ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖
I've had what you could call relationships here and there. They usually weren't official and lasted a couple of weeks, but I did try it. It never really had much appeal to me to get properly involved with someone, especially a human. You're with them for a while and then what? The problem with humans is that they all have an expiration date.
For whatever reason, this feels different. Ava is different. I want her. But knowing what you want is a curse. Knowing what you need means you start to notice when it's missing. There's a gap that can only be filled by one thing—one person.
Needing her means figuring out a way to keep her, and for that I'm going to need help.
Kami pours us two cups of tea as we sit at her kitchen counter.
"Spill, Z," she says between sips of tea. "You're not one for house calls, so what's on your mind?"
"I wanted to talk to you about... humans."
"Humans?" she asks, raising a brow.
"About Ava... I think this might be, I don't know... something."
"Whoa, whoa! Zane, I knew you liked this girl, but are you in love with her?"
"No!"
Yes.
What? Fuck!
I let a low growl slip out.
"Yeah, I buy it," she says with a smirk.
"I'm not fucking in love, okay?"
Liar.
Shut up, brain.
"Yeah, okay," she says. "So you're not in love, you just want to have a conversation about humans. Or rather, this human."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Okay, I'll bite. What's your question?"
"So venom makes humans less susceptible to pain, but, is there any way to just get rid of the-"
"Supernatural kiss-induced horniness?"
"Yeah."
"Hmmm," she hums, taking another sip of her tea. "Not that I know of."
"Fuck. Yeah, I guess that was a long shot."
"Why? Ava becoming an ultimate fighter or something?"
I laugh as I picture her small frame beating the shit out of a serious fighter.
"No, she's sick or something," I say, trying not to share Ava's personal details.
"She's sick? What... Is she dying?"
"No, god, no."
Ava's not dying. Right? Fuck. Why did she put that in my head? Fuck.
"Okay, well, at least there would be a solution to that," she says.
"What solution?"
"You could mark her." She takes a sip of her tea.
"The mark is a myth, Kami."
"No," she says, pulling out her phone. "I've seen it myself."
She shows me a photo of a man on her phone, zooming in on what looks like a tattoo on his wrist.
"You remember Alek?" she asks. "This is his partner, David. He's marked."
The photo shows a dark knot-shaped mark on his wrist.
"That's a tattoo," I say.
"No, it's not—he really did it! He cut off his wings, I've seen the scars where they used to be. His partner is immune to venom and he's effectively immortal."
I always thought the mark was a fairy tale. I've always heard stories but I've never known of anyone crazy enough to cut off their wings.
That really works?
"Are you thinking about it?" she asks.
"No. Of course not. Even if I wanted to, we have no idea what the effects could be. I'm not turning Ava into a guinea pig."
"Interesting," she says, taking another sip of tea in a way that I've come to recognize as dubious.
"What?" I ask.
"It's interesting that your objection wasn't 'I can't cut off my bloody wings for some bird I've only known for a couple months'." Her impersonation of me is painful to listen to, especially the English accent. Kami has always had one of those impossible-to-place accents, probably from traveling and living all over the world.
"Piss off, mate," I huff. "Your impersonation needs some work."
"Piss off, mate," she mimics back. I roll my eyes and head to her couch, stretching out.
She joins me in the living room and sits down on a nearby chair.
"It's good, you know?" she adds, her tone shifting. "You've closed yourself off since everything that happened in Austria."
I shut my eyes at the mention.
I instantly flash back to visions of the poor girl's bruised, lifeless body. The color was drained from her skin, blood at the corners of her mouth.
"She's good for you." Kami's words shake me from my thoughts.
"Yeah well, you and Kieran have been good for me too."
Kami shifts in her seat and narrows her eyes. She's never been Kieran's biggest fan, but they've been getting along better lately.
"Yeah," she says with a nod.
𝔸𝕧𝕒
"Oh come on you whiner, it'll be fun!" I say, tugging Zane toward the front desk.
"Anything for you, love," he chuckles.
"Shoes and a round of bowling for two, please." The man at the counter nods.
"Sizes?" he asks.
"8 for me and..." I start to respond, but it occurs to me that I don't know Zane's size.
"10... Er, uh..." Zane stammers. "10 1/2 American."
The man hands us two pairs of shoes and directs us over to our lane. We sit down and tie our shoes.
