The Selkie Sorceress (Seal Island Trilogy, Book 3) (33 page)

“Wh-what did she do?” Kelsey asked, leaning into Tara.

Tara put a comforting arm around her daughter’s shoulders, exchanging a troubled look with Dominic. “Sam, I’m not sure we—”

“She turned dark,” Sam said softly.

“What do you mean…dark?” Kelsey asked.

“She killed him.”

Owen recoiled and Kelsey shot up, off the chair. “
What?
”

“She killed him,” Sam said, pushing away from the window. “And when she walked back to the sea, the sea witch was waiting for her at the shoreline, ready to take her home and teach her everything she knew.”

“Wait…” Kelsey clung to Tara. “If the princess turned into the sea witch, then that means…” Her face went pale and the last word came out as barely more than a whisper. “Moira.”

Sam turned, taking in the stunned faces looking back at him. “You deserved to know the truth.”

Kelsey’s lower lip started to tremble. “But that means…Moira’s my
great-aunt
?”

Owen scrambled to his feet, shoving the knotted pieces of rope into Sam’s hands. He opened his mouth, trying to speak, but no sound came out.

Sam knelt in front of him. “What is it, Owen? What are you trying to tell us?”

Liam crossed the room, gathering up the pieces of rope Owen scattered over the floor. “If Moira killed the prince, why haven’t the mermaids come after her? Is it because she’s too powerful?”

Sam shook his head. “No one knows the truth. Moira let them believe Brigid and the prince ran away together, and when the mermaids got word of his death, they automatically blamed Brigid.”

Dominic stood, pushing back from the table. “Moira
framed
Brigid for the murder?”

Brennan looked up at Dominic and Liam. His hands shook as he set his pipe on the table. “I want you both to know, I had no idea you were Brigid’s children until Liam made the discovery last fall. If I had known the real truth, I would never have kept it from you. From everything I’d read and heard up until now, I thought your mother killed the prince.” He shook his head, ashamed. “I’m so sorry. I was only trying to protect you both from finding out your mother was a murderer.”

“So was Glenna.” Sam laid his hand on Brennan’s shoulder. “But Glenna’s been trying to prove Brigid’s innocence for years. She’s been hiding her from Moira, and protecting her from the mermaids, who still want vengeance.” He looked up at Liam and Dominic. “That’s why she never told either of you the truth.”

“But how could Glenna possibly clear Brigid’s name after all this time?” Tara asked. “When no one saw what happened but Moira and the prince?”

“Glenna’s been searching the mountains of Connemara, trying to find the spot where Moira killed him. She’s been doing it slowly, careful not to draw any attention to herself. She couldn’t risk her mother finding out what she was doing. But she knew if she could find a blackthorn plant growing in the spot where Moira killed the prince, she could burn a branch in an Imbolc fire and it would reveal the true story.”

Owen grabbed Sam’s hands, squeezing them.

“That’s why Moira set Glenna’s house on fire when I found the spell book,” Tara said. “She realized what Glenna was trying to do.”

Sam nodded. “We found the spot on our way to Dublin yesterday, but the blackthorn was gone. Moira had already gotten to it. Glenna thought she had more time, but when Nuala came on land last fall, it set everything in motion. Everything Moira did to Brigid, to Nuala, to you”—he looked at Caitlin—“and you”—he looked at Liam—“and you”—his gazed dropped back to Owen. “Everything she did to
all
of you was to clear her path to the throne.”

Thunder peeled through the sky and Kelsey buried her face in her mother’s shirt.

“Sam,” Tara lowered her voice. “What can we do?”

“I think Moira made an agreement with the mermaids—to give her something in exchange for handing over her sister,” Sam said. “They still want justice, and if she hands Brigid over to the mermaids, she will be granted something in exchange that will give the selkies no choice but to choose her as their queen.”

Dominic walked over to Kelsey, smoothing a hand over his daughter’s hair. “Brigid and Glenna are safe now, right? When you called earlier, you said you’d found Brigid, and that she and Glenna would stay in a B&B in Clifden until we could get there in the morning. The mermaids can’t do anything to her when she’s on land.”

“No,” Sam said slowly. “But Moira can. And she’s been trying to find Brigid for years.” Sam took a deep breath. “I lied earlier, in case Moira was listening. I needed to buy Glenna and Brigid some time. They aren’t staying in a B&B in Clifden tonight. They’re on their way to the island now.”

“How?” Caitlin asked, alarmed. “There aren’t any more boats—”

Sam lifted his eyes to hers, and she took a step back.

“You left something out of your story.” Tara lowered her voice. “Something else happened between Moira and the prince that night.”

Sam nodded. “The night they ran away, Moira conceived a child.”

“Glenna,” Tara whispered.

“Glenna is the daughter of Moira and the prince,” Sam said. “A child of a selkie and a merman is the rarest, most powerful creature in the sea. But no one knows the truth. No one knows she exists. Glenna is going to sacrifice herself in Brigid’s place, unless we can find a way to save her.”

Owen’s nails dug into Sam’s wrists. He leaned into him, his voice barely a whisper in his ear. “I have the crown.”

