I swallowed, suddenly swimming in doubt. Eli’s anger came off him in waves. Why had I accused him so quickly? So tactlessly? I bit my lip, hating how crazy he made me. Or maybe I was just going crazy in general.
I exhaled, letting the air escape through my teeth slowly. “You were also in Britney’s dream.”
Eli craned his head sideways, frowning. “What?”
I brushed back strands of my red hair that had fallen in my face. “It’s true. I saw you with a wand in your hand attacking her while she tried to run away.”
“Let me get this straight.” Eli took a few steps back from me. “You think I first cursed Lance and then ran down to the library alcove and cursed Britney and then was stupid enough to leave evidence like this hanging about.” He waved the note in the air.
I winced. Spoken like that it did seem absurd and completely out of character for Eli. But it was too late to retreat now. “Something like that.”
“Oh, and I suppose you have a motive for why I would attack her, yeah?”
“No, but you’ve never been able to do magic until now and…” I trailed off, my suspicions about him weakening by the second.
Eli opened his mouth to respond then closed it. I held my breath, waiting for him to explode or, even worse, to transform into a stranger, the way that Paul had transformed right before my eyes from a caring boyfriend to a betrayer.
Finally, Eli said through gritted teeth, “I had nothing to do with what happened to Britney or Lance. I’ve never seen this note before, and I’ve never done any magic until this morning in English class.” He paused and drew an uneven breath. “And I can’t believe you’d think for a second that I might’ve done it. Dreams aren’t real, Dusty. You know that. Only my dreams have any meaning. The ones we share together.”
Another wave of guilt crashed over me, followed by remorse. He was right. And I was wrong. Even worse, I could tell I’d really hurt him. The tension in him went deeper than anger.
“I’m sorry.” I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, unable to bear the weight of his stare. “It’s just so much has been happening. And it felt like more than coincidence. And I guess I’m just a little paranoid.” I let my hand drop and looked back at him, hoping he believed me.
He clenched his teeth. A muscle ticked in his jaw.
“If it helps, I didn’t tell Lady Elaine about seeing you.”
Eli put his hands on his hips. “Oh, yeah? And why not?”
“To protect you, and maybe because deep down I knew you didn’t have anything to do with it. And I really am sorry. I guess I’m having a hard time trusting these days.” I spoke the last sentence without really meaning it, at least not at first. But once it was out, I felt the truth behind it. I’d been denying it for months, but I was having a hard time trusting. And sleeping. And doing anything normal. I kept seeing Marrow’s face in every stranger. Kept remembering how much it had hurt to find out the truth about Paul.
Some of the hardness in Eli’s expression softened, and he stepped toward me again, vanishing the distance between us. He gripped my shoulders, his hands warm through my shirt. “It’s all right. I understand why you’ve got trust issues. But I’m nothing like him. Nothing.”
I nodded, unable to speak. He was so close I could feel his breath. All I wanted was to lean toward him, vanishing the last of the space between my mouth and his. His head tilted downward by an inch, his fingers squeezing my shoulders.
And then he turned away from me and sat down on the sofa. I drew a deep, ragged breath, my head swimming and my whole body on fire.
Eli shifted his position on the sofa a couple of times before turning his attention to the note once more. He cleared his throat. “Maybe we can use this to help us figure out what really happened. I haven’t talked to Lance at all today, but I will first thing in the morning.”
“Yeah, good idea,” I said, my voice breathless. At least the prospect of a new case would lighten Eli’s mood. “Oh, and I’m supposed to focus your dream on Britney’s attack. Lady Elaine thinks it might be connected to some of Marrow’s supporters.”
“Makes sense.” Eli slid the note into his pocket.
I considered telling him the rest of it, but decided not to. For one thing, Lady Elaine and the sheriff had sworn me to secrecy. For another, telling him about that would inevitably lead to telling him about Paul. Didn’t take a genius to guess that such a revelation wouldn’t go down too well at the moment. I figured Eli hadn’t heard about his release yet—he would’ve said something straightaway.
I pulled out the chair beneath the desk and sat down. “So tell me about your trip to Lyonshold.”
Eli arched a single eyebrow at me. “How did you know I was there?”
“Oh.” Crap. I searched for an explanation and decided a partial truth was better than a lie. “I bumped into Sheriff Brackenberry on campus today. He told me.”
“What was he doing on campus?”
I leaned forward, only now remembering. “He was interrogating Oliver Cork. I guess he was the last person to see Britney before she was attacked. They were attending some meeting about a group called the Terra Tribe. I think it’s like a student organization, but I’m not sure. Ever heard of it?”
Eli shook his head. He stood and walked to the desk, bending down next to me as he opened the drawer to retrieve a pen. I couldn’t help myself. I took another deep inhale of his clean scent. His hard shoulder brushed my arm, and I caught myself leaning in toward him. But he moved away, using the desk’s surface to write the name Terra Tribe down in the little notebook he’d started carrying around in his back pocket after we formed the Dream Team.