The Selkie Sorceress (Seal Island Trilogy, Book 3)

by Sophie Moss

  “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.”

  Lightning 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.”

  “The selkies will never choose you as their queen!” Sam shouted. “They know what you did to Nuala! What you did to Liam and Owen!”

  “They will forgive me when they find out what I’ve done for them tonight.” Moira lifted her arms. A sulfurous steam rose from the sea, forming a blinding yellow fog that rolled toward them. She laughed as she faded into a curl of black smoke. “You all should have left the island when you had the chance.”

  BRIGID CLUTCHED GLENNA’S hand as the air grew warmer and the mists thickened, taking on a foul yellowish tinge. They were within shouting distance of the beach when a blond woman stepped out of the fog. Glenna dropped quickly back into the water, keeping her face barely above the surface on the other side of the boat. Glenna was concealing herself from the woman on the beach, Brigid realized. But why?

  The woman on the beach walked into the surf, her long gold dress fanning out in the sea. “Welcome back, sister.”

  “Sister?” Brigid stiffened. “You’re not my sister. You look…nothing like her.”

  “Don’t you recognize me?” The woman smiled, her green-gold eyes glinting through the darkness.

  “N-no,” Brigid stammered.

  Steam rose from the water where the woman stood. She cupped it in her hands and it crystallized, forming into glittering jewels. She let them drop, one by one, into the sea. “Much has changed in both our lives since we last met.”

  “But…” Brigid shook her head. “You have magic. Moira never had any magic.”
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  The blond woman lifted her eyes to Brigid’s. “I have power.”

  Brigid heard the crackle of flames rising in the wind. She tensed as the mermaids edged closer. “Moira? Is it…? Is it really you?”

  Moira laughed. “The mermaids are happy you came back. They’ve been searching for you for a long time.”

  “Why? I…don’t understand.”

  “They want you to pay for what you did.”

  Brigid scanned the misty shores for her lover. If she could find him, if she could look him in the eyes, everything would be alright. “What did I do?”

  Moira took a step closer. “You don’t remember?”

  Brigid shook her head.

  Moira let the rest of the jewels slip through her fingers. They splashed into the waves. “You murdered the prince.”

  “What?” Brigid shrank back. “No!”

  The mermaids surfaced, thousands of them all at once in the water surrounding the boat. They raised their spears, pointing them at Brigid. A merman with green eyes and the mark of one of the king’s warriors spoke, “We are here to avenge the murder of our prince.”

  “No!” Brigid cried. “I loved him! I would never—”

  “Hand over the princess, and your boundaries will be lifted,” the merman said, addressing the selkies. “You will be free to roam the seas.”

  Murder? Brigid grasped the edge of the boat. The selkies stirred, the water churning and bubbling as they tightened their protective circle around her. Glenna squeezed her hand and Brigid looked down, into the deep sadness swimming in her friend’s eyes. No. This is a mistake. He can’t be dead.

  “Brigid is innocent,” Glenna said, her voice rising over the waves.

  Brigid gripped Glenna’s hand. “What are you doing?”

  “Trust me,” Glenna whispered, easing away from the boat.

  “No!” Brigid clung to her, refusing to let go. “This is all a mistake!”

  Glenna pried her hand free. She dipped beneath the surface, disappearing from sight. The selkies reluctantly parted for her. Brigid struggled to make out her shape as she swam to the outer edge of the circle.

  The mermaids jerked back in horror as Glenna surfaced. Moira’s anguished scream tore through the night.

  “I am the merprince’s daughter.” Glenna’s brown tail shimmered, her gold fins glowing iridescent in the dark water. “It’s me you want.”

  OWEN SCRAMBLED OUT of his father’s arms. He needed to find Nuala. He needed to tell her he’d lost the crown. A blinding fog swallowed the cottage, sweeping his mother from sight.

  Sam staggered out of the ring of fire as the flames died. “Get inside. All of you!”

  Owen felt his father’s hand on his back, steering him toward the cottage. But he twisted away, breaking into a run.

  “Owen!” Sam lunged, but Owen dodged him. He ducked behind a stone wall and sprinted toward the ocean.

  “Owen!” He heard his father shouting his name through the fog. But he kept running. He followed the wall, brushing his hands over the jagged stones as the land dipped, edging into the sea.

  He felt for the notches—the markings he’d scratched into the wall. He’d let his parents think that Moira had stolen his pelt, but he’d taken it months ago and had buried it here. In case he ever needed it.

  He needed it now.

  His hands trembled as his fingers found the grooves. He jiggled the loose stones and they fell away. He reached into the opening and pulled out his seal-skin.

  “Owen!”

  Sam was getting closer. Owen grabbed his pelt, racing toward the stench of rotting seaweed. He yelped when the rocks started to shake, when they crumbled into the sea. The earth broke off where he was standing.

  His feet slipped and he tumbled into the water. He surfaced, spitting out the foul taste of sulfur. Fires were burning in the water, small pockets of oil and smoke.

  “Owen!”

  More voices—his mother, Tara, Dominic, and Kelsey—they were all calling his name. But the selkies needed him. Nuala needed him.

