Page 64 of Siren’s Mark (The Siren’s Mark Duology #1)

AVA

I pause for a moment in front of the bathroom mirror. A small bruise is forming on my cheek beside a wide abrasion.

I look like I lost a fight with a cheese grater.

“We should take care of that,” Zane says from the doorway, his eyes soft but plagued with guilt.

He reaches into the cabinet and pulls out the first aid kit, grabbing a handful of equipment.

“I’m sorry, this is probably going to hurt,” he says, bringing an alcohol wipe to the wound.

As he brushes it across my face, the alcohol stings each and every nerve while I try not to cringe.

Ow fuck fuck fuck.

Stupid face. Stupid cut. Stupid Zane with his stupid alcohol trying to save me from stupid germs so I don’t get a stupid infection.

“You’re making that face you make when you want to kill me,” Zane says with a smile.

“I don’t want to kill you,” I say. “Okay, maybe a little bit. That crap burns.”

“Yeah, I know,” he says, rubbing his cheek.

Oh, that’s right… he could feel that too.

Not gonna lie, it does somehow feel better knowing that someone else has to suffer your pain too. That probably makes me a bad person, but it’s just the truth.

He applies a bandage with an extra-gentle touch.

“You’re a pretty good doctor, you know that?” I say.

“Well, I was a medic for a while, way back when.”

“What?” I ask. “What kind of medic? When?”

“For Her Majesty’s army,” he says with a smirk. “About 80 years ago or so.”

It’s moments like these I remember I’m not having a sane, normal, human conversation and this is—in fact—totally batshit crazy.

“A lot of the first aid stuff holds up, but technological advances have changed a lot. At this point, I just know the very basics.”

“Yeah, you’re not into much newfangled technology, are you gramps?” I tease. “I still haven’t gotten you to figure out video chat.”

He wraps his arms around me and carries me to the bed.

“Hilarious, as always,” he says sarcastically, lying himself down beside me and smiling. His expression falls as he inspects the bandage on my cheek.

I can tell by his expression he’s feeling guilty.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner,” he says, lightly stroking my cheek.

“It’s okay,” I say. “Kieran got there in time. I’m alright.”

His face twists and tenses at the mention of Kieran’s name.

“You should talk to him.”

“Why?” he asks. “What could he possibly say to me that would justify attacking my girlfriend in her sleep?”

“I… I don’t know,” I say with a sigh. “But something here isn’t adding up. You need to sit down and talk. You know, the thing you do with your voice and not your fists?”

He rolls his eyes at me.

“Would you be so quick to forgive if his victim were me? Or Jen?” he asks, tension rising in his voice.

He’s got a point. If he had come after someone I loved, I’d probably be more inclined toward the punching idea. I guess it’s a good thing that’s not the case, because I’m not really in demon-fighting shape.

“Do you know for sure?” I ask. “Because it sounded to me like he didn’t know what you were talking about. Maybe it really was just a dream.”

“He just didn’t want to admit it to your face. He’s a coward.”

Zane’s eyes begin to flicker green and I know I shouldn’t escalate further. Instead, I lie back and sigh.

Am I really doing this?

I tried to give Zane a few days to cool off after the incident behind the café, but he’s still refusing to talk with Kieran.

He may not want to know what Kieran has to say, but I do. So here I am, having snuck out of bed to meet Kieran when he gets off work, which happens to be at 1:00 am. I watch a few straggling patrons stumble drunkenly out of Pike’s in the dim light of the parking lot before making my way inside.

Pike’s has emptied out and Kieran locks the entrance door behind me.

Kieran wouldn’t really try to hurt me… Right?

“Hey there, Aves,” he says with a smirk. “How’s the wifey? Grumpy as ever?”

“Uh, yeah,” I mumble. “He’s stubborn.”

Kieran invites me over to the bar and offers to pour me a drink. He’s visibly disappointed at my choice of drink: water.

“You’re no fun,” he says, pouring me a glass from the tap and sliding it across the bar.

