The Mark of the Phoenix [The Triplet Mermen Trilogy] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Casper Graham

  Edwin could feel his irritation boiling over. “Can you be direct, please? I don’t have time to waste. My mate is waiting at home for me.”

  Miranda stared at him in silence for a moment before responding. “Feeding Baltic a little bit of their blood will stop the siren from taking over the merman, but Caspian and Drake can also capture a merperson and let Baltic drink the precious liquid from him or her. That will allow Baltic to remain as a merman for the entire day. Don’t you find it strange how lucid Baltic appears to be in the evening?”

  Edwin clenched his fists in anger. “What are you suggesting?”

  “You’re intelligent. Figure it out yourself. Have a wonderful evening.”

  Edwin watched as Miranda returned to the chamber. Then, he called upon his fire and created a portal before stepping into it. He would have to discuss this new piece of information with Drake. He was hoping his mate could shed some light on it.

  * * * *

  Drake could tell something was bothering Edwin. It wasn’t anything obvious, but they were mates. He might not be able to read Edwin’s mind, but his mate’s more powerful emotions certainly filtered through their link. He decided not to push the issue until they finished with dinner, which happened to be pizza. There were many things possibly filling up Edwin’s mind, and Drake could have guessed on a number of them, but his mate’s question threw him off for a moment. He stared at Edwin in astonishment as the two of them sat next to each other on the couch after dinner was over.

  “You want to know all the ways to cure a siren?”

  Edwin nodded. “Both permanent or otherwise.”

  “Love from his or her mate. Also, the pearl from a merperson. Those will be the permanent ones.”

  “What about the temporary ones?”

  “There are lots of them.”

  Edwin slung one arm over Drake’s shoulders. “Tell me about them, sweetheart.”

  Drake glanced at Edwin in confusion. “Why the sudden curiosity?”

  Edwin inhaled deeply before responding. “It’s Miranda. She told me something about a blood sacrifice from a merperson.”

  Drake gaped at Edwin. “No merfolk will ever do that. The one who does will turn evil forever. It’s even worse than transforming into a siren because that is one surefire way to lose oneself to the darkness without a way to return to the light.”

  Edwin nodded. “That’s what I thought, as well. I actually have a terrible feeling about something, but it sounds rather farfetched when I consider it in my head.”

  Drake leaned closer to his mate. “Care to share your theory with me?”

  “It’s Miranda.”

  “What about her?”

  “She and I…we…we have a bit of a history.”

  Drake looked up at Edwin in surprise. “You dated her before?”

  He noticed Edwin’s cheeks reddening. “It was one-sided on her part.”

  “And?”

  “And nothing,” Edwin insisted while gazing straight into Drake’s eyes. “She didn’t turn into a siren. If she had been brokenhearted, she would have transformed into one. Right? She’s still a mermaid, so I’m sure she’s fine.”

  Drake couldn’t argue with that. “That’s true, but what if she had been feeding on a merperson’s blood for years? In a large quantity, I mean.”

  Edwin seemed horrified by that prospect. “That means she has been consuming their blood for more than ten years now.”

  Drake couldn’t wrap his head around such a possibility. It was making his stomach churn. Baltic only took a bit of either his or Caspian’s blood every day right before the sun set. He knew who Miranda was. She was one of the most well-respected merpeople. In fact, she was probably the most admired water-shifter. She was logical and sane. Or at least she appeared that way on the surface. Drake placed his hand on Edwin’s thigh, trembling a little as he did so.

  “What are we going to do now, Ed?”

  “I…I don’t know. Let me…let me talk to Jeff and Gav tomorrow.”

  “All right.”

  “Yeah. Shall we go to bed now, sweetheart? I don’t want to think about Miranda anymore. This whole case is giving me a migraine.”

  Drake chuckled upon hearing that. “Liar. We’re shifters. We can’t be affected or infected by the ailments and illnesses that the ordinary humans are susceptible to. At least not in the same manner as them.”

  Edwin chuckled under his breath. “You caught me. I just want to hold you in my arms.”

  “You never need an excuse to do that.”

  “Okay. Let’s get some sleep then.”

  Drake got up on his feet and pulled Edwin toward the direction of the master bedroom. He was determined to forget about Miranda or those missing merpeople. At least for one night. He and Edwin could deal with it again in the morning. In the meantime, he was going to lie down on the bed and cuddle with his mate, preferably naked. If they ended up having several minutes of hot, passionate kisses in bed, he wouldn’t be protesting. Not at all.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Someone has been very perky lately.”

  Edwin rolled his eyes at Jefferson while continuing to wipe the counter. “I have no idea what you’re trying to imply there.”

  Gavin snorted before tugging Jefferson’s face closer and making weird kissing noises. “Oh, Ed. You’re such a hunk. My lips are on fire. I need you to quench my thirst with your mind-blowing kisses.”

  Jefferson snickered before responding. “Anything for you, my lovely Drake. Pucker up, baby. Let me get at those gorgeous lips.”

  Edwin was both amused and annoyed at the same time. “Behave yourselves, children. My bakery is 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 informed his best friends before winking at them.

  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 out before leaning sideways against the counter. “So, what’s the emergency? I’m a busy man.”

