Aiden stared at the screen so long the words started to blur. He’d edited the text twice and he’d hovered his finger over the Send button half a dozen times. If he sent this, it could start a lot of trouble. Hanna might take it the wrong way. Conner might find out somehow and try to start another fight. Or take it out on Hanna. If Conner was that upset about her just saying a few words to him and smiling, what would he do if he found out they were texting? And using a fake name?
Hi! This is Alice. Yes, I want to be friends.
That sounded stupid. He reached for the Delete key to start over. But what else could he say? That was straightforward. If he said more, she might be even more likely to take things wrong.
He looked over at her letter, sitting on the desk. Dylan was right. She sounded lonely. And paranoid. How much courage had it taken her to write that note? And how much more to drop it in his locker?
That decided it. He could at least be as brave as she had been. Aiden sent the text, then immediately panicked. Was there a way to delete a text once it was sent? Oh God, what if she looked at it right away?
Aiden snapped his phone shut and set it on the desk. No, it was done. Freaking out about it wouldn’t make anything better. Maybe Hanna would lose her courage and delete it as soon as she saw it.
She was cute though. He only had that fleeting moment to remember her by. Picking up his fallen book, giving him a shy smile. Thinking about her being nervous and paranoid… Aiden was surprised to feel a spark of anger. She didn’t deserve that.
For the next hour, while he was supposed to be doing his homework, he checked his phone every few minutes. No text. She might be busy. She might still be asleep. It was early, Shadow Valley time.
He looked out the window and frowned at the rain. He got little enough sunlight as it was, and today he wasn’t getting any. If it was raining like this on Saturday, he’d have to cancel his training with Dylan.
The phone chirped. Aiden grabbed the phone so fast he almost knocked it off the table.
Alice! Worried I wouldn’t hear from u. Thx, thx, thx for txting. :D talk soon!!!
He read it twice more, wondering if she meant more than she’d said. Was there some code, the way using the name Alice was? Or was she just happy to hear from him and didn’t have time for more than a quick message? Maybe his text had woken her up and she’d spent all this time writing a message, worrying over it the way he had.
With a deep breath, Aiden made himself close the phone and put it down. She said they’d talk soon, so that meant she didn’t expect him to text back. He’d just wait, and if he didn’t hear from her by the time he got back from school tonight, he’d text her again.
This was nuts.
* * *
“Is something bothering you, Aiden?” Phoebe asked.
Aiden stared off into the distance, not really seeing the park. He wasn’t sure he should say anything, feeling like he would be admitting to doing something wrong. Thinking on that for a moment, he decided that meant he should tell her. If his interactions with Uncle made him feel guilty, then maybe there really was something wrong with it.
“I’ve been having these weird dreams,” he said and told her about Uncle. The offer he’d made to find his parents, the things he’d asked him to do.
As he talked, Phoebe’s eyes got wider. “Aiden, you need to bar him from your dreams, right away. The way you describe him, he sounds like dark fae, and I’m sure he’s up to something nasty.”
“How do I do that?”
“Take an iron dagger, or a knife, and just before bed, hold it out and say, ‘My dreams are my own; you are not welcome.’ Say that three times, then put the dagger under your pillow.”
“And that will work?” The idea of not having Uncle in his dreams anymore was such a relief.
She nodded. “It should. That’s the spell I know to cast out dream walkers.”
“Dream walkers,” he repeated in a quiet voice. “There are so many weird things out there.”
“Yes,” she said with a little smile. “And just when you think you know everything, something you’ve never heard of will show up.”
“So… where do I get an iron dagger?” Aiden wanted to do the spell tonight.
“The antique shop should have a few, but they’re closed now. You can borrow mine until you get your own. Give your parents a call and let them know I can drop you off today. We’ll stop by my house to get the dagger.”
Aiden felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “Thank you.”
* * *
The dark fae whom Aiden knew as Uncle tried to step into the young changeling’s dream and found himself unable to enter. The words of a spell echoed in his ears as he felt the cold, hard touch of iron.
“My dreams are my own, you are not welcome…”
He snarled. Where had the changeling learned that spell? And how dare he use it against him! The dark fae had been sure that dangling the youngling’s parents as an incentive would work. His desire to find them was strong, echoing through his dreamscape.
Perhaps he should have tried a gentler approach, waited longer to bring up the blood potion. He had almost forgotten how squeamish humans were about such things, and though the child was fae, he had been raised as a human.
The dark fae tried to enter again, testing the strength of the spell. The touch of iron, though not physical, made him hiss with anger. The way was truly blocked unless he could gather more powerful magics.
Even if he was able to break through, Aiden would not want to speak with him. The sharp taste of nervousness always surrounded the child when they met. He should not have asked such a thing of him so soon.
Taste, yes. Aiden might be lost to him, but there was another he might be able to lure into his plans. The dragonkin. They had been rare before the Way closed and must be even rarer now. The luck of finding one tied to the changeling boy was something to thank Fate for. He would not waste this chance.
He would be careful. He would observe until he knew the best way to approach the dragonkin.
“And then we shall see,” the dark fae whispered, reaching out for that fire- and stone-flavored magic, building a pathway to the dragonkin’s dreams.