If only we could choose who we fall in love with. I might have known better then. But he smiles at me again, our eyes meet, and I think that I’m dumb enough to have chosen him anyway.
My life is missing something.
Shouldn't there be… more to, well, everything? My plans of being a photographer aren’t exactly going as I thought, either. But I will change at least the latter this summer, I'm just not sure how. Inspiration has been a bit of a bitch lately.
Oh, I'm also a lucid dreamer and know my dreamscape better than my actual neighbourhood. So, when one day I find this strange obsidian void lake in my dreams, I can’t just pretend it's not there. Something has to happen if I jump in, right? It wouldn’t make me feel so seen and strangely whole if it were nothing.
Except, that’s exactly what happens: nothing. At least at first. But then…
Who knew the world is so full of fairies and vampires and werewolves and demons and— Magic? Well, obviously they did, but I'm finally seeing the world as it really is. And with that new insight comes all the photography inspiration I've been waiting for!
Except, it turns out the Veiled are hiding for a reason. They’ve seen war before, and if I'm not careful, my enthusiasm and curiosity could start a new one. Some of the Veiled are ancient, they remember the last battle…
And they know just how to turn my lucid dreams into my worst nightmares.
Alright, so, maybe taking photos of people who don’t want to be noticed was a bad idea. I know this now, and I’ll never forget the promise I made the Mara and the Dreamcatcher:
I'll stay out of the Veiled’s business unless they say otherwise, and learn everything—the many different types of Veiled so I can help rather than accidentally destroy, and all about Magick 101 from Kate, my friendly witch neighbour.
Only, as it turns out, not all Veiled are easy to spot, and soon I have every reason to believe I've been cursed: There are growing tensions between me and handsome vampire bookseller Leverett, and not all of them pleasant (and they're not helped by some very vivid dreams, either); my sisterhood with my life-long BFF Bonnie is suffering; and the huge power imbalance between me and the Veiled grows ever more obvious when a jealous and deluded friend from Leverett’s past decides to deal with me for good.
Can I find the source of the curse and break it before I run out of time...
And before I lose everything and everyone I care about—including my life?
‘You are more than a small light in a large universe. None of us can deny you have power.’
No one was more surprised than I was when I shoved Chiara down some stairs with bloody magic, but it happened, and now I’m excited to learn how to throw spells around on purpose rather than by life-saving accident. I’ve been wanting the power to defend myself, and now I have it!
The only problem is that Kate, my witch neighbour and expert on all things magic, doesn’t know how to draw my magic out of me again. Fortunately, she knows someone who might be able to help…
But do I really want that?
My magic was locked away for a reason, and it’s only thanks to my dream guide, Mischief, that I used it once. Now she’s in trouble because of it. Surely this means I should leave it sealed away? But it might also be my only real defence against that elusive Veiled who’s after me, so…
It doesn’t matter, though. As it turns out, I can do fuck all with my magic. I literally couldn’t hurt a leaf—seriously, I tried.
Except, there are some who think me just trying is risky enough, and they’re not kidding when they say I need to stop—or else. After all, I’ve already used magic to hurt someone once. They’re worried I’ll hurt someone else if I learn to control my magic, but…
What’s stopping me from hurting someone else if I don’t?
RELEASE DATE: November 27th 2024