Dreamland (Riley Bloom 3)

I’d been feeling pretty dang good until he came along, and I marveled at how quickly his mere presence made me feel just the opposite.

“You know, lots of people have tried to get Satchel to stop.” Bodhi walked alongside me, refusing to honor the silence like I was trying to do. “His guide has tried many times—too many to count, really. And Balthazar has been making regular visits since the nightmares began. Trying to talk some sense into him, pleading with him to change his mind. But, in the end, Satchel always refuses to listen. You shouldn’t blame yourself, Riley. Satchel’s just not ready to move on.”

“But he was ready,” I mumbled, grinding my teeth tightly together, remembering just how close I’d come—only to have him run off at the very last second.

I mean, yeah, I’d moved past it. Was fully committed to letting it go and not replaying the moment again and again in my head. But that doesn’t change the fact that I truly had been on the verge of breaking through to him. If Balthazar hadn’t barged in, I could’ve, once again, been the one to succeed where all others had failed.

My eyes slewed toward Bodhi’s, seeing the way he studied me, the way he thumped his chewed-up green straw softly against his stubble-lined chin.

“How’d you know to come here?” I asked, wondering if the Council might’ve alerted him—wondering just how much trouble I might be in. But it turns out it was nothing like that, Bodhi just shrugged and pointed at Buttercup, who gazed up at me, licked his chops, and twitched his pink nose.

“You know the Council will probably want to discuss this, right?” Bodhi said, and the way he spoke, I couldn’t tell if it was a meeting he dreaded or anticipated.

I screwed my mouth to the side and crossed my arms over my chest, saying, “Well, I guess that’s going to be pretty uncomfortable for you, then. So, my apologies in advance.”

He quirked his brow, looked me up and down, and something about that got me so riled up it felt like my head might explode and blast right off my neck.

“And while we’re on the subject of misdeeds,” I said, staring him down with all that I had. “Let’s not forget how you lied to me. You told me Dreamland was forbidden when it’s not.” I nodded vehemently, unable to remember if lying was one of the seven deadly sins, or just highly discouraged—but either way, I knew it was bad.

“I did what I had to,” Bodhi said, his gaze about as guiltfree as it gets. “And sorry, Riley, but I won’t apologize for that. You know, you’re not the easiest person to deal with. I have no choice but to exaggerate just to get you to listen. But, as you can see, it still doesn’t work. You do whatever the heck you want, regardless of what I tell you.”

I stopped in my tracks, taking a moment to glare at him before I said, “Yeah, and because of that, there are a whole lot of ghosts out there who’ve crossed over!” I shot him a scathing look—the stink-eye at its very worst. “So, tell me, Bodhi, doesn’t it bother you that I’m always the one who gets the souls to move on?”

I tapped my foot against the ground as his eyes narrowed even further, becoming two slashes of green.

“I mean, I hate to be the one to remind you, but let’s not forget I was the one who got congratulated by Aurora, who we both know is pretty much the Council’s president, or prom queen, or … whatever. Anyway, the point is, like it or not, I’m pretty much on my way to surpassing you. It’s just a matter of time until you’re stuck gnawing on your straw and squinting into my dust, wondering how you got left so far behind.”

“Riley—” He lifted his hand in a lame attempt to stop me, but he should’ve known better. I’d only just begun.

“You think you’re so cool, you think you’re so …” My voice broke, but I forced myself to continue. “You think you’ve got everything, don’t you? Just because you have a pretty girlfriend named Jasmine—just because you’re fourteen—that doesn’t make you better than me. Because you just wait, I’m about to turn thirteen any second now, I’m starting to figure it out, even though you’ve been refusing to tell me—even though you’re determined to keep me stuck where I am. And then, once I am thirteen …”

He was no longer listening. Instead, he motioned toward something he wanted me to see, something that made his gaze grow so sad and regretful he was reluctant to look at me.

And when I swung my head in the direction he was pointing, I froze in my tracks.

My words stalled.

My eyes nearly popped from my head.

My mouth hung silent and long.

Dreamland was in full swing, open for business again, and some prop guys were moving a mirror to a soundstage that must’ve needed it for a dream jump. They paused right before me, stopping to chat with some other prop guys who were leading a group of camels, two zebras, and one elaborately painted elephant in the opposite direction.

The mirror shining so clean and bright—causing my reflection to glint in a way I couldn’t deny.

I moved closer. Moved so close it fogged up in small patches when I blew on it. Tracing my fingers over my reflected contours, wondering just what exactly had gone so terribly wrong.

I’d survived a long night of terror, which had surely left its mark, but this had nothing to do with that.

It was my glow that left me speechless.

It wasn’t shining brighter. In fact, it was barely shining at all.

It had dimmed.

Significantly dimmed.

While Bodhi stood beside me, glowing brighter than I’d ever seen him. His usual green nearly edged out by blue.