WebMage by Kelly McCullough

a bit longer, but not much.
    Predictably, the doors to the graduate dorms were locked. If I'd dared, I'd have run Open Sesame, but we'd have had to tap into the mweb to do it, and I didn't want my signature showing up in any DecLocus other than my own. I'd have to get in the hard way. Fortunately, I'd been able to pry a building schematic out of the campus computers.
    The dorm was three stories tall and shaped like a brick. I went around to where a rusty fire escape climbed the end wall like an iron version of the ivy that was everywhere. When I was sure no one was looking, I took a deep breath and leaped up to catch the ledge of the lowest landing. I could've tried for the ladder, but I figured pulling it down would make enough noise to wake my grandmother, several dimensions and half a world away. Besides, the lower landing was only about fifteen feet off the ground, comfortably within my reach.
    As quietly as I could, I headed for the third floor. If I'd read the plans right, Cerice's room was at the corner, and the nearer of her windows was only about eight feet from the top of the fire escape. Climbing cautiously onto the broad ledge that encircled the building at window height, I discovered that my motorcycle boots tended to slip around a bit, making scratching noises that reminded me of just how much I didn't want to fall backwards off a three-story building.
    As I slid into place outside Cerice's window, I noticed a ghostlike red dot on the glass. The hand that had been about to knock froze. I slowly and carefully lifted my arms away from my body with my palms open and facing the window. A quick glance downward confirmed my suspicion that there was another red dot, this one considerably brighter, on my chest just above the heart. A laser sight.
    "Cerice, it's Ravirn," I whispered, frantically trying to remember what sort of gun she used. The Kevlar in my jacket would stop most bullets, but it wouldn't take much to knock me off that ledge, and Cerice might be using armor-piercing rounds. "Don't shoot."
    When Cerice didn't pop me immediately, I decided it was probably all right to breathe. A couple seconds went by and the window swung inward. At no time did the red dot move from its place over my heart.
    "Come," she said. I slowly stepped through the opening and onto a desk, keeping my hands firmly in the air. "What in Hades's name do you think you're doing?"
    "Would you believe me if I told you I wanted to restage the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet !"
    "It's you all right." The red dot winked out, but she didn't put the pistol down. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I also noticed what she was wearing. A frown and nothing more.
    "I'm here because I need to talk to you." Certain portions of my anatomy were making other suggestions. I ignored them as best I could.
    "Oh," she replied. "Really? I'm not sure we have anything to talk about." Her voice had icicles in it. You could almost hear the little syllables freezing as they left her lips, then dropping to shatter on the floor.
    "Please, Cerice. There are things I need to tell you." I paused and swallowed. "But first, I have a favor to ask."
    "A favor?" The ice was gone, replaced by a blowtorch. "You send me a note after Garbage Faerie. A note in which you tell me you want to spend more time with me and that you want this to be more than a fling. Then nothing, for weeks. Now you show up here and try to break into my room, and you want a favor?"
    "Cerice, I owe you several apologies, a couple of explanations, and my life among other things. If I could do this without the favor, I would, but I just don't think I can."
    "So what is it?" she snarled.
    "Would you please, please, put some clothes on. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever known, and I could stare at you for hours. But right at the moment I have things I want to tell you, and every time I look at you my brain freezes up, and I start drooling."
    "I…" She paused. "I should probably just shoot you and get