Cursed to the Bone

50. Dream River

Sitting in my room, I considered the strange dream I had and the way it drained me of energy. While I wasn't an expert on dream dust, I had some major concerns over what happened. To begin, I had wounds that Lucien didn't know about. My body was bruised in places where Nimda grabbed me, and my shoulders had crescent-shaped scratches from where she dug her nails in. I healed the scratches, for comfort, but I was feeling a little too sluggish to even try healing the bruises.

I was so sluggish that, after dressing, I didn't even have it in me to dry my hair. I was seated on my bed, my wet hair hanging at my front, when Rhett came out of my closet. He held a dark-green sweatshirt that had a high-neck and his face was pinched with disapproval. He had taken it upon himself to investigate my closet in search of something that I could wear for my date. I vehemently refused it as such, but Rhett wouldn't take no for an answer.

"It's all athletic clothes and sweatshirts, Vee. Don't you have anything normal?"

"Define normal."

"Ugh." Rhett rubbed his face. "Do you think Naomi would mind you wearing her clothes?"

Naomi wouldn't mind me wearing her clothes at all. In fact, she once offered to lend me anything I needed. That wasn't something I needed to tell Rhett, though. "It would be rude to take without asking."

"Damn it, Vee," Rhett said, looking me over. "When your best outfit includes your school coat, you're doing something wrong."

"There's nothing wrong with my clothes." I fell back on my bed. "They're comfortable."

Rhett threw my sweatshirt over me. "Wear that, at least."

"I'm tired. I just want to sleep."

A groan met my ears as Rhett plopped on my bed. "You have to go so I can get all the juicy details. I'm living through you, remember?"

I snorted. "What do you think is going to happen, exactly?"

"If you don't get even a kiss on Valentine's Day, I'll confront Lacroix myself."

"I don't want a kiss," I muttered as I sat up.

Rhett turned so he was facing away from me.

Unbuttoning my coat, I slid my arms free and crawled into the sweatshirt. "I just want food, books, and sleep. That's it."

"Everyone wants romance, Vee, even you. Even if you don't know it yet."

"Well I don't want this romance, okay?" I pointedly didn't look at him as I stood and entered the closet to hang my coat. "You know that."

"Sorry."

Guilt burned my heart right away. "No, I'm—"

A knock sounded from the living area.

"Don't sweat it." Rhett hopped to his feet and grinned. "Have fun."

Sighing through my nose, I left my room and started down the hall with Rhett hot on my heels. I pulled the door open. Lucien held a handful of books beneath an arm and offered a hand.

"Are you ready?"

I looked to Rhett before taking Lucien's hand. "You can hang here if you want. Just make sure you shut the door when you leave."

"Got it. Catch you later."

Then the room was spinning away, twisting with glass and stone until I found myself in a round room without doors. Apprehensive, I peered out the rain-soaked windows to see we were in a six-sided tower with old, stone walls. Between each window seat was a narrow bookshelf filled with books. Even through rain, I could see the mountain where the school was and the park below. We were in Strathton. Candles flickered in the chandelier above a large desk where scrolls and tomes were already spread about.