Page 23 of A Dream of Stars and Curses

I almost wish I could join Kate’s moon ritual, or whatever she has planned, but I wouldn’t give up spending a night with Leverett for anything. I’m starting to look forward to the event, everything he might show me. Everything I might learn.

We enter the park together and begin our slow walk towards the other end. Our dogs shoot down the meadow like they haven’t been outside in weeks.

‘I take it the guest list is your reason for wanting to learn self-defence?’ Kate asks.

I nod. ‘But also it’d be nice to know some anyway. Bonnie knows karate, but I’ve got nothing.’

‘Would karate do anything against the Ve—’ Her eyes go wide. ‘Against one of them?’

I hadn’t considered that, but now she’s said it I can’t imagine her punching a werewolf’s lights out. It’s nothing against her skill, but in my head all werewolves have jaws of steel.

Kate smiles. ‘Only if you take them unaware. It depends on whom you’re defending yourself against, of course, and it might still get you out of a pinch, but it’ll be better to have more means at your disposal. Although...’ She thinks for a moment. ‘There isn’t enough time to teach you anything truly helpful before the event. There are plenty of easy recipes and spells I might teach you, but don’t forget who you’d be fighting. It’s nothing they haven’t seen before. You might even find that your instincts are a better help.’

As if on cue, I trip and spot some dog shit on my shoe. When did that happen? People here are supposed to pick up after their dogs, but there’s always someone who doesn’t.

‘Are you alright?’ Bonnie asks as I straighten.

‘Yeah, just fine.’ I sigh. ‘If people aren’t prepared to pick up after their dogs, they shouldn’t adopt any.’ I sigh again. ‘Sorry. I don’t know why this annoys me so much.’ I’m far from unflappable, but this wouldn’t normally bug me. I did mean to wear these shoes into town later, but I have others. This isn’t a big deal.

‘It’s not unusual to think you’re okay after trauma when you’re anything but,’ Kate says. ‘Have you given your emotions an outlet since that fateful dream?’

I drag my shoe over the grass to get at least some of the shit off. ‘I cried loads during that time.’ Sleep deprivation had something to do with that, but I was also genuinely terrified to fall asleep.

‘I mean since then,’ Kate says. ‘If you bottle all your emotions up, they will come out sooner or later.’

‘No, I’m fine. Really.’ Aren’t I? After we had the chat with the Mara and the Dreamcatcher, I just kinda moved on. I thought I was alright. It’s over, so there’s no point dwelling on it, right? But maybe Kate has a point. My being on edge these last few days hasn’t come from nothing. Maybe there really is a small storm brewing inside me.

‘I’m glad to hear it.’ Kate doesn’t look convinced, though. I’m no longer so sure myself. ‘Shall we go into the forest so we can talk more freely?’

Bonnie nods, excited to see this forest for herself, but I just follow along, still on what Kate asked me. I’ve been doing shadow work around my feelings for Leverett, but maybe I should explore if I have any lingering anxiety from the nightmares. I haven’t seen the Mara or the Dreamcatcher since then, but I didn’t expect to. Their job here is done. It’s not like we promised to stay in touch, and I’m not sure what we’d talk about if we had. Hey there. Cause any great nightmares lately? I’m not sure I’d want to know.

I follow Kate and Bonnie into the forest. I’ll ask Kate to teach me some defensive magic anyway, even if it won’t do any good for the event. Who knows when I might need it? But she also said my instincts might be more useful. What could I possibly—

Bonnie screams. It’s a high-pitched sound that speaks of true panic. Before me, she’s running around Kate and waving her arms at her leg. I don’t see anything, but our dogs come running and my heart misses a painful beat.

‘What’s wrong?’ She looks unhurt, but her scream said otherwise.

‘Stupid wasp!’

Oh.

Not actual true panic then, but they certainly hurt enough to justify her reaction. Ask four-year-old me who got stung in the knee and never quite recovered psychologically.

‘Where did it get you?’ I ask.

She takes a few deep breaths and points to her knee. ‘I didn’t even see the damned thing until it was too close. I wasn’t threatening it or anything.’

‘Let’s get you home,’ Kate says. ‘I’ll have a look if the stinger is still in there.’ Bonnie pales. ‘I can help the healing along, but I recommend rest for today and likely tomorrow depending on how much it’s hurting.’

Bonnie gives me a watery look. ‘I guess we won’t be going dress shopping after all.’

I wave her off, but I’m not gonna lie to myself: I am a little disappointed. After everything that happened, I was looking forward to something so normal.

‘We can still look online,’ I offer. ‘Wasp stings hurt like a bitch; you’re not going anywhere today.’

Fortunately we’re not too far away from home, so Bonnie doesn’t have to hobble far. But I can’t help noticing that’s two things that have gone wrong today alone. In total, I’ve had the mug break on me, twice, and I’m falling over my own feet more often, I literally stepped in shit, and now Bonnie was stung by a wasp. Can all this still be coincidence? Because it’s starting to feel like there’s a little too much bad luck following me around.

And when we reach our doorstep and Kate excuses herself to grab something for Bonnie, I can’t help wondering if I really have been cursed.

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