The Siren's Mark

By Heather White

Ava’s life was somewhat boring. You would think being part siren it would be more exciting, but it wasn’t. That was until pirate captain, Sebastian Edwards, came sailing into her life and asking her to go away with him. Will she take a chance on love and sail with him, or will she stick to what she has always known?

This is the first of three prequel novellas to the Nowhere Duet. Each novella can be read as a stand alone as each has a HEA. They can also be read in any order, but for the ultimate reading experience I would recommended the following order:

Prequel Novellas:
The Siren’s Mark
The Wolf’s Ruby
The Outlaw’s Lady

Novels:
Finding Love in Nowhere
Twin Mates in Nowhere

This is also the order they will be published in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Heather White
• Release date: Oct 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005155094

Heather White

Hi Everyone,I am from a small town in Arizona. I have been working on becoming a writer for quite a few years now and am finally making that dream come true. I am an avid reader as well. I read and write a wide variety of genres including, romance, western, contemporary, fantasy, historical fiction and paranormal to name a few.I love animals especially horses and dogs. I currently have two huskies.

Book preview

The Siren’s Mark

Published by Heather White at Smashwords

Cover Art by SelfPubBookCovers.com/apocalypstick

Copyright 2020 Heather White

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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I wanted to give a thank you to my mentor and fellow author Marsha Ward for her guidance and assistance in helping me become an author. She has been very patient with me throughout the whole process and my many questions.

I also wanted to thank my family who has supported me all these years to help me see my dream come true, even when they had to listen to some bad story ideas or the same story over and over.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 1

The waves crashed over the sides of The Allison as Captain Sebastian Edwards stood at the helm steering the ship and shouting orders to his crew. As a pirate, Sebastian was considered ruthless and cruel. No one wanted to ever get on his bad side as he would kill without mercy. There was a side to him though, that he didn’t show very often. This side of him was reserved for those he cared about, to some extent his crew and, if he ever found another one, a woman he loved. He was fiercely loyal and would do anything for them.

Most of the crew had been with him for several years and were well seasoned. They all respected each other and worked well together.

They were currently on their way to intercept a large merchant ship bound for New Spain. They would then head to Port Royal and sell the cargo. To intercept the ship in time, however, they had to take a short cut through Siren’s Passage.

Siren’s Passage was a narrow passage that ran between two large islands. The islands stretched for several miles and were always surrounded by storm clouds. No one had a detailed description of exactly what it looked like further inside the passage as no one ever came out the other side of it to tell their tale. If anyone did, they never said anything. Almost all sailors believed that no one ever came out the other side due to sirens, hence the name.

Sebastian nor his crew believed in the stories of sirens and mermaids. They attributed the disappearances of the crews that entered to the severe storms. Being a well-seasoned crew, they weren’t too worried about the storms. It was always good to be cautious, of course, but not scared, or ruled by superstition like most sailors tended to be, whether the sailors were pirate, merchant or navy.

The ship and the crew were soaked from the storm, but that was a normal thing on a ship. If you didn’t like to get wet, you shouldn’t become a sailor, let alone a pirate. As pirates, they braved more harrowing situations and storms to get the best cargo. If you weren’t willing to take the risks, you weren’t going to make it long as a pirate. You would either run out of money quickly or get caught by the navy.

As the crew entered the passage, there were cliffs on either side that towered above them. After a long while of fighting waves and a downpour, it all suddenly stopped. Everything became eerily still. There was no more torrential rain or crashing waves. The crew all stood looking around in shock at the drastic change in weather conditions.

They heard several splashes on either side of the ship. Sebastian looked around and caught a glimpse of what looked like a silver tail. Suddenly, several females popped up out of the water on either side of the ship. The women smiled sweetly. His crew, being the raunchy lot that they were, quickly became distracted by the women. His crew were fine sailors, but they would go after anything with a pretty face and breasts.

Realization began to dawn on him that the stories of sirens and mermaids may not just be stories. He tried to avoid looking at the women. He could appreciate beautiful women but wasn’t going to fall for these ones as it was just a trap. He had only ever wanted one woman, Allison, but she had left him for a navy captain. After that, he had not trusted women as a rule and certainly wasn’t going to trust these.

Don’t look at them. They aren’t what they seem, he yelled at the crew.

Some of the men turned to look at him, breaking the pull of the sirens. He heard several hisses coming from the women. The sirens began to sing. He yelled at his crew again as he fought to cover his ears. He tore off bits of his shirt and stuffed the pieces of cloth in his ears.

Cover your ears. Don’t listen to them. They will lead you to your death, he yelled.

The ship was still moving from the momentum of the storm they had just passed through. He tried to use that to his advantage and turned the ship to rub up against one of the cliffs to knock the sirens off. It worked to some extent and several of the crew members came out of their charmed state. However, it just angered the other sirens, and they doubled their efforts in singing. More sirens arrived to join those already there.

Those men who were able to cover their ears tried to assist in getting the ship moving. However, the sirens began getting agitated that their songs weren’t working like they normally did and started ramming the sides of the ship. There must have been at least two hundred of them. The ship couldn’t hold up under the attack and holes were blown in its sides. It soon began taking water, and before long they were unable to move any farther. As it sank, the sirens swam over the sides and grabbed crew members.

Sebastian drew his sword and began trying to fight them off. As he killed one, another would replace it. Eventually several spun towards him and came at him all at once. However, what once were pretty faces now held long fangs and snarls. They also had long, sharp claws that appeared. They used them to get grip on the wood of the ship and slither across