Baltic scoffed. “I was stupid.”
“You were young and naive, and you craved love and affection. You got played.”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t change the fact that I was a fool for believing in that bastard.”
Caspian moved toward Baltic and sat close to him on the bed, so the two of them could snuggle close to each other. “You’re not evil, Balt. You’ve never killed anyone even after turning into a siren.”
“Only because you and Drake immediately fed me a bit of your blood when I transformed into a siren to keep me as sane as possible. The two of you have been doing it for a century now.”
“We’re triplets, Balt, and I’m the oldest among the three of us. I have a responsibility to look out for my baby brother.”
Baltic grimaced and threw his oldest brother a sour look. “I know, but I wish you would stop reminding me that I’m the baby in the family.”
Caspian chuckled. “Never.”
Baltic simply rolled his eyes, but he didn’t utter a single word in response. He might be in his siren state at the moment, but after feeding on Caspian’s blood earlier right before the sunset, he was able to stay more or less coherent and as normal as he could be. He enjoyed the closeness with his brother. He was also terrified that someday Caspian would get mated, leaving him alone. Even though he knew both Caspian and Drake would never abandon him, he couldn’t blame them if their priorities shifted. For a merperson, his or her mate would always come first.
“Cas.”
“Yeah.”
Baltic faced Caspian before speaking up. “I still haven’t bumped into the elf again.”
Caspian shrugged. “His loss then. You’re a catch.”
Baltic snorted. “Is this the prelude to another one of your bragging sessions about how we look alike and since you’re so gorgeous, that means I am, too, and the elf should feel honored to date me? Because if it is, save it. I’ve listened to you for almost two hundred years.”
Caspian snickered. “It’s simply the truth.”
Baltic snorted. “I don’t think you need a mate, Cas. You need a mental healer to cure you of your self-grandiose and overinflated sense of delusion. In fact, I think you’d mate with yourself if you could.”
Caspian let out a theatrical sigh. “I need the best mate possible. If it has to be me, I guess so be it.”
Baltic shook his head in disbelief. “I’m the siren here, and yet I have a strong feeling that you’re crazier than me.”
The two of them guffawed loudly after that. Baltic felt a whole lot better now. The call of the siren within him wasn’t as overwhelming as usual. Not that it was completely silent, but it wasn’t as powerful, and he found it a lot easier to ignore the thrall and enchantment that were singing deep within him. In fact, he was more of his usual self, the way he was when the purity of his merman magic was still intact within him.
“You should give it one last attempt, Balt,” Caspian spoke up a moment later, causing Baltic to startle out of his reverie.
“I’m not sure, Cas.”
“One last time. No harm, no foul.”
Baltic hesitated for a moment and thought about the enviable joy in Drake’s eyes earlier. “You’re right. I’ll visit the library again tomorrow and the day after. I think I’ll try for one whole week. If it’s not meant to be, I’ll move on and hope that someone else comes along.”
Caspian beamed at him. “That’s the spirit.”
“Thanks, Cas.”
“You’re welcome. Anyway, I think I’ll turn in early tonight. I have those damn plants and herbs to tend to early tomorrow morning. Some of them need to be picked before the sun rises or they will lose their magical properties. Will you be all right on your own?”
“Yeah. Night, Cas.”
“Night.”
Baltic waited until Caspian had left the room before lying back down on his bed. He thought about the elf and felt his whole being grow really warm. He was going to do his best to locate the elf. Caspian and Drake hadn’t given up on him finding a mate, and he had to keep the faith, as well. He was even more determined to succeed now because he was certain the elf was his mate. Once he had the elf in front of him, he would dig up enough courage to ask the man out. That should be easy as pie.
Chapter 5
Jefferson was annoyed and relieved. The sorcerer had been strangely inactive. Not that Jefferson wished to receive more horrible news about unwarranted attacks on other supernatural beings, but without any new leads, his hands were tied. He couldn’t move forward with his investigation. To make him even more frustrated, he had yet to bump into the merman again even though he had been trying to do so by going to the library for a whole week at around the same time as their first meeting. His obsession with that merman reminded him of one of the bedtime fairy tale stories his Dada and Papa used to tell him back when he was still a toddler.
