“You’re certainly right about that.” She smiled, refilling his cup. “Reveries are beautiful and interesting things, but they have no place in Reality Proper. In fact, they must be unraveled at all costs or else they might punch a hole through Reality Proper. You can’t have two realities layered one over the other for long without consequences. That’s just the physics of friction, just the math of it all. And see? I told you I had a degree.” Taking note of Kane’s rising shock, she added, “Oh, but don’t worry. With luck, you and your friends have prevented that outcome by diligently unraveling the reveries as they spawn. So, kudos.”

“But why us?”

Her smile turned to awe. “Lucidity, darling. It’s rare—this ability you four share to resist the hypnotizing effects of being in a different reality. I share it, too. We are all people between worlds.”

“But what about the powers? Elliot can create illusions. Ursula can throw cars. Adeline can…”

He couldn’t say it, even now. Poesy shrugged, like these details were as common as personality traits.

“Just like the heroes of your reveries, you each are a prism. Etherea shines through your dark depths, and it produces power. The difference is that you are awake to your power and able to regulate it. It’s quite a privilege.” Her eyes drifted to Kane’s burns. “Though while some power comes free, the pursuit of more power always comes at a price.”

Blood burned in Kane’s cheeks. The Others had told him he’d gotten those burns while hunting for some mysterious weapon.

“You already knew what happened to Maxine Osman, didn’t you?”

“I did. I wanted you to find out for yourself.”

“What about the police investigation? What about Detective Thistler?”

“I’ve dealt with them. And I will continue to deal with them and protect you, though I must ask that you help me in return.”

Kane’s head spun, his mind sagging in the honeyed vapor of the tea. He had to focus on Poesy’s bracelet to keep himself steady.

“What do you want?”

Poesy feigned a bashful smile, as though she had not guided the conversation to this exact point.

“Haven’t you wondered for yourself where etherea comes from? Haven’t you found yourself dreaming of its source? Such power it must hold, to unleash all manner of dreams, delusions, nightmares, and whims into our suffering reality. Whatever and wherever this source is, I’d consider it very dangerous in the wrong hands.”

Poesy sipped her tea, looking pointedly at Kane’s own hands.

Kane ceased all fidgeting.

“A weapon,” Kane said. He knew what came next. More accusations about what he’d done and who he’d been.