Page 42 of Becoming Monsterous

"We'll want to use a generous handful on this one," Lise whispers to Ellie as we approach a door in the summoners' wing. "He's a level three summoner. Not likely to have weak psychic shields. If he wakes up, stay very still. The invisibility spell won't work otherwise."

If he wakes up, I'm grabbing Ellie and getting her out of here. But I let Lise believe that we're relying on her magic. I don't fully trust her, but I'm willing to let her prove herself untrustworthy before I do anything.

The sleeping powder works, though. Our current target stirs when we enter the room, starts to mouth an objection, then gets knocked out instantly by two generous handfuls infused with spells.

Morpheus strides over to his bedside to place fingers on the man's temple. I watch, bored as hell.

I keep hoping for fear in the hearts of these terrible men.

Instead, Morpheus leaves this one's dream and shakes his head slowly. "It's what we all expected. The summoners loathe us, see us as tools, and don't want to change. This one is dreaming of putting us in chains."

I life a lip, scowling down at the man. "I could wake him up, maybe show him something to chain up."

"No!" Ellie curls her hand around my arm protectively. "We don't want to get caught. Let's try the next one."

We try one more, then another, until we've wracked up nearly a dozen summoners.

Nothing of note.

We're all silent now as we go from room to room. Lise points wearily at a door on the far end of the hallway. "This one is his right hand man, Raphael. He'll know... but he's also very powerful. It'll take all the rest of the powder to put him out. Or we can try a few of the others..."

Angus points out what we've all be thinking. "Maybe we'll never find what we need."

"Or worse—it's in the mind of the Magistrate," Ellie says, "who we can't possibly go up against."

Morpheus takes the lead, as he's prone to doing. "Let's try Raphael. If we don't get anything tonight, we can always come back tomorrow. We'll just have to be careful not to hit the same room two nights in a row."

Two nights, of course, would risk being caught. The summoners won't remember having the Sandman in their heads if it happens once. Put him in twice and they might notice.

"I'm not sure about this..." Lise looks at us warily as we come to a stop in front of Raphael's door. "He's pretty powerful. What if my calculation is wrong and he doesn't stay asleep?"

"I can sing him back to sleep," Morpheus says, cracking his neck like he's about to jog onto a soccer field. "I just need your magic to get through his psychic shields. Leave the rest to me."

Angus takes up watch position outside the door. Lise and Ellie hover near the doorknob. Together, they give the signal, then go in first.

Morpheus and I follow soon after, stepping into the hazy, twilight-filled room. I'll give Raphael this: he isn't a neat man. Books spill out onto the floor all around us, along with dirty clothes and empty food container. If I weren't capable of seeing in the dark, I'd probably fall on my face.

The man is out, so Morpheus quickly moves to his bedside. He stirs beneath his sheets, so the King of Dreams begins his eerie song.

I've heard him sing it a handful of times before, but it'll never stop unnerving me. Something about the voice that escapes from his mouth is different from his speaking voice. Eldritch and strange.

He puts his fingers to Raphael's temple and moves into his dream, leaving the rest of us to stand around to twiddle our thumbs.

Which we do. Until.

The summer's dreams begin to shift.

I smell it in the air: fear

And a smile begins to curve my lips. Stepping towards the bed, I unfurl my wings, feeling their strength fill me.

Eagerness makes me breathe faster. I can sense Ellie's concern and confusion as Raphael thrashes in his bed, but I don't share it.

This dream is turning into a nightmare.

And with an arch of his back, the summoner throws the King of Dreams out.

So I step up. "I'm better equipped for this. "

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