers to—”
My horror deepened. “You mean you’ve known the entire time, and you didn’t bother telling me?”
Darius looked like he very much wanted to snatch back his last words. “I was going to when my research was more conclusive, but there are so many pieces that still don’t fit together—”
“You’ve been researching my mother behind my back?” Emotion surged through me. I felt hot all over. “You think you can study me like I’m one of your precious legends, but you can’t.”
“Actually, it wasn’t your mother I was researching, not initially.” Darius fiddled with the reality rose’s prickly stem, determinedly avoiding my eyes. “As I promised, I was looking into the nightmare flower you created, but I couldn’t uncover any plausible explanation for how you could have created such a thing.”
You created it because you’re a Nightmare. I tried to shove this poisonous thought away, but it was unrelenting as it slithered deeper into my heart.
“So I took another approach,” Darius continued. “I began searching for an explanation as to how a being like you—one who is Half-Mortal, Half-Dreamer—could possibly exist. Such an anomaly could only be achieved through unusual magic, and the only being we know of who’s capable of such a feat is the Nightmare who was banished to Earth after using her unique magic in forbidden ways. After making this connection, the pieces fell into place.”
My breath hooked. “It was a Nightmare who was banished? But Mother isn’t—” I couldn’t finish. I barely registered the tears pouring unguarded down my cheeks until Darius stepped closer and wiped them away with his thumb.
“You didn’t know? I’m so sorry. I’m not trying to hurt you, dear Eden.” His eyes were wide and earnest. “That flower is from the Ebony Market, and if you’re discovered with it, you’ll be in serious trouble. If you’d just let me keep it—”
I snorted. “Give it to you? So you can have an advantage in your next Weaving without getting your own hands dirty? All you care about is increasing your powers. This is all I have left of Mother and I won’t let you take it.”
I knew I was being irrational—my newest realization had left my mind whirling, making it impossible to think. But deep down I knew Darius would never do anything to hurt me, a truth that was only confirmed by each of his gentle, soothing touches along my cheek and in my hair, before he took my hand, carefully intertwining our fingers.
“Oh Eden, I care more about you than about winning Weavings, infinitely more so. Why do you think I helped you for so long? Didn’t it mean anything to you?”
What was he saying? Could he truly feel such soft, wonderful feelings about me? He was a Nightmare who had always cared most about himself; it’s what made him Darius. Any other would cause the Universe to become unhinged, tip the balance in new ways I couldn’t even begin to understand, but which I desperately wanted to.
But no matter what he felt, I couldn’t deny my own feelings any longer. The seed had been planted the moment we’d met, and it had only bloomed with every interaction. I no longer cared that I wasn’t supposed to feel what I did for him; it didn’t change how I felt.
I loved him.
“Eden?” he whispered.
So many questions filled the way he said my name. I ached to share my feelings with him. But even though I couldn’t speak, he must have seen the emotions in my eyes. His gaze lit up, and in it I felt his own silent answer, one that caused my heart to swell. He gently cupped my chin to raise my gaze to meet his before slowly leaning down to press his lips softly against mine.
My first instinct—the fearful part of me that made me believe I couldn’t possibly deserve to be cherished by Darius after what I’d done—was to shove him away, but I couldn’t, not with him holding me like this. I stopped fighting and let myself melt into his kiss.
All the feelings I’d been suppressing—feelings I knew I shouldn’t have for a Nightmare, particularly my weaving partner who was oh-so-good at being annoying and conceited and infuriating and yet perfectly sweet and wonderful—all rushed to the surface. Being held by Darius felt like the most natural thing in the entire Universe, like there was nowhere else I was meant to be. I wanted our kiss to extend into countless forevers.
Slowly, almost unwillingly, he pulled away. His hand caressed my cheek and he stared unblinking into my eyes, his own aglow. “Are you alright?”
Heat tinged my cheeks but I found myself smiling as I nodded. He pressed his forehead against mine.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”
His hands pressed the base of my back, gently molding my body against his. I melted into his embrace and nestled closer to inhale his sweet caramel apple scent before lightly tracing the outline of his black spiderweb tattoo extending from his neck. He leaned against my hand and kissed my palm before his hold tightened, cradling me as if I was something infinitely precious. Warmth seeped from his touch and spread over me like I was immersed in a hot bath, and all the anxiousness and pain that had been plaguing me slowly faded away.
I wanted to remain cradled in this perfect moment forever. But even in the midst of my perfect contentment,
