Page 31 of Siren’s Mark (The Siren’s Mark Duology #1)

AVA

“Hey Ava!” Gabby says in a high, excited voice, leaning in to give me an equally enthusiastic hug. “So nice to meet you!”

“Hi,” I say.

Everyone steps around the booth to make space for her as I sit down on Zane’s lap. Zane’s eyes go wide and his body jolts as he abruptly pulls away and lifts me off of his lap to place me in the seat next to him.

What. The. Hell.

First, he avoids calling me his girlfriend, then all of a sudden I can’t sit on his lap? Is it really that much of a burden to be seen with me?

“Just not right now, love,” he whispers into my ear.

Oh wow. Yeah, by right now he means while the sexy blonde is here .

“Are you two together?” Gabby asks, gesturing between Kieran and me.

Kieran nearly chokes on his drink with laughter, undoubtedly expecting a reaction from Zane.

“No,” Zane says sharply. “She’s with me.”

He gives me a quick glance and I can see a green glint before his eyes rapidly dodge away.

“Oh my gosh, Zane! You have a girlfriend? I didn’t know that!” she squeaks.

Of course you didn’t. He clearly wasn’t too enthusiastic about telling you.

“She’s gorgeous!” she says. “Oh my god, girl, look at you! You’re stunning !”

I want to hate her but she just keeps complimenting me. Damn it.

“Has someone finally won over the Iron Siren?” she says with a giggle.

What does that mean?

“Oh you have no idea,” Kami chimes in.

“I’m gonna go grab a pint,” Zane says, quickly jumping out of his seat and walking toward the bar.

Is there something going on between Zane and this girl or am I just letting my imagination get the better of me?

“He’s caving,” Kieran says, taking a sip of his drink. “Ten bucks says he comes back here with a bottle of J?ger.”

“Absinthe or Sambuca work too,” Kami chimes in.

“What are we talking about?” I ask.

Kieran chuckles and opens his mouth to speak, but Gabby interjects.

“So what’s your deal, girl? Are you a Siren?” Gabby asks me.

“Oh my god, Gabby, rude!” Kami says.

“Oh come on, we’re all friends here. What’s the point of all the pomp and circumstance? It’s like, obviously this girl isn’t human and I know you and Zane are Sirens, so what’s the big deal? I’ll go first—I’m a nymph.”

“Why do you say it’s obvious that I’m not human?” I ask.

“Well Zane’s big ‘no humans’ policy, you know. He’s always been intent on not getting involved with humans, right?”

Ouch.

“Hey,” Kami says as Zane returns to his seat. “Where’s your pint?”

“Oh uh,” he mumbles. “Line was too long. Gave up.”

“What?” Kami asks. “Z, you didn’t seriously wait in line, did you? What is wrong with you? Did you forget you had powers?”

“Let it go, Kam,” he mumbles. He seems to think I didn’t hear him, but I did.

This whole evening is not turning out the way I planned.

“Hey guys, I’m gonna go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back,” I say, making my way out of our booth.

“Hey,” Zane says as he taps my shoulder, having followed behind me. “You okay, love?”

“Oh yeah, don’t let me interrupt your quality time with Gabby,” I snap.

His eyes narrow and I can’t tell if he’s confused or guilty.

Before he has a chance to respond, I push through a sea of clubgoers to make my way to the bathroom and lock myself in a stall.

I let out a heavy sigh.

What am I doing? Why am I letting whatever is going on between this girl and Zane upset me so much? I take a moment to compose myself and touch up my makeup.

Maybe I just need a drink to calm myself down.

As soon as I open the door, the club music blares and I try to push past the hoard of sweaty, beautiful people grinding up on each other and make my way to the bar.

There’s a long line to the front, so I find myself a spot behind two very intoxicated girls who most-certainly do not need another drink.

Is it just me or does every club have the same two intoxicated ladies, each laughing hysterically directly into the other’s face?

“Hello, love,” a voice says over my shoulder.

The voice and accent are similar to Zane’s, yet different.

“Um, hello,” I say, as I briefly look over my shoulder to see the man.

He’s taller than me, but not by much, with a sturdy build.

He has light, freckled skin, red hair, and a short beard.

The sleeves of his plaid shirt are rolled up and it’s unbuttoned one or two buttons further than most men would do.

“Sorry to bother you, just wonderin’ how you know my friend Zane over there,” he says in an accent I now recognize as Irish.

