Siren's Mark

Chapter 45

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

Ava's eyes are wide and she hangs up the phone.

"Were you eavesdropping the whole time?" she asks.

"It's not eavesdropping if you have superhuman hearing," I say.

"So you heard about Pike's?" she asks.

"Yeah, still trying to wrap my head around it. I'll text Kieran to see what he knows."

I pull out my phone and send Kieran a message.

Me: Hey mate - Call me

"That's so creepy," she says, sitting back on the bed and wrapping herself in the plush white comforter. "We were there last night. Do you think it's related to the other Siren?"

My fists clench and my nails dig into my skin at the thought of another Siren targeting Ava. Sirens don't usually kill—especially since they can get what they want without needing to. But one targeted Ava, and they did it by dosing her drink. Despite my arrangement with Kieran, that's not the usual way a Siren lures a human. They're usually more hands-on, approaching and charming their mark.

"It would be one hell of a bloody coincidence," I say.

A tapping sound turns our attention to the door.

"Z," Kami's voice calls. "What did you break this time?"

Ava slips on her pajama bottoms and buttons up the top.

"You can come in!" I say.

Kami barges in to inspect her guest bedroom. She pauses upon seeing her fractured coffee table and her hands move quickly to her hips.

"Z, you destructive man-child!" she screams. "That table was white Carrara marble!"

"I don't know what that means," I say. "But I'll replace your bloody table, okay?"

She huffs in frustration and mumbles obscenities under her breath.

"Morning Ava," she says, turning to her. "Would you guys like some lunch?"

Ava looks to me and then to Kami again and blushes.

"I guess you can tell we've, uh..." she shrugs, "worked things out."

"Yeeaaah, hon, I kinda got that when you guys woke me up at 5 am with yo-"

"Oh my god!" Ava says, cutting her off.

A deep shade of pink fills Ava's cheeks and extends to her ears. She raises her hands to her face to hide.

"It's okay, Ava," Kami says. "We're 200-year-old Sirens. I've personally hosted my own orgies. I don't get squeamish about much."

Ava takes a pillow and holds it up to bury her face in.

"This morning is officially too much," she says, muffled slightly by the pillow.

I move over to sit with Ava on the bed and pull the pillow away.

"Alright, love, let's get some food," I say. "No more awkward conversations."

"If we can just avoid any more big revelations or embarrassing moments, that would be great," she says.

"Big revelations?" Kami asks, giving me a curious look.

"I told her about being soulmates," I say. "And about the mark."

Her eyes nearly pop out of her head and she gives a look that tells me that she's already filing away questions for me to answer later.