Siren's Mark

Chapter 38

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

I walk into the pub and see Kieran behind the bar, serving an older gentleman with a beard.

"Hey, mate," I say, grabbing a seat at the bar. "You know where I could get a beer around here?"

"Nope," he says with a smile. "We don't serve dickheads here."

He smiles and pours me a Guinness from the tap.

"So you wanna tell me what the heck you did?" he asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Kami has called me like, eight times since yesterday asking if I've talked to you. She wouldn't tell me what was going on."

"Oh yeah?" I ask. "I'm not sure what that would be about."

"Something went down once you guys called Lola, right?"

"Mmm," I mumble, diving into my beer.

"Well, I also got a call earlier from a certain purple-haired vixen looking for you too," he adds, leaning his elbows on the bar. "You want me to let her know you're here?"

"Ahh no thanks," I say, taking another sip.

"Ooh, trouble in paradise?" he asks. "Well, if she's on the market just let me know."

He smiles and winks at me.

"Go ahead, mate," I say. "All yours."

Kieran squints his eyes and leans on the bar again, looking me over like he's sizing me up.

In a flash, he has his hand laid palm-up on the bar holding a knife, its tip pointed at my chest. It's probably not capable of doing any damage to me, but it's hard to tell what kind of blade it is just by looking.

Shit.

"Who the fuck are you?" Kieran asks.

"Whoa, mate, hold on," I say, making eye contact in an attempt to calm him.

This is not how I expected an outing to the pub would go.

Kieran's eyes go black from edge to edge.

"Who... the fuck... are you?" he asks again, a vicious tone in his voice.

"It's me," I say. "It's Zane. I swear."

"Well, you're stupid but you're ballsy as shit, I'll give you that. What are you—A demon? A shifter?"

"I'm not a demon, mate."

"You're sure as fuck not fooling me wearing Zane's skin, I'll tell you that much."

He moves the knife closer to my chest, just touching the fabric of my shirt. Even if this knife couldn't pierce my skin, Kieran could still annihilate me if he wanted to.

"Okay, okay," I say. "It's me but uh, not entirely."

I reach slowly for my inner jacket pocket and delicately pull out the bottle with my fingertips, placing it on the bar.

"I may or may not have woken up with this," I say, pushing the bottle toward him.

"You," Kieran says with a pause, investigating the label. "...stupid fuck. What the hell did you do?"

"I don't know. I mean, that's kind of the point."

His jaw goes slack as he looks closer at the bottle. You can still just make out the word "Λήθη" on the faded and yellowed label.

"Tell me this isn't what I think it is..." he says with a shake of his head.

I nod.

"I guess I was desperate," I say.