The Selkie Sorceress (Seal Island Trilogy, Book 3) (28 page)

Dominic’s gaze fell to Owen. His nephew hadn’t said a word since last night, and he understood if Owen didn’t want to go anywhere near a boat or the open water after what had happened last night. But he still didn’t like the idea of his family being trapped here, exposed to whatever Moira was planning.

“Alright, then.” Mary took a deep breath, pulling Ashling back out into the street. “Jack’s waiting for us at the pier.”

Kelsey stood in the doorway, watching them go until their footsteps faded and the faint click of Clover’s toenails on the pavement was drowned out by the sound of a boat motor revving up for one last trip to the mainland.

“Don’t you see?” Tara asked. “This is what Moira wants. She wants to split us up. She wants us to abandon our homes. She wants us gone.” Tara pulled out her phone again, checking her messages. Letting out a frustrated breath, she shoved it back in her pocket.

“Still no word from Glenna and Sam?” Liam asked.

“No.” Tara shook her head. “I don’t understand why they won’t answer.”

“SHE COULDN’T HAVE
gotten that far.” Glenna strode out of the woods. “Even if she left right after you fell asleep, she couldn’t have gotten that far on foot.”

“What if someone picked her up?” Sister Evelyn asked. “Someone who doesn’t understand her condition?”

“I’m not even going to think that,” Glenna said. “I
refuse
to think that.” But they’d been searching the river for hours, and there was still no sign of her. The rest of the nuns were scouring the hills, but no one had seen her. No one had a clue where Brigid had gone.

Glenna had tried, over a dozen times, to pull in a vision, but she couldn’t see anything. It didn’t make any sense. Her powers should be doubled or tripled on this land. But with every hour that passed, her magic was weakening. She saw a cab turn up the long driveway and hoped it was someone with news. But when she spotted the man in the back seat, she stopped short.

Sam.

The driver braked, and Sam stepped out. She knew it was only a matter of time. He’d made the connection to Kildare last night. She and Brigid were supposed to be on their way to the States by now, but nothing was working out the way she’d planned. She took a deep breath and walked to him, her legs growing heavier with each step.

He slammed the door. “Did you think I wouldn’t find you?”

“I was trying to protect you—”

“By putting a
spell
on me?” He stalked to her, taking her elbow and leading her away from the nuns. “You knew where Brigid was all along.”

She nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t risk it.”

“Because you don’t trust me?” Sam’s grip tightened around her arm. “Because you don’t think I’m on your side?”

“I know you’re on my side!”

“Then, why?”

She jerked her arm away. “Brigid is our only hope, but she doesn’t understand what’s at stake! She doesn’t remember who she is!”

“Maybe if you introduced her to her
sons
, she’d remember!”

“No.” Glenna shook her head. “I need more time with her. We were supposed to be halfway over the Atlantic by now.”

Sam stepped back. “What?”

“I was going to take her to the States, to a church in Ohio. They were going to keep her safe—as far away from Moira as possible—until I could figure out what to do.”

Sam stared at her, his expression a mixture of shock and disgust. “What changed your mind?”

“Brigid was gone when I got here,” Glenna said quietly. “She left sometime during the night and we can’t find her.”

Disbelief swam into Sam’s eyes as he scanned the sunlit hills, taking in the nuns searching the river. “You
lost
her?”

“We’ll find her. I…” She looked down at her hands. “I can’t
see
anything. If I could—”

“What?” Sam demanded. “If you could find her, you’d pick her up and run away? Turn your back on your friends?”

“It’s not like that!”

“Really?” Sam shouted. “
You
were the one who encouraged Tara to stay and fight for her freedom from her husband.
You
were the one who made Caitlin tell Liam the truth about their child.
You
were the one who believed we could save Liam from Nuala’s spell! Why can’t you believe in yourself?”

“This isn’t about me, Sam! It’s about Brigid!”

“Bullshit,” Sam spat. “It’s
all
about you. When are you going to realize that you can’t do everything on your own? That it’s okay to ask for help? That your friends
want
to help you?”

“We can’t defeat Moira without Brigid! She’s too powerful!”

“How do you know unless you try?”

Glenna turned away, shaking her head. “I know what you’re thinking—that because of what happened with Tara and Caitlin, love can overcome evil. But you’re wrong. In my case, love can only mean death.”

“I refuse to believe that, Glenna.” He strode to her, turning her around to face him. “And as soon as you do too, we actually have a chance to win this.”

