The dean’s eyes flashed. “Why are you here then?”
“I don’t know!” If I sounded petulant, so be it. “I still don’t know what’s happening. What the hell was going on with that raven? Who were the monsters chasing me? I didn’t even know what Vesperwoodwastwo days ago.”
“Yet still you searched. You fought to get here. Your whole world turned upside down, but you didn’t surrender. You made it here, against long odds. Youwantedto survive. Have you truly changed your mind so suddenly?”
“I didn’t know what survival would entail,” I muttered. “Maybe the world would be better without me. I’ve never amounted to much.”
The dean stared at me. “If you don’t care about yourself, perhaps you will care about others. Vesperwood is warded, but the moment you step off our grounds, your powers will begin to leak again. They’ll act as a beacon to any mercenary, any agent of evil, who wishes to find you, harm you, or kill you.”
“The tene—tenel something?” I said, unable to suppress a shudder. “Ash mentioned them.”
“Tenelkiri. They’re certainly one group I’d be concerned about.”
“Why are they after me?”
“That’s something I hope to discover, if you stay. But if you leave, I can’t offer you any protection.”
“They only went after me,” I said. “They attacked me twice, but they didn’t go after anyone else.”
“Luck.” His voice was hard as nails. “Pure, blind luck that you’ve been alone, and right in front of them, each time. The tenelkiri have no compunction about killing anyone who gets in between them and their quarry. Or killing people for information. Or killing simply for the fun of it. You might be willing to risk your life, but are you willing to risk those of your friends and family back home?”
His words twisted like a knife in my gut. I didn’t have any friends or family back home. Not anymore. But there were still people I cared about in Churchill. I couldn’t bring those monsters back with me. I didn’t want to be the reason anyone died.
So now you care when people die? You care more about strangers than you do about your old man?
I gasped. It was like my dad was in the room with me, growling into my ear. His voice was so real, I wanted to twist and look for him. But he was dead, dead and gone. I was just imagining things.
The dean watched me, saying nothing. Just waiting for me to make a choice.
I looked down at my hands, rubbing the knuckle of my left index finger with the pad of my right. Maybe there was a way to do this dreaming without intruding on people. Maybe if I learned to control my powers, I could find a way to get what I needed without having to manipulate anyone.
In dreams, our barriers are fewer. It’s harder to lie to ourselves.
I looked up at Dean Mansur. “So how do I learn? How long do I have to stay here?”
“You learn through study and application, in private lessons. As for how long it will take, that depends. Weeks? Months? It depends on the incubus, from what I understand. On their determination—and their resistance.”
“From what you understand?” My brows knit. “You’re not an incubus? Or you’ve just never taught one?”
“Both.” He seemed amused. “And I won’t be teaching you.”
“Then whoisgoing to teach me?” I couldn’t keep the frustration out of my voice. “When do I get to meet a real incubus?”
“You don’t.” The dean shook his head. “Your kind is not so common. You are uniquely powerful, and uniquely vulnerable. I would offer you an experienced incubus in control of every inch of their power if I could. But Vesperwood hasn’t seen someone like that in a long time.”
An incubus in control of their power. Would that be me someday? If I could control myself, then at least I’d know which desires were mine, and which were someone else’s. If I could control my desires, maybe I’d finally… finally…
I couldn’t even finish the thought. I was drifting off again. Keeping my eyes open was impossible.
“Cory? Cory, I need you to stay with me. Cory—dammit.”
The dean’s hand shot out again, and he shook me by the shoulder.
“Cory, look at me.”
I didn’t want to. I wanted to go to sleep. To turn my brain off and be done with all of this. But there was steel in his voice, and I couldn’t ignore the command. I brought my gaze to his.
Had his eyes always been that blue? The thought fluttered across my mind. I could have sworn they were a different color before, but now they radiated a blue so deep and rich they were practically violet.