  The surface rolled and twisted as sharp, glinting scales swished beneath the surface. He dove, shoving his hands into his pelt. The seal-skin slid over him, suctioning to his body. He darted after the glittering tails, following them toward the selkies’ cries.

  Sam staggered back from the rocks. The coastline shook, crumbling into the sea. He watched Owen dive, and he saw the pelt in his hands.

  Sam cursed as fires ignited all along the coast. He made for the beach to the south, struggling to maintain his footing as the shoreline trembled and quaked. He was almost there when heat lightning streaked through the fog, illuminating the mass of mermaids surrounding a small wooden boat offshore.

  The mermaids held spears, but they weren’t pointing them at the dark-haired woman inside the curragh. They were pointing them at Glenna. Sam stumbled down the final rocky slope to the beach, racing onto the sand.

  “What are you doing?” Moira shrieked as the mermaids seized her daughter. “Don’t you want to be rid of this curse?”

  “I am stronger than the curse!” Glenna’s eyes locked with Sam’s as he ran across the beach. “I can fight the darkness!”

  “No one is stronger than the curse!” Lighting streaked through the sky, snaking toward the island. A cottage in the village caught fire.

  “Leave them alone!” Glenna shouted. “This has nothing to do with them!”

  Another bolt hit the cliff by Tara and Dominic’s cottage. “I will destroy this island,” Moira shouted, “and everyone on it!” The earth broke off, soil and rocks crashing into the ocean. “Until everyone you love is gone, and you realize how little they ever meant!”

  “You won’t destroy us!” Sam shouted, his voice cutting through the storm.

  Moira whirled. Lightning struck the sand at his feet, sparks and bits of glass swirling up into the night.

  “Even if you burn this island, and wipe out all our homes,” Sam shouted, striding toward her, “we will survive! And when this is all over, we will still have each other!”

  More cottages in the village caught fire. Smoke billowed into the sky. But Sam kept walking toward her.

  The water receded, rushing over the sand until Moira stood in a tidal pool. Her eels swarmed around her legs, and sparks of electricity shot out of the water. “One step closer and you’re dead.”

  The water almost touched Sam’s shoes, but he stood his ground. “Isn’t that what you want?” Sam asked, speaking loudly enough so Glenna could hear him. “You want to get rid of us, because you can’t stand the fact that Glenna has friends, that she has people who love her. When you have no one.”

  Moira raised her arms, and lightning cracked from her fingertips. Brennan’s cottage and the barn caught fire. Fences splintered as animals pushed their way out, their hooves pounding over the fields.

  Sam’s gaze dropped to the crown, still looped around the sash in Moira’s dress. “Go ahead.” He pulled a small knife from his back pocket, hiding the blade in his palm. “Kill me. Isn’t that what you want? To destroy another one of your daughter’s lovers?”

  The eels circled Moira’s legs as she walked to him. “You think you’re so smart, that you’ve figured everything out.” She paused at the edge of the pool, an eerie yellow steam floating up between them. “But it’s too late. Your facts are no match for my power.”

  “What power?” Sam asked. “You have no real magic. Every power you’ve ever gotten has been stolen. That is not power.”

  Moira snapped her wrists and shards of glass rose from the sand. Sam threw his arm over his face, blocking the glass as it rushed toward him. It fell, clinking back to the beach. When he lowered his arm, it was covered in blood.

  He straightened back to his full height, towering over her. He didn’t believe for a second that there was a curse on Glenna. Not anymore. “Why don’t you tell them what really happened, Moira?” He took a step toward her. “Why don’t you tell them the truth?”

  �
��The truth doesn’t matter anymore,” Moira hissed. The fog grew tentacles, and they wound like ropes around Sam’s neck.

  He tore them off, throwing them down. The fog twitched, evaporating in the sand at his feet. “Why don’t you tell your sister what really happened the night you led her to the docks? When you said you would help her run away with her true love?”

  “You know nothing!”

  Sam’s eyes burned into hers. “I know that you tricked Brigid into believing the merprince changed their meeting spot so you could steal him from her.” Sam raised his voice. “Then you tricked him into believing you were Brigid, and you murdered him because you needed his love for her to fuel your powers.”

  Moira’s eyes flashed as a collective gasp rose from the mermaids and selkies.

  “I know you tricked Caitlin into believing her infant child died, and then you stole Owen so you could use him as leverage against Nuala ten years later.” Sam side-stepped as flames streaked over the surface of the water. “You tricked Nuala into believing you were on her side, and then you stole her powers when she chose the wrong land-man—a land-man you led her to!”

  Moira staggered back as he strode into the tidal pool. The sparks faded to smoke around his feet. “I know you tricked your daughter into believing there was a curse on her, and then you stole every man she ever loved.” Sam grabbed her wrist, hauling her to him. “You stole those men from Glenna. You took their lives. Because, without them, you would be nothing.”

  He sliced his knife through the sash of her dress. The material ripped, and he seized the crown, holding it up, high into the night. “It’s time they knew the truth.”

  OWEN SCANNED THE dark waters, searching for Nuala. He struggled to see through the stirred-up sand and broken shells, but he stayed close to the bottom, dodging the sparkling scales of silver and green.