𝔸𝕧𝕒
I stop outside Zane's door for a minute to fix my hair. I've hardly seen him this week and I know I'm spending time with his friends tonight, so I want to make a good impression. Especially since they're... supernatural... people? What do I call them? Sirens? Crap, I suppose I haven't thought this through.
Do you think Martha Stewart has an etiquette guide for supernatural dinner parties?
The door swings open, revealing Zane in a black henley shirt and tight jeans with a wide smile on his face.
"Hey, love!" he says with a hug that lifts me off my feet.
He guides me in with a hand at my back, pulling me into the dining room.
"Love, this is Kami," he says, gesturing to a stunning brunette woman in skin-tight clothing and leather boots. Her hair is perfectly coiffed and shiny and her warm-brown skin is flawless.
"Hey, Ava!" she says with what appears to be enthusiasm. "You're a total babe! I can see why Zane is so obsessed!"
She's gorgeous and nice? What a bitch.
"Thank you!"
"Now the real question is, what could you possibly see in this asshole?" she jokes, elbowing Zane in the arm. Zane winces and takes a moment to rub his arm where she prodded. This girl must be strong if she's actually able to hurt him.
"Thanks, love," he says. "I'm definitely not already regretting introducing you two."
I guess I'm not the only one he calls love. It's silly, but that bugs me a little. Hey, so what if she's stunning and perfect and shiny and sculpted by God himself... I don't even care.
Totally don't care.
"So uh, how do you two know each other?" I ask.
"We uh," Zane rubs the back of his neck with one hand, the other leaning on the counter.
This pause is awkward and I already regret asking this question. On second thought, I'd rather not know if you guys had some crazy supernatural four-winged flying sex.
Oh god, now I'm picturing it. Make it stoppp. Can I just die instead? Please?
"She's kind of my sister. I've never answered this question honestly to a human before." Zane's face twists in confusion before turning to her. "Kami, uh, how do I?"
"He makes things so complicated. Yes, we're basically siblings," she chimes in, taking a sip of what appears to be a glass of caramel-colored liquor.
"Oh... So you're... Are you both...?"
"Sirens, yep!" she says. "We don't really have siblings in the traditional sense because we don't have parents. We were both born within minutes of each other, so we grew up together. Except we didn't 'grow' really because well, we were born looking like this."
That was a lot of information and I'm pretty sure that makes no sense. They were born fully-grown? Who wants to push a full-sized adult out of their... but wait, they don't have parents, so what do they even come out of?
"Volcano," Zane says, handing me a beer.
"I'm sorry, what now?" I ask.
"I'm just trying to explain how we're born. You seemed confused. We're born from a volcano."
Of course. Naturally. The world's hottest people were born out of molten lava. Because where else would they come from?
"You literally didn't explain anything to her, did you Zane?" Kami scoffs. "I apologize for him. He's a man and therefore an idiot."
"Yep. Soooo glad I got you two together," he says, before downing his beer.
We're interrupted by a knock on the door, but it opens before anyone has a chance to answer it. Kieran appears with a bottle of vodka in one hand. He's wearing a studded denim jacket, tight white T-shirt, skinny black pants, and heeled boots.
"Hey, gang!" Kieran says with a smile, plopping the vodka down onto the counter and brushing hair behind his ear.
"Kami, good to see you," Kieran says. He gives her a sly smirk and turns to me. "Ava, you look whatever type of way I'm allowed to say that won't get me castrated by your boyfriend here."
"Hey Kieran!" I say, giving him a quick hug.
"I just want to make it clear she hugged me, Zane," Kieran teases before turning to Kami. "Did Zane tell you about going postal the last time Ava and I were in the same room together?"
"You were checking out her tits, mate," Zane interjects.
"Of course he was!" Kami chimes. "Girl's got great tits!"
I'm suddenly very, very aware of my chest. I feel like I should either cover them up or push them out more, but I don't want to be seen doing either so now I'm in this awkward middle stage of remaining totally still. Don't look at your own boobs now, either. That would just be weird.
"Hey," Zane snaps, a slight green appearing in his eyes. "Next person to comment on Ava's tits gets a broken neck."
"I told ya, Kami," Kieran says. He raises a finger to his head and mimes the crazy gesture before whispering, "Pooosstaaalll."
"So Kieran," I say in an attempt to change the subject. "You're a Siren too then?"
He looks at me dumbfounded, choking slightly on the drink he had just poured himself.
"What now?!?" Kieran says, his eyes wide and eyebrows raised. He looks to Zane, seemingly in an attempt to understand what I've just asked.
When I asked Zane to meet his friends and he said they were all non-human, I assumed that meant Kieran too. Did I already mess this up?
"She knows," Zane says.
"Oh, wow!" Kieran says with a sigh. "Somebody could've mentioned something, geez. I nearly choked on my vodka."
Wait, that glass is pure vodka? That is way too much vodka.
"So Loverboy here finally told you about the birds and the bees and the Sirens and sex demons, did he?" Kieran says with a smile.
Sex demons? Uh, no, I think he left that part out.
