𝔸𝕧𝕒

Sitting on the living room floor with my laptop on the coffee table, I stare mindlessly at the screen. I can't tell if it's the jet lag or just more of my usual brain fog, but I've found it near impossible to get any work done since we arrived in London. Kieran's muffled voice in the other room only serves to distract me further.

Who is he even talking to?

Zane left a few minutes ago for a meeting, so it should just be Kieran and me in the house.

"Who are you talking to?" I shout to him.

"Your bodyguard!" he yells back.

Oh. Of course. I completely forgot about Morgan.

I turn to see him and Kieran walking into the room.

"Hiya, Killer," Morgan says.

"Hey," I reply.

This is awkward. I've never had a bodyguard before. Are you supposed to hang out and make small talk or do they stand in the doorway making a serious face?

Kieran hops into a chair, swinging his legs over the arm. Morgan takes a seat in the chair next to him.

"You alright?" Morgan asks.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," I say. "You?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"You didn't tell me your bodyguard was such a babe," Kieran says with a smile.

"I get that a lot," Morgan says, giving him a wink.

"Getting hungry, are we?" I ask.

"You know me," Kieran replies with a laugh, "I can always go for a slice of beefcake."

Oh god. Is he just going to be flirting with Morgan this whole time? I'm already prone to nausea and this isn't helping.

"How about we leave Morgan alone and let him do his job?"

"Buzzkill," Kieran says, crossing his arms. "Well, I guess I'll go grab a snack."

He stands up and starts walking away.

"You're leaving?" I ask.

I'd prefer not to be stuck here on my own making small talk with the Empath. Then again, it might be preferable to watching Kieran stare at him like a piece of meat.

"Just to the kitchen," he says. "A literal snack, Ava, jeez. Get your mind out of the gutter!"

He laughs and heads to the kitchen.

I continue attempting to work on my current design project. At this point, I'm mostly just hitting keys and pretending to do something so I don't have to come up with a conversational topic.

"Incubus, eh?" Morgan asks.

"Oh uh... how do you know?"

"It's not that hard to guess. Plus I could feel his thirst for me the moment I stepped in the door."

I chuckle a bit at the thought.

"That must be weird, right? Sensing when other people are attracted to you?"

"I'm used to it. Not people being attracted to me, I mean. Although... No, I mean, my point is that I'm used to sensing what other people are feeling. It's different than feeling it myself. Except, well... with really strong feelings. As you saw the other day."

"Ah yeah... because Zane is a Siren, right?"

"Yeah. Sirens and Furies can get confusing. If the emotion is too strong, I'll start to feel it myself. It can be a bit overwhelming. That's why I arrived after Zane left. I can deal with it if I need to, but honestly, I'd rather avoid it. It takes a lot of energy to control that kind of intensity."

"What kind of intensity?" Kieran asks, walking back to his chair with a bag of chips in hand.

"Sirens," I say. "Oh, or... I mean..."

Crap. Did I just accidentally out him as an Empath?

"It's alright," Morgan says with a nod. "He's probably going to need to know eventually. From what Finn told me, he's around a lot. I'm an Empath."

"Oh shit! For real?" Kieran asks, his jaw slack. "Dayummn!"

Morgan just laughs in response.

"That's gotta be good in the bedroom, right?" Kieran continues. "Like, you can feel it and you can feel what they feel?"

"What did I say about harassing Morgan?" I scold.

"Yeah, yeah," he says. "Don't hit on Morgan. Don't ask Morgan about Empath sex. Don't leave Morgan alone with Ava. Y'all really have a lot of rules around this guy."

"What was that last one?" I ask.

"Yeah," Morgan chimes in. "Aren't I supposed to be Ava's bodyguard?"

"Oh, that's just Zane," he says. "He's pretty possessive over Ava. You know how Sirens can get."

"Well, I can't blame him for that. Our first encounter was rather inappropriate. Again, I apologize for that."

"What happened?" Kieran asks.

"Oh um... Morgan got Zane's... um..."

How do I explain this?

"I picked up on his feelings and I may have tried it on with Ava and when he confronted me," Morgan says, biting his lip, "I picked up on his possessiveness and we had a bit of a confrontation."

Kieran bursts into laughter, kicking his legs in the air.

"What I wouldn't give to see the look on his face! How many shades of red did Zane turn?"

"You're so mean!" I say.

"It's not my fault Zane is so entertaining when he's angry."

I glare at him before turning back to my work. After an hour or so of chatting with Morgan, Kieran wanders off somewhere, leaving us sitting quietly while I work on my laptop and Morgan distracts himself with his phone.

My back and neck ache and I finally accept that I'm not getting any more work done today and close my laptop.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm just done for the day."

"No, I mean, if it's not too personal. It seems like you're in a lot of pain. You were in pain last time we met. Did Asmodeus do something to you?"

"Ah no," I say. "It's just me. I have some health problems. It's fine."

"Is it? Because to me it feels... not fine."

I'm not used to people calling me out on it when I say I'm fine. Usually people prefer to hear that I'm okay. The truth is a lot more complicated.

"I've gotten used to it. I don't really have a choice, so I just have to live with it. At some point when things don't get better you just... have to start living again anyway."

"I'm sorry."

"It ended up kind of working in my favor. Asmodeus underestimated the sick little human girl."

"Seems that was his mistake."

"I guess so," I say with a smile. "Why do you hate him so much, anyway? Asmodeus, I mean. Finn said you hated him."

"Ahh," he says, his smile falling and his eyes closing for a moment. He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together.

"I'm sorry. Is that a personal question?"

"It's alright," he says, his eyes meeting mine. "It was a long time ago."

He takes in a deep breath and sighs before continuing.

"I don't know how much you know, but Asmodeus had a serious eye for women. Well, he and I happened to set our eyes on the same girl."

This story is awfully familiar.

"Her name was Claire. She was beautiful, wildly clever, and she had a smile that could stop the world spinning for a moment. I was..." He pauses to clear his throat and looks out the window for a minute.

"You don't have to..."

He nods and gives me a sad smile, but continues.

"I was in love with her. She was—still is—the love of my life. But when Asmodeus has his eyes on someone, it's dangerous. So we devised a plan and we got married in secret. We knew Asmodeus respected marriage and we thought... that he would give up."

I feel my heart ache as my mind starts imagining endings to his story. None of them are good.

"He didn't. He decided that... if he couldn't have her, no one could. He sent a demon to slit her throat. When I arrived home... I..."

He struggles to speak and sucks in his lower lip.

"I'm so sorry," I say. My heart twists in my chest at the sadness in his eyes.

"Don't be," he says, gathering himself and sitting up straight. "You did what many couldn't do—you killed him. He'll never hurt anyone again."

I don't know what to say to that. 'You're welcome' seems really inappropriate, so I settle instead for a nod.

Morgan's head quickly turns to the door and his brow furrows.

"Your Siren must be home," he says. "I can feel him. And I'm guessing his meeting didn't go well."