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Galaxy’s narrowed grey gaze flashed mercilessly; it was hard to believe now that in the past his gaze had ever been filled with kindness and pity towards me.

“When you first arrived in the Dream World, we offered you an opportunity to prove yourself, but that generous chance has now proven to be our undoing. You and your magic are too dangerous to remain any longer. You are hereby suspended.”

No! The Dream World was my home, the only place I’d ever belonged, the only place I had friends, where I could be myself and develop my powers…and he was taking all of it away from me.

“You can’t!” I shouted, no longer able to tolerate remaining silent and submissive. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Galaxy scoffed. “Weren’t you listening to all the evidence against you? You’ve done nothingbutwrong, and I will not permit you to remain in the Dream World to tip the balance any further. It’s too precarious to grant you another chance after your continued interference; we cannot risk discovery of our world.”

“Just because my magic is different doesn’t make it bad,” I said. “I didn’t do any of this on purpose. I don’t belong on Earth; I belong in the Dream World, for I’m a Dreamer.”

Galaxy shook his head. “As we’ve indisputably proven, you’re a Nightmare, born to the Nightmare Ebony, and like your mother, your powers are too dangerous to condone your presence any longer.”

“Give me another chance.Please.”

But he was heartless to my pleas. With three echoing clicks of his staff, my dream dust spilled from my locket. I tried to grasp it, but it slipped through my fingers and flew into the glass orb at the end of Galaxy’s staff. The effect was immediate, as the strength from my dream dust which I’d grown accustomed to vanished; it was as if he’d stolen my air after I’d finally learned to breathe. The world swayed and I slumped to the ground.

* * *

“Suspended?”Stardust gasped. “On what grounds?”

We hovered above the burnt remains of my old home. Despite Stardust’s repeated demands for an explanation, I couldn’t bear to repeat the Council’s accusations, or worse, their conclusions about what they believed me to be. My broken heart stung, raw from the Dream World’s betrayal and the Nightmare I’d foolishly given it to. But worse was the accusation that I wasn’t the Dreamer I’d believed myself to be.

I wasn’treallya Nightmare, was I?

I clenched my fists. “They robbed me of my powers. They were frightened by the idea that a stranger to their world possessed powers beyond their own.”

How dare they eject me from my true home? Their actions hurt as much as the unjust way they’d come about. They’d piled charge after charge against me without even offering me the chance to defend myself. But what argument could have possibly been strong enough to overturn their horrible assumptions?

Bitterness seeped into my heart like poison, hardening it past feeling. I’d only wanted to belong, but everything had been stolen from me. As my thoughts swirled with the injustice of it, a dark feeling emerged from where it’d been hidden deep inside me. The feeling grew, nourished as I relived every pain, every wrong, until I felt it consume me, a dark and heavy poison pounding through my bloodstream, one that cried for revenge.

My hands tightened into fists as my hatred flared, searing through me like molten lava. “They. Will. Pay.”

Stardust eyed me warily. “But how did they find out about your ability to see dreams in the first place?”

I gritted my teeth. “That Nightmare betrayed me.” I couldn’t bear to say his name, not now. “He handed over all the information the Council needed to suspend me, even after he promised otherwise.” This pain, more than the others, was most unbearable.

As if my anger was a summons, Darius appeared with a sizzlingcrack. At the sight of him, the conflicting urge to both hug him and throttle him warred within me.

“There you are,” he said, his voice weak with relief. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

My eyes narrowed. He had some nerve acting like nothing was wrong after he’d single-handedly pounded the final nail in my coffin.

False concern lined his eyes. “Are you alright?”

Stardust morphed into a fence and protectively surrounded me. “Don’t come any closer.”

Darius reached around her jagged bars to stroke my hair. I flinched away. “Don’t touch me.”

“Ah, my lady finally speaks.” He tried to smile but the edges of his mouth barely curved upwards. “What are you doing here? It’s not a good idea to be on Earth now, not until I finish clearing things up with the Council.”

“Clearing things up?” I hissed. ”Is that what you call it? Howdareyou.”

A frown replaced his attempted good humor as his gaze lowered to my locket. “What happened to your dream dust?”

“I was suspended, you Nightmare.”

He staggered back. “You werewhat? By what evidence?”