Siren's Mark

Chapter 17

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

Ava is standing in the bathroom, her frame peeking through the barely-open door. A strand of purple hair falls in her eyes as she stands in just my T-shirt, brushing her teeth in the mirror. I don't want her to go, but I'm not going to be clingy about it.

"You could stay here another night, love," my mouth says without my permission.

Oh Zane, you clingy little bitch.

"Zane," she scolds. "I have no clothes and—thanks to someone—no panties."

"If you stay, you won't be needing those anyway."

She combs through her hair with her fingers and gives me a dirty look.

"Pervert," she says.

I slip in behind her and wrap my arms around her waist, squeezing her tight.

"Ow!" she yelps.

"Shit, baby, I'm sorry. What did I do? Is it your pain thing?"

"Oh, I um," she pauses and then giggles. "I'm just a little tender is all."

"Tender?" I ask. I pull up the sides of the oversized T-shirt she's wearing to reveal purple bruises on both her hips.

"It's no big deal," she says with a smile, tugging the shirt back down.

"I..." I try to say something but nothing comes out.

I hurt her? I've had sex with humans before and, as far as I know, I've never done that. I've always been careful. I know how delicate they are.

"Don't give me that face," she says, her mouth scrunching. "It's not your fault."

"How the fuck is that not my fault, love?"

Bloody... How did this happen? I was so damn worried about my venom that I didn't even consider I'd lose control of my strength and cover her in bruises.

"Are there more?" I ask.

"I dunno," she says, inspecting her arms and legs. "I don't think so."

"Fuck!" I walk back into the bedroom. I grab a pillow and whip it into the wall, causing it to explode into a cloud of cotton batting.

"Whoa," she says. "Chill, dude. Don't take it out on the pillows. I'm fine."

"You didn't tell me I was hurting you..."

"I didn't notice, honestly."

Of course she didn't. You can hardly feel pain with venom in your system.

"Hey," she says, grabbing my face with both hands and staring at me with those big grey eyes. "I am okay. I wanted that to happen. I'm fine with the way everything transpired, okay? I'm an adult. You don't have to protect me."

"But you're in pain and it's my fault," I say.

"Well," she sighs. "Not trying to be a downer or anything but... I'm literally always in pain. That's just a fact of my life right now. Has been for a while. But this morning, for once, with you—I wasn't."

She's always in pain? My heart clenches just thinking about that. Always?

"You weren't in pain?" I ask. "When we... And that was..."

"You helped make it go away. So don't apologize for anything. Pain is something I'm very good at handling. I'm basically a badass." She laughs.

I can't help but smile. In many ways, I've always felt that my powers were evil, brought about to manipulate and hurt people. I liked to think that maybe ridding people of their inhibitions could be good for them, but it didn't even occur to me that taking away someone's pain like this could be a gift.

𝕂𝕒𝕞𝕚

That stupid, untamed demon is officially off the rails. This last one makes six killings I've confirmed myself. This is turning into more than just a job I'm doing for Lola. What Kieran is doing is officially putting us all in danger.

I tap at his door.

"Kieran, open the door before I break it open myself!" I shout through the door.

The demon opens the door with one of his usual snarky faces.

"Kami," he says. "Here to finally confess your undying love for me?"

I push him inside and follow behind.

"Damn, girl," he says. "If you wanted a bit of this, all you had to do was ask."

Maggot.

"I know what you've been doing," I say.

"Oh really?" he says. "And what would that be?"

"This last girl was 20 years old, Kieran." I shove him with both hands and he falls back into his dining table. "Are you insane? Killing again? And this recklessly? You're going to draw attention and it's going to get me and Zane killed."

"Oh god, you've really got your panties in a twist this time, haven't you? Who says I'm killing anyone?"

"I saw the bodies, Kieran. They were drained! Grey skin, eyes completely white, insides of their mouths coated in black. I know an Incubus kill when I see one. And Zane's been off with his little girlfriend but somehow you haven't been going hungry without him. You think I can't put this together? You think I've managed to live this long without knowing what I'm doing?"

"First off," he says, sitting nonchalantly in his recliner and resting an ankle across his knee, "if I kill people, it's not your business. Second off, I can handle myself without Zane fucking fine."

"Zane trusts you! You're spitting in the face of everything he does to help you. I know you don't have a soul, but I never realized how truly soulless you are."

"I don't owe you shit and I definitely don't need to explain myself to you."

"So you're not recklessly draining your prey all over town? Do you know another Incubus in town who's that level of stupid?"

"I'm the only Incubus in town that I know of. Port Charlotte isn't exactly primo real estate for demonkind."

"Well, murdering your prey left right and center isn't exactly going to help with that, is it? You'll get us run out of town, killed, or worse! I'm telling Zane exactly what you're up to."

His face turns cold and his eyes fill to the edges with black.

"Fucking tell him then," he spits. "Go run off to Mommy. You think I don't have things I can tell Zane, too?"

This little creep is threatening me? Sure, I haven't told Zane about everything I've been up to lately or what's going on with Lola, but I'm certainly not afraid of him. Zane and I are family. He knows I do what needs to be done. He understands.

"Is that a threat, cretin?" I snap, stalking toward him. He stands up, his frame instantly dwarfing me. Okay, so maybe I was a little cocky to get into a fight with a demon that I have no way of killing.

"You're kidding," he says, letting out a hearty laugh. "You think I'm threatening you? I don't do threats, sweet cakes. Besides, I would crush you."

He walks past me and pours himself a small glass of liquor, then pours another and offers it to me.

Seriously?

"No!" I snap. "I'm not going to accuse you of going on a murder spree and then sit down to have a drink with you."

"Suit yourself then." He chugs both in quick succession.

"So we all done here, or you want to finish this in the bedroom?" he asks. Friggin creep.

"I know you murdered those people, demon. I'm going to find a way to get you under control, whatever the cost."