A few minutes later, a middle-aged naga with a bulging purse came by, and Tanvi tempted him with a tanzanite vial from Jai’s cabinet. It held an adrenaline-packed dream of a white pickup truck in a high-speed police chase, the driver sailing through red lights and even colliding with a silver minivan. “You won’t be able catch your breath. I guarantee it.”

The man opened his purse to reveal gold coins. “How much for such a marvel?”

“I only take boons,” Tanvi replied.

“Surely just this once? I can pay quite generously.”

“No deal.” Her throat convulsed around the words. What if no one but Venkat had boons?

The man bowed his head. “As you wish.”

Left alone again, Tanvi paced in the shadows between the trees, her eyes screwed almost shut so she didn’t have to see anything except the bracelet in her mind.

She had to get hold of a boon. But what if she didn’t?

What if she couldn’t stop noticing things?

What if she couldn’t stop dreaming?

What was she going to do?

Tanvi had almost talked herself into leaving the trees and trying her luck in a crowd when a naga around Asha’s age wandered toward her. His diadem of lit sparklers was too intense to look at, so she darted her stare past him.

“Dreams for sale!” she called with desperate cheer. The boy contemplated her. She held up a moonstone vial. “Just one boon. That’s probably less than a coin.”

The boy frowned. “Venkat said nothing about anyone else distributing dream fragments.” He examined her more closely, and the corners of his mouth turned up in triumph. “You are one of the mortal dream runners he keeps from us, are you not? Why have you hidden yourself in the trees?”

Tanvi felt like every cell in her body dried up right then. This boy knew who she was? “I’m helping him,” she lied.

Her confusion must have shown, because the boy pointed behind him. “Venkat is back there, with Princess Asha and Prince Chintan. If you are helping him as you claim, why are you not with him?”

The names taunted Tanvi, smacking her in the face with how badly she’d misjudged this entire scheme. She tried to retreat, but it was too late.

“Venkat,” the naga with the stupid crown called, grinning, “I have located one of your errant runners!”

Venkat appeared at the edge of the trees. “What is it, Karan?” His face went tight with shock. “Tanvi?”

“Why couldn’t you just buy the dream?” Tanvi cried. She almost threw the vial at Karan’s sneering face, but the jerk didn’t deserve a free dream. When she dropped it into her bag, it clacked against the other unsold dreamstones, driving home her utter failure.

“Because this is so much more entertaining,” he hissed so only she could hear him.