Siren's Mark

Chapter 18

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

I've had what you could call relationships here and there. They usually weren't official and lasted a couple of weeks, but I did try it. It never really had much appeal to me to get properly involved with someone, especially a human. You're with them for a while and then what? The problem with humans is that they all have an expiration date.

For whatever reason, this feels different. Ava is different. I want her. But knowing what you want is a curse. Knowing what you need means you start to notice when it's missing. There's a gap that can only be filled by one thing—one person.

Needing her means figuring out a way to keep her, and for that I'm going to need help.

Kami pours us two cups of tea as we sit at her kitchen counter.

"Spill, Z," she says between sips of tea. "You're not one for house calls, so what's on your mind?"

"I wanted to talk to you about... humans."

"Humans?" she asks, raising a brow.

"About Ava... I think this might be, I don't know... something."

"Whoa, whoa! Zane, I knew you liked this girl, but are you in love with her?"

"No!"

Yes.

What? Fuck!

I let a low growl slip out.

"Yeah, I buy it," she says with a smirk.

"I'm not fucking in love, okay?"

Liar.

Shut up, brain.

"Yeah, okay," she says. "So you're not in love, you just want to have a conversation about humans. Or rather, this human."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Okay, I'll bite. What's your question?"

"So venom makes humans less susceptible to pain, but, is there any way to just get rid of the-"

"Supernatural kiss-induced horniness?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmm," she hums, taking another sip of her tea. "Not that I know of."

"Fuck. Yeah, I guess that was a long shot."

"Why? Ava becoming an ultimate fighter or something?"

I laugh as I picture her small frame beating the shit out of a serious fighter.

"No, she's sick or something," I say, trying not to share Ava's personal details.

"She's sick? What... Is she dying?"

"No, god, no."

Ava's not dying. Right? Fuck. Why did she put that in my head? Fuck.

"Okay, well, at least there would be a solution to that," she says.

"What solution?"

"You could mark her." She takes a sip of her tea.

"The mark is a myth, Kami."

"No," she says, pulling out her phone. "I've seen it myself."

She shows me a photo of a man on her phone, zooming in on what looks like a tattoo on his wrist.

"You remember Alek?" she asks. "This is his partner, David. He's marked."

The photo shows a dark knot-shaped mark on his wrist.