It was about a beautiful female elf who befriended a human blacksmith. In the story, the elf found herself thinking about her friend day and night, but she didn’t have the courage to confess her feeling for the blacksmith. She was an elf, an immortal who couldn’t grow old and die like an ordinary human. Most humans didn’t know the existence of the supernatural beings, but the ones who did were fascinated and terrified of them at the same time. Most preferred to shun them. She was frightened that her love would be rejected. She didn’t want to lose him as a friend.
One day, the blacksmith got into an accident, injuring himself while hammering a hot iron on an anvil. She ran to his hut to check in on him and found him unmoving in bed. In her fear for his well-being, she blurted out her deepest feeling to the blacksmith, who was only sleeping lightly. He woke up and heard her loud and clear. The fairy tale sort of had a happily ever after. He was in love with the elf, too. The two of them got married, both in the ways of the ordinary mortals and the elves.
However, the only way for the blacksmith to live an eternal life was to follow his wife into the land of the elves, so he could never grow old and die. He had to leave everything and everyone he knew behind him. He could never return to the mortal realm again. The blacksmith chose to live with his beautiful elf in the land of the elves for eternity. It might just be a fairy tale, but it had always been one of his most favorite stories. He had been dreaming of having a mate of his own for many years, but he didn’t feel much of a connection with any of the people he met in the past. That all changed when he encountered the merman. Now, he really couldn’t get those gorgeous icy-blue eyes or the ethereal quality of the merman’s appearance out of his mind.
He sighed and decided to pay Edwin a visit at the bakery. It would be better than staying home and moping for the rest of the day. He might at least have a little bit of company at the bakery. Besides, Edwin had been asking him over because there was something urgent his best friend wanted to discuss with him. After checking on his magical ward, he drew upon his magic from deep within him. One second later, he was standing in the narrow and deserted alleyway between Edwin’s bakery and another building. He made his way toward the bakery and grinned when he noticed Gavin and Edwin chatting with each other near to the cash register at the counter. He stepped inside and greeted his friends, who waved at him in return.
“Someone has been very perky lately,” he commented while leaning sideways against the counter and suppressing his amusement at Edwin’s embarrassment.
Edwin continued to wipe down the countertop for a moment before responding to him. “I have no idea what you’re trying to imply there.”
Jefferson was rather taken aback when Gavin snorted before pulling him close by his cheeks and making weird kissing noises at him. “Oh, Ed. You’re such a hunk. My lips are on fire. I need you to quench my thirst with your mind-blowing kisses.”
He snickered loudly before playing along. “Anything for you, my lovely Drake. Pucker up, baby. Let me get at those gorgeous lips.”
Edwin rolled both eyes at him and Gavin. “Behave yourselves, children. My bakery i
s a sanitary place of business. It’s lunchtime. I have customers in here. Besides, some of them are giggling at your immature display of stupidity.”
Gavin laughed out loud. “Don’t be such a downer. Seriously, Ed, we’re truly delighted for you.”
“Thanks, guys, but Dray and I don’t look like that when we kiss. There are less clothes involved,” Edwin retorted before chuckling and winking at Jefferson and Gavin.
Jefferson pretended to gag. “Thanks for the image, asshole. Now I need to bleach my brain.”
“I agree with Jeff. We may be best friends, almost like brothers even, but I don’t want to think about you getting naked.”
Edwin shrugged. “You both started it.”
“Whatever,” Jefferson mumbled before leaning sideways against the counter again. “So, what’s the emergency? I’m a busy man.”
Edwin hesitated for a moment before answering. “It’s Miranda.”
Gavin chuckled. “Again?”
Edwin scrunched up his face, obviously irritated. “What do you mean?”
Gavin smirked at Edwin. “Never mind that. You really need to avoid one-on-one interactions with her.”
