Chapter 27 Kai
KAI SPENT THE REST OF that first night searching the sleepscape for the other Nightmare Weaver.
He couldn’t find him, not a single trace, because the boy had either woken up or somehow managed to block Kai out.
The sun was rising when he finally gave up.
By some twist of fate, Kai had found himself in his old room, a small comfort he clung to.
Though he sorely missed the quote and stars he’d painted on the ceiling.
Throwing on the same clothes as yesterday, Kai opened his door to voices drifting up from downstairs. Baz was there, nursing a cup of coffee. Polina sat on the counter next to him, watching him with the same doe eyes that hadn’t slipped Kai’s notice yesterday.
“I forgot to ask what your alignment is,” Baz was saying.
Polina seemed flustered at his attention. “I don’t much like talking about it. People… they tend to judge me for it.”
“People are terrible.” This drew a smile from Polina. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“I’m what they call an Enshriner. I can extract memories and bind them to objects.” She ducked her head. “Memories from corpses, that is.”
Kai nearly stumbled on the last step. He’d never heard of such an Eclipse alignment before—it was like a grim play on Memorist magic.
Polina caught sight of him and gave him an awkward wave. “Hello. Sorry if we woke you.”
Kai’s gaze slid right past her to another Eclipse-born, who had his head buried in a book. He recognized him immediately. “So you’re the asshole who shoved me out of the sleepscape.”
Baz choked on his coffee, giving Kai a reproachful look. Kai didn’t care about the lack of manners. Neither did the other Nightmare Weaver, apparently, whose mouth lifted in a sheepish grin.
“Sorry about that.” He took his half-moon glasses off—they hung from a chain around his neck—and peered at Kai. “You gave me quite the fright last night. I’ve never encountered another Fear Eater before.”
Fear Eater? The name struck something familiar in Kai. He vaguely remembered reading about the history of magical terminology, how some Eclipse alignment names had changed over time, given their rarity. “I prefer Nightmare Weaver myself,” he said. “And you’re the first I’ve encountered too.”
“Nightmare Weaver. I like that.” The boy put out his hand. “I’m Thameson Caine, though I go by Thames.”
Caine.
Like Farran.
Kai felt Baz’s eyes on him. It was too early to deal with such strangeness. He shook Thames’s hand, ignoring the million questions burning on his tongue. “Kai Salonga.”
“We were just about to head out to the Eclipse salon I was telling you about,” Polina said as she slipped off the counter and grabbed what looked like a pastry.
“We promise it’s not as boring as it sounds.” Thames slid his glasses back on. “And we’d love to hear from a Luaguan’s perspective, I’m sure.”
As they followed Thames and Polina out of the commons, Baz sidled up to Kai and whispered, “You okay?”
Kai tore his gaze from the back of Thames’s head. “Yeah. I just can’t believe there’s another Nightmare Weaver.” And that he was the ancestor of a boy Kai had once thought he loved.
“What was that about him shoving you out of the sleepscape?”
“I’ll tell you later.” Kai gave Baz a sidelong look.
“What?” Baz fussed over his appearance. “Did I spill coffee on myself?”
Kai smirked at his distress. “You managed to get the tie right this time.”
Baz touched the ascot around his neck, cheeks burning as if the memory of Kai doing it up for him last night made him nervous. “Yeah, well, we need to blend in, right? Maybe this salon will give me some insight on past Timespinners.”
“Let’s hope so.”