I climbed on top of him, a dull ache beginning to pound in my temples from stress and worry. Still, I had every intention of having another go at the stone plinth tonight, no matter what Eli said. And as long as I didn’t hit him again it should work.
I reached for his forehead, ready to enter the dream, but froze as Eli shifted beneath me. It was slight, but enough to make my heart throb against my rib cage. My face went red, and my body temperature spiked. Then Eli’s hands, which had been pinned beneath his head, slipped down and landed against my waist, catching on the jut of my hips.
He smiled in his sleep. I considered removing his hands to somewhere less intimate but decided not to. Some things just felt too right to change.
* * *
What didn’t feel right was Eli’s dream. Once again, I found myself surrounded in thick fog, even worse than last time.
“Eli,” I shouted, fighting off vertigo. I tried to will the dream to take shape, but nothing happened. This might as well have not been a dream world at all. The sharp teeth of panic nipped at me, but then Eli emerged from the fog.
“I’m here.”
I wanted to throw my arms around him, but that would be a very bad idea. “What’s going on with your dream?”
“I don’t know.” Eli looked tense, and I wondered if he’d been close to panic, too. “Do you think this is because of the block?” He motioned to the fog.
I bit my lip, dismayed by the idea. “I … I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t see how. This is coming from inside you, not me.” I paused, thinking about the dreams before it. Everything seemed so muddled. I exhaled. “Then again, it might be me. I’ll ask Mr. Deverell.”
Eli ran his hand through his hair, his lips pinched. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Come on. Let’s see if we can figure out where we are. It looks like it’s clearing a little.”
I followed after him as he moved deeper into the fog. Having something solid to focus on helped with the vertigo, but I still would’ve felt better holding on to him. If only there was a way around the no-touching rule.
After we walked a few paces, I saw he was right. The fog was lessening. Something like daylight seemed to be brightening it. Ahead of me Eli came to a sudden stop. I saw at once what had caused it—a stone wall. The stone wall of a tall tower.
No, it couldn’t be. I stepped up beside him, my heart sinking. We were once again standing atop that tower, my tower. If I turned around and walked a few strides in I would see the stone plinth.
“So maybe the fog is from you after all,” Eli said as he gazed out onto the gray nothingness surrounding the tower.
I didn’t respond, knowing he was right. I squinted, trying to see through the fog. I could just make out the top branches of the nearest trees but that was all.
Eli faced me. “This isn’t where we’re supposed to be, Dusty.”
“I know.” The words came out listlessly. I was suddenly so tired, as if I’d run twenty miles without stopping and hadn’t eaten for days. All I wanted was to sit down and rest. But I couldn’t. Eli was right. “I’ll try to fix it.”
I closed my eyes and focused on manipulating the dream. I felt the magic respond, but it was weak and insubstantial, like trying to build a sand castle with dry sand or a snowman with powdery snow. No matter how I pressed and pulled and forced, the shape of it wouldn’t stay.
Finally, I gave up, making a sound somewhere between a shriek and a groan. “I can’t do it. It just. Won’t. Go.”
Eli didn’t say anything, but I could feel his gaze on me. Frustrated and growing desperate, I strode away from the edge toward the center of the tower where I knew the plinth would be. If I couldn’t manipulate the dream, then I would work on the block. No time to waste.
The fog grew denser the farther in I walked, soon becoming so thick I couldn’t see more than a foot in front of me. I pressed on, and in moments began to suspect something was wrong. In every other dream, I would’ve reached the plinth by now, but there was no sign of it. I walked on. Sooner or later I would reach the other side of the tower at least.
I was right. Except as I stepped through the fog, it wasn’t the other side, but the same side. Eli was standing right where I’d left him. I’d managed to walk a circle, missing the plinth completely.
I didn’t know how that was possible, except this was a dream. A place where anything was possible.
I stepped up beside Eli. “You try changing it.”
He rubbed his chin, mulling it over. “Okay.” Then he closed his eyes, and he held his hands rigid at his side, no doubt mimicking the way I did it.
Nothing happened at first. But then the wind began to pick up. The fog swirled around us. I expected visibility to drop even more, but to my surprise the wind seemed to be dissipating the fog.
Out of the corner of my eye, something bright caught my attention. I turned toward it automatically, walking closer to the edge of the tower. But I didn’t lean against it, the memory of plummeting over the side all too vivid.
I didn’t need to get to the edge to see what the bright thing was. The top of one of the trees was on fire, the branches like a thousand torches bound together. Soon more of the trees caught fire, not from the wind blowing or any other natural phenomenon. They just ignited as if from the inside.
“What’s going on?” Eli said, opening his eyes. He turned and surveyed the scene.
I glanced at him. “You’re not doing this?”