"Alright, love," Zane says, grabbing a bowling ball from the feeder. "What is the goal of this game?"
"Come on, really? You knock over the pins. You want to get as many of them as possible. You don't know how bowling works?"
"I've seen it before, but I don't usually participate in sport."
"Okay, well I'm not super good, but you can watch me and I can give you some idea of how to play."
I stand up to bowl and am suddenly very aware of his eyes watching me. I shouldn't have volunteered to be an example. I'm awkward and this ball is heavy. Here goes nothing.
The ball rolls down the center of the lane and knocks down most of the pins, leaving a couple standing at one edge. I'll take it.
He looks at me with somewhat inquisitive eyes.
"Is that good, then?" he asks. "7 pins?"
"I think so."
"Why not get all of them?"
"I can't tell if you're being serious or just a smartass."
"In this one particular instance I'm not being cheeky," he says with a smirk.
"You want to hit all of them, I'm just not very good."
He walks over to the ball feeder and picks up a pretty heavy one. With a swift motion, he smoothly sends the ball down the lane and there's a loud clatter as the pins tumble and fly.
Of frickin' course he gets a strike on his first try.
I see a chunk of wood in the middle of the lane. Did that splinter come from one of the pins? He turns around with a smirk and lifts me up in the air, planting a kiss on my cheek.
"I knew I'd be good at this," he says with a big smile.
****
After Zane bowled a near-perfect game and I bowled... a game, I suggested we head on out. We unlaced our bowling shoes and headed up to the counter.
"Ava!" someone calls from behind us.
Zane and I both turn to find the source. I see a blond man waving to me from the lanes. It takes me a second to recognize the nurse from the hospital.
"Hey!" he says, jogging over. He reaches us and Zane's eyes narrow. "Web Designer Girl! Remember me? Trevor."
He gives me a quick hug to greet me.
"Hey Trevor!" I say.
"Hey," he says, turning to Zane. "I'm Trevor." He reaches out and shakes Zane's hand.
"Zane," Zane says in a low huff, cutting their handshake off quickly.
"You guys just get done bowling?" he asks.
"Yeah, we were just putting our shoes back," I say.
"Cool cool. Well I dunno if you guys have other plans tonight, but if you wanna hang out my friends and I were gonna grab a few drinks here before our next game. Care to join?"
He gestures to the in-house bar.
"Uh," I look at Zane, whose stoic face isn't giving me much feedback to work with. "Sure, that sounds nice."
Zane's face changes into one of irritation. I return his look with one of my own that says 'well you should've said something then.'
We head to the bar where two of Trevor's friends have gathered at a high-top table. Trevor sits down and orders a couple of pitchers of beer for the table.
"So how's work, Ava?" he asks. "Still taking on bad guys, one website at a time?" He chuckles to himself as he pours himself a beer.
Oof. That was terrible.
"Yeah, pretty much. I'm still enjoying it, so I can't complain. What about you?"
"Long hours, this is my first day off in ages. But otherwise good. How about you, Zane? What do you do?"
Zane glares at him and looks like he's debating how to answer.
"I own a few properties around town," he says, looping an arm around my shoulders.
This is the first I've heard of this. Is that true or did Zane just not want to admit he doesn't have a job?
"Oh hey, your accent—that's British, right?" Trevor asks.
"Yeah, mate," he says, taking a long drink of his beer. "Clever one, you are."
Trevor laughs, seemingly not minding that Zane is definitely insulting him. I sip my beer and attempt to ignore the awkwardness.
"Cool cool. What do you think of the States so far?"
"Some things are proper brilliant," he says, smiling at me. "Others not my favorite." He looks back at Trevor and takes another huge swig of his beer.
"Right on," Trevor says. "Glad you're liking it."
"How are things with you?" I ask.
"Great. I'm actually transferring to another section of the hospital so we'll probably be seeing less of each other."
"Oh dang," I say.
"Yeah, that's alright," he says. "Now I can at least hang and grab a drink with you and not have it be unethical."
Hmm... I didn't even really think about this being something he wouldn't be allowed to do.
"Oh hey, Ava," Trevor continues, turning to me. "You know Blue Panic is gonna be in town in two weeks. I got a couple tickets if you wanted to go with me."
