Page 62 of A Dream of Stars and Curses

Bonnie glares at me with one hand on the stairs’ handrail. ‘You know it wouldn’t have made any sense.’

‘Oh?’ I cross my arms, more to hug myself and stop myself from shaking. ‘And you and Sunitha would have? She’s a mermaid, she probably lives in the ocean. You’re a good swimmer, Bonnie, but you can’t possibly have thought that would have worked out.’

‘She has a house in Bournemouth, actually.’ She looks ready to run upstairs, but then she spits out, ‘It’s more likely than a vampire falling in love with you.’

‘At least he isn’t a thief!’

Bonnie freezes halfway up the stairs. She turns around slowly, with too much anger in her eyes.

And I know I fucked up.

‘What do you mean?’

I flap, lost for words, but I finally sigh. It’s too late to take it back now.

‘Don’t you think it’s suspicious that your necklace went missing the same night Sunitha asked to meet up? And then the day after that, she just breaks up with you? Over the phone? Out of nowhere? All I’m saying is maybe—’

Her glare cuts me off. ‘She didn’t even know I had the thing. It’s not like I bring people to my room and show them around my priceless jewellery. Fuck, Esta, she’s never even been in my room. How would she have known about it?’

My throat went very dry at some point while she was talking. I deflate and give her what I hope is a deeply apologetic look, but she shakes her head and runs upstairs.

‘I’m sorry,’ I call after her. ‘I didn’t—’

She slams the bathroom door shut. I sink onto the sofa and lean against Keano, who’s comfy on the sofa and very unbothered by our fight.

Why did I think Sunitha would know? It made so much sense at the time. I always meant to bring up the possibility eventually, but not like this. I just thought... Or maybe I didn’t. If I had, I would never have gone that far. I might have let Bonnie go to bed without saying anything, and then we might have talked about the growing rift between us in the morning, refreshed and over tea, like adults.

I don’t know how to fix this. I want my dog. I want this half-eaten pizza to go away on its own. It feels too much like a reminder of everything that’s gone wrong lately. Bonnie and I have never had this many leftovers—she barely touched hers, and most of mine is still in the box. I look around for my dog, and my eyes fall on the three food bowls. At least they enjoyed their food. Most of it is gone.

Most.

Lady is lying next to hers looking miserable. She hasn’t touched her food.

I don’t sleep well that night, or at all, come to think of it. I want to hug Mischief and talk it out with her, see if I’ve missed anything, but every time I think I’m about to drift off, I remember something I said that I shouldn’t have or something someone else said that I wish they hadn’t. I remember the ominous death cloud in my dreamscape. It seems to be closing in on me even when I’m awake. Was Anton’s party really only a week ago? It feels like way more time has passed, and I feel like I’ve aged just as much.

Between bouts of nearly falling asleep but not quite, I keep an eye on Lady. My puppy still isn’t eating. I try to think when this started, but I can’t remember. She was eating fine yesterday, wasn’t she? Or was she already eating less then and we just didn’t think anything of it because she was eating? Now that I think about it, she’s been sleeping an awful lot lately. Lack of energy, lack of appetite... I slink off the sofa and curl up on the floor next to her. I’ll be damned if I let this curse take my girl, but I don’t know how to stop this. This is so much worse than anything the Dreamcatcher did. He was exceptional at nightmares, but they were still just dreams, warnings. Nothing he showed me was real. At least the Dreamcatcher showed himself to me, too. I could talk to him, try to reason with him, but I’ve no idea who cursed me or how to undo it. Kate gave it her best shot, and it hasn’t changed anything. Maybe I’m missing something, but I can’t begin to guess at what that might be.

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