“Don’t worry,” I tell her sweetly. “If anyone acts untoward, I’ll just rip out their throats.”
“Ooh.” Sahana reaches for the paper bag that Paati is holding, the bottom already stained with oil. “Raw entrails? My favorite! Thanks, Paati!”
My mom glowers at all three of us while Paati cackles in delight that she’s managed to raise the two of us to be morbid little demons in the way that she could never get any of her own children to be.
“Come on. You can eat your entrails on the way,” my mom says, rolling her eyes as she herds us both toward the garage.
“Have fun,” Paati says, pressing a kiss to each of our cheeks as we follow.
Sahana waits until we’re in the car before tearing intothe paper bag of samosas, fresh out of the fryer and still warm. She picks the one she thinks looks best and hands the spare to me, but I wave her away. I already feel queasy thinking about what I’m doing later, and I don’t think I can keep any food down.
As my mom drives us to our high school, she eyes both of us in the rearview mirror. “The rules?” she prompts, using her sternest voice—which, to be fair, isn’t actually that stern.
“Never go anywhere alone,” I respond dutifully. This is less an asura-specific rule and more an overbearing mother one.
“Never be seen at night,” Sahana says, and I feel her eyes flick toward me momentarily.
“Good. And no talking about entrails,” Amma adds as we pull into the mostly empty parking lot. I can see Ms.Mehta standing outside the school bus with a roster in her hand, waiting for us. The rest of our speech and debate team is already seated inside because, as usual, we’re the last ones to arrive.
“Good luck,” Amma says as we scramble out of the car. “Text if you need anything. Be careful.”
“Aren’t I always?” I mutter as I reach for my backpack.
I don’t expect her to respond, but she does, her voice softening. “You are, kanna. Both of you. I’m sorry. Habit.” She blows me a kiss. “Love you.”
She’s looking at me with pride and—worse—trust, and for a moment my stomach knots uncomfortably. “Love you, too,” I manage to say as I shut the door.
THREE YEARS AGO
A motel roof was as good a place as any to break a curse. Well, try to, anyway.
I was only about 10 percent sure the ritual I found on AsurasBeGone.com was even going to work—not to mention that technically it was a banishment spell for people being terrorized by an asura, not for people whowereone.
But it wasn’t like I had many choices. Even if I’dwantedto sacrifice anyone, a willing human was pretty much impossible to find these days, now that there were no longer any death cults following asuras around. And a boon from the gods required at least three decades of penance.Thirty yearsspent meditating from dawn to dusk for a chance—a chance!—to have a god appear and make me mortal. But seeing as I wanted to actually have a life before I was forty-five, I was fine taking my chances on the internet.
My phone buzzed as I walked toward the center of the roof. I fished it out of the tote bag of supplies I’d smuggled out of my house. It was a text from my mom. I shoved it back without reading the message.
Never go anywhere alone. It was the first rule she’d instilled in us—the condition on which she’d let Sahana and me join extracurricular activities. I’d followed it for fifteen years, and this was the first time I’d ever broken it.
I wasn’t that high up, but I could see the steady stream of cars zipping along the nearby freeway as I crouched down and emptied my bag of its contents: some fresh herbs fromthe fridge, a can of blood orange seltzer, three extremely overpriced scented candles, homemade white chocolate and cranberry cookies, and pebbles from the backyard walkway.
I followed the instructions I’d found carefully, arranging the stones and candles in a circle. And then I set the bundle of herbs, seltzer, and Tupperware of cookies in the middle. But that was when the instructions got a bit vague.
Think about the demon you’re banishing as you light the candles.
I felt a slight twinge of nerves as I lit the first candle, squeezing my eyes closed as I thought about, well, myself. I tried to picture my own face—the demon one—as I lit the second. And then the third.
And then I waited. I didn’t feel any different, but it wasn’t midnight yet, and that was when I’d know for sure.
The minutes passed by painfully slowly as I waited.
And waited.
The change, when it happened, was quick and quiet. One moment I was me. The next I was something else entirely. My delicate human features melted away, replaced with glowing yellow eyes, ferocious teeth, leathery red skin, and twisting horns.
Disappointment crashed into me and I wanted to scream in frustration. I felt the rage simmering close to the surface and—
“Uh, this is awkward,” a voice said behind me.
