Siren's Fall [Siren's Mark: Book 2]

Chapter 26

𝔸𝕧𝕒

Zane pulls himself out of the pool, his skin wet and shimmering in the light of the setting sun. My eyes flow from his inked chest down to his chiseled abs and red swim trunks.

Yep. I'm officially perving on my boyfriend.

Does it even count as perving if he's my boyfriend?

He grabs an orange towel and dries his hair before draping it over his shoulders and walking inside. He pauses for a moment as our eyes meet.

"You eyeing me up, love?" he asks with a smirk.

"Wha-, I..." I stammer. "I'm not eyeing... You're eyeing you up."

"That was terribly convincing. Almost believed you." He laughs and raises an eyebrow suggestively, walking toward me.

"Oh shut up," I say, sticking my tongue out at him. "You're like, biologically engineered to be attractive, okay? It's not my fault, it's your darned Siren biology."

"You're immune to my powers now, love." He wraps a hand around my waist and tugs me in against his chest.

That doesn't make me immune to muscles and tattoos, smartass.

He leans in for a kiss, but we're interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.

"Jen?" he asks with a sigh.

"Yep," I say with a half-smile. "She's supposed to be bringing our 'cure' by."

"I guess I should get dressed then." He plants a kiss on my forehead before reluctantly stepping back and heading toward the bedroom.

I walk over to the door and open it to a smiling Jen with a large paper bag in hand.

"Hey girl!" she says. "I come bearing gifts, and by gifts I mean a probably not-particularly-fun shot for the both of you."

"Aw thanks, you shouldn't have," I tease.

I invite her inside and we both sit at the kitchen counter.

"So what do we do?" I ask.

"Unfortunately, I'm not really trained to give shots, but the easiest place is the butt... Which is a bit awkward for everyone."

"Okay, okay," I say, feeling a bit squeamish. "So we do... that... and then what? Does it work immediately?"

"I'd give it at least twelve hours. We can test it out tomorrow."

"How?"

"I figure we'll just send you into a public place, keep watch, pull you out of there if anything goes wrong."

"What?" Zane's voice shouts from the other room. He quickly appears beside us in a white t-shirt and jeans.

"We have to test it at some point," Jen says.

"Sure, but we test it with me."

"No," she says. "Ava makes more sense as a test subject. She has less Siren blood and the effect is weaker for her, so she's a better first subject. Plus, she has human biology and this antagonist serum is based on human medicine. It could affect you completely differently."

"So we just throw her to the wolves?" he asks.

"It's fine, Zane," I say with a shrug. "If I'm the best first test, then so be it. Worst case, I can just leave and Jen will be nearby to watch out for me."

"At the very least, I'm coming too. I'm not letting you two get into trouble on your own again so you have to call Kieran."

"You can stay in the car with me if you must, caveman," she replies with a teasing eye roll.