Page 28 of Siren’s Mark (The Siren’s Mark Duology #1)

ZANE

“I don’t understand how I can’t find one bloody human,” I say with a sigh.

The man who attacked Ava and Jen is somehow still evading me and I’m bloody sick of it.

“I know you’re worked up about this, Z,” Kami says in a calm tone. “But Ava is fine. Maybe this is just a human issue. This guy is bound to get himself arrested soon, right?”

“And that’s good enough for you? That someone attacked Ava and Jen and we’re just gonna let it go?”

“I don’t know, Z. I understand, but it’s been months. Maybe this creep doesn’t even live here.”

“I know you don’t trust Kieran, but I’m going to talk to him. His senses are much stronger than ours. He can help.”

Kami sighs and sets her drink on the table, opening her mouth to say something.

We’re interrupted by a ring at Kami’s front door.

“Expecting company?” I ask.

“Not that I know of,” she says. “Wait here.”

“Hey, hon!” a voice says from the other room. “Wanted to check in with you on our little predicament.”

Who is this now?

“I’ve got company, Lols, but you probably already know that,” Kami says.

Kami rounds the corner with a petite, bronze-skinned woman who looks about the same age as we do. The woman is wearing a long flowing dress with a vibrant green floral pattern and her hair is in a very long braid over her shoulder.

“Lola, this is…” Kami says.

“Zane,” Lola interjects. “Nice to meet you. Lola.”

How does she know my name?

“Because I’m a Seer. I can see things most people can’t, although I can’t always choose what I see. That’s why I’m here. Kami is helping me bring light to some of the shadows in my visions.”

“What visions?” I ask, turning to Kami.

“Uh,” Kami pauses.

“I take it she hasn’t told you,” Lola interjects. “Your demon has been creating problems for us all, and you’re just enabling him.”

I squint my eyes at her in a mix of confusion and irritation. I’ve just met the woman and I’m already being accused of something.

“Your Incubus is murdering half the city,” she continues.

I can hardly comprehend what’s going on. What the fuck is happening with Kieran?

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

“He’s dropping bodies and not cleaning up after himself. The police are starting to notice a pattern and we’re all in danger of being discovered.”

Kieran? No way. That doesn’t make any sense.

“Where’s your proof?” I ask.

“I don’t have it yet,” she says. “But I will.”

“Lola,” Kami interjects. “This is not the time or place for this conversation.”

“I’m just being honest,” Lola says, turning to me. “I’m sorry. I know Kami speaks very highly of you and I trust that you wouldn’t be involved with the demon if you honestly thought he was hurting people. I’m sorry for getting off on the wrong foot.”

“I…” I try to respond but nothing I can think of seems appropriate. “Okay.”

“Lola,” Kami interjects. “Maybe you can help us with a problem we’re having. We’ve been looking for someone that attacked our friend—a human.”

“A human attacked an Immortal?” she asks.

“No,” Kami explains. “Our friend is also a human. She’s… Zane’s lover.”

Oh bloody hell, I hate that word.

“Really, Kam? Lover?” I ask.

“Mate… Girlfriend… Thing…” she adds. “Whatever you wanna call it.”

Thing? I can’t decide if that’s better or worse than lover.

“Oh, hmm… Interesting,” she says. “Okay, I can tell you what I see. But I can’t guarantee it’ll be what you need. Is your ‘ whatever ’ here?”

“I uh… no,” I reply.

“Okay, then I’ll try you,” she says, holding out her hand with her palm facing upward.

I give Kami a skeptical look but she nods, encouraging me to play along. I reluctantly put my hand in Lola’s and she closes her eyes.

“Oh,” Lola says, her eyes still closed. “Interesting,”

What does that mean?

“Do you know the lore on twin souls?” she asks, her eyes still closed.

“That’s not real though, is it?” Kami asks.

“Oh, it’s real,” Lola says. “Just incredibly rare. Very interesting.”

Her face scrunches up slightly as she continues to read me.

“Someone gonna clue me in here?” I ask.

“Twin souls. Your other half.” Lola says. “True love, soulmates, all that jazz?”

Wait… What??

“Your whatever…” Lola says, closing her eyes again, “is your soulmate.”

I don’t even know what to feel. Part of me feels like I’ve always known Ava was the one for me, but another part is terrified of what that might mean.

