Crystal's one escape from the pretentious life her parents want for her is the dreams that fill her mind as she sleeps. In those dreams awaits the same boy who comes to her night after night, filling her heart with hope that can only be a fantasy. T...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Music beats through the floor beneath my feet and lively voices filter from the stairwell just outside the door. All the signs of an active tavern filled with sleepers dreaming about having a drink by the ocean. Normally it would bring me comfort to know that we've created the perfect place to dock the Halazia and provide a place for those too tired to dream for themselves. A full-blown slice of this realm that's both completely ours as well as open to others. It's not an easy thing to do. Even the most skilled dreamers still struggle to make a space strong enough to hold so many minds. Yet we managed it together, years ago.
My fingers skim the page of a worn journal on my desk, scanning the words for any new clues. Something...anything that could help us. But I can't focus, not with the headache thumping in my skull and the constant thoughts of Crystal.
Snapping the journal shut, I growl in frustration and throw the damn thing at the door just as it opens. Seong ducks out of the way in time for the journal to fly past his head.
Of course, he barely bats an eye. "Rough night?"
"Something like that."
Shutting the door behind him, he walks over to an empty chair in front of my desk and sits on the arm. "You've been looking through that thing for weeks. Maybe it's time to take a break, get some sleep?"
"I am sleeping."
"Don't play that with me. You know there's a difference."
I do. While sleepers can rest and recharge even while dreaming, we can't. Our bodies are fast asleep but our minds are working twice as hard just to keep us awake in this realm. It's exhausting and without real, dreamless sleep, it can drain us mentally and physically.
"I'll sleep once we've found all the bases," I answer, getting up from my seat. "We're so close, I can't give up now."
The pinched look on Seong's face says he's ready to argue with me more but he doesn't get a chance. Miles burst through my office door, his eyes wide as they quickly find me.
"We got company."
Seong and I exchange a look before quickly getting up and following Miles out of the room and down the stairs. None of the sleepers notice us as we enter the tiny dark tavern below. Most are too wrapped up in their own experience to notice others, especially us. Not even the rest of my brothers acknowledge our entrance, Chan, Woong, and Noah each looking in the same direction with scowls carved into their faces.
I follow their line of sight and my blood runs cold. "McClay."
Our headmaster and biggest threat stands casually in the center of the bar. Even in this realm, he's still wearing one of his finely pressed suits, standing out like a sore thumb.
"Mr. Kim," he greets me but his usual sinister grin is missing. Every time we've come head to head in our dreams, he always appeared like some kind of Disney villain. Now he seems more composed, his lips thinned as if he's holding back. "It's a nice place you've made here."
