Siren's Mark

Chapter 51

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

I can't believe I'm actually considering this.

Fuck.

Ava is resting in her hospital bed. Her usually pink-speckled skin is dull and sallow, her delicate arms are covered with tape. She's tethered by tangled tubes and wires to beeping machines. Every element in this room is a reminder of the absurd fragility of human life.

Kami walks in with an iPad and closes the door, locking it behind her.

"Okay," she says softly. "I got the deets from Alek and he has a whole book on it."

Ava's eyes flutter open and she adjusts slightly to sit up. I stand and prop a pillow behind her back.

"Who's Alek?" Ava asks.

"He's a Siren friend of ours," Kami says. "He did the mark with his partner and he's got tons of info on it."

"You said he has a book?" I ask.

"Yeah, he scanned it for me." She holds up the iPad and waves it in the air.

She hands it to me and I see a page of an old book, all in Greek.

"You know my Greek is terrible," I say. "You're gonna have to translate for me."

"Pshhh... okay," she says, grabbing the tablet out of my hands. "Well this says something like 'humans who are bonded to a Siren by blood are nearly immortal.' Blah blah blah... Ahh, here we go. How do I say this in English?... Basically, injuries are healed by the bond, but illnesses of the body are not."

"What counts as an illness of the body?" Ava asks.

"This seems to imply things that involve the body reacting to itself and imbalances. It's hard to really understand because they're talking about a lot of ancient medical concepts that we know now are definitely wrong. Like, they're talking about having too much blood—that's not a thing."

Ava chuckles softly.

"From what I can gather, the Siren blood will heal any wounds caused by outside things."

"Mmkay," I say. "What else?"

"So she won't be able to die until you do. When you die she will become mortal again."

I feel insane even entertaining this idea, but I can't help but feel pleased with the idea of an immortal lifetime with Ava.

"It says the first year is particularly intense," Kami explains. "The body takes time to adapt to the bond. In the first weeks, the connection will be overwhelmingly strong, then over time you will become used to it."

"So what does that mean?" I ask.

"Well, Alek said that for them, they could feel the emotions and physical sensations experienced by the other person. Alek also said he felt particularly primal and was more possessive over David."

"More possessive?" Ava asks.

"Thanks, love," I say dryly.

She does have a point, though. I already find myself tensing every time someone looks twice at her. I've always been so good at fighting back those instincts, but now that I'm with Ava I can't help but want her to myself.

"They said it's weird initially but it starts to feel normal after a while," Kami says. "Plus I guess now David heals from injuries a bit faster, which is a nice perk."

"I'll take what I can get in that department," Ava jokes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask Ava.