The Investigations Team? The name sounded familiar…and then I remembered it was the group of detectives Stardust aspired to join. My blood chilled. “Are they investigating me?” That was undoubtedly very bad.
He pursed his lips. “If you’re responsible for that strong surge of magic that occurred shortly after dawn, then I’m afraid so. Just what were you doing?”
I couldn’t tell him, not when he was clearly conducting his own investigation, which only gave me more reason to distrust him. Despite his covering for me, I’d have to remain on my guard.
He seemed unsurprised by my refusal to cooperate, but he still looked disappointed. “I know you’re hiding something. Won’t you confide in me?”
My hand instinctively cradled the dream tucked within my apron pocket. I hastily yanked away the moment Darius’s gaze flickered down. Understanding replaced his confusion.
“Do your secrets have anything to do with this?” He withdrew the jar he’d stolen from me the night before. I gasped and lunged for it, but he held it out of reach. “Not so fast.”
“Give that back! It’s mine.” I made to grab it again, but once more he held it away.
“I promise I’ll return it, but now is not the time. Whatever it is will be much safer with me should the Investigations Team return. Trust me.”
And he pocketed it. I glared at where it’d disappeared before turning the force of my anger onto him. “Just what game are you playing with me?”
“I’m not playing any game,” he said. “I only want to help you.”
“And you’re doing such a wonderful job.” First he’d spied on me, then he’d snuck into my bedroom to give me a frightening nightmare, only to steal my dream. I glowered at his bulging pocket a moment more before tightening my jaw. “I don’t like you.”
He looked as if I’d slapped him. I ignored his wounded expression and stood, ignoring Darius’s offered hand. I brushed the loose pine needles off my dress with as much dignity as I could before straightening and, after a final parting glare, I lifted my chin and headed for the edge of the forest.
I should have known he wouldn’t let me go so easily. He hurried after me. “Wait, this can’t be it. We just found one another.”
“Lucky me.” I emerged from the forest and turned up the path that led to my cottage, but before I could take a step further he seized my wrist and tugged me to a stop. I spun on him. “Let me go, Darius.”
He seemed startled to hear me say his name, but his surprise quickly melted into another crooked smile. “Don’t go yet.”
“If you truly want to earn my trust, then forcing me to stay against my will is not the way to go about it.”
He released me immediately, leaving a shadow of warmth encircling my wrist. I tried to shake off the feeling but it clung to me rather stubbornly.
“Are you going to return my jar?” I asked, not liking the idea of a captured dream in the possession of one so suspicious.
He tilted his head. “Are you going to tell me what’s in it?”
“There’s nothing in it.”
“Then why do you want it?” His grin became triumphant at my glower. It appeared I’d lost this particular battle.
I sighed. “Fine, keep it, and may it instill the proper guilt of your theft and serve as a memento of this trying conversation.”
“This conversation has been many things, but trying isn’t one of them.” He tipped his head back to search the sky. “As much as I want to linger, it’d be best if you left; we can’t risk the Investigations Team returning and discovering you or finding any information that would lead them to you…which means I must find any incriminating evidence first.”
Before I could stop him, he caught hold of the lowest branch of my dream-watching tree and hoisted himself up. He crawled expertly across the limbs, pausing occasionally to search along the branches.
My heart pounded harder the longer his perusal. I stood on tiptoe, straining to see what he was doing without actually climbing up after him. I wasn’t sure whether my dream catching had left any traces, but if it had, I didn’t want them to be discovered by him.
He sensed my nervous gaze and glanced down with a wry smile. “Any dream dust you might have left behind would have disappeared by now. If that’s the case, then I commend you for thoroughly distracting me so I couldn’t look for it sooner. And if it’s something else…”
He waited patiently for a moment, as if he really expected me to give him any hints as to what I’d been doing in that tree. When I remained silent, he sighed.
“This would be so much easier if you’d simply tell me what I’m searching for.”
I snorted. “Absolutely not.”
“But it’d be better for you if I was the one who discovered what you were up to rather than—”
“Don’t be ridiculous; I have no reason to trust you.”
His teasing smile faded into a disappointed frown. “Even though I protected you from the Investigations Team?”
I rolled my eyes. “I may know little about the world you come from, but from what I’ve gathered, you and the Investigations Team are on the same side, making us enemies.”
His frown deepened. “The Investigations Team is impartial. Even if they weren’t, one thing is certain: we’re anything but enemies. Any cooperation I appeared to give them was simply done to avoid their suspicion so they wouldn’t discover you.” He returned to combing the branches for clues, effectively contradicting his words.
I watched him for another anxious moment, even though I needed to use this much-needed opportunity to escape before he interrogated me further…or worse, found incriminating evidence to use against me.
