Page 101 of Nocturne

This time, I blush. Guilty as charged. I am still perplexed about my behaviour that night. I didn’t know why I cried. I clearly told the man to stop, but the arrogant prick wouldn’t listen!

“Somehow, you still make it out alive, he then starts attending your lectures and you don’t report him. Later you get mixed up in hisfight club, and then—he saves you.” She points a finger at me as I nod meekly.

“Then, you start getting all friendly with his men, letting them into your life and even going to their casinos?”

I look away, hoping to avoid her accusatory glare. I haven’t told them about the time on the pier. It felt…too private. I know nothing happened, but for some reason, I felt that piece of time belonged only to me and Zagan. Bunch of asinine nonsense, of course, but I don’t plan on telling them.

“And after all that, you manage to land yourself in troubleagain. Going into places you’re not supposed to be, and this time, thebig bad wolfsheds his goat skin and demands a kiss from Cinderella here.”

“Uh… it’s sheepskin,” I mumble.

Her glare sharpens, and I promptly shut up.

“And then youkissthe devil himself, invite his men into your house, because you recorded some illegalanddangerous shit. And now you’re planning to askthe mafiosoto help you serve justice?”

Ivy and I both nod, and Harley just stares at us, completely dumbfounded. Yeah, I guess we did lose our minds somewhere along the way.

She scoffs, shaking her head.

“It’s like you just kept digging yourselves a deeper holeevery. Single. Time.”

I called Eero as soon as we were on our way home, hoping to deal with the whole video mess. I didn’t expect them to reach my place as fast as we did. I knew Harley wouldn’t be thrilled meeting new people—especially intimidating men who made no effort to hide their guns or what they did.

So she stayed with Cas in his room before I opened the door for Iblis and Eero. She deserves to know why I’ve had these people under the same roof along with her. And I’m sure she must’ve heard the snippets of the conversation. We weren’t being too quiet.

“You kissed Za… him.” Harley looks like she’s still trying to wrap her head around it.

“For god’s sake, say his name. He isn’t Voldemort.” I shake my head at the silly superstition.

“Easy for you to say, Devil Kisser.” Ivy snorts, barely containing her laughter.

I glare, but even Harley cracks a smile.

“I hate you both.”

“So dramatic.” Ivy shakes her head, grinning.

I lean back in my chair, trying to keep my mind from last night’s ridiculously vivid dream. Ever since Zagan gave me that completely irrational and barely qualified to be a kiss on the corner of my lips, he’s been creeping into my dreams—uninvited. But never likethat, not after I’d taken sleeping pills. Those usually keep even the nightmares at bay. But no,hehad to worm his way into some embarrassinglyeroticdream. So erotic and real that it left me panting come morning, a deep ache somewhere inside me, which I wanted to fill with him.

“When you said the guy youlikedwas dang—”

“Liked?” Ivy practically screeches, turning a few heads around us.

I give an apologetic smile to the students milling around and then shoot her a glare. Ivy stares back, indignant.

“YoulikeMr. Devlin?”

I can’t exactly argue with her shock. I don’t really understand it myself. And ‘like’ is such a… loaded word. I don’tlikeZagan Devlin. I’m…attractedto him.

“I said Iwasstarting to.Was.Whatever it was is gone now, after his behaviour last night.”

Sure. If you ignore the kiss and everything else he did to you in your dream.

God, my brain needs to get out of the gutter where he’s concerned. This is getting exhausting.

Harley and Ivy exchange looks, clearly unimpressed. Ivy arches a brow.

“You like Iblis,” I accuse, hoping to shift the spotlight off myself.

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