The Council hummed at his words and horror seized my furiously pounding heart. No…it couldn’t be true. Darius would never…but there was only one way for the Council to have learned these secrets—from the Nightmare I’d foolishly given my heart to, and now he’d broken it into a thousand pieces.
But the part of me that loved and trusted Darius still didn’t want to believe it. It couldn’t have been him; my heart refused to accept it. I desperately tried to think of anyone else who could have betrayed me and my mind immediately latched onto Blaze and Trinity. But my denials died in my throat when Galaxy revealed a black notebook, encrusted with silver spiderwebs.
My heart stilled. I’d seen that notebook several times before—it was full of all the evidence Darius had accumulated about me, one whose magical charm could only be unlocked by Darius himself. His involvement was unmistakable.
I stood frozen, numb with disbelief. I could still feel the warmth of my realization that I loved him, the comfort of his arms around me, the shadow of his kiss. To think I’d actually believed that anyone could ever feel such sweet, precious feelings towards me…but it’d all been a lie. From the very beginning, Darius had set me up, and like a fool I’d fallen for it.
“This is full of unusual information about you, Dreamer Eden. I had no idea Nightmare Darius had managed to dig up so many secrets in the time he’s been investigating you, all of which are quite…enlightening, this one in particular.”
He flipped to a marked place in the center of Darius’s notebook.
“Upon your arrival, you failed to mention a particularly condemning bit of information: your relation to the Nightmare Ebony, who, due to her use of dark magic, was suspended and subsequently disappeared on Earth.” He shook his head. “And to think I actually believed your ridiculous story of having been a rare Weaver born outside this world who gained her powers through self-study.”
My hands tightened into fists and hatred burned within me, not just towards the backstabber Darius, but for the entire Council, who smirked mockingly from their perches, as if relishing my humiliation.
Galaxy seemed indifferent to the anger raging like a tornado inside me. He thumbed through the pages of Darius’s notebook, leisurely reading my long-hidden secrets. He paused, his eyebrows raising at something evidently interesting.
“More condemning evidence. Investigator Cedar, do you have proof to back up this particular claim of Nightmare Darius that Dreamer Eden can not only see and enter dreams, but actually capture them?” He tilted the notebook towards Cedar, who nodded briskly.
“Certainly, Dreamer Galaxy.”
With a snap of his fingers, the gold Council doors swung open, and a member of the Investigations Team bustled in, arms laden with dream jars from my room. My heart plummeted.
“We conducted a search of her dwelling and found these jars of magic, all tested and belonging to Dreamers who’ve reported thefts this past year,” Cedar said. “One also matches the description of the jar that Head Nightmare Ember confiscated from the suspect, one she reports was later stolen.”
“They’re not—” I began, but Galaxy nonchalantly waved my denial away and motioned towards the Investigations Team.
“Search her.”
Cedar snatched my bag before I could peep in protest and sifted through it with intense vigor. He scooped out a single jar, cracked but not broken, the sliver of a golden dream captured within flickering like sunlight. His brow furrowed as he examined it.
“Bay, run a test to determine whose magic this is.” He handed it to an Investigator with penetrating crimson eyes and returned to my bag. After rummaging through my dream flowers, he pulled out the reality rose and my nightmare flower, the last of the damning evidence.
Gasps broke the thick silence as everyone stared in wide-eyed horror at the flowers clutched in Cedar’s grasp. It took a moment for Galaxy to find his voice. “It was you. You’re the one responsible.”
I frantically shook my head. “No. I mean, I didn’t know. I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t deny it, the evidence is indisputable,” Galaxy thundered. “You, a supposed Dreamer, have a nightmare flower in your possession, which undoubtedly links you to the nightmare flowers that have been popping up like weeds all over the Cultivating Fields. What’s more…” He seized the reality rose from Cedar and held it at arm’s length like Darius had done. “Unless I’m mistaken, this is from the Ebony Market. Confirmation, Investigator Cedar?”
“Indeed it is. The Investigations Team has been trying to pinpoint the market’s location for years.” He now pored over Mother’s notebook, which he’d discovered buried at the bottom of my bag. “Dreamer Galaxy, this notebook contains detailed notes about some of the contraband plants we’ve been trying to track down.” He switched back to Darius’s notebook. “It appears Nightmare Darius found traces of them while searching the area he found Dreamer Eden.”
Galaxy seized the notebook and searched it with a hungry fervor. “Of course, this plant must have come from Ebony herself—or one of the Nightmares thought to be her accomplices, with whom you were spotted conspiring at the border the other day. There’s no room for doubt.”
I struggled to speak through the tears clogging my throat. “I don’t know anything about any of those plants.”
“Lies,” Galaxy hissed. “As the daughter of their creator, you undoubtedly know all about the Ebony Market, and probably even had a hand in growing these illegal plants which corrupt Mortals’ dreams. So typical for a Nightmare.”
My stomach clenched. “I’m not a Nightmare.”
“Unfortunately, you indisputably are,” Galaxy said. “Magical children always inherit the same magical identity as their parents. Ebony revealed her true Nightmare colors long before she was suspended, so as Ebony’s daughter you’re
