Page 72 of Demon of Dreams

Professor Romero stood in the hall. I heaved a sigh of relief. Not Noah after all.

So why was a thread of disappointment winding through my chest as Romero stepped into the room?

“Cory,” he said. “Oh, and Ash and Felix. Nice to see you all this evening.”

“You too,” I said, confused. “Do you need something?” I heard my words and shook my head. “Sorry, that sounded rude. I didn’t mean—I just—did I forget something in class, or do something wrong when I—”

“Cory, Cory, it’s okay.” Romero’s voice was warm, but it couldn’t quite undo the knot of worry in my stomach. “You haven’t done anything wrong. I’m simply here because Dean Mansur has asked me to get you up to speed, since you missed your first semester.” He cocked his head to the side. “I sent a message. Perhaps it hasn’t—”

Before he could finish speaking, a soft whistling filled the room. I looked up, trying to determine the source, and saw a flash of white move across the ceiling through the glass tube that wound its way over to my door. That was another thing all the rooms at Vesperwood had, I’d learned.

A moment later, there was a soft thunk, and a small, white scroll appeared in the box on the shelf near the door.

“Ah, that will be it,” Romero said. “Must have gotten delayed. The ISS gets backed up sometimes.”

He reached over and picked up the scroll, unrolling it with deft fingers. He held it out to me calmly, like sending messages by magical tubes was an everyday occurrence. But around here, I supposed it was.

The paper was small and contained Professor Romero’s neat script.

Cory,

The dean has asked me to help you further your course of study here at Vesperwood. I’ll meet you at your door at the end of dinner tonight.

Sebastian Romero

“Okay?” I said, still lost. The dean hadn’t mentioned anything like this to me back in the infirmary, but I wasn’t going to tell Professor Romero he was wrong to his face.

“He asked me to help you with some extralessons,” Romero said, putting a slight emphasis on the final word. Suddenly, I understood.

“Oh. Right.” I felt startled and nervous and relieved all at once. In all my worry about Noah and Sean, I’d forgotten what the dean had said about my needing private lessons. Forgotten about what that would entail.

My stomach clenched. I really didn’t want to do this. But the dean said I needed to enter the dreamworld every forty-eight hours. And I hadn’t done anything special last night.

Ash and Felix didn’t seem to realize anything was amiss, at least. Thank God for small favors.

“We can go,” Felix said, standing up so quickly that the chair knocked back against my desk. “We’ll get out of your hair.”

Ash made no move to follow suit. He just looked at Romero and said, “What kind of extra lessons? Are they like, extra credit? Can we do them too?”

“Are you seriously suggesting thatyouare willing to do extra schoolwork?” Felix asked.

“Aren’t I allowed to care about my academic future?” Ash said. “Besides, what if they’re cool, and we miss out on something fun?”

Romero smiled. “I applaud your newfound enthusiasm, Ash, but in this case, these lessons are private. However, if you’re looking to expand your understanding of magic, I can certainly draw up some extra reading for you. Perhaps a few additional essays, or an investigation into the effects of—”

“On second thought, I think I’m good,” Ash said, popping up off the bed like something had bitten him. “We’ll leave you to it, Cory.”

“Actually,” Romero said, “Cory and I will be going to my study.”

“Oh,” I said again, the tightness in my stomach morphing into a roiling, unsettled feeling. My palms were newly sweaty. “Right. Yeah.” I slid off the window ledge, then looked at my friends. “You guys can stay if you want.”

“Don’t say that,” Felix said, “or Ash will take it as an excuse to go through all your things as soon as you’re out of the room.”

“I don’t reallyhavethings,” I said with a shrug. “Go for it.”

Despite my invitation, the two of them accompanied me out into the hall and said good night, heading in the opposite direction that Professor Romero and I walked in.

After making my way to all my classes, the refectory, and my room today, I’d thought I was finally learning my way around Vesperwood, but tonight, Romero took me up and down staircases and corridors I didn’t know existed. After our seventh turn, I began to feel like I was in an M.C. Escher painting.

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