ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

"Okay, that's unexpected," Kieran says.

He's not wrong. This creep in the pirate outfit certainly took me by surprise by resisting my attempt at charming him.

"Who are you?" I ask. "How do you know Kami?"

"Excuse me?" he asks. "You butt in to my conversation and then you ask me who I am? Who the hell are you?"

"Don't start with me, mate," I say, my tone getting harsher. "I'm Zane. All you need to know about me is that the 'Greek goddess' over there is my bloody girlfriend."

"Oh come on," the guy says. "So I think your girlfriend is hot, so what? It's not like there's a taken sign on her. You afraid she'd take me up on the offer?"

"Okay, pal," Kieran says, stepping between us. "You need to back off. As much as I'd love to see Zane paint the pavement with your intestines, you're disrespecting my bro and you're disrespecting his girl, who is also my friend. You need to cut your shit and get over that Immortal holier-than-thou bullshit and move along."

The guy squints his eyes as if he's sizing us up, clearly taking note of Kieran's comment.

"Okay, whatever," he says, taking a step back. "Just don't call me an Immortal."

The two men turn to leave and now I'm more confused than I am irritated.

"What does that even mean?" I ask. "He's immune to my charms and knows what Immortals are, but isn't one? What else is there?"

"Does that mean he's marked?" Kieran asks.

We head quickly back to Kami and Ava.

"Hey Kam," I ask. "Is one of your guests a marked human?"

"Uh... What?" she asks, looking perplexed. "No, not that I know of."

"We just ran into some guy in a pirate outfit who was immune to my charms and he told us he wasn't an Immortal," I explain.

"I mean, there are a few Immortals here but I didn't even invite any Sirens. I don't know who everyone brought as their guests..." Her face twists into a concerned expression. "But not being Immortal doesn't necessarily mean he's a marked human. Those are pretty rare."

"What else could he be?" I ask.

"He could be a demon," Kieran says with a serious expression.

Oh.

Shit.

I don't know why the thought didn't occur to me.

"Could you sense that? If he was a demon?" I ask Kieran.

"No," Kieran says. "If a demon doesn't want to reveal themselves then they'd just appear to be like anyone else."

Ava looks concerned, so I swing an arm around her and pull her close.

"A demon?" she asks.

"It's fine, love," I say. "Kieran's a demon. Every demon is different."

"Then why does everyone look so nervous?" she asks.

"Just..." I pause, deciding how much is right to reveal in this moment. It's a lot to process and I don't want to scare her. I settle on a somewhat simple version of the truth. "Kami didn't invite any demons to her party, and if there is one here he might be an uninvited guest, which is concerning because we weren't aware of any demons in town."

"Besides me," Kieran says.

"Naturally," Ava says. She looks uneasy and takes several gulps of her cider.

Kieran and I agree to go look for the guy while Kami stays with Ava. It's not particularly concerning to encounter a demon at a party with Immortals, albeit there's usually some tension between the two groups, but when we know there's a demon in town killing humans it's a bit of a different story.

After a quick sweep of the property it looks like the man is nowhere to be found.

"It's possible he shifted," says Kieran. "But even if he changed his face he'd have to find a new set of clothes. My guess is he just bailed."

"I think you're right," I say, the heavy feeling in my chest relaxing a little.

As long as he's gone, there's no immediate threat to Ava's safety tonight.

We return to Ava and Kami who are now chatting to a blond woman and three men, one of whom appears to have a costume made entirely of body paint.

I casually slip between him and Ava.

"Hey gorgeous," I say. "Having fun?"

"Yeaaah," she says, slightly drunkenly. It looks like she has finished off her cider.

"Good," I say, turning to Kami. "Our friend appears to have left."

"Well that's good," she says. "Although, I would like to learn more about this party crasher. But tonight, we can get back to enjoying the party!"

"Hey, Zaaannee!" The voice is Gabby's, but it takes me a second to recognize her in her costume. She's wearing black shorts and stockings and a white shirt with black fuzzy ears on her head.

I have no idea what this is supposed to be.

"Hey Gabby," I say.

"Loving the James Dean look on you!"

"Thanks," I say, hoping she doesn't expect me to comment on her outfit because I have no bloody idea what it is.

"Guess what I am!" she says.

Bloody hell.

"Um, I don't know, love," I say. "I'm not very good at these pop culture things."

Ava gives me and irritated look and pulls away from me.

Wait, what did I do?

"Oh, come on!" Gabby says. "It's not a pop culture thing! I'm a panda!"

She gives my arm a playful smack.

I hate this game.

"Oh my god," Ava says, her voice dripping in irritation. "Why don't you two get a fucking room?"

All of us freeze in shock at her comment.

What is she talking about? She knows I don't like Gabby. Literally—I don't even like her.

"Love, are you okay?" I ask.

"Love?" Ava asks with a scoff. She's wobbling a little and her speech is slightly slurred. She must've had more to drink than I had realized. "Oh so now I'm looovve? A second ago Gabby was your looooovvve..."

Is that what upset her?

"Baby, I just call everyone love," I say. "You know that."

I reach an arm around her but she stumbles back.

"No!" she says, pushing me away. "You don't even... You doonnn't..."

"Ava," Kami says. "Honey, it's alright, he really doesn't mean anything by it."

"Yeah," Gabby adds. "I promise nothing is going on with me and Zane. He's completely head over heels for you."

"Ohh shuuttt uppp! Yooouu think I don't see what you're doing?" Ava yells, grabbing Gabby's drink from her hand and throwing it at her. "And you don't even look like a panda!"

Gabby just stands there in shock, without a word, as Kami tries to step in.

"Ava, what's going on?" Kami asks. "This isn't like you. Are you oka-..."

"Get away from me!" Ava yells, staggering away. I reach to grab her arm but she backs up further.

The way she recoils from me shatters my heart. I don't understand what's happening, but I just want to make it better.

She takes another few clumsy steps, way too close to the edge of the pool.

"Ava!" Kieran shouts, clearly coming to the same conclusion. "Watch the edge!"

In a split second she has stepped one inch too far and her heel hooks over the edge of the pool. I see Kieran speed in her direction, which is good because he's much faster than me. He grabs her arm but their momentum sends them both tumbling into the pool.

Kieran emerges with an arm around Ava, probably the first time I've ever been grateful to see such a sight. She's punching his arm and yelling curse words at him.

At least she's still Ava.

I run to the edge of the pool and help them out of the water.

"Well, that was fun," Kieran says, lifting her up to me.

Her makeup is running, her skin is covered in tiny beads of water, and the loose toga is sopping and stuck tightly to her skin.

"Take my hand, love," I say to her as she begrudgingly does. As I catch her eyes, I see that her pupils are so wide that the usual grey is almost completely eclipsed by black.

Kami meets us at the edge of the pool and talks Ava into coming with her back to her bedroom. After a minute or so, Kami comes back out to talk to us.

"What is going on?" I ask her in a panic. "What's wrong with her?"

"I..." she says with a pause. "I have no idea."