Chapter 5: Kabir’s Price

On the third day after Christmas, Kabir returned.

As usual, I swiped my ID card to enter the lab, only to find him leaning against Sairaj’s tank, giving me a sinister smile. The air smelled of stale chai and Dettol, and Kabir’s perfume was so strong it made my nose itch. I hugged my cardigan a little tighter, the chill settling in my bones.

To be fair, Kabir was actually quite handsome: six feet three, with a solid but not exaggerated build, and striking hazel-green eyes. He always wore expensive shirts, the kind you see on Bandra billboards, and his hair was styled like a film hero.

I’d heard he was the captain of the football team at college. I’d overheard female researchers gossiping about him, calling him handsome and rich, all wanting to snag this diamond bachelor. But his smile never reached his eyes.

From what I knew, at least half the female researchers in the lab had dated him. Some still cried over him in the pantry, dabbing their eyes with tissue while the microwave beeped in the background.

But his brow bones were too low, and when he looked down at people, it always felt like a wolf sizing up its prey. There was something hungry, something dangerous, in the way he moved.

"Dr. Meera, you’ve taken good care of him," Kabir said, smiling. "I was worried he’d be too torn up to dissect, but now that you’ve nursed him back, I’ll take him for dissection today."

He looked down at me, giving a gentlemanly yet predatory smile:

"I’ll share the data with you afterwards."

Sairaj stared back, his eyes icy.

In the light, his fiery red tail was so dazzlingly beautiful it was almost destructive—you couldn’t look away. Even Kabir, for a second, seemed lost in the sight.

Such a beautiful being—I couldn’t watch him become a pale corpse floating in formalin. Instinctively, I stepped between Kabir and the tank, my hand gripping the silver chain my mother gave me, a desperate search for strength.

"Wait."

Kabir raised an eyebrow. "What, you want to keep him?"

I clenched my fists, forcing myself to sound calm. "Yes, I want him. Name your terms."

Kabir laughed.

Under the harsh tube light, his smile turned openly malicious. He stepped closer.

His imposing presence made me want to back away, but I forced myself to stand my ground. The scent of his cologne was overpowering, sickly sweet, mixing with the smell of antiseptic and old fish.

After a moment, he reached out, brushed my hair aside, and pulled out my hairclip so my black hair spilled over my shoulders. I could smell the faint scent of jasmine oil from my morning shower.

He took a deep, almost obsessive breath.

"Dr. Meera, has anyone ever told you how good you smell?" His voice was low, almost a whisper.

Alarms blared in my mind. Kabir had tried to ask me out before, but I’d always refused. Now, I saw the danger in his eyes, the way he lingered on my face.

Behind me, Tejas was frantically banging on the glass, furious. The sound echoed through the lab, a desperate, wild noise that made my heart ache. As Kabir moved closer, I heard the faint sound of a temple bell drifting in from outside—its distant chime only making the room feel more isolated, more suffocating.

But Tejas couldn’t break out, only watch helplessly as Kabir’s fingers twisted my hair, his eyes darkening as he made his demand.

"Spend the night with me, and I’ll give him to you. How about it?"

"Kindness isn’t free, Dr. Meera."

I had nowhere to retreat, my back pressed against the tank. Kabir seemed to savour my fear, his rough fingers brushing my cheek, sending a chill through me. I felt as if I was suffocating, the glass walls closing in.

"If you want to save him, you’ll have to pay the price."

The fluorescent lights flickered above, and outside, the distant honk of an auto rickshaw drifted in. In that moment, everything in me recoiled—but I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream. Only the silent promise in Tejas’s eyes gave me strength, a reminder that sometimes, even the smallest act of mercy comes at a terrible cost.

*I would rather burn in hell than let him win.*