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

Chapter 25

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

I close the door and throw my keys onto the table with a sigh. Ava is curled up on the couch with a blanket and her laptop on her lap.

"What's wrong?" she asks, raising her brows and setting her computer to the side. "Bad news?"

"Nothing we didn't already know," I say, joining her on the couch.

Ava gives me a kiss on the cheek and I lie down on her lap. As her fingers comb through my hair, a calm rushes over me that only she seems to be able to provide.

"Well, Jen was able to help a lot," she says in a chipper voice. "She thinks she can make some sort of cure for you guys by the end of the week."

"You're kidding," I say, sitting upright.

"Nope. She's got some sort of science thing... a hormone protagonist or something?"

"I really doubt that's what she said."

"Well, whatever," she says, sticking out her tongue. "It's a sciencey thing and she seems to think it will work."

"That's incredible!" I say, pulling her in for a tight hug.

"Okay, okay! You're squishing me!"

"Sorry, love, I'm just relieved. The answers we were looking at, well... they were nonstarters."

"I'm happy to bring you some good news then. She said it may not be perfect and we all may still have some effects of the pheromones, but people shouldn't go totally nuts on us anymore."

"That's fine by me."

"Aaaand... she had another discovery."

"What...?" I ask tentatively.

"She said that I have an autoimmune disorder."

I blink at her, stunned.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"I mean, it's not great news. It sort of means my immune system is attacking me," she says.

"Your blood is working against you..." I mumble, repeating the words Galen had told me earlier.

"Um, yeah, I guess so. But knowing brings us closer to answers and closer to a solution."

"That's bloody brilliant!" I say, pulling her in for another squeeze.

"If you're going to keep squishing me every time I tell you good news, I'm going to have to start coming up with bad news instead."

"Do you have bad news?"

"Not really. Except Jen is pretty jealous that we're going to London without her."

"If this were a leisure trip, I'd say she could come but-"

"She knows, she gets it. Besides, Jen can't really just leave work to go on a demon-hunting adventure."

"To be clear, I do not intend this to involve demon hunting in any way," I say, pulling her chin up so that her eyes meet mine. "If we're doing this, I'll need to know you're safe at all times."

"Why are you so concerned about me? I thought the demons think I'm dead."

According to Kami, it's not just the demons. Apparently word got back to the council that Ava was dead and she decided not to correct them. It's not that we don't trust the council, but— no, actually, I don't trust them at all. It's best that no one knows that Ava is still around, otherwise people will have questions.

"They do," I say with a nod. "Actually, they're not the only ones. But that means that I won't be able to be with you all the time, to protect you."

"I know I'm a human and all, but that doesn't mean you have to babysit me 24/7."