Forty-Two † Devil in Disguise

A kiss. Calix was going in for a kiss. Something that he'd never done and never felt like doing with anyone before.

Until now.

His heart was racing. His cheeks were flushed. He continued to lean closer, nervous as all hell, while Kat's hand trailed down his cheek. This was it, he told himself. This was really happening. . . .

Then she pressed her thumb right below his eye and beamed. "Look! A lash."

She withdrew her hand and pulled back, leaving him speechless. His brain took a long while to recover, but even after the slow process he couldn't quite tell what had just happened. Had she really said lash? Had he misheard? Was this a human slang he was yet to discover?

As though to answer his thoughts, Kat held up the barely visible strand of hair. "When someone, like, sheds a lash, we get it and blow it like this." She puffed out some air through her puckered lips. "It makes wishes come true. Or so they say."

Calix let that sink in. And in return he wanted to sink into the mattress and n