"It didn't eat you?" Lyse asked, still not wanting to look.
"Nope," Niamh said-and Lyse opened her eyes in time to catch Niamh licking her finger. "I ate it."
"C'mon, Niamh," Evan said, shaking his head. "Really? You had to eat it?"
Niamh, still squatting by the doorway, turned to face the others, a big grin on her face.
"It's strawberry milkshake."
The sludge had surrounded Niamh, leaving a tiny island of white tile where she knelt. Now that it had what it wanted-Niamh under its guard-it remained where it was, unmoving. Whatever the sludge was, it was clearly interested in Niamh and wanted to be as close to her as possible.
"Niamh," Lyse said, "I want you to think about turning the strawberry milkshake into a chocolate one."
Niamh looked up at her, frowning.
"I know it sounds super weird, but can you do that?" Lyse continued.
Niamh nodded, but she looked skeptical.
"I'll try," she said.
She scrunched up her face and closed her eyes, doing as Lyse asked. At first, nothing happened, but then the sludge began to bubble-hesitantly and then with more energy. Lyse watched as the gooey sludge began to get darker and darker until it was no longer a pale Pepto-pink, but a rich chocolatey brown.
"Smells like chocolate," Arrabelle said. Lyse could smell it, too, the warm sugary goodness of chocolate filling the air.
Niamh dipped her finger into the brown goop.
"You don't have to eat it," Evan began, but too late-Niamh had already popped the goop-covered finger into her mouth.
"Yep, that's chocolate, all right," Niamh said, and grinned.
Lyse realized that Niamh's ability to manipulate the physical form of things here in the dreamlands made a weird kind of sense. She'd never been able to control what happened in her dreams, but Lyse had read about other people who possessed the talent-and she had the distinct feeling Niamh was one of them. Which meant that they were much safer traveling in the dreamlands with Niamh to navigate their way.
"I think it's okay to come down now," Niamh said, standing up and wiping the goo from her hands onto the front of her jeans. "It's just a milkshake."
She offered her hand to Lyse, and Lyse took it, letting Niamh help her climb down from her perch on the red vinyl seat. As she alighted from the booth, the sludge moved out of her way, leaving a clean spot for her to stand in. Evan and Arrabelle did the same, and the sludge obliged by clearing a path for them to join Niamh and Lyse.
"You're controlling the sludge," Lyse said.
Niamh nodded.
"I see that. It was kind of obvious when the sludge went all chocolatey."
Evan seemed to catch on to the implication of what Lyse was saying.
"Niamh, you were manipulating the diner and you didn't even realize it," he said. "I've heard you tell Yesinia-she was the master of our coven," he explained to Lyse and Arrabelle, "about making stuff happen in your dreams. Controlling your nightmares . . ."
Niamh shrugged, shoving her hands into her pants pockets.
"But that's different."
Lyse disagreed-it was exactly the same thing.
"If you can control stuff in your dreams, then you can do it here. These are the dreamlands. This is where you come when you dream."
Lyse knelt down and dragged her finger through the sludge. She held it up to the light for the others to see.
"This place is made of dreams, Niamh," she said. "You ate a dream."
Niamh laughed.
"Yeah, I guess I did."
"I think it's time we got out of here," Arrabelle said. "Let's see what's here and then let's figure out how to get home."
"Agreed," Lyse said.
The four of them headed toward the double doors.
"The world is a new place, Niamh," Arrabelle said. "What was impossible before? Well, who's to say it's impossible now . . ."
Arrabelle let her words trail off as she placed her hands against the glass and pushed the Out door open. It swung forward and she stepped into the night, pressing her back against the door and holding it wide so the others could pass. Niamh looked uncertain, her eyes switching from Evan to Lyse, then to Arrabelle and back again.
"Maybe. It's a little scary to realize that whatever I think can become reality here. Makes me not want to think . . ."
"You're looking at it the wrong way," Evan said. "You have a gift. Use it wisely and you don't have to worry about it."
"I had no idea I could take us all to the dreamlands," Lyse said, smiling at Niamh. "It freaked me out, too. But it saved us from the bad guys, and that's something."