Page 30 of A Dream of Stars and Curses

‘Hello.’ He smiles, and his eyes darken. I don’t know what it means, but I’m getting ready to overanalyse the shit out of it. ‘You look...’

I blush. Fiercely. ‘This isn’t too much, is it? I can still get changed if it’s—’

‘No, it’s— You’re—’ His shoulders relax, and his smile settles. ‘You look beautiful. Shall we?’

My everything does a somersault inside me. He’s just being polite, I know, but what if he’s not? What if he, a several-hundred-year-old vampire, thinks I’m beautiful? I know how that sounds. He’s definitely just being nice.

‘And you look handsome, as always,’ I say as I pass him the keys. I’m quite proud that came out without a stutter, but I’m overanalysing this, too. What’s he going to make of the ‘as always’ part? That was too much, wasn’t it? I was going to say dashing, but that didn’t feel right so I changed it to the first word that came to mind and now I feel like I went overboard. Dashing might have been a lighthearted compliment. Handsome feels too... personal. Romantic. Too much like I’m in love with him. Which I am, but—

He takes the keys and spares me further mental torture. Except I now have the car ride to look forward to. That’ll go well, I’m sure.

‘I’ve brought your cards, by the way,’ he says as we walk to the car. ‘They finally arrived yesterday. My apologies for the delay—there was a hold-up with the supplier.’

I smile at him. ‘No harm done. Thank you.’

Even if tonight doesn’t go well, I’ll still have my deck to look forward to.

But first I need to survive this car ride.

‘How long will it take to drive there?’ I ask.

I hope he didn’t already tell me. I don’t want him to think that I’m not listening to him when in reality, I remember exactly everything and nothing he’s ever said to me.

‘About an hour.’

Oh gods. I should have prepared for this better, though I’ve no idea how. I just know I’m unprepared for being in a car with him for that long.

We both get in, and I’m racking my brain for things to talk about. The moment we sit down—him in the driver’s seat and me next to him—my mind goes blank. This feels too personal, too. Or rather, it feels too private. Too familiar. Like we might share a car any day. Like we live together. Like we’re—

‘My friend got in touch with me this week,’ Leverett says as he starts the car and pulls away from the kerb. ‘He told me everything about this event, in case you were interested.’

Oh, bless his friend. Something to talk about. Score. Thank you, Mister... I don’t know his name. This vampire invited me to his event of old friends, and I never even asked.

I nod, grateful to have something to talk about. ‘I am. What’s his name? I feel bad that I don’t know.’

Leverett gives me a quick smile before he focusses on the road again. ‘His full name is Anton Frederik Villum Thagaard, but he won’t mind if you call him Anton. All his friends do.’

‘But he doesn’t even know me.’

‘I told him a lot about you, so I think he feels like he does.’ Leverett smiles again as he says it. What has he told Anton besides my encounters with the Mara and Dreamcatcher and what led to those?

I return the smile. ‘Only good things, I hope?’

He doesn’t answer, just smiles more. Damn. I don’t know what to make of that—again. I guess I’ll have to ask my new bestie Anton.

‘So,’ I say before we fall into awkward silence again, ‘who will be there? Anyone important I should know about?’

I’d hate to step on the wrong toes. I doubt any presidents or big political people will be there, but what about huge business people? For all I know, all the big companies are run by the Veiled. For all I know, my boss is one. Now that would make work interesting—I haven’t seen Eloise since I walked into the void lake, and my summer break had already started then. I won’t know until I’m back at work, but that’s a way off yet.

‘Let’s see... I’ve already told you about Anton. It’s his event and we’ll be on his property, so he’s the most important person there. I mentioned his husband, Saif? He’ll be around, though you may not see much of him. He’s happy for Anton to host these occasional gatherings, but he doesn’t love them himself.’ Leverett hesitates. ‘I should warn you that Chiara will be there. She’s been around nearly as long as I and Anton have, and she isn’t humanity’s biggest supporter.’

My stomach drops a little, though really this was unavoidable. I remember what he told me, that some Veiled see humanity as little more than cattle.

‘How will I know her?’ I ask.

‘I’ll introduce you if we run into her. Do you remember that I asked you to stay close to me?’

I nod. How could I possibly forget? I’ll be damned if I leave his side all evening.

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