The Selkie Sorceress (Seal Island Trilogy, Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Liam said quietly. “He found her pelt, Cait. It’s real now.”
    Caitlin set the bottle in the sink and sank to the couch beside him. “I know.”
    Liam’s eyes were bloodshot from staring at the screen. “I’ve been researching the legends of these islands for years, but I’m only beginning to understand how closely linked they all are. And how fragile they are—both the islands and the selkies.”
    Caitlin took Liam’s hand in hers. “Maybe you should give it a rest for a couple days. You’ve been working like this non-stop for weeks.”
    “I can’t find what I’m looking for.” Liam’s gaze fell back to his computer. “I’m certain that my mother is the missing link in the puzzle. And as soon as we find her, we’ll know how it all connects.”
    “Sam will find her.” Caitlin closed the laptop and stood. “Come on,” she said, tugging him gently up to his feet. “Let’s get some sleep.”
     

     
    TARA LAY AWAKE, listening to the murmur of waves splashing against the cliffs far below. She welcomed the rhythm, as it usually lulled her to sleep. But tonight it felt off—more like a whisper than a song.
    “Mum?”
    Tara lifted her head off her pillow and peered through the crack in the door. Kelsey was standing in the hallway, the hem of her pink nightgown dragging on the floor. Tara put a finger to her lips, gesturing to Dominic who had fallen asleep only moments ago.
    Kelsey backed into the hallway as Tara slipped out of bed and tiptoed out the door.
    “You can’t sleep?” Tara whispered.
    Kelsey shook her head.
    “Me neither.” Tara guided Kelsey into the living room and switched on a light. “Hot chocolate?”
    Kelsey nodded, climbing up onto the sofa. Tara warmed two mugs of milk and crushed mint leaves into the cocoa powder. She carried them over to the sofa and set them on the table, eyeing the book clutched in her daughter’s arms. “Do you want me to read you a story?”
    Kelsey nodded.
    Tara lifted the collection of fairy tales into her lap, flipping through the pages. “How about something different… The Twelve Dancing Princesses ?”
    Kelsey shook her head. “I want to read The Little Mermaid .”
    Tara looked up. “I thought we’d moved past that story?”
    Kelsey tugged on the crocheted blanket draped over the back of the sofa. “It’s the only story with a sea witch in it.”
    Tara watched her daughter closely. “Why do you want to read about a sea witch?”
    “Because Moira’s a sea witch.”
    A prickle of uneasiness danced up Tara’s spine. She knew Moira had unfinished business with Glenna—maybe with all of them—but she didn’t want Kelsey getting involved. And it wouldn’t be the first time her daughter had followed clues in a fairy tale that led her to danger. “If you have questions about Moira, I want you to ask me or your father.”
    Kelsey dug deeper under the covers, her fingers playing over the little bits of pale green yarn that stuck out of the corners of the blanket. “Don’t you think it’s strange that the sea witch in that story is a mermaid, when we know she’s a selkie?”
    “This story was written a long time ago.”
    “Do you think Moira is related to this sea witch?”
    “I don’t know. I’m not sure how that would be possible since one’s a selkie and one’s a mermaid.”
    Kelsey reached for her mug, cupping both of her small hands around the blue pottery. “How does somebody become a sea witch?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “No one wants to be a sea witch, do they?”
    Tara breathed in the calming fragrance of mint and chocolate. “I imagine not.”
    Kelsey picked at a chip in the mug. “I wonder who Moira was before. If she wasn’t born a sea witch, then she must have been a regular selkie once.” She bit her lip. “There has to be some good in her, if she’s Glenna’s mum.”
    Tara thought of her ex-husband, the man who abused her for years before she got the courage to escape. “I think,” she said slowly,