He knows Zane? How does he even know I know Zane?

“I just noticed he’s been rather, well… obsessed with you since you walked over here.

He’s watching your every move.” He gestures over to Zane, who is of course sitting next to Gabby.

The group seems to be enjoying themselves but all I can make out are everyone’s general shapes in the low club lighting.

“Oh uh, yeah we’re um…” I say, pausing for a minute.

Should I tell him we’re dating? Zane certainly wasn’t particularly forthright with that information earlier. And I don’t even know who this guy is…

You know what, fuck it.

“He’s my boyfriend,” I reply.

“Zane has a girlfriend?” the man asks. “Wow! Who’d have thought? Oh and I’m Finn, by the way.”

“Um, yeah, I’m Ava,” I say, looking back at Zane.

Gabby has maneuvered herself onto Zane’s lap.

I feel immediately sick to my stomach as I see his eyes glowing green.

How could I be so stupid? It’s clear that he’s interested in this woman and now he has just pushed me aside. He’s a Siren. Everyone has told me he’s not the relationship type, and I’ve just ignored it.

I feel a tear fall down my cheek as the Irish man looks back and forth from me to Zane at the other end of the room.

“Ignore that, it’s nothing,” he says. “What you’re looking at there is Zane being an eejit. I promise you he’s not interested in her. Don’t upset yourself over it.”

Yeah… sure.

This guy must not know that Zane’s eyes are basically big flashing indicator lights that show he’s interested.

“No, really, love. He saw that you were jealous, so he didn’t immediately move her off when she sat down. It’s an ego trip. Honestly, Zane isn’t usually so needy. I think you’ve got him going out of his way to get your attention; that’s something I’ve never seen from him.”

Sure, that’s why his eyes are glowing.

Finn turns back to look at Zane again and sighs.

“No, love. The eyes aren’t for her,” he says.

Wait… what?

I didn’t say that out loud, did I?

What the heck is happening?

“I tend not to lead with this when I meet someone, but uh, I’m telepathic,” he says.

Telepathic? As in, he reads minds? Oh my god is he reading my mind right now? Oh crap… don’t think something awkward. It would be so embarrassing if I were thinking ‘I wonder how big his penis is?’ or something.

Oh god, now that’s all I can think about.

Penis.

Stop thinking about this random guy’s penis.

Penis.

Noooo! Stop it!

Finn chuckles and smiles. “It’s okay, that’s actually a pretty common response. I mean not specifically thinking about my penis, but I’ve certainly heard worse.”

Oh my god, someone kill me please.

“It’s alright, really. My people communicate telepathically, so we’re used to hearing everyone’s thoughts.”

That sounds like a nightmare.

“Wait, the eyes aren’t for her? What do you mean?” I ask. “They’re not for me. He can hardly see me this far away in the dark.”

Why am I talking about this with some guy I’ve just met?

“Well technically they’re for me,” he says with a smirk.

I turn back to see Zane’s eyes glowing intensely, staring right at us. Gabby is now sitting on Kami’s lap instead.

“He’s about ready to kill me, actually,” he says through another chuckle. “Well not me, exactly, because he can’t tell who I am from that far away. He’s thinking about doing some rather unsettling things to my testicles. Your boyfriend is a rather twisted fellow.”

His eyes are glowing because he’s jealous?

“Serves him right, really,” he adds. “It’s rather poetic, since he was enjoying making you jealous. I’d say that backfired rather splendidly. Of course he doesn’t know that it’s me you’re talking to.”

“How do you know Za-” I start to ask, but as I look back I see that Zane has vanished from his spot at the booth. Where did he go?

In a split second, Zane appears between me and Finn, pinning me against the wall with his hand cradling the nape of my neck, leaning in for a kiss but just shy of actually kissing me.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” he says in a low voice, his lips inches from mine. “I missed you.”

His eyes are green and have an especially bright glow in the dim club light. His body presses up against me and I’m suddenly forgetting why I was mad.

“Oi! I don’t recommend in-the-middle-of-the-club sex. Not hygienic,” Finn says from over his shoulder.

A low, roar-like sound rumbles from Zane’s chest as he snaps around in a fraction of a second and grabs Finn by the collar.

“Take a hint, mate!” Zane says through his teeth, but his expression suddenly shifts into one of confusion.

His mouth parts and his eyes widen.

“Finn?”