“Kieran, we need to talk,” I say.

“Yeah. I’m a bit confused about what I’m in trouble for exactly. So you told Zane about the dream, I take it?”

“Yeah. Well, sort of. He could feel it through the mark bond and he woke me up.”

“What?” he asks, furrowing his brows. “How could he have possibly… Wait, when was this?”

“The day of your fight,” I say.

Kieran’s expression morphs into one of seriousness and panic, two things I had never associated with Kieran.

“You had this dream then ?” he asks with wide, questioning eyes. “Shit, Ava. Shit. ”

“What?” I ask.

“What did I do in your dream?”

“You, uh…” I stammer, uncomfortable reliving the details of a rather unpleasant nightmare. “You talked about Zane at first a bunch; you wanted to know why he marked me. Then you tried to kiss me and touch me… and when I fought you, you held me down and then… I couldn’t move.”

Kieran’s jaw tenses and his hands begin to shake.

“Ava,” he says. “I’m so sorry. That… that wasn’t me.”

His words seem so genuine, but I don’t know what to believe.

“So you didn’t visit my dreams or slip me Siren venom that time at the bar?”

“Well, I’m not entirely innocent,” he says with a shrug. “The venom thing—I’m guilty of that one. I wanted to give Zane a reason to talk to you, and I was offered venom from another demon, so I took advantage of the opportunity.”

“Kieran!” I shriek. “That’s not cool!”

“I was watching to make sure you were okay,” he says. “I just knew you two needed to talk, but you were both too stubborn to figure it out yourselves.”

He’s not entirely wrong.

I roll my eyes as he continues.

“And I really did visit your dream once… soon after we had met. I don’t know if you remember.”

“In my bedroom,” I say. “You kissed me.”

“Yeah,” he says, looking suddenly bashful as his eyes trace shapes on the floor. “But Ava, I didn’t visit you again, I promise. And I would never…”

He seems disgusted with his words, choking on them as they exit his throat. It’s as if he is desperate to get the taste off his tongue.

“I’ve never used my powers to stake anyone,” he says, his pupils growing until his irises are completely black.

“Stake?” I ask. “What does that mean?”

“It’s… How much do you know about Incubi and Succubi?”

“Not much. Until recently, I didn’t know you guys could enter dreams.”

He pours himself a shot of vodka that he quickly downs and refills, only to down again.

“So, some of us were created from scratch…”

“By the original demons, right?”

“Yeah, so you know that bit,” he says. “Well, the originals didn’t exactly get along.

They were all power-hungry bastards, so one started creating a legion to overthrow the others and before you know it, all of them had created their own particular brand of demon.

Abaddon created Furies, Lucifer created Daeva… ”

Did he just say Lucifer? What the heck has my weird-ass life come to?

“…and Asmodeus created us—Incubi and Succubi.”

“Asmodeus? I feel like Zane told me about him,” I say.

“Yeah, they have a bit of a rivalry going on,” he says. “They were both into the same chick way back in the day. He doesn’t like to talk about it, but I know it ended pretty badly.”

Oh. That was the demon who was interested in Ilen, before she was killed by her fiancé. That’s why I know the name.

“Anyway, Asmodeus gave us the power to enter dreams so we could seduce our victims, but the guy was a real sick fuck. So he gave us the power to immobilize our prey and manipulate their dreams. It’s called staking because it’s as if you staked someone to the ground. It’s fucked up.”

“Oh,” I say. It was the only response my mind could come up with.

“Asmodeus considers himself the patron demon of lust, but what he considers arousing, most people would consider grotesque. I only met him the once, but let me tell you, that was enough.”

“When did you meet him?” I ask.

“He converted me. Some Incubi were born purely of Asmodeus, others are converted from human volunteers. A Succubus recruited me, but Asmodeus is the only one with the power to transform a human into an Incubus.”

“So, it was just a dream?”

“I wish,” he says with a sigh, pouring and downing another shot. “But from your description, it was real. It just wasn’t me.”