Zane tenses instantly and his chest puffs up.
"Oh, I uh," I stutter, trying to think of a subtle way to navigate this situation.
Zane's hand quickly slides around my waist and he effortlessly scoops me from my chair into his lap.
"She's taken, mate," he says with a smile.
Trevor is visibly embarrassed and his cheeks turn a bright red.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to uh... intrude. I didn't realize you guys were a couple."
"Yep," Zane responds. Trevor's eyes shift uncomfortably around the room.
Zane pulls me in by my waist and gives me a deep kiss, resting his hand on my ass. Oh so now he's all 'Mr. Let's Make Out'. I can't even be mad because it ignites my every nerve and all I can think about if how much I want more. Zane smirks and looks at Trevor.
"So you work at the hospital, then?" Zane asks.
Trevor explains that he works as a nurse but I'm lost in watching Zane.
Why is he so pretty? It's not even fair.
I excuse myself to the bathroom to try and get a grip.
I'm alone in the ladies' room, so I splash a bit of cold water on my neck. Nope, still just as flustered as I was when I came in here.
Come on, Ava, don't be rude and be all over Zane in front of this nice guy who likes you. He's already been rejected, don't make it worse.
I remember Zane's theory about drinking water to calm down. It has helped in the past. I try to drink a little from the faucet. If anyone comes in here I'm going to look really weird.
I return to the table and seat myself, trying to follow where the conversation has landed. I can sense Zane's gaze on me and I'm struggling to avoid eye contact, so I focus on the TVs on the opposite wall.
Keeping away from Zane is impossible. Maybe I should just give in to temptation.
Bad brain! Bad, bad brain!
We said we would stay for drinks, so we should at least hang out a little longer.
Don't look at Zane. Don't look at Zane.
I try to focus and take another sip of beer.
"Uhhh," Trevor pauses and looks at me with concern.
Oh crap, this is not my glass. Real smooth.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Trevor this is yours isn't it?" I say, frantically plopping it back on the table and pushing it toward him.
He lets out a chuckle and waves his hand forgivingly in my direction.
"No worries, Ava, I'm sure you don't have cooties." He smirks and takes another drink.
Zane catches me by surprise as he swipes the drink from Trevor's hand. The plastic tumbler cracks into a few large shards that fall to the table as beer pours out all over Trevor.
The chaos draws the attention of Trevor's friends, whose conversation has halted as they try to make sense of what just happened.
I give Zane a hard 'what the fuck' look and step around him to help Trevor with the mess.
The bartender offers us a roll of paper towels.
"Here, let me help with that," I say, grabbing a handful of paper towels.
I feel Zane's hand grip my upper arm, attempting to hold me back from Trevor. I send some serious side eye his way.
Maybe if you didn't go around swatting at people's drinks out of their hands like a crazy person we wouldn't be in this situation.
He releases my arm and I try to help blot beer from Trevor's sopping shirt. As I blot I feel Trevor looking up at me.
Shit, am I being awkward right now?
"I'm sorry," I say, lifting my eyes to meet his. "I don't mean to get all up in your space."
"No," he says softly. "Please do."
Trevor's friends seem to notice his odd comment and have gone instantly silent. My hand is frozen holding a towel to his chest.
Zane's jaw is clenched, his chest is inflated, and his eyes flicker with bright green.
That was not the right thing to say, Trevor. Are you trying to get thrown into a wall?
"Uhh, um..." I stutter, trying to find the right response.
I'm shocked silent by lips meeting my neck—Trevor's lips.
What the hell??
I push him off of me and within seconds Zane's hand is wrapped around Trevor's neck, pinning him against the wall.
"Zane, I... don't..." I stutter, trying to stop him from doing something stupid. I don't actually have a good argument prepared to finish that sentence, but I'm interrupted by Trevor.
"Shit, I'm so sorry! I have no idea why I did that." Trevor cringes with embarrassment.
"God damn it!" Zane shouts. "Fuck!"
He grabs Trevor by his collar and tosses him to the side. Trevor's friends are frozen in shock.
"I don't care what your excuse is," Zane snaps. "You try it on with my girl again and I'll kill you, mate."
Zane stomps off, roughly tugging at his hair with both hands.
I give an apologetic look to Trevor and his friends as I follow Zane out the door.
Well that wasn't awkward at all.