  Edwin decided not to point out that Jefferson was a healer who met with supernatural patients based on appointments or, in rare cases, the ones who were mortally wounded. Since supernatural beings had a faster rate of healing compared to the ordinary folks, he knew Jefferson only had patients whose magical ailments didn’t seem to go away on their own for the most part.

  “It’s Miranda.”

  Gavin chuckled. “Again?”

  He scrunched up his face in irritation. “What do you mean?”

  Gavin smirked at him. “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 have been 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.”

  Edwin was still a litt
le pissed off, but he understood Gavin’s intention. “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. “Nothing new there.”

  Edwin put away the piece of cloth he had been using to wipe the counter with and beckoned his best friends closer to him with a crook of his right index finger. “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, looking 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 farfetched 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? She has also been very obsessed lately with this siren case. It also feels as if she has a personal vendetta against the triplets, which doesn’t make sense to me. I can’t see a connection anywhere.”

  Jefferson shook his head. “It’s probably pure spite on her part. Anyway, 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.”

  After Edwin shot off the text message, he had to place his smartphone and deal with a couple of customers who had just stepped into the bakery while Jefferson and Gavin occupied one of the empty tables near to the door. He kept an eye out on his smartphone, feeling distracted and more than a little frightened as the minutes passed by without any replies from Drake. Once he was done with the customers, he attempted to get Drake on the phone, but his mate didn’t answer. He decided to try reaching out to Caspian and Baltic instead. However, neither of them picked up their phones either. He had a horrible feeling welling up in his guts. He gestured at both Jefferson and Gavin, who 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 man 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 none of the brothers return your call.”

  Edwin nodded. “Thanks.”

  It was easier said than done, though. Edwin picked up his smartphone and attempted to contact any of the triplets every five minutes or so, but he couldn’t reach any of them. He was starting to panic even though he kept telling himself to calm down. When the final customer left the bakery slightly more than twenty minutes later, he couldn’t sit still any longer. He locked the door and rushed into the kitchen with Jefferson and Gavin trailing after him 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.”

  A few seconds later, the three of them arrived outside the house. Edwin wasn’t surprised that the door was unlocked. After all, the triplets had their respective customers walking in and out at different times. Drake had mentioned to him about how troublesome it would become if they had to answer the door every time. He, Jefferson, and Gavin checked the rooms and the 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 him. “The triplets are mermen. The apartment will smell like them.”

  Edwin was furious, but he couldn’t deny the truth in Gavin’s statement. “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 his best friends. “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 him in a show of solidarity. He suppressed his temper when Miranda sneered at him.

  “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 him. “That’s your emergency? You should be taking care of such a small matter on your own.”

  He 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, Councilwoman?”

  He caught the flash of irritation on Miranda’s face, but it disappeared almost immediately. “Fine. Do you have any clue as to their attacker?”

  “That’s the reason why I needed to call for an emergency meeting with all five council members.”

  Miranda banged the table in front of her and glared at Edwin. “In other words, you have no idea who is responsible. You’re wasting all our time.”

  Edwin was about to retort when Jefferson cut in. “Council member
s, if I may say a word?”

  Oveda nodded. “Of course. Go ahead.”

  “Actually, Edwin didn’t notice an important clue left behind on the ground right next to the couch earlier, but I did. One of the triplets managed to write the attacker’s name in blood before they were abducted.”

  “That’s a fucking lie,” Miranda screamed, getting to her feet. “They were all unconscious after a short battle. I even checked to make sure—”

  “Thank you, Councilwoman,” Jefferson interrupted before smirking at Miranda, who gasped out in shock at being tricked.

  Tarragon stood and spoke up in a calm manner. “Where are the triplets, Miranda?”

  Miranda shuddered and grabbed the table with her claws. Edwin could tell that she was about to explode in anger, but her next movement still took him aback. Not because it was a brilliant tactic on her part, but because it showed just how far-gone she truly was. She attempted to lure him with a haunting siren song. If she had been perfectly sane, she would have remembered he was immune to it. Moreover, he was also protected by Drake’s pearl within him. The siren song might be enchanting, but he didn’t feel its magic at all.

  When she realized she had failed, she transformed into a hideous siren before dashing toward him with her claws stretched out and screeching through a mouthful of fangs. Her salty seawater scent turned into the stench of rotten fish. Her previously beautiful face became hideous. He called upon his phoenix fire to protect him before meeting her halfway and burning her claws away. She might be a powerful water-shifter, but he was much older than her and a phoenix to boot. He grabbed Miranda by her neck and lifted her high in the air.

  “Listen to me, Miranda. You’ve abducted my mate and his brothers. You’re also a siren, an abomination. I should have burned you into ashes, but I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Where have you taken my mate and his brothers to?”

  Edwin wasn’t astonished when Miranda simply kept on shrieking and writhing in the air. Sirens were wild and unpredictable. They were more or less insane, especially when they were furious. He was at a loss. He needed to know where Drake, Caspian, and Baltic were so he could rescue them. However, he couldn’t do that without knowing their exact location. He was startled when he felt someone’s arm squeezing his shoulder from behind. It was Sombertooth.