Siren's Mark

Chapter 35

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

"Okay, that's unexpected," Kieran says.

He's not wrong. This creep in the pirate outfit certainly took me by surprise by resisting my attempt at charming him.

"Who are you?" I ask. "How do you know Kami?"

"Excuse me?" he asks. "You butt in to my conversation and then you ask me who I am? Who the hell are you?"

"Don't start with me, mate," I say, my tone getting harsher. "I'm Zane. All you need to know about me is that the 'Greek goddess' over there is my bloody girlfriend."

"Oh come on," the guy says. "So I think your girlfriend is hot, so what? It's not like there's a taken sign on her. You afraid she'd take me up on the offer?"

"Okay, pal," Kieran says, stepping between us. "You need to back off. As much as I'd love to see Zane paint the pavement with your intestines, you're disrespecting my bro and you're disrespecting his girl, who is also my friend. You need to cut your shit and get over that Immortal holier-than-thou bullshit and move along."

The guy squints his eyes as if he's sizing us up, clearly taking note of Kieran's comment.

"Okay, whatever," he says, taking a step back. "Just don't call me an Immortal."

The two men turn to leave and now I'm more confused than I am irritated.

"What does that even mean?" I ask. "He's immune to my charms and knows what Immortals are, but isn't one? What else is there?"

"Does that mean he's marked?" Kieran asks.

We head quickly back to Kami and Ava.

"Hey Kam," I ask. "Is one of your guests a marked human?"

"Uh... What?" she asks, looking perplexed. "No, not that I know of."

"We just ran into some guy in a pirate outfit who was immune to my charms and he told us he wasn't an Immortal," I explain.

"I mean, there are a few Immortals here but I didn't even invite any Sirens. I don't know who everyone brought as their guests..." Her face twists into a concerned expression. "But not being Immortal doesn't necessarily mean he's a marked human. Those are pretty rare."

"What else could he be?" I ask.

"He could be a demon," Kieran says with a serious expression.

Oh.

Shit.

I don't know why the thought didn't occur to me.

"Could you sense that? If he was a demon?" I ask Kieran.

"No," Kieran says. "If a demon doesn't want to reveal themselves then they'd just appear to be like anyone else."

Ava looks concerned, so I swing an arm around her and pull her close.

"A demon?" she asks.

"It's fine, love," I say. "Kieran's a demon. Every demon is different."

"Then why does everyone look so nervous?" she asks.

"Just..." I pause, deciding how much is right to reveal in this moment. It's a lot to process and I don't want to scare her. I settle on a somewhat simple version of the truth. "Kami didn't invite any demons to her party, and if there is one here he might be an uninvited guest, which is concerning because we weren't aware of any demons in town."

"Besides me," Kieran says.

"Naturally," Ava says. She looks uneasy and takes several gulps of her cider.