Riya could still feel it—the moment she cast it. The single thread she’d pulled. Her focus locked on Kian and only Kian.
It had felt wrong even then. And she hadn’t stopped.
Why hadn’t she stopped?
Peri magic was emotion magic. It responded to intention, to instinct. That was the danger. One moment of weakness—oneslip—and now she’d unleashed somethingshe didn’t know how to contain.
“But even a curse fades on its own after a month, right?” she asked, nails digging into her palm.
“No,” Amara said darkly. “Love curses grow. Like wildfires—feeding on emotions until they’ve consumed everything in their path.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “If it’s not broken by the next full moon... the curse becomes permanent.”
No.No, no, no.This wasn’t—thiscouldn’t—
The kitchen suddenly felt too small, the air too thick. It was already October 3. The full moon was on the 26th. Barely any time. Was her calendar not full enough as it was?
“Therehasto be a way to break it.” Riya’s voice barely sounded like her own. “I mean, just... out of curiosity.”
“There is,” Amara said slowly. “But...”
Riya’s heart stuttered. “Butwhat?”
“The only way I’ve ever heard of is if the caster genuinely reciprocates the cursed person’s feelings.” Amara exhaled. “And that’s the thing—people don’t usually curse the ones they love.”
The words landed like a slap.
Fall in love?
WithKian?
She imagined that goofy, love-drunk grin. The black petunias. That mortifying poem blaring over the intercom.
Absolutely not. Even thethoughtmade her nauseous.
And yet—Kian’s future, maybe even his sanity, depended on her fixing this.
She cleared her throat. “Okay, but, hypothetically, Sirah khala would know something, right? I mean, she helped me last time.” When she’d unraveled Riya’s magic on Jake Townsend and his friends. When she’d fixed her mistake.
Nyra shook her head. “Yeah, but that time, Sirah khala was undoing a very basic emotional manipulation spell. You were younger then, too. Less powerful. And guilt is... simple, compared to love.”
Amara’s voice cut in, grim. “If someone tried to undo a love curse the wrong way, they could sever a person’s ability to connect. To love. To behuman.”
Something cold curled at the base of Riya’s spine. She’d always scoffed at the idea of love being sacred—but if it reallywaswhat made someone human...
She hadn’t just cursed Kian. She was stripping something essential away.
What happened when the curse kept growing? When obsession hollowed him out?
What would be left of him by the next full moon?
Nyra’s voice softened. “Maybe there’s another way we don’t know. Something Sirah khala could tell us when she gets back. But Mom said she’s completely off the grid right now.”
Riya’s breath hitched.Of course she was.
So what—she was supposed to just wait? Hope Sirah khala got back from Finland in time? And even if she did, what then? Would Sirah khala still see her as someone worth helping?
“If this wasn’t hypothetical—” Nyra began, then shook her head. “I’d tell that person it’s going to be okay. Magic can be messy, especially when emotions are involved. But I don’t think it acts without reason. Sometimes, it just... finds a better path. One we didn’t plan for.”
