Kane imagined Dean’s phone lighting up on his nightstand. Kane Montgomery would like to send you a direct message.
“Dean?” Kane shouted. “Either you show up, or we call Poesy. I’ve got the whistle.”
He brandished the charm. The few birds chirping went silent as something darker than the dark rose from the imploded roof of the mill, taking the shape of a lustrous beak and horns. Ursula got into a boxing stance. Kane tightened his grip on the bat, and an aura of etherea gathered around them in pulsing fractals, his powers at the ready.
Once, the Dreadmare had chased Kane and Sophia from this very mill, as though they were grave robbers. Now, Kane would make sure it knew he owned this particular grave. Dean couldn’t chase Kane away from his own past forever, not when Kane had recruited the strongest person he knew as backup.
A flash swept over Kane from the left, then another. Twin flashlights cutting through the trees as Adeline and Elliot stumbled into the clearing.
“Shit,” Adeline panted.
“Told you they’d be here,” Elliot responded, out of breath.
The Dreadmare flickered away, the mill nothing but empty walls beneath Adeline and Elliot’s garish flashlights. They pointed them right at Kane and Ursula, like they were criminals. Kane let out a frustrated groan and, not thinking, released his pent aura. It washed over the Others, unbalancing them, then soaked into the forest beyond. Everything was ruined.
“Whoa, Kane,” Elliot said, hands up so his flashlight lit the trees. “Chill. Sophia called us. Your note sent her into a panic.”
“Where is she now?”
“Your house. We told her we’d report back after we got you.”
“Got me?”
Adeline moved between them, switching off her flashlight.
“It’s not like that, Kane. She was freaking out. We had to give her something, or she was going to go out looking herself. And I’m glad she called. You both know trying to fight Dean is like, literally so dumb, right?”
Kane adjusted his grip on the bat. “So you believe me that Dean’s the Dreadmare, then?”
Adeline rolled her lips together and looked over the river, clearly not wanting to answer this question. Elliot shrugged and said, “Doesn’t matter what we believe, to be honest. You guys are our team. If your beliefs are strong enough to bring you out here in the middle of the night, we should be right there beside you.”
Kane knew this was a peace offering, but he had something to say. “So where was our team when I brought this up at the conservatory? Be honest, Elliot. You’re only here because Ursula’s in danger, right? You know you can flirt with her without also trying to get brownie points for being an awesome team captain, right?”
Adeline outright cackled at the dumbstruck expression on Elliot’s face. She pulled herself into a barely contained smirk, and for a second she and Kane connected in the dark humiliation that burned between Elliot and Ursula. Kane decided he was starting to like Adeline.
“Wait,” Ursula said. “Wait, what?”
Elliot, blushing, waved away the jab. “I prioritize safety. I’m just being cautious. You guys know this about me.”
“And you know that we don’t have the luxury of caution,” said Kane. “Not when we’re the only ones able to take action. My choices may have cost one woman her life. Maybe two. Worry about yourself all you want, but don’t stop me from trying to get Helena back.”
Ursula put a hand on Kane’s shoulder. “We don’t know what happened to Maxine, and what happened to Helena wasn’t just your fault, Kane. You have saved many, many people from their reveries, and we should have listened to you when you spoke up for her. What happened was Poesy’s fault. The blood is on her hands.”
The group considered this.
“Her very well-manicured hands,” Adeline added.
Kane had to admit she was right. Poesy had great nails.
Adeline’s eyes were laughing at Kane. “You really thought you could take on Poesy and her Dreadmare?”
“No.” Kane still wasn’t sure how he felt about Poesy. Scared, sure, but he still felt her scariness was rooted in necessity. He didn’t want to confront her; he wanted to investigate her. Learn more about what she meant when she said she would “fix”Helena’s reverie.
“I thought Dean would help us in secret. I’m sure he’s part of…”
“Part of what?”
Kane bit off his plan. He wasn’t ready to tell them about his past with Dean, which he barely understood himself. He wasn’t ready to remind them about the mysterious loom and its role in generating the reveries and attracting Poesy and nearly annihilating his life.
But then he saw their asking faces in the moonlight, and he saw they were the only things holding the darkness of the mill at bay. He realized that, as messy as their entrance had been, they had shown up for him after all. They each had arrived in their own way, choosing to chase the flame of his half-imagined hunches over the comfort of their own beds and the safety of their own dreaming.
Kane could almost feel his lost friendships, then, like shadows beneath the new friendships trying to form. So why was he protecting Dean, who vanished when Kane needed him the most?
“Do you remember,” Kane began, breathing deep, “how you said I was obsessed with finding the true source of the reveries? Well I did, in Maxine Osman’s reverie. It was that crown. It’s called the loom. It’s some kind of weapon that is leaking etherea like radiation, causing the reveries to mutate out of people. Poesy said that if we find it, we can stop the reveries. She thought maybe one of you had stolen it. That’s why I helped her.”
“No one stole your crown,” Ursula said. “That thing was awful. It nearly killed us.”
“And what about Dean?” Adeline asked in a clipped tone, pushing her question in front of Kane’s accusations. Once again he was sure she knew more than she let on.
“I think he’s here for the loom, too. I think he wants to use it, somehow.”
“And where does that leave you?” Adeline asked. “If you found that kind of power again, what would you do?”
Kane clenched his hands. “Knowing what I know now? Destroy it.”
Adeline lifted her chin, peering at him through the lens of this new fact. “Give me the whistle,” she said, her face unreadable.
Kane sagged. Maybe telling them the truth had cost him his chance tonight. Maybe he’d chosen wrong.
“Making a deal with Dean was a bad plan,” Adeline said as she took the whistle. “But it was the right idea. If what you say about Poesy is true, I’m guessing she needs our help in finding the loom, which means we’ve got leverage. And she clearly values your life. Let’s see if she’s open to negotiations.”