“Easier said than done. She’s a council member. You both are hunters, too. You know how it is with them.”
Jefferson nodded. “We do, but you seem to be the only one out of the three of us who has many intimate sessions with Miranda.”
Edwin glared at Jefferson. “Bite your tongue. If Dray heard that, he and I would have a huge misunderstanding.”
Gavin stared at Edwin with a serious expression. “Is there anything that Drake should be worried about?”
Edwin narrowed his eyes at Gavin. “Fuck you, Gav. Dray is my mate. I might be a man-whore before he and I got together, but I stopped sleeping around the moment we began dating. I will never cheat, especially not on my mate.”
Gavin raised both hands in supplication. “Okay. Cool. Jeez. Sorry I asked. I just had to make sure what happened back then didn’t repeat itself.”
Jefferson could tell Edwin was still a little pissed off, but his best friend proceeded with the explanation on the case he was working on at the moment. “It’s no longer about that. I was discussing the missing merpeople with Dray last night.”
Jefferson stood up straight in an instant. “Anything new?”
“Dray confirmed something Miranda mentioned to me.”
“What’s that?” Gavin prodded, looking more serious now.
“Unlike the supernatural beings who live on land or up in the air, little is known about the ones in the ocean. You both know that love and sacrificing a merperson’s pearl are the permanent cure for a siren, right? We talked about those before.”
Gavin and Jefferson nodded at the same time.
“You’ve also told us Drake and Caspian are feeding Baltic a little bit of their blood each day before the sun sets to keep him from slipping completely away and turning into a full siren,” Jefferson added in an even tone. He wanted to request for Edwin to show him an image of Baltic, Caspian, and Drake, but it wasn’t the right moment. “Nothing new there.”
Jefferson observed as Edwin was putting away the piece of cloth he had been using to wipe the counter with before beckoning him and Gavin with a crook of his right index finger to shift closer. “Apparently, draining the blood from a merperson and consuming it will help to suppress the siren deep inside.”
Gavin appeared horrified. “That’s…that’s barbaric.”
“I couldn’t agree more with Gav,” Jefferson muttered, feeling sick and uncomfortable.
Edwin was about to continue when Gavin cut him off. “Wait! Are you implying Miranda has done something like that?”
Edwin blushed. “I know it’s a very far-fetched possibility, not to mention extremely narcissistic, but think about it. She was into me more than ten years ago, but I wasn’t interested. I ended up telling her to back off when she became obsessed and stalker-ish. She disappeared for a few days. Then, she returned, all cold and spiteful toward me. I was too grateful for her change in attitude to give it much thought. Now that I think about it, is it possible she has turned into a siren?”
Jefferson shook his head. “Sirens are overwhelmed by their desires to lure both men and women to their deaths. They don’t think in a logical and calm manner, man. If Miranda had really transformed into a siren, she wouldn’t be considering a solution to hide it. Instead, she would be searching for victims repeatedly.”
Edwin didn’t have a response to that, but Gavin did. “Not quite. Miranda is a very powerful mermaid. She has existed for almost a millennium. The strength of her water magic will keep her sane longer than the younger merfolks who are turning into sirens. Drake, Baltic, and Caspian are powerful because they’re triplets. Their magic combines and feeds off one another like a loop because of how similar they are. However, they’re too young. It’s not enough to keep Baltic from changing halfway into a siren and needing his brothers’ blood from losing his sanity. If anyone could pull it off, it would be Miranda.”
Edwin heaved out a sigh. “I’ll send a text message to Dray to warn him to be more cautious. Miranda hates me. She may even transfer her bitterness toward me onto my mate.”
Jefferson agreed. “Do that now.”
He and Gavin headed toward one of the empty tables where they could wait for Edwin to contact his mate. After several minutes, he noticed Edwin gesturing at him and Gavin, so they made their way toward him immediately.
“I can’t get any of the triplets on their phones.”
