Page 18 of Demon of Dreams

Where was that raven when I needed it? Had I offended it last night, not saying thank you? Was it an Iowa-specific species? Or worse—had I imagined the whole thing?

You’re crazy, you’re crazy, you’re crazy, chanted the little voice inside my brain.How do you know any of this is real, how do you know you’re not in an asylum somewhere, making this all up?

And then I saw it—a curve in the road and an opening to the right, underneath a dark canopy of evergreens. I couldn’tseethe path or driveway or whatever it was through the snow. But there was a break in the trees, at least, and they matched what Tom had described. Three in a clump on the left, and a lightning-split trunk on the right.

I could hear the monster gaining on me, hear it growl something in its guttural language. It was going to catch me. I had no idea where the path between the trees went, but there was no way I could get to the end before thatthingreached me. It was going to catch me, touch me, use its claws to do unspeakable things.

My mind gibbered in fear as I sprinted toward the gap in the trees, but at the last second, my left foot slipped out from under me. I fell, my body hitting rough gravel instead of asphalt. Gasping for breath, I turned and tried to push myself up—and stopped.

The monster was gone. I couldn’t hear it, couldn’t see it. There was nothing. The road behind me was empty.

I didn’t wait around to make sense of that. Twice now, it had appeared out of nowhere, intent on killing me. Who was to say it wouldn’t come back a third time, and bring its friends? Who was to say that next time, it wouldn’t use those wings to snatch me up and fly me God knew where?

I pushed myself up to my hands and knees, then rose unsteadily to my feet. I was shivering now, my teeth chattering. I tried to start running again, but my steps felt heavy. My lungs were starting to seize up, each breath a shard of ice in my chest. My heart felt like it would burst if I didn’t lie down right then.

A shape loomed up out of the snow. A massive shape, a building, with a grand entrance in the center of its long rectangular bulk. Torches burned on either side of a set of broad stone steps. I shuffled towards them, my legs barely functioning anymore. My arms were aflame with cold, the folds of my hoodie stiff with frozen sweat.

I reached the bottom step, got one foot up onto the stone, and my body gave way. I collapsed in the snow, my vision going black around the edges. Despite the cold, I was starting to feel strangely warm.

Something round and dark hovered above my face. A person, shrouded in a hood, I thought vaguely. It was my last coherent thought.

As I drifted into unconsciousness, a cool and measured voice spoke.

“Welcome to Vesperwood, Cory. We’ve been waiting for you.”

4

NOAH

Lew looked up at me, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth.

His eyes were wide, pupils blown, and a deep shade of red had crept up his throat. Whether from exertion or embarrassment, I couldn’t say. He always acted a little ashamed of what we did together, but that didn’t stop him from following me into the bedroom whenever he saw me.

We hadn’t even made it up to the room I’d rented on the second floor of the Balsam Inn tonight. The minute I’d stuck my head inside the bar to say hello to Tom, Lew had met me by the door. He didn’t say anything, but the second we were outside in the snow, he’d dragged me around to the bathroom, too impatient for me to pick up my room key.

Seeing that kid in the bathroom probably hadn’t helped with Lew’s embarrassment. The kid couldn’t be more than nineteen or twenty. He’d looked innocent as hell, staring at Lew and me the way he had.

But Lew knew how I operated. If he wanted to leave, he was welcome to do so at any time. And until then…well, I knew how Lew operated, too. I knew he liked it when I told him what to do. Knew he needed someone to dominate him.

I was pretty sure it was the domination thing that got him off, more than anything physical that we did.

“You missed a spot,” I told him. His brow furrowed, but before he could ask, I brushed my cock across his cheek, picking up the drops of cum that he’d missed.

He opened his mouth and sucked the head of my cock in again, cleaning it off with his tongue. Fuck, that felt good. Too good. I’d come less than a minute ago, and my whole body was still lit up. I pulled out roughly, then hauled him to his feet.

“What are you—” he began to ask, but when I pushed his chest up against the hand dryer and pressed my chest to his back, he shut up.

“Did I tell you that you could speak?” I asked, twisting his arm around so it pressed against his back. “I’ll tell you what you need to know. If that’s not enough for you, the door’s that way.”

I let go of his hand and moved back to give him a bit of space. More than enough to leave if he wanted to.

“Is that what you want?” I growled. “Want me to leave you alone?”

Lew looked over his shoulder at me and, after a moment, shook his head.

“That’s what I thought.” I stepped forward again, giving his arm a little tug to pull it tighter. Not enough to do any damage. Just enough so he could feel it. He liked that too.

With my free hand, I shoved his grimy jeans below his hips, along with his boxers. His cock was hard, precum dripping from the tip. I swiped my fingers through it, then drew them away.

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