ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

I shift in my seat as I sift through yet another book from the Council archives. This one is mostly in French, which is fortunate because the last three I've found have been Greek or Latin, neither of which I'm particularly great with.

My eyes scan the pages for anything that might help us fix the issue of Sirens not being reborn.

Nothing. Fuck.

I flip to the next page and sigh.

"You alright, Z?" Kami asks from across the table, looking up from her own book.

"I'm fine," I say, combing my hair back with my fingers. "I'm just tired of dead ends. I'd rather be home with Ava."

"Aanndd you hate the fact that she's home with Morgan instead?"

My eyes shoot daggers in her direction.

"Thanks for the reminder," I say, grinding my teeth.

"Why are you so uptight about those two, anyway? You know Ava's crazy about you."

"I don't know. It's not Ava that I don't trust, but him.... He just... I don't like the way he looks at her. It's like... he's enthralled. Like he's lost in her, just like I am."

"And you don't see the irony in that?" She raises a brow and tilts her head.

What about that is ironic?

"Apparently not," I say. "What irony?"

"Listen to what you're saying. He looks at her as if he has feelings for her—like you do."

"Yeah, he..." I pause for a moment, taking in what she's saying. "Oh. Fuck."

She gives me a knowing nod.

"He's just channeling your feelings, Z. What you're seeing is a reflection of you. Those are your own feelings being projected into another person."

Up until I met Ava, I'd barely ever been jealous. I never let anyone get close enough to have a real connection—something I could fear losing.

Now I'm getting jealous of myself.

Well, that's embarrassing,

"You might be right," I say, dropping my head into my palms.

"I usually am." She smirks and grabs another book from her stack. "Have yo-"

The door opens and a man with black hair and a goatee walks in. He's wearing a grey suit, but his collar is loosened and he has no tie. Clearly an overworked Council employee.

He heads over to a bookshelf just behind Kami and peruses the shelves, grabbing a thick leather-bound binder before looking up and noticing us.

"Hey, you're Zane, right?" he asks with an unnerving lopsided grin.

"Yeah," I say. "That's me."

"I'm Felix." He approaches me, tucking the binder under his arm and extending his opposite hand to shake mine. We shake and I give him a nod before turning back to the book in front of me.

"Everyone's talking about you. Did you really kill Asmodeus?"

Kami shifts in her seat and glances up at us. His question seems to have us both on edge. With everything going on in the world, it can be difficult to tell friends from allies, so any questions out of the blue are bound to set off alarm bells.

"I did."

"How?" he asks, leaning onto the table beside me. "Nobody has ever been able to kill a King. How does a Siren of all people end up finally taking him out?"

It's a question I've intentionally dodged up until now. In part, because I don't want to bring Kieran into it, but also because I didn't actually kill him. The last thing I want is to put Ava on anyone's radar.

I suppose 'fuck off' isn't the most appropriate response here, but I don't have another prepared.

"Those details aren't something that can be shared," Kami says.

She has always been better than me at giving diplomatic answers.

"Hmm..." he says, his face becoming more stern. He turns around and heads out of the room without saying another word.

Well, that's bloody suspicious.

"Thanks for handling that," I say to Kami. "I really need to get my story straight if I'm going to keep this up. We keep running into people with questions."

"Yeah, good idea," she says with a teasing laugh. "Speaking of running into people, I saw Tara again yesterday."

"I thought you were here yesterday. What would Tara be doing at the Council offices?"

"She came for a follow up of the shot."

"Shot?"

"Yeah, injection, jab, whatever. I told you the Council had their own version of Jen's cure."

"Oh, yeah."

"Honestly, I'm pretty sure she was trying her darnedest to run into you. She was pretty disappointed when I told her you weren't here."

"What a shame," I say with a laugh. "Considering how she was talking to Ava when we last spoke, she's probably lucky I wasn't here. I know she and I didn't part on the best of terms, but I'm not about to fucking let her get away with that rubbish again."

"I was kind of hoping Ava would punch her."

"She would've broken her hand!"

"True, but she has a punch or two coming. Especially after what she did to you."

"I've practically forgotten about it," I say with a shrug. "Tara is just.... Tara."

"Well, I certainly haven't. I know you prefer that I just let it go, but sometimes being polite with that woman is impossible."

"With any luck, you'll never have to see her again anyway."

"Unless she keeps stalking you." She snorts in irritation and rolls her eyes.

Let's hope it was just a coincidence and she's not actually following me. The last thing I need is Tara chasing me around.

*****

I arrive home later than I'd hoped. The fog has almost entirely blocked out the light of the moon and the sky is pitch black. It's just before midnight and there's a damp chill in the air.

I open the door to a mostly dark house, with the only light being the flickering blue glow of the living room TV. I follow the light to find Kieran on the couch, Morgan in a chair beside him, both watching Jurassic Park.

"Hey," I say with a low voice. "Has Ava gone to bed?"

Morgan nods, his expression rigid and tight. He squints and stirs uncomfortably in his seat. I seem to have that effect on him.

"You should too, dude," Kieran says. "You look tired."

He's not wrong. I'm fucking knackered.

I drag my feet up the stairs into the bedroom, taking care to avoid waking Ava. I strip to my boxers and slide under the covers, wrapping an arm around her waist. My face falls into the curve of her neck and I take a deep breath in, inhaling her scent. As I exhale, I feel my consciousness fade.

I close my eyes, for minutes, or maybe hours—I can't really tell. But I'm startled awake by a crushing feeling in my chest.

Ava tosses and turns in my arms, whimpering and twisting violently.

Another bad dream?

I prop myself up on an elbow and lean over her, stroking her face in an attempt to wake her up gently. She grimaces, her eyes still closed as she shudders.

I hate that she's reacting this way, but I try to remind myself that it's not me she's reacting to.

My hand moves to her shoulder, shaking her just enough to hopefully wake her.

"No," she cries softly. "Stop, please!"

Fuck. I hate hearing her like this.

"Baby, wake up. You're having a bad dream."

She thrashes more, weak sounds of pain leaving her lips.

"Please," she mewls. "Zane, stop! Stop!"

At that, an impossible weight crushes my chest and I feel the world crumble around me.

The monster haunting her dreams... is me.