Siren's Fall [Siren's Mark: Book 2]

Chapter 32

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

My heart pounds as I shoot through the front door. I'm panting heavily from running here, but I still seem to be running off adrenaline.

I'm immediately met by signs of a struggle—splinters of wood on the floor, chunks of plaster taken out of the walls, drops of blood leading to the stairs.

Blood?

Fuck.

My heart sinks as I breathe in, hoping desperately that I don't recognize Ava's scent in the blood.

"Someone needs to call Zane," Kieran says from the other room.

"I'll call him," a soft voice says and I sigh in relief. It's Ava.

"Baby?!" I call, my voice more strained and frantic than I expected.

I round the corner to see Ava and Kieran sitting on the couch. They both whip their heads in my direction and I see Ava's face and neck covered in blood spatter.

I think I'm going to be sick.

"It's okay, babe," she says, standing up and walking over to me. "I'm fine. We're all fine."

I try to move but my limbs seem to be frozen in place. She wraps her arms around me and rests her head on my chest.

I step back, looking over her body for injuries. She seems fine, but she's soaked in blood.

"You're covered in blood," I say. "How-"

"She stabbed the fucker in the neck," Finn says, entering the room with a black feather in hand. He hands me the feather and I quickly recognize it as my own, but its shaft is coated in blood.

"You stabbed the attacker with... my feather?"

"I... I did. I'm sorry, I didn't have any other options and the-" I interrupt her by pulling her in and lifting her off the ground.

"Baby, you can take every feather I have if it means you're safe."

I set her back on her feet and take a real breath—the first time I've truly been able to breathe in the last fifteen minutes.

"Where's Kami?" Ava asks.

"She took the tube, I ran."

"You ran here? How far was it?"

"It was only nine kilometers. That would be... what... five or six miles?"

I lift one of my black boots to inspect the damage. There's a solid half-inch of wear and the tread is mostly gone.

I guess I'll need new boots.

"So who was it then?" I ask. "Or what?"

"It was a Shaytan," Finn says.

Shit.

Shayatin are bad news. They creep into your mind and make you relive your worst memories. They're excellent interrogators—dangerously so—but they're evil. They delight in prying into the psyche and leaving their victims shattered.

If one got to Ava, I'll give this bastard a memory they won't forget.

"Where is it?"

"I cuffed him," Finn says, pointing to the broom closet. "He's in that cupboard over there."

I step back from Ava, but she gives me a scolding look.

"Zane," she says in a low voice, "you're not in the best mindset for this right now."