𝔸𝕧𝕒
Jen hands me a cup of tea as she slumps next to me on my couch. I'm wrapped in a blanket because I'm feeling shitty, as usual. My head is pounding and it feels like bugs are crawling under my skin.
"Have you finally talked to Shayna?" I ask, taking a sip of my tea.
Almost instantly, I burn my tongue and pant like a maniac trying to cool it.
Hot. Hot. Hot.
"I did actually!" she proclaims proudly.
"Really?? It only took like... a month and a half of hiding your ex-girlfriend in your own home." I smirk as she slugs me in the shoulder with a pillow.
"I see how it is, hater," she says with a playful glare.
"I'm mostly kidding," I say. "How'd it go?"
"She said she's okay with it! So I guess I worried for nothing."
"Well, that's a relief at least."
I take another sip of my tea and immediately regret it, burning my tongue again.
Why do I literally always do this?
"Yeah," she says, reaching into her purse and handing me a white bag. "Here's your prescription, girlie."
"Oh thank you for picking this up, you're my hero."
"No problem. What is it, though? The pharmacist insisted on telling me all of these scary side effects: seizures, face swelling, paranoia... and I swear she said dizziness, but isn't that one of the symptoms you're trying to treat?"
I laugh. "Yeah, that's pretty much common for everything they give me. Helps with one thing, messes up another thing."
She grabs the information sheet and reads it over.
"'Not breathing'??" Jen gasps. "How is that a side effect?? And how is that not just called 'death'?"
I giggle as she continues reading.
"'Pale lips'?" she continues. "Well yeah, no shit if you're not breathing!"
"So basically, I'm going to be a zombie."
"'Experiencing things that are not real'? What the heck is this nightmare drug?"
"They want me to try it for the pain and headaches. They said if it works then we'll know it's a neurological problem. So it's like a test run for a few weeks."
"A test run that could end in death?" Jen scrunches her face. "Heck, every time I talk to you I remember how totally insane the medical industry is."
"Glad I can be your education," I say sarcastically.
ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖
After my conversation with Kami, I drove straight over to Pike's. I'm getting to the bottom of this right now.
The door swings open to reveal a mostly-empty bar, which I would expect for midday.
"We're not open yet," Kieran's voice shouts from the back room.
"Well, look who it is! He lives!" Kieran says as he emerges.
I'm not really in the mood for his usual rubbish right now.
"After last Thursday, I assumed Ava had fucked you into a coma or something!" he says, adjusting things behind the bar as I approach.
"Wait... what? How do you know about Thursday?" I ask.
"I was getting a midnight snack of my own a few blocks away and I couldn't help but overhear some dirty Siren sounds coming from your place. You get yours, Z-Man!"
This is not how I saw this conversation starting.
"I've gotta know, what did she do that made you so loud?!" he says with a laugh. "Are you sure you're a Siren and not a Banshee because I'm-"
"Kieran," I say, cutting him off as I push him from across the bar. "Keep your bloody ears to yourself."
"Damn, dude," he says, grimacing as he rubs his shoulder. "You've gotten a lot stronger lately, haven't you?"
"I don't have time for this conversation."
"Wow, okay pouty face," he grumbles. "Somebody's got their panties in a twist!"
"We need to talk."
"Are you breaking up with me, Z-man?" Kieran smirks and turns his back to me to dry a stack of empty glasses with a towel. "Is it because I'm fucking other men? ...And women?"
"The fucking is one thing, sucking them dry is another."
"Well, sorry to break it to you, but I'm definitely doing quite a bit of sucking, too," he says with a laugh. When he turns around his expression drops as he sees I'm not laughing.
"You know what I mean, Kieran."
"It's Kieran now, is it? Not mate?" he asks, his brows furrowed. "So I guess you've been talking to Kami."
"So it's true?" I ask.
"No," he spits. "It's not fucking true. Just because your crazy-ass sister is convinced I'm a mindless animal doesn't mean I am!"
"Then how are you feeding? Because I haven't been helping you nearly as much since I started seeing Ava, but you don't seem to be starving."
He sets down the towel and glass he was holding.
"Wow," he says. "So that's what you think, then? You agree with her? You think I'm spiraling out of control?"
"Why don't you answer me, then?"
"You wanna know how I'm feeding? It's pretty fucking ironic, Zane, because I took a page out of your book."
"How's that?"
"I decided to try the relationship thing," he sighed. "I didn't wanna keep relying on your help, and what you were doing made a lot of sense. Rather than having to constantly convince new people to sleep with me, I figured I'd just convince someone to keep sleeping with me."
How romantic.
Wait... Kieran is in a relationship? With who?
"Wha-... What?" I stutter. "That doesn't make any sense. You can't survive off the energy of just one person. Not without the boost from my venom."
"Whoa, whoa! I never said it was just one!" Kieran says, bringing his hand to his chest as if he's deeply offended. "I'm a demon, Zane, not an idiot. I got, like, eight of them."
"Eight?" I ask, a bit of a chuckle escaping with it.
Okay, that makes a lot more sense.
Kieran pauses a moment, clearly doing some mental math and counting his fingers.
"Eight currently," he says. "No, wait... nine?"
I burst into laughter, partly from the humor of the situation and partly in relief.
"So you're not draining humans all around town? Then who is?" I ask.
"Fuck if I know, dude. I don't know any other Incubi or Succubi in town, but it's not like we have a newsletter."
I sigh for a minute. He seems genuine and his explanation makes sense.
"So the other night—your midnight snack—that was..."
"Kyle," he says.
Wow, Kieran just remembered a partner's name for once. This has to be a miracle.
"He's pretty fucking hot and he does this thing whe-" he continues.
"Okay, okay!" I interrupt. "Too much information. I believe you."
Kieran smirks, the usual snarky glint returning to his eye.
"You sure you don't want to hear? Because I sure got an earful of your sex life that I didn't ask for, so I feel like it's only fair that I return the favor."
"I won't hesitate to rip that tongue out, mate," I reply.
"Touchy touchy!"
"You know what, I believe you, okay. I don't need the details."
"Aww, I'm touched," he says sarcastically. "Speaking of touched..."
"Okay, change of subject!" I say, cutting him off before I have to listen to an earful about Kieran's sex life. "I have something else to talk to you about."
"Oh yeah?" he asks. "Finally decided to share Ava?"
This prick is seriously asking for it.
"What did I just say about that tongue?" I snap. I take a swing at him but he dodges it.
"Oh fine, dude. You can accuse me of murder but I can't joke about sleeping with your girlfriend? You're no fun!"
I decide to ignore his comment and continue.
"I need you to track someone down for me," I say, pulling Ava's balled up shirt from my pocket.
He squints before grabbing the shirt, picking it up, and sniffing it.
"Ava?" he asks. "Dude, if she's hiding from you, that's a pretty clear indicator that you've done something wrong."
"Not Ava, you arse."
"Uhh," he says, taking another sniff. His eyes furrow and his expression falls. "Wait... what happened? Did someone hurt Ava?"
"Some prick went after her and Jen. She's fine, but you can bet I'm not about to let it go. That's why I need your help."
"He attacked her?" he asks, holding the fabric up to examine it. "Enough to rip her shirt apart?"
"Uh," I stumble, remembering that I had torn the shirt off her later that night. "No, that wasn't him."
Kieran looks particularly smug and laughs.
"You dirty fucking bastard," he jokes. "I've had an excellent influence on you."
"Can we not have this conversation?" I ask.
"Alright, mate," he says. "Well, I've got the scent now. Whoever this guy is, he's as good as dead."