Page 35 of Demon of Dreams

I met my own gaze in the mirror and shook my head. I was never as young as that kid at the Balsam Inn, because I’d been poisoned from the beginning. I just hadn’t noticed it at first.

My life had been on a trajectory of pain and loss since the arrow was first released at my birth. I’d accepted that. There was no use wishing things were different, that I could ever have been so pure.

I was shame, and vengeance, and that was enough.

Because that was all there was.

8

CORY

Scalding water cascaded down my back.

The little bathroom in the infirmary at Vesperwood filled with steam and the scent of eucalyptus shampoo. It felt so good to wash off the past few days of grime, but the longer I stood under the water, the more I wished I could wash off my memories too. Wash out the facts of what I’d done. Of what Iwas.

An incubus.

I was still wrapping my head around that. I had no reason to doubt what the dean had told me. Well, other than the fact that it sounded utterly insane. But no matter how hot I ran the water, I couldn’t convince myself that he was lying, or that this was all some creepy hallucination.

No, I’d experienced too much now to believe the world was the mundane, quotidian place I’d thought it was back in Churchill. There was magic in the world. I couldn’t hide from it anymore.

With a sigh, I turned the shower off and stepped out into a world of mist. I couldn’t see anything in the mirror, could barely even see a foot in front of my face. I felt for my towel and was in the middle of rubbing myself dry when I heard sounds in the infirmary.

There was the telltale creak of the door to the hall, followed by footsteps. Then the hushed tones of speech, like two people were having an argument while trying to sneak up on me.

My heart stopped. Logic told me it was probably just the dean and that woman, Cinda, who’d woken me up at three a.m. to give me another tonic. But I’d had way too many close calls to trust that logic.

I wrapped the towel around my waist and looked around for a weapon. Shampoo bottle, washcloth, toothpaste—not a lot of options. With a grimace, I grabbed the toothbrush lying on the edge of the sink. Brandishing it like a knife, I walked to the bathroom door and threw it open.

Oh.

It was Ash. Of course. The dean had said he’d come find me in the morning. I felt like an idiot.

“Youarestill here!” Ash said brightly. “We were just wondering if you’d left already. Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt your brushing.”

Ash wasn’t alone. Standing half a pace to the right and looking apologetic was a second man. He looked about Ash’s age, and was tall and thin with medium brown skin. His curly black hair was cut short, and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. He had a leather bag filled with cloth-bound books hanging over one shoulder, and his right arm cradled five more to his chest. He looked like a stork who’d grown up to become a librarian.

The effect was intensified by the fact that Felix wore a crisp white button-up shirt with gray wool trousers. Ash, on the other hand, wore a dark green sweater that was too big for him, with visible darning and patches, over a pair of flared bluejeans that hadn’t been in style since the 1970s. A yellow and purple striped scarf was draped around his neck.

“This is Felix.” Ash nodded at the stork. “He’s another student here.”

“Um, hi.” I lowered my hand. What was I going to do with that toothbrush anyway? De-tartar them to death? “It’s nice to meet you.”

Felix met my eyes briefly, then went back to staring at the books in his arm, as though their spines contained fascinating information. He didn’t speak until we’d broken eye contact, and his, “Hey,” was barely audible.

“He’s not a big talker,” Ash said with a shrug and a smile. “Anyway, we thought we’d show you around Vesperwood today, help you figure out where your classes are, your room, the refectory, all that stuff. Well, I guess technically Dean Mansurtoldus to do that, but that’s okay, we don’t mind. This place is a maze, and there are definitely some parts you don’t want to wander into by mistake. I swear I still get lost sometimes. I can’t imagine trying to get the hang of it on my own.”

“Those parts are pretty clearly marked,” Felix said softly, as if he were addressing his books. His left wrist was encircled by another twisting cuff of metal and crystal, more restrained and elegant than the wild one that Ash wore.

“What?” I wasn’t sure I’d heard them correctly. “I thought this place was a university. Why would any parts be dangerous for students?”

“One wonders, doesn’t one?” Ash said cryptically.

“It’s not that bad,” Felix said. “Just steer clear, anytime you see a symbol with crossed wands and stars, or a crossed arrow and axe, and you’ll be alright.”

“That’soptimistic.” Ash’s voice was dour, but the grin he gave me was bright. “Anyway, are you ready to go?”

Neither of them had actually answered my question, but they’d definitely managed to make me even more anxious than I’d already been, so that was fun. Ash jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, then started for the door.

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