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Back Reverie Save as PDF
Chapters (53)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Letter from the Author
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. • One •
  7. • Two •
  8. • Three •
  9. • Four •
  10. • Five •
  11. • Six •
  12. • Seven •
  13. • Eight •
  14. • Nine •
  15. • Ten •
  16. • Eleven •
  17. • Twelve •
  18. • Thirteen •
  19. • Fourteen •
  20. • Fifteen •
  21. • Sixteen •
  22. • Seventeen •
  23. • Eighteen •
  24. • Nineteen •
  25. • Twenty •
  26. • Twenty-One •
  27. • Twenty-Two •
  28. • Twenty-Three •
  29. • Twenty-Four •
  30. • Twenty-Five •
  31. • Twenty-Six •
  32. • Twenty-Seven •
  33. • Twenty-Eight •
  34. • Twenty-Nine •
  35. • Thirty •
  36. • Thirty-One •
  37. • Thirty-Two •
  38. • Thirty-Three •
  39. • Thirty-Four •
  40. • Thirty-Five •
  41. • Thirty-Six •
  42. • Thirty-Seven •
  43. • Thirty-Eight •
  44. • ∞ •
  45. • Thirty-Nine •
  46. • Forty •
  47. Epilogue
  48. Acknowledgments
  49. Excerpt from Be Dazzled
  50. One
  51. Two
  52. About the Author
  53. Back Cover

Ms. Daisy bound into the hallways of the sanctuary, returning with a leash in her jaws. Gingerly, Kane took it from her, clipped it to her collar, and then fastened it to the leg of the settee.

“Stay,” he commanded.

She blinked at him, betrayed.

“I’ll use the whistle to call you,” he promised. “I just have to find it.”

Kane approached the doors like they might eat him. Again he had the urge to vanish elsewhere, to deny that he had been given this chance, but the invasive daydream only lasted an instant before he snuffed it out. Running was not the answer; it was just the thing that he wanted.

And, he reminded himself, saving the world was not usually a matter of want.

• Thirty-Four •

Wonder

Kane took only what he could carry in his backpack, unsure what to expect from the reveries. He knew it was useless to prepare too much. Reveries had their own rules, and Kane was about to break all of them in a mad search for his friends, his sister, and the lost whistle.

The doors lead Kane into a dark copse of trees that swished gently against the tall frame, nearly hiding it. Kane shut the doors quickly—he couldn’t risk anyone finding their way into Poesy’s sanctuary or activating any of the remaining thousands of charms. He’d have to find another escape; hopefully, Ms. Daisy had done some of his work for him.

It was night here, wherever here was. A rain forest, maybe? The air smelled sour with the musk of rot and overripe fruit. Neon birds flitted between bulbous nests embedded in thick trunks, curious about Kane. He thumbed a wide leaf, surprised to find it was plastic. The trees sounded hollow when he knocked. Odd. Kane looked up.

Above, the night strobed with starlight as the constellations zoomed by above. Planets passed, too. As they did, small labels appeared on them, or rather appeared on the glass dome that covered the false rain forest. Outside the dome was a vast, metal wing, which is how Kane reasoned they were on some sort of spaceship. One that was flying through deep space very fast, by the looks of the stars cascading around them.

The dome flickered, and an announcement began to play.

We hope you enjoy your flight on Starship Giulietta, said a pleasant voice-over accompanied by text. The glass now showed a 3-D rendering of the spaceship. It looked like a massive cruise ship with wings and rocket blasters. Our estimated time of arrival to resEarth is six hours and nineteen minutes. Your all-access ticket allows you to avail yourself of all amenities up to one hour before docking. Thank you for traveling with Giulietta Beyond™. We thank you for patronizing our reservation planets and hope you will continue on with us to resMars next.