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

Chapter 42

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?"