“Then who was it?”

“Well, it had to be someone who knew you, knew me, knew Zane, has the powers of an Incubus, and had motive to pretend to be me.”

“That definitely just makes you sound more guilty.”

“Thanks for the faith, Aves.”

“I’m just sayin’…”

“Honestly, only one person makes sense,” he says, resting his head on the bar. “And that m-”

We’re interrupted by a knock at the pub’s front door. Kieran breathes in heavily before his eyes shoot wide open. In an instant, he has grabbed me and set me on the floor behind the bar. He takes my phone from my pocket and rips out the battery.

I start to respond but his hand quickly covers my mouth. He looks at me with gravity in his eyes and mouths the words “Don’t move.”

The door creaks open and I hear Kieran telling someone that the bar is closed.

“Just one drink, friend?” a man’s voice says.

“I’m actually heading out,” Kieran says. There are a few shuffling sounds before the lights turn off and I hear the door shut and lock.

What the fuck is happening?

I consider putting the battery back in my phone and calling Zane, but I know there must have been a reason Kieran did that.

The men’s voices outside are growing louder. I peek out from behind the bar and can see Kieran talking to three men outside the narrow front window. With as little sound as possible, I slide along the floor until I’m close enough to the window that I can hear what they’re saying.

“I should’ve known sooner,” Kieran says.

“I don’t know what you mean,” another says, his slight smirk giving him away.

“You guys have been out here every night when I leave the pub. At first, I just thought you were just losers who got your kicks hanging out in parking lots, but you blew your cover. I stay a bit late tonight and, next thing I know, you impatient goons are knocking on the door? Rookie move. Why is Asmodeus having you watch me?”

Oh god. These are Asmodeus’s men?

“Alright boys,” a voice says from the shadows. A tall, slim man in a long black trench coat emerges seemingly from nowhere, clapping slowly. He has an eerily sinister presence and exudes power. His spiky bleach-blond hair practically glows as he steps into the light.

“You figured me out, big boy,” he continues, stepping within a few feet of Kieran. “Congratulations. Would you believe me if I said I just wanted to check up on one of my favorite little sex demons?”

“No,” Kieran spits.

“Fair enough,” Asmodeus says with a smile. “Can’t blame me for trying.”

“You’re trying to get to Zane,” Kieran says. He lets out a growl and I watch as claws extend from his fingertips.

“Ooh, feisty! I like that!” Asmodeus teases. “But I’m not trying to get to anyone. Maybe Zane did rob me of my lover. Of course, it’s probably even worse that he robbed me of my revenge. But I’m not one to hold a grudge.”

“Bullshit!” Kieran says.

Asmodeus holds his palm up and Kieran instantly falls to his knees with a groan.

“Are you accusing me of lying?” he asks.

Kieran lets out a pained grunt.

I try to move slightly to see what’s happening. As Kieran comes more into view, I can see him digging his claws deep into his opposite bicep, blood pouring from the wounds. He continues to claw and dig at himself and I can see Asmodeus’s wicked grin growing as he watches.

He’s making him do this to himself somehow.

“Ye-… Aaagghhh fuccckkk…” Kieran screams. “You motherf-… AAAHHH!”

His claws tear until I see bone and muscle tissue and have to look away.

Okay, I’m going to be sick.

I feel hot tears run down my face as Kieran’s screams grow louder.

“Tell me, where is your friend Zane?” Asmodeus asks. “Or better yet, where’s his precious little woman?”

“I don’t know where he is!” Kieran screams, his voice thick with agony.

“And the girl? Tell me…”

Instead of words, Kieran responds with a mix of growls and gurgles that are truly sickening. The sound alone is enough to trigger my gag reflex.

I don’t really want to see what’s going on but I need to know. I peek out again and see blood gushing from Kieran’s mouth like a fountain as he spits out a large piece of what looks like ham.

Oh fuckity fuck fuck fuck.

It’s his tongue.