Kami gives me an overzealous punch to the arm.

“Oh my god, Zane!” Kami shouts. “I knew it!”

“Five seconds ago you thought soulmates weren’t real!” I say, rubbing my arm where she slugged it.

“Oh shut up, Z, you know what I mean!”

“Hmm,” Lola says, grasping my hand as her brows furrow.

“What?” I ask. Her face looks stern and her attitude seems to have shifted.

“I told you, I never know what I’m going to see,” she says with a stern voice.

Yeah, just what I want to hear from a Seer who’s looking at my future.

She rips her hand back and steps away, her body language stiff and her eyes glaring in my direction.

“Did you see the guy who attacked Ava?” I ask. “What did you see? Tell me.”

“I’m 847 years old, child,” she snaps. “I don’t take orders from baby Sirens, especially not you.”

“Especially not me?” I ask. “Excuse me? Do we have a fucking problem, love?”

“Considering how few people ever encounter their other half, it seems a complete and utter shame that you are the one who got to claim yours.”

Lola jumps suddenly to the side as Kami lunges at her, just nearly missing.

“Lola,” Kami snarls. “You are my friend, but Zane is my brother and you’re out of line.”

I can hardly comprehend what’s going on. What the fuck did she see?

“Kami, darling,” Lola said. “I’m sorry, I know he’s like a brother to you, but I’m just being honest.”

“How could you say that?” Kami asks. “You don’t even know him.”

She’s right. This woman doesn’t know me. Why the fuck is she holding a grudge against me all of a sudden?

“I can see I have overstayed my welcome,” Lola says, gathering her things. “The truth is hard for a lot of people to take.”

What could she possibly have seen?

Part of me doesn’t want to ask, but another part has to know.

“Do I hurt Ava?” I ask. “Will something happen to her because of me?”

“Ava deserves better than you. But she will be fine…” Lola replies as she walks down the hall towards the door. I feel a weight lift off my chest, but she continues. “ …in spite of you.”

I launch a chair across the room and it shatters into wood chips, taking a vase and a painting down with it.

“Zane, okay, I like her and she’s my friend, but forget Lola’s nonsense okay?” Kami says. “Whatever she saw, or thought she saw, is wrong. It’s obvious that she’s not seeing the whole picture.”

I scream in frustration as I grab anything I can find and send it flying across the room.

“She said Ava will be fine. So whether we believe her or not—and to be clear, we do not—Ava is going to be okay. You love her, you would never hurt her. You’re soulmates, remember?”

“In bloody spite of me , Kam?!”

“Well, I call bullshit on that.”

I sink to the floor, my knees falling to the ground as I rest my head in my hands.

“What do I do with any of this? Ava is my soulmate and I’m apparently about to do something that’s bad enough to make someone who doesn’t know me despise me.”

“She’s a pretentious bitch anyways.”

“Really? Because she was your friend an hour ago.”

“Yeah, well,” she says, sitting next to me on the floor, “my real friends aren’t bitches to my brother.”

“And what the fuck is going on with Kieran?”

She sighed and her eyes shifted away.

“Let’s not worry about Kieran right now.”

Yeah, that seems totally innocent.

“What aren’t you telling me Kami?” I ask.

“We don’t know anything. There may be an Incubus problem, but we don’t know for sure it’s Kieran.”

“Incubus problem?”

I can’t bloody believe this right now.

“Somebody—an Incubus—is overfeeding and… killing people.”

“That’s why he’s not asking for my help as much?” I ask.

She sighs and doesn’t respond.

No way. No fucking way.

Kieran isn’t killing people. I would know.

Wouldn’t I?

“Bullshit!” I snap. “It’s not him.”

“Okay,” Kami says, rubbing my back. “I trust you. If you think it’s not him, then it’s not him.”

It can’t be.

Can it?

ZANE

Dreiflüssestadt, Austrian Empire - Autumn of 1840

This can’t be happening.

“No, no, no,” I say, cradling Ilen’s cold, naked body in my hands.

Tears pour uncontrollably from my eyes as I shake her.

“Ilen, please darling. Wake up!”

My own voice sounds unfamiliar through my sobs.

This doesn’t feel real. It can’t be that this lifeless, bruised, and bloodied body is the girl I know. No twinkle in her eye. No bashful smile. No contagious laugh. My Ilen is so full of life—or, was.

But I took that from her.