“Maybe they’re busy?” Gavin suggested, but the water dragon shifter sounded uncertain. “Let’s give them thirty more minutes.”
Jefferson clapped Edwin on the left shoulder. “You have two customers left inside the bakery, and they’re almost done with their food and drinks. I’ll just turn the sign on the door to ‘Closed.’ We can leave in thirty minutes if neither of the brothers returns your call.”
Edwin nodded. “Thanks.”
Jefferson didn’t know what to think. He was naturally worried about Drake because the merman was Edwin’s mate. He was also worried about Caspian and Baltic, but especially the latter. If Baltic turned out to be the same merman he had been obsessing over for a while now, he had no idea how he would react if the man ended up in a dangerous situation. He noticed Edwin picking up his smartphone and attempting to contact either of the triplets every five minutes or so, but his best friend couldn’t reach any of them. It was obvious to him that Edwin was starting to panic. When the final customer left the bakery slightly more than twenty minutes later, he waited for Edwin to lock the main entrance to the bakery before rushing into the kitchen. He and Gavin trailed after Edwin from behind.
“We’re coming with you, Ed,” Gavin spoke up the moment the connecting door closed behind them.
“Fine. I’m going to create the portal of fire since neither of you knows the exact location of the house that my mate shares with his brothers.”
The moment the portal appeared, Jefferson stepped into it immediately. After being best friends for thousands of years, he trusted the phoenix shifter one hundred percent. A few seconds later, the three of them arrived outside the house. He followed Edwin into the house. He was rather surprised that the front door was unlocked, but he remembered Edwin telling him and Gavin about the triplets’ jobs. It would be troublesome for the triplets to open the door every time one of their customers needed to come into the house.
He, Edwin, and Gavin checked the rooms and backyard on the first floor, but everything appeared to be neat and tidy. The second floor was a different matter altogether. The scene was stomach-churning. Broken furniture and dishes were everywhere, not to mention the utensils and food on the ground. The worst part was the amount of blood coating several surfaces of the apartment.
“Shit,” Jefferson muttered under his breath.
Edwin clenched his fists in anger. “I’ll fucking kill her.”
Gavin grabbed Edwin’s shoulder
tightly. “Don’t be rash. We can’t be sure that it’s her.”
Edwin glared at Gavin. “The whole apartment smells like salty seawater.”
Gavin leaned closer to Edwin. “The triplets are mermen. The apartment will smell like them.”
Edwin was obviously furious, though. “Fine. What should I do then?”
“Call for an emergency meeting with all council members.”
“What’s the point?”
Jefferson cut in before Gavin could answer the question. “You’re mated to Drake. If Miranda had been in close proximity to your mate, you would be able to smell your scent on her.”
Edwin was stunned for a moment. “You’re right. I’ll do that now.”
“Great. Jeff and I will be there, as well.”
Edwin gave a shaky smile to him and Gavin. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate your support.”
Less than five minutes later, Edwin stood in the chamber, facing all five council members. Meanwhile, Jefferson and Gavin were standing behind their best friend in a show of solidarity. He was calm until he noticed Miranda sneering at Edwin. He had a strong feeling Miranda would be on the offensive. He was proven right seconds later.
“Edwin, what’s the meaning of this? Why have you called for an emergency meeting with the council?”
“I need to report an attack on my mate, Drake, and his brothers, Caspian and Baltic.”
Miranda scoffed at Edwin. “That’s your emergency? You should be taking care of such a small matter on your own.”
Edwin narrowed his eyes at Miranda. “Drake, Caspian, and Baltic are mermen. They’re your people. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about their well-being, Council?”
Jefferson caught the flash of irritation on Miranda’s face, but it disappeared almost immediately. He agreed with Edwin, though. Miranda’s behavior was strange. As the council member in charge of all water shifters, she should be the most worried about those she was supposed to be responsible for.
“Fine. Do you have any clue as to their attacker?”
The Tattoo of the Elf [The Triplet Mermen Trilogy] Page 5
