I stood beside Dream Haven for perhaps five seconds. Then I went to wake James, which was how I knew the situation had become serious.
His room was two doors down. I knocked once, and nothing happened. I knocked again, and nothing happened again, and I considered going back to bed.
[Alash.]
'I was only considering it.'
[Do not.]
'Controlling.'
I knocked harder. James opened the door in trousers and no shirt, wearing the expression of someone working out whether murder technically broke Academy rules.
"What?"
"I heard something."
He stared at me. "Congratulations."
"Beastkin."
The sleep went out of his face. "What?"
"A call. From somewhere below us. North, I think, toward the closed wing."
James looked past me at the empty corridor. "You're sure?"
"Yes."
That was enough. He stepped back into his room. "Give me thirty seconds."
