9

DEV

Maya keeps staring at me after I finish the sentence. One hand is braced on my desk chair, the other still holding her bag strap, like she has not decided whether to sit or leave.

“Okay,” she says. “Start from the insane part.”

“That is all of it.”

Her eyebrows lift. “Dev.”

I sit on the edge of the bed and rub my palms down my jeans. Mom never needed the curse explained because she already knew the rules. Saying it to Maya makes every part of my life sound deranged.

“When I was twelve, Mom took me to a fortune teller in India. She told us I had a blood-moon curse.”

Maya loosens her grip on the chair. “A what?”

“A curse. During a blood moon, if I kiss someone, they’re supposed to become obsessed with me.”

She stares. “Obsessed how?”

“I don’t know. That was always the word.”

“And your mother has been hiding you during blood moons because of this?”

“Yes.”

Maya drops into the chair. “How many?”

“Four before this one.”

“And nothing happened?”

“Because I stayed home.”

Her mouth opens, then closes. “So you knew the rule and still went to the party?”

“I was tired of being locked up over something I had never seen happen.”

“Dev, your mother spent seven years telling you not to kiss anybody during a blood moon.”

“I know that now.”

She presses both hands over her face. When she lowers them, she looks genuinely rattled. “How would you even know the curse worked?”

“Their eyes turn red.”

She goes still. “Red how?”

“Red, Maya.”

“Contacts? Blood vessels? Party lights?”

“I thought of all of that.”

She gets up and turns toward the window, then back to me. “You actually saw this?”

“Yes.”

“On who?”

I hesitate. “Three people.”

Her eyes widen. “Three?”

“Technically one kissed me first.”

“That is not helping.”

I start with Julian because she already knows I wanted him. I tell her about the dancing, the kiss, and his eyes changing. Maya cuts in about the lighting and reminds me that she gave me the pill.

“That thing could have messed with your perception,” she says. “You were already anxious.”

“I wanted that explanation. Then Nico kissed me.”

Her face changes. “Nico?”

“He came into my room. We fought. He knew I was attracted to him and used it against me.” I glance at the locked door. “Then he kissed me. His eyes changed too.”

Maya sits on the edge of the desk, closer now. “Did anything else happen?”

My fingers tighten around the mattress. “Things went further.”

“Did you want them to?”

“That part is complicated, and I’m not giving you a play-by-play.”

She watches me before letting it go. “Who was the third?”

I look away.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Because the third one is worse.”

“Who?”

“Victor.”

She slides off the desk. “Victor as in Priya’s Victor?”

“Yes.”

“Your stepfather?”

“I know who he is.”

“What the fuck, Dev?”

“The pill hit me harder later. He came into my room, and I thought he was Julian.”

“You thought Victor was Julian?”

“I was hallucinating.”

“And you kissed him.”

“I realized who he was after.”

Maya paces between the desk and the foot of my bed. “That one could absolutely be the pill. You were seeing things.”

“I know.”

“So maybe the red eyes were part of it too.”

“I know.”

She stops. “Then why are you still terrified of him?”

I tell her about Victor becoming more attentive, about the movie, then hearing him upstairs and looking through his partly open door.

Maya’s eyes narrow. “You looked?”

“I already know.”

“At what?”

I take too long, and her face changes before I answer. “He was masturbating.”

“Oh my God.”

“And he said my name.”

Maya sits down again, slower this time. “He didn’t know you were there?”

“No. He thought he was alone.”

She looks toward the door. “Okay. I still don’t know if I believe there is literal magic happening. Julian already liked you. Nico knew you wanted him. Victor could have had thoughts you never knew about.” Her face twists. “I hate that sentence.”

“So do I.”

“But three red-eye reactions after three kisses on the same night…” She rubs both hands over her face. “Jesus. I don’t know, Dev. I really don’t.”

My phone lights on the bed. Maya sees the Gideon’s notification before I turn it over.

“How many shifts have you missed?”

“Enough.”

“You’re going to get fired.”

“I have bigger problems.”

“You have two of those problems living here, and hiding has not made either one disappear.” She points at the phone. “Call your manager. Shower. Eat something real. Then we figure out the rest.”

“You believe me?”

Maya holds my gaze. “I believe you’re scared, and I believe something happened. I’m still working on cursed kisses.”

She leaves before Mom or Victor gets back, warning that if I ignore her again she will return and make twice as much noise. After the front door closes downstairs, I sit back on the bed.

Talking about Victor has dragged the bedroom scene back with it. His body stretched across the mattress. His thighs tightening against the sheets. His face when his usual control disappeared. My name leaving his mouth when he thought nobody was listening.

My jeans are already tight. I spread my knees and tug the denim away from myself, but the pressure stays uncomfortable. I undo the top button, slide lower against the pillows, and press my palm over the front of my jeans. Once becomes twice. The motion turns deliberate while Victor’s voice keeps replaying in my head.

The bedroom door opens.

Nico stops in the doorway before I can move. His gaze drops to my open jeans and the hand still pressed over my lap. I snatch the nearest pillow and drag it across myself, but his mouth twists before his eyes lift to mine. He saw enough.

“Get out.”

He steps inside and shuts the door. “Was Maya helping you with that?”

“Fuck off.”

“She was in here a long time.” Nico moves closer to the bed, his gaze dropping once to the pillow before settling on my face. “What were you talking about?”

“None of your business.”

“Did you talk about me?”

My fingers dig into the pillow. “Nothing about you.”

Nico pauses a few feet away, studying me. Then he takes another step, close enough that I have to tip my chin up to keep looking at him.

“What are you hiding, Varma?”

His eyes flash red and I feel my throat close.

Shit.