𝔸𝕧𝕒

I sit up in bed and take a moment to stretch out. My joints crack and pop like bubble wrap and my muscles are tight and uncooperative.

Ow.

Last night was fun, but I'm definitely paying for it today.

I wrap myself in a fuzzy robe and shamble out into the living room where Kieran and Zane are watching tv.

"Morning," I say. I was going for cheery, but it comes out as more of a groan than I intend.

"Not feeling well?" Zane asks. I nod in reply.

"Still?" Kieran asks.

"Yes, still, you daft twat. What do you think chronically ill means?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," he says. "I thought chronically meant sorted by date."

"That's chronologically," I say, holding back a chuckle.

"Oh shit, yeah it is, isn't it? I didn't think it made a lot of sense, but I thought maybe you had whatever Benjamin Button had."

"Benjamin Button isn't a real person," Zane says with a scoff.

"Demons aren't supposed to be real either."

Fair point.

"Chronically means it keeps coming back," I explain.

"Oh that makes way more sense!" he says.

Zane pours me a cup of tea as I snuggle into the couch with a blanket.

"Where did Kami disappear to last night, anyway?" I ask.

"She went home with an extremely hot guy whose eyes were glowing red, so I'm assuming she had some Siren on Siren sexy times."

"Oh." I take a sip of my tea as Zane sits beside me and drapes an arm around my shoulders.

"While you guys were having your little liaison in the bathrooms, you missed Tara having a total meltdown. She was asking everyone who you are and why she'd never heard of you before. I think someone let it slip that you were human because she went pretty ballistic and stormed out."

"I was wondering where she went."

"Well, my woman did a great job of claiming me," Zane says with a wide smile.

"You enjoyed that a bit too much."

"I think I enjoyed it the appropriate amount."

"Well," Kieran says. "I gotta admit, I enjoyed it too. I've never seen a tiny woman so furious. And the look on Zane's face—I thought he was gonna bust a nut right there."

"Fuck, mate—you have no filter."

"That's right. 100% unfiltered Kieran, 24/7."

"Unfortunately."

We're interrupted by a knock at the door, but Kami walks in before anyone has a chance to open it.

"Hey, Z!" she says. "Ava. Kieran."

We say hello and she grabs a seat in a chair next to the couch.

"So I heard you went home with a friend," I say with my best wink.

I can't really wink, but I keep attempting it anyway.

"That I did," she says with a smirk.

"It's pretty early. Did you ditch him already?" I ask.

"No, I just had to get to work. I'm an early riser anyway."

"Work on what?"

"I actually... uh... wanted to talk to Zane about that."

Zane sits up and narrows his eyes.

"About what?"

"Syllek." She turns back to me. "He's a... what would you call it..."

"Human trafficker," Zane says, "but he trades in Immortals. He's also a bit of a private collector. He's a psychopath."

"Oh... that sounds lovely," I say. "Why are you talking about this guy?"

"Because we might be able to use him," she says.

"The only language Syllek speaks is payment." Zane crosses his arms.

"Couldn't you ask the Council for, like... a stipend or something?"

He smiles and kisses me on the forehead.

"You're sweet, love, but he'd want something more valuable than money... or rather, someone."

"Oh. So you'd be giving a person in exchange for information."

"Well, maybe," she says. "I was thinking we could make him think we're giving him someone, and then double-cross him."

"Just what I need—more enemies," Zane says.

"He won't be able to come after you if he's dead."

"And who do we dangle as bait? We don't have a fresh supply of rare Immortals at our disposal."

"Well, that brings me to the next part of the pitch..." she says, twirling her hair and looking down.

It's rare to see Kami uncomfortable like this, so whatever she's going to pitch isn't good.

Another knock at the door interrupts the conversation.

"Speaking of," she says, running to the door.

She returns with Morgan trailing behind her.

"Hello all," he says. He leans against the wall with his arms crossed.

"I wanted to discuss this with everyone present," Kami says.

"Morgan?" Zane asks with a scoff. "You've got to be kidding. Sure, he's a rare Immortal, but Syllek would never deal in creatures that powerful. It's too much of a risk—especially an Empath."

"Well, actually, I agree with you. Morgan is a bad choice."

"Then wh-" Zane stops mid-sentence and his eyes go wide. "Fuck no. No, Kami. That's way too bloody far."

"What?" I ask.

"It doesn't matter. It's out of the question."

"You brought me here to tell me you lot are sacrificing Ava?" Morgan asks.

Wait...what?

"No!" Kami scolds. "We would not be sacrificing anyone. You would be there as Zane's 'bodyguard' to keep an eye on things and handle it if something goes wrong."

"But I'm not Immortal or rare—I'm just human."

"You're actually part Immortal, part human," Kieran says. "Which is pretty rare."

"So you guys would... pretend to sell me to this guy?"

"No, we won't," Zane says, his eyes glowing slightly.

"Well, come on now, let's talk about this."

"Talk about selling you to a psychopath? No."

"Fake-selling. I mean, you and Morgan would be right there if things were to go south. If it would help you find a way to restart the Siren birthing cycle, it might be worth it."

"Even if I would agree to that, which I won't," Zane says, "don't you think it would look a bit suspicious to be a Siren trying to sell a Siren's mate? He'd figure out she's mine."

"You can't see her mark," Kami says. "So we could just say she's some other kind of hybrid or something. Plus, you have both your wings, so he wouldn't suspect you could have a mate anyway."

"Do you have any idea of the kind of danger we could be putting her in?"

"Of course I do, Z, but let's be realistic—we have no leads. If someone comes after more Sirens, they die forever. They never come back. And the collective power will just keep getting stronger. We have to do something."

"And that something is using my girlfriend as chattel?"

"Okay, don't talk about me like I'm not here," I say. "We need to make these decisions together, and if we can do it safely, then I think we should seriously consider it."

"Why do you always seem to have a death wish?" he asks.

"I can't die. I'm immortal, remember?"