Page 50 of A Dream of Stars and Curses

This isn’t a daily drawing. I’m going through the deck one card at a time like Kate asked me to do—I didn’t draw this card looking for advice. It could mean any number of things. Mischief has been teasing me to just sleep with dream-Leverett, which would definitely blur the line between reality and dreams in ways I’m still not comfortable with. It’s easy to think of that with the little rabbit in the picture.

But as I rephrase the guide’s definition for my own notes, I keep thinking about something else. Kate showing me how to cleanse my house made me feel better again, like we’ve smoked out whatever has taken up residence in here. What if that feeling is an illusion?

What if that bad energy invading my home hasn’t gone anywhere after all?

That evening—Monday, so two days away from seeing Leverett, but who’s counting—Bonnie and I have a movie night. It feels like it’s been ages, and with us both sort-of dating, the break-in, everything we’re learning about the Veiled, and her starting her internship today, a night in with a good movie and some popcorn feels like the most normal thing we can do. We put on Mean Girls, and the moment the film starts and I sink into the sofa, I relax. We both need this. Lady is asleep on my bed. It’s an unusual spot for her, especially when both her humans are down here, but who am I to tell my dog where she can sleep? In that regard, she’s much like a cat, and we never tried to train it out of her.

Bonnie hasn’t heard from the police or from Sunny, but it’s only been a day, so that’s fair. The police need time to investigate, and Bonnie said that Sunny had a busy day, so this movie is also good for distracting her.

And me. I definitely wouldn’t mind if it distracted me. Leverett messaged me to ask if Bonnie and I are okay, but he didn’t mention Wednesday again, so I didn’t, either.

Bonnie and I get into the movie, and for a couple of hours everything feels like the good old days when we’d watch this same movie together: laughing at all the same jokes like we’re hearing them for the first time, quoting every single quotable line, and generally not thinking about the outside world for a bit. It’s nice to not think about anything. Now she’s started her internship, she may be too tired most evenings, so it’s a movie with popcorn first and then a catch-up with cocktails. We’d have done it yesterday, but she was busy all day preparing for today. They sent her a very detailed Getting Started package, so she spent yesterday reading through that and no doubt worrying about her necklace. Really, we both just want one evening of being teenage girls and gushing over our crushes.

Her phone rings.

Bonnie glances at the screen and sits up. ‘It’s Sunny.’

I get up and walk to the kitchen. ‘You chat, I make cocktails.’

The movie is nearly over anyway. Bonnie nods and picks up, so I busy myself in the kitchen. I’ve felt lighter since cleansing the house with Kate, so we can celebrate that, too—that things are looking up. Everything was a bit unsure since the Dreamcatcher, but I think we’re both finally finding our feet in this Veiled world. Bonnie is dating a mermaid, Leverett and I kissed and will see each other again on Wednesday, and Bonnie is interning at her dream job. I’m learning magic from Kate, and I’m definitely not losing my job to these redundancies. I feel like I’ve cleansed whatever curse this was right out of the house. That’s what I tell myself as I mix our drinks: good things are coming; the bad is over. So what if I drew The Moon earlier? Perhaps it meant the illusion of being under a curse in the first place.

I walk back into the living room with our cocktails. Bonnie is quietly crying on the sofa. I put the drinks down, sit next to her, and pull her into my arms.

‘What’s wrong?’

Bonnie takes a few deep breaths to steady her voice. It takes her a moment to actually speak. ‘Sunitha broke up with me. She said she doesn’t feel safe with a human.’

‘Oh, no, Bonnie. I’m sorry.’

I don’t say what’s really on my mind: This is awfully soon after Bonnie’s necklace got taken. I know I should mention the possibility, but this isn’t the time. Not when my sister is so newly heartbroken. I have no proof, anyway, and she doesn’t need an accusation from me right now.

‘I just don’t know why,’ Bonnie says. Her tears are gently rolling down her cheeks and her chin quivers slightly, but mostly she just sounds dejected. ‘We talked about it. She said she didn’t mind. She said she trusted me.’

Bonnie glances at me with a brief frown. Sunitha may have trusted her, but I know she’s a mermaid, too. My heart drops.

‘Is it because of me?’ I ask. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have been here when she came over. If she didn’t know that I know, she might have—’

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