She gazed up at him, at the hard set of his jaw and the fierce determination in his eyes. “Why can’t you understand that there is nothing for you here but death?”

“Because I love you! And no matter how many spells you put on me, no matter how many times you try to get rid of me, no matter how many roses outside my house turn black, I am
not
leaving you!”

She felt the restless wings beating, the thorns around her heart unraveling and snapping. “Sam—”

“Do you have any idea where Brigid went?”

Glenna looked down at the river. What if he was right? What if there was another way to defeat her mother? What if she had gone about this all wrong, from the very beginning? She could still hear the voices of the nuns searching the river. She followed the path of the water until it faded into the trees. “The ocean.”

“East or west?”

“West.” Glenna’s gaze lingered on the greenhouse, on the piece of her past Brigid had recreated here. It had offered her aunt a small comfort, but it had never truly offered her peace. She had never belonged here. She’d heard the selkies singing to her for years. She’d thought it was her lover’s voice in the river, but it was the selkies, calling her home.

Sam took her hand. “Then we’ll head west and start there.”

“Where? The west coast covers nearly a thousand kilometers.”

“We’ll start by getting in the car and driving in that direction. If we can’t find her by sunset, we’ll head back to the island to help our friends.”

“Sam…”

“What?” he asked. “Do you have a better idea?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so.” He lifted her chin, laying his lips on hers.

The air shifted and sparked. The vision came fast and hard—a blue lorry parked beside a bridge and a man helping Brigid into the passenger seat. Glenna pressed her lips to Sam’s, bringing the image into focus, sharpening it, and reading the faded words on the logo on the side of the truck—
Clifden Construction
.

She pulled back, breathing hard. “Clifden.”

“What?” Sam asked, searching her eyes. “What about it?”

“Clifden,” Glenna repeated as hope surged inside her. “Brigid’s going to Clifden.”

I
’m sorry I can’t get you closer,” Neil said, pulling the lorry into a parking spot across from Clifden’s only waterfront restaurant. “But there’s a path along the bay.” He pointed to the trail leading away from town. “It’ll take you to the ocean.”

The rusted door creaked as Brigid opened it. The salty breezes lifted the ends of her long black hair as she stepped out of the truck. Neil opened his own door and climbed out. He left the engine idling, afraid it wouldn’t start up again if he turned it off. Black smoke streamed from his exhaust pipe.

“Do you want me to walk with you?” Neil asked, rounding the front of the truck.

She shook her head, those captivating gray eyes drifting over his shoulder to the water. “I will go alone from here.”

Neil removed his hat as a heart-wrenching sadness gripped him. He didn’t want to let her go. Fumbling in his pocket for his business cards, he handed one to her. “If you ever have any building needs…this is my number.”

She offered him a small smile and took the card. “Thank you.”

A strange ache built in Neil’s chest as she walked away. His gaze dropped to her bare feet, his eyes widening when he saw they were healed. A gull cawed, swooping over the bay, and Neil let out a long shaky breath.

If you ever have any building needs…?
He turned away from the water. He really needed to get out more. He walked back to the driver’s side of the truck, but he spotted her wimple lying across the seat. Reaching through the open window, he fished it out. “Wait,” he called, “you forgot your—”

A gray fog swept through the streets. A cold wind rattled the shutters of the homes and knocked over the chairs on the restaurant’s patio. Neil grasped the warm hood of his lorry as the notes of a song glided over the water and the woman vanished in the mists.

SISTER EVELYN STARED
out the window of the kitchen at the line of cars turning up the driveway. The parishioners were starting to arrive. Behind her, the nuns were pulling dishes out of the refrigerator, making last minute preparations for the feast that would follow the midday mass.

She wanted to believe Glenna. She wanted to have faith in her friend’s vision, and trust that she and Sam would find Brigid in Clifden. But what if Glenna was wrong? What if Brigid was still out there, wandering the hills, or lost in the wilderness?

A few of her sisters were still down at the river searching for Brigid, but Father McAllister would arrive any minute. They didn’t have much time.

Her gaze lifted to the bell tower in the steeple of the white chapel, remembering something Glenna had told her once, about their two religions—that bells were sacred to pagans as well. In Christianity, they were a call to worship, but to pagans, they were used to drive out evil or seal a spell. Brigid had always loved the bells. Maybe if she rang them, Brigid would hear them and come home.