every inch an Evil Queen.”
Zuri knew Zeva didn’t lie.
Except if Zeva could see it and Zuri couldn’t, it meant magic was real for some people. Just not for Zuri.
Which had been Zuri’s deepest darkest fear all along. She’d just said things couldn’t get any worse, and she’d been given a definitively shitty answer that yes, they could. So why not this, too?
“Okay. I believe you. It’s insane, but I believe you. What did it look like when you drove in?” She wanted to share Zeva’s experience, too.
“Everything sparkled. It was like Strawberry Shortcake meets My Little Pony and with an extra helping of fairy dust. It was so strange. I thought I was hallucinating at first, but as soon as I trusted my instincts, it was like even more of this world opened up to me. I could see traces of energy from people I think are magic,” she ended on a high pitch. “It’s wonderful.”
Zuri tried to be happy for her sister, and of course she found some joy, but she found sorrow for herself as well.
“Oh, but it’s not wonderful for you right now, is it? I’m sorry.” Zeva pulled Zuri into her arms. “I’m sure you feel terrible. We’ll get Phillip back in here, and he’s going to make you feel better.”
“I don’t think he will,” Zuri confessed.
“Why do you think that, dumplin’?”
“You’re even talking like the fairy godmothers, now.” Zuri chuckled. “You’re just infected with some magic mushroom that’s a little more trippy than actual magic.”
“Zuri, I swear to you.”
“Pinkie swear?” Zuri asked.
Zeva held up her pinkie, and they hooked their fingers together. “Pinkie swear. I’m not tripping balls.”
“That’s both the best thing I’ve ever heard and the worst.” Zuri pulled the covers higher.
“Why is that?”
“Because this is the first time we’ve experienced something major in different ways. It’s like you’re so far away from me now.”
“And?” Zeva prompted.
“And . . . if magic is real, and you know it’s real.” She took a breath. “All these people are actually who I thought they were pretending to be, and that means it’s real for only some people. Not for me, because I can’t see it.”
Zeva’s happy grin slowly melted into a frown. “No, I don’t believe that. I think you just can’t see it yet. I don’t know what’s happened to me that it’s different for me, but I think I need to find out.”
“I know you do,” Zuri said, but held on tighter. She didn’t want to let go.
People didn’t often get the chance to know when a moment was going to change their lives forever. It wasn’t often that one could look and see where their new path diverged from their old one, but Zuri knew this was one of those moments.
After the moment passed, when she let go of her sister, everything was going to change.
She whispered the thought aloud, “It’s all going to change, Zeva.”
“I know, and I can’t wait. I’m going to find a way to bring some of this magic to the kids at St. Marigold’s.” Zeva pulled away to look down at Zuri. “And you’re going to find your way, too.”
“I wish I was as confident about that as you are.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
“Then believe me when I say that everything will work out. I can see it.”
“Magic will make everything okay?” Zuri was skeptical. Neither she nor her sister had believed that in a long time. Not since the fateful night when their father didn’t come home and all the wishing and hoping in the world hadn’t been able to change the fact that he was dead.
“No, you will make everything okay.”
Zuri was comforted momentarily. Then it hit her that Zeva had called Phillip Prince Charming. “Holy shit, is he really?”
“Who? The charming B and B owner?”
“That’s worse than a dad joke, Zeva. That was awful.” Laughter bubbled in the back of her throat.
“It was amazing, and I deserve so much credit.”
“The Chicago judge gives it a negative ten.”
Then Zuri remembered that Phillip had told her there were things he wanted to tell her but he couldn’t. Not until she’d been in Ever After a while.
She found comfort in that, too. He hadn’t lied to her. While he’d kept things from her, it was logical that he’d wait for her to be ready for what he had to say. If he’d just popped off with “Hey, baby. I’m Prince Charming . . . ,” that wouldn’t have gone over well. Zuri knew he’d been as honest with