Page 32 of Strength of Desire

Romero claimed that progress took time, that I would get better slowly and surely. So far, I hadn’t seen any signs of it. All I could do was be grateful that I hadn’t stumbled into the dream of anyone at Vesperwood. Or at least, as far as I knew, I hadn’t.

I supposed it was possible that Chad or Hasan or any of the other guys whose dreams I’d found were students here I just hadn’t met. If they were, I hoped I never did meet them. I didn’t think I could handle facing people whose dreams I’d invaded the night before. Especially not when I knew what we’d done together.

The raven was still in my room when I got back, but the mouse was gone.

I gave the bird a long look. “I hope you ate that, and didn’t just push it out the window.”

The raven flapped over to my desk and bobbed its head as I gathered my class books. “Window, window.”

“You again, huh?”

The voice came from my doorway, and I turned around to see Ash leaning against the frame, grinning at the raven.

“You again,” the raven repeated. “Ash. You again, Ash.”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

“Ash, Ash, Ash,” the raven said, pointedly ignoring instructions.

All I could do was be grateful that with its penchant for repeating names, it had only said Noah’s name when I was alone with it.

“I still think you need to give that guy a name,” Ash said as I scooped my books into an old backpack that I’d picked up from Vesperwood’s lost and found bin.

“I don’t want to presume,” I said, slinging the bag over my shoulder. “I don’t know its gender. It might notbea guy.”

I turned back to the raven and stroked its head with my finger.Theirhead? That felt a little better than referring to the bird as anit. The raven bobbed their head against my hand contentedly.

“So give it a gender neutral name,” Ash said with a shrug. “Robin. Jesse. Desk.”

“I’m not naming my raven Desk,” I said, a little affronted on the raven’s behalf.

“Cat,” the raven croaked, stepping out from under my hand and fluttering back to the windowsill. “Cat cat cat.”

I hoped that didn’t mean they were off to go bring me more small animals.

“I think they’re telling you what they want to be called,” Ash said, grinning.

“I’m not calling my raven Cat, either,” I told him.

“Cat.”

The raven croaked the word one more time before flying off without so much as a by your leave. I stared after them, wondering where they were going, and just what they did with themself, when they weren’t harassing me for food or gifting me dead voles.

“Come on,” Ash said. “Felix is going to think we died if we don’t meet up with him soon.”

“Since when do you care about schedules?” I asked, giving the window a final look before joining him at the door.

“I don’t really,” Ash said with a shrug. “But it’s waffle day today, and I want to get one while they’re still hot and crispy.”

Did ravens like waffles? Maybe I should save the bird a few pieces. Though the pieces would be soft by the time I saw them tonight. And did ravens prefer waffles with syrup, or without?

My mind filled with these important questions, I stepped out into the hall with Ash. I could solve the mystery of the raven—and my dreams, and my incubus power, and a million other things—later. For now, I was going to concentrate on waffles, and put this morning’s dream behind me.

Somehow.

9

CORY

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