Siren's Mark

Chapter 69

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

Time slows to a near standstill and a ringing in my ears blocks out every other sound.

This can't be real. She can't be gone.

My stomach is in knots.

Fuck, I'm nauseous. I don't even get nauseous.

"How could you have let this happen??" I ask as Kieran and Kami exchange panicked looks.

Is it Asmodeus? Did he take her somewhere?

"Okay, just calm down, Z," Kami says, her voice rife with anxiety. "He looked like you and we had no way of knowing."

"Except we did," I say. "Lola told us. 'Don't trust Zane.' She warned us and I was too bloody clever to listen. She knew."

And of course, this happens during the Selkie Zenith, eliminating Finn from the equation. He was the only person who would've known it wasn't really me.

We were given every sign—how did we not see what he was planning?

I pull out my phone to see if I can track Ava. Her phone pings at a familiar location: the penthouse.

He took her home.

"Damn it," I curse. "They're at our flat. We need to get there now."

"You think it's Asmodeus?" she asks.

"Of course it is. This is exactly his game and he's got us right where he wants us."

"Okay, this is okay," Kami says.

"How the bloody hell is this okay??"

"The plan can still work. We just need to accelerate the timetable into however much time it takes me to drive between here and the apartment."

Kieran and I follow Kami out to the parking lot.

"Get in the back," Kami says, gesturing to her purple sports car.

"The back?" I ask.

"God damn it, Zane, just go!" she shouts.

I crawl into the back seat and Kieran rides shotgun. Kami peels out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

"First thing, Kieran," she says, handing him a small vial of lethe from her purse.

"Oh boy, so we're really doing this, huh?" he asks. "How much do I take?"

"A little goes a long way," I say.

"Down the hatch," he says, nodding and sipping about half of the vial. "What now?"

"Now it's your turn," Kami says, catching my eye in the rearview mirror.

This wasn't the plan. We were supposed to have time to prepare. We were supposed to fight Asmodeus on our own terms. Ava wasn't supposed to get anywhere near this.

The Fury smoke has been on a chain around my neck since we got it from Dionysus. I pull out the gold orb from underneath my shirt and open the clasp. A black smoke begins to pour forth from it and I inhale.

Tendrils of smoke find their way into my mouth and nose until I'm overcome with a feeling of sinking darkness. I feel the rage running through my veins and oozing out my every pore.

"How ya feelin'?" Kieran asks.

"Like I'm walking on fucking sunshine mate—how the fuck do you think I'm feeling?" I growl.

"Okay, okay," he says. "Honestly, it's hard to tell what's the Fury smoke and what's your usual cranky self."

"No more witty banter, Kieran," Kami interrupts. "We need to kick this into high gear. Okay um, Zane... you left Ava with us and we let you down. We were supposed to protect her."