“What?”

“The crown,” Owen whispered. “The prince’s blackthorn crown.”

Sam eased back, searching Owen’s frightened eyes. “Where?”

“I buried it under the roses last night.”

L
ightning streaked through the sky, illuminating the flashes of green and silver darting beneath the surface. Brigid’s eyes widened as mermaids—thousands of them—came from every direction, carrying sharp spears. Her curragh rocked as they circled, the surface churning with their powerful strokes.

She could see the outline of tall cliffs, the shadow of an island rising through the fog. She fumbled for the paddle, dipping it into the water. This must be where her lover lived now! The seals had brought her to him!

The seals edged closer, barking frantically as a single mermaid broke through their protective circle. Brigid drove the paddle into the ocean, dragging it through the surface. If she could reach him, if she could get to him, everything would be okay.

A hand shot out of the water, grasping the edge of the curragh. A mermaid surfaced, and Brigid dropped the paddle. It clattered to the bottom of the boat. Brigid took in the water running down the mermaid’s long brown hair, dripping down her pale face, and clinging to her eyelashes.

“Glenna?” Brigid whispered.

The mermaid nodded, her amber eyes gazing into hers. Brigid’s heart began to pound. How had she never noticed how similar Glenna’s eyes were to her lover’s? How many facial features they shared?

She peered over the edge of the boat and froze when she saw that the long brown tail and gleaming fins belonged to Glenna. She was shaped like a mermaid, but her tail was made of sleek brown seal-skin instead of scales.

“How?” Brigid breathed. “How is this possible?”

Glenna reached for Brigid’s hand as the mermaids closed in around them, their movements sharp and practiced. They formed a pattern in the water, an impenetrable knot of silver and green.

“I am with you,” Glenna said. “I will not let them hurt you.”

SAM DROVE THE
shovel into the soil beneath the roses. The flowers, all black now, clung in tight buds to the whitewash.

“Be careful,” Owen warned. “It’s fragile.”

A single black rose fell from the bush. It rolled over the ground to his feet. Tara picked it up, and it crumbled to dust in her hands.

Dominic cut the engine of his truck, angling the headlights at the cottage. More roses fell, their petals fading to ash as they tumbled to the ground. Smoke puffed into the air, mingling with the fog.

Tara stepped back, pulling Kelsey and Owen with her. “How deep did you dig?”

“I don’t know,” Owen said. “I don’t remember.”

It had to be here, Sam thought. It was their only hope. He dug deeper, scooping out large chunks of earth.

Liam rushed out of the barn, carrying another shovel. He helped Sam dig until a large pile of dirt grew beside them. “I don’t think anything’s down here,” he said finally, staring down into the gaping hole.

“It has to be,” Owen said, breaking free of Tara’s grip and dropping to his knees beside the bush. He dug with his hands, exposing a web of gleaming black roots. But he jerked back as they began to move, twisting and bending.

“What’s happening?” Caitlin asked as a low wicked laugh cut through the fog.

The door to Sam’s cottage creaked as it opened, and Moira strolled out. She smiled, holding up the crown. “Looking for something?”

The roots melted, forming a pool of black oil in the earth. The vines cracked and fell, splashing into the oil.

Sam threw down the shovel, striding toward her. But Moira simply waved her hand, setting the ground around him on fire.

“Owen,” she said, walking toward the child. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

Liam scooped Owen up, holding him tightly in his arms. Moira laughed as the roots bubbled, spitting out a putrid stench of rotting roses.

“You were searching for the crown when you tore our house apart last night,” Caitlin breathed. “It wasn’t just Owen’s pelt.”

“Owen’s pelt?” Moira arched a brow. “My, my.” She eyed the child in his father’s arms. “Nuala is
full
of surprises, isn’t she?”

“Nuala?” Caitlin took a step back. “You mean…you don’t have it?”

“I couldn’t care less about Owen’s pelt.” Moira lifted a sash of gold silk, dripping from a garnet clasp at her waist. “All I cared about was finding the crown.” She looped the sash carefully around the crown until it hung like a talisman against her hip. She looked back up at Owen, her eyes narrowing. “Did you think I wouldn’t find it?”

Sam edged closer to the fire. The flames shot up, snapping toward him. Moira paused, studying him. “You’ve been useful to me, Sam. I can almost understand what my daughter sees in you.”

“You could
never
understand what your daughter sees in me,” Sam said, gritting his teeth as the flames grazed his skin. “Because there is
nothing
inside you.”

Moira’s eyes flashed. Lightning cracked through the sky. The smell of smoke, thick and suffocating, stretched toward them. Tara gasped when a neighboring island caught fire. One by one, the string of islands stretching south ignited.

“You’re burning the islands,” Tara whispered, leaning into Dominic and clutching Kelsey to her. “Why? Why are you doing this?”

“I want a fresh start,” Moira said simply. “And there’s nothing more
effective
than fire to erase the past.” Her scarlet fingernails stroked the tiny white petals blooming along the vines of the crown. “When I rule the seas, these islands will belong to the selkies—and
only
the selkies.”