Page 49 of Strength of Desire

“Why must it always be the library with you?” Ash grumbled.

“Where would you rather meet? The kitchens?” She rolled her eyes.

“At least it would be somewhere different.”

“But a lot louder, and probably hard to study.”

Ash laughed. “Well, yeah, that’s kind of the point. And it’s not like you need to study. You’re like, the top student in our class.”

Erika shrugged. “I don’t know, Rekha might be ahead of me. And Felix wouldn’t be far behind, if he kept his assignments on topic instead of wandering down so many tangents.” Then she turned to Cory. “You’ll come, even if Ash won’t, right?”

“Sorry,” Cory said. “I have another lesson with Romero tonight. But tomorrow?”

Ah. So that was what his evening plans included. I filed that piece of information away—not that I cared, of course. But it couldn’t hurt to know.

“You’d think you’d be caught up by now, with all the lessons you’ve been taking,” Erika said.

“Well, not all of us can be geniuses.” He smiled to take the sting out of his words. “Have fun studying, though.”

He waved and turned right, while Erika and Ash went to the left, Ash still enumerating the benefits of studying in the kitchen.

“Just think of the snack potential. You have to feed the brain, Erika.”

I ignored them, but lingered at the top of the stairs until I judged Cory was far enough down the hall not to hear me as I followed. There was still the danger that he’d look behind him for some other reason, but I reminded myself that it would be fine if he did. I was a professor. I had as much reason to be in the manor as he did.

Anyway, there was no reason for Cory to think I was following him. That was something a stalker or crazy person would do. And I was neither of those things.

Still, I was grateful that through all the twists and turns, he never once looked over his shoulder. He took a final turn to the left, then right, and when I made the same turns a few seconds later, I saw a door at the end of the hall closing behind his figure.

Silently, I walked until I stood in front of that door. It had to lead to his bedroom. Most of the freshmen were scattered around the third and fourth floors of the manor, usually in doubles or triples.

Soft sounds came from inside the room. I put my ear to the door and heard Cory say, “Hush, you. I can pet you for a little bit, but then I have to meet Professor Romero. Joy of joys.”

I wondered who he was talking to. Probably not a roommate. An animal of some kind, most likely.

I thought about the lesson he was about to have. Could Seb really be making any progress? He was supposed to teach Cory how to enter and manipulate the dreams of others—but how could he do that when he wasn’t an incubus himself?

For a second, I wished I’d told Isaac yes, when he’d asked if I would teach Cory. But I wasn’t an incubus anymore. And I didn’t need to spend any more time with Cory than I already did. I didn’t want to watch him sleep and wonder what he was doing in his dreams.

Abruptly, I stepped back. I shouldn’t even bethisclose to Cory. What excuse would I have if he opened the door and saw me standing here? None.

I was being creepy, and plain pathetic, pressing up against his door like it was the next best thing to pressing against the kid himself. I forced myself to turn around and walk away. I needed to clear my head, not follow him around like a lovesick dog.

I heard the soft noise of a door unlatching behind me, and my heart leapt into my throat. I turned, excuses jumping to my lips, but it wasn’t Cory’s door that had opened. Instead, it was an unmarked, almost invisible door, cleverly hidden in the wood paneling of the hallway.

I stepped back to close it and felt cold air coming through from the other side. It felt good on my skin—I’d been too hot all evening. I wondered where the door led, and opened it wider.

On the other side, a set of wooden steps climbed up into deep darkness. I knew Vesperwood had attics. Maybe this went to one?

With a shrug, I stepped inside and shut the door behind me. Darkness surrounded me, but it looked a little lighter at the top of the stairs. Feeling for the railing, I began to climb.

The staircase smelled musty. I sneezed, and wondered how long it had been since anyone else had used it. Just as I reached a landing, I heard the door open again behind me. The latch must have been broken. I would tell Isaac about it, when I came down.

I put it out of my mind and followed the stairs. They turned left at the landing and kept going up. It was a little lighter up here, and it got lighter still—well, less dark, anyway—when I reached another landing to find a narrow window set into the wall.

I peered out. The window was tucked in between peaked roofs and crenelations, shrouded by the night sky. I was level with the attics now, but the stairs kept going, so I kept climbing.

The journey up felt almost dreamlike, though I hadn’t actually dreamt in seven years. The staircase turned two more times before dead-ending at another wooden door. The sound of wind was louder here, and the door was cold when I put my hand on it. I turned the knob and pushed it open.

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