She probably meant this as encouragement, but being reminded of my feeding duties only made me want to quit. “Can we go now?”
“You first. I need to let Miss Grouchy Pants out of her cage.”
I figured Bethany had a right to be grouchy, but saw no point in arguing. I slipped out of the dream into my body. To my astonishment the Milky Way I’d created was still in my hand. I tightened my fingers around it, testing its solidity. It vanished.
My mother came back to her body a moment later. She stood and pushed me toward the door. “Go on. Get out of here before Beth wakes up. I’ll smooth things over.”
Somehow, I doubted that. I wanted to ask her about the candy bar, but Bethany’s eyes opened and now obviously wasn’t a good time. I backed out of the janitor’s closet and closed the door. A second later I heard loud bangs and muffled shouts, but I refused to worry as I headed down the hallway out of earshot. Physical violence was restricted by The Will, so whatever they were doing to each other couldn’t be too bad. Besides, with my dream-feeding session with Eli quickly approaching, I had my own battles to worry about.
6
The Black Phoenix
I had every intention of using my newfound knowledge when I went to Eli’s dorm room the following night, but things didn’t exactly work out that way.
We’d spent another long, awkward day ignoring each other. When the time came for the session, I headed downstairs to the foyer only to find the security guards blocking the way out—two medieval knights I’d nicknamed Frank and Igor. They weren’t actual people but rather animated suits of armor as hollow on the inside as a chocolate Easter bunny. They turned their masked faces toward me, swords pointed.
“Whoa, hey guys,” I said, coming to a stop. “I’ve got a dream-feeding session. Um … may I pass?” This wasn’t something I normally had to ask.
They kept staring for a moment. It was a little creepy to sense they were staring even though they didn’t have eyes, just black slits in their helmets. Finally, they moved aside, and I hurried past them with a friendly wave. I always tried to be as nice to the knights as possible. As a Nightmare, I thought it a good idea to make sure they liked me so as to avoid any accidental maiming when I came and went for dream-feeding sessions. Of course, I was working under the assumption that empty suits of armor were capable of such feelings as liking.
I passed at least half a dozen werewolf police officers on my walk to Eli’s dorm, all of them eyeing me suspiciously but not saying anything. I went through the same drill with the knights guarding Eli’s dorm, the tightened security a result of Rosemary’s murder.
I expected Eli to be asleep when I arrived, but he was wide awake, sitting in a chair by the window. The dorms at Arkwell were sectioned into two rooms, one side for the beds and the other side for living space, with only a flimsy divider between them. Lance’s father was a rich senator, so the dorm room was tricked out like a movie star bachelor pad, complete with a massive flat screen TV and a sound system powerful enough to vibrate the stone walls.
Eli stared at me as I came in, looking wary.
I hated how uncomfortable he made me. “Hi,” I said, running a hand through my hair. The curls were so thick, my fingers got stuck halfway. Smooth.
“Hey.”
“What are you doing awake?” He was also fully dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. I wore my usual dream-feeding outfit of black stretchy pants, black fitted tee, and soft black leather moccasins. It served the purpose of being concealing and flexible. His outfit served the purpose of sending me a clear message: he had no intention of playing along. Great.
Eli stood up, and I resisted the urge to step back. Get over it already, Dusty, a voice that sounded an awful lot like Selene’s said in my mind. He’s just a guy with a hot body. Big deal. Who cares?
“I’m not going to let you do this,” said Eli.
I refused to be intimidated. “You can’t stop it.”
“Sure I can. I saw what happened last time. Your magic didn’t work on me.” He made the word sound like something dirty.
“Didn’t you pay attention in orientation? It’s not my magic you’ve got to worry about but The Will’s.”
He folded his arms across his chest. I tried not to stare at the muscles. The guy was like a roller coaster, all bumpy and stuff. I glanced at the entrance into the bedroom part of the dorm where I could hear the sound of steady breathing. Lance Rathbone, no doubt. What a comfort.
Eli said, “I don’t believe there’s any such thing as The Will.”
I turned back, feeling a little smug. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“I’ll never fall asleep with you in here.”
“Sure you will. I’ll just wait.” I sat down on the sofa across from him and waved at the TV. “Any chance I can get a remote?”
Eli looked at me as if I’d just sprouted a second head. I shrugged and picked up a magazine off the end table. Guns and Ammo wasn’t exactly my favorite, but it was better than nothing. I rifled through the pages.
“Are you really just going to sit there?” said Eli.
“Would you prefer me to hit you over the head with a frying pain?”
He didn’t reply, but sat down in the chair again. I stole a glance at him. His silence was unnerving. I always knew he was the brooding type, but this was like being locked in a cage with a panther. Everything from the slant of his dark eyebrows to the way he slouched in the chair exuded danger. The thought made my skin burn.