"Well welcome to the other side, Ava," Kieran chuckles. "Oh but wait... you think I'm a Siren?"
"I uh... I don't know what else there is."
"Ahhh, I'm just your friendly, neighborhood Incubus."
"Incubus... that's like a little gremlin—right? Don't they eat people's souls?"
Kami breaks into a fit of laughter.
"No," Kieran says, throwing some side eye at Kami. "Incubi or Succubi are just demons and we feed on people's sexual energy. Not souls."
"So Succubi are girl Incubi, right?"
"Sort of," he says. "Incubus and Succubus are terms for when we look male or female. Gender is really more of a human thing than a demon thing. Some of us are created from scratch, others of us—like myself—were turned from humans. Those of us that turned sometimes have a preference, like I prefer my original form—this form. Purebred demons rarely cling to a particular gender or form."
That makes sense. I've just glossed entirely over the fact that my life has become one where this insane conversation actually does—somehow—make sense.
He takes another long sip of his drink.
"Kieran, that's not entirely vodka, is it?" I ask.
"You betcha," he says. "I can handle the hard stuff, unlike humans and Sirens."
He shoots a playful look to Kami who doesn't seem to return his expression.
"So wait," I ask. "Aren't you guys kind of the same thing?"
"No," Kami and Kieran chime in unison.
"Sirens don't feed on humans," Kami explains. "We aren't demons. Humans can't become Sirens. And we have real gifts."
"Please," Kieran scoffs. "I could bench press a fucking train, how is that not a 'gift'?"
"Being strong isn't a gift, it just makes you a somewhat impressive gorilla." Kami crosses her arms across her chest and shoots him a glare.
Apparently this was the wrong question to ask.
"Sirens are also much easier to kill," he says with an aggressive look toward Kami.
"You wanna give it a try?" she replies with a growl.
"Oi," Zane says to them both. "If you're both quite finished with the dick measuring, how 'bout you both zip up and move on?"
Well that went sideways real fast.
ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖
I close the door behind Kieran after a quick goodbye. Well, I think that went well.
Once we steered the conversation away from my girlfriend's chest.
I turn to Ava, who has curled up in one corner of the couch. She's wearing a loose sweater and her hair is tucked behind her ears, with just a strand slipping through.
In the quiet, I can hear her heartbeat, the blood rushing through her veins. It's not quite right.
"Baby?" I ask. "Are you okay?"
She shrugs and nods, but she seems to hesitate and her neck muscles look stiff. Her skin is a pale grey and her expression is weak, almost lethargic.
"I don't believe you, love," I say, sitting beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"I... I am okay. For me."
"So not great, then?"
"No," she says with a shrug. "I feel kind of woozy, my head hurts, and my stomach hurts."
My instinct is to immediately rush her to the hospital, but Ava has assured me in the past that it wouldn't be helpful.
Why can't human medicine just get its bloody shit together and stop being so god-damned useless?
"Would it help if I..." I pause for a minute.
Am I really offering to make out with her as a service of some kind?
"Yeah," she says softly.
"How about..." I say. "Could I try something else instead?"
"What?"
"If you're okay with it, I was thinking I could try charming you."
"Babe, you're cute, but charm doesn't solve everything," she replies with a giggle.
"Thanks, love. But I meant more supernaturally. Sirens call it charming. I could try suggesting that you're not in pain, see if it might work."
"Oh, uh... Sure? I think? Will it hurt?"
"No, love. That's kind of the whole point. I've done it before, you know. To you."
Her expression seems concerned and her eyes narrow.
"You mean when you told me you were a Siren?" she asks.
"Well, yeah that and... when I told you it was safe to ride home with me, that night after the bar."
Shit... is that a bad thing to have done?
"Mmm..." she mumbles, her gaze still suspicious.
"I'm sorry if that was the wrong thing... I... I wanted you to be safe and you seemed like you needed help."
"Okay," she says. "I guess it's just... something you do, right? Like, a cultural thing."
"Yeah." I shrug.
"You didn't, like, make me attracted to you, right?"
"No. I mean, the kiss kind of does that. But you kissed me first. And it wears off."
"The kiss or the hypnotic... charm... stuff?"
"Both. The 'hypnotic charm stuff' can last longer, depending on what it is and how much the person might be inclined to resist it. The kiss effect wear of with time or water or... you know... exercise."
I give her a quick wink and smile.
"Okay, so... how does this work?" she asks.
"Well, I just need to touch your skin and talk to you."
"Don't you do that anyway?"
"I try not to say anything suggestive. I try to avoid putting things in your head."
"Okay," she says with an eyebrow raised.
I hold her hand. I've never been quite so formal about this but I've also never tried to charm someone who knew that's what I was doing.
"You aren't in pain, love. You aren't uncomfortable or dizzy or nauseous. You just feel good. You feel like someone in perfect health."
I examine her expression for signs that it's working. Her eyes soften and her shoulders relax.
"How do you feel?" I ask.
"Pretty good, I think. Does that mean... Did it work?"
"I think so, love," I say with a smile, pulling her into my chest with both arms.