Free The Selkie Spell (Seal Island Trilogy) by Sophie Moss Page B

hand.
    “Alright,” Dominic said, pushing back from the bar.  “I’ve heard enough.”  Turning, he marched into the kitchen and scanned the room.  “Where’s Tara?”
    “She just went back to her cottage to grab a cookbook,” Caitlin answered.  “Why?”
    “I need to talk to her,” Dominic said, striding out the back door and up the path to her cottage.  Sunlight slid in slices over the mossy blanket of lime, emerald, and evergreen, changing color every time a cloud passed under the sun.  Sheep grazed on the hillsides.  Stone walls cut through the fields.  The ocean glistened and danced, curling in turquoise waves over the white shoreline.
    But it was the cottage that had his eyes going wide as he climbed the final hill.  Scarlet roses swallowed the white walls, curling high enough to tangle with the thatch on the roof, climbing around the sides of the house.
    Walking slowly the rest of the way up to the cottage, he snapped off a ruby red flower, and held it up to his nose.  When the air cracked and snapped, he saw Tara open the door to the cottage and he took a step toward her, but then stopped when his feet turned to lead and the flower fell from his hand.
    The woman who walked out of the house had Tara’s face, and the same dark hair, but it fell in rich waves down to her waist.  She had the same emerald eyes but they were filled with a deep shattering sadness.  Her skin was so pale he could almost see through it.  And something inside him told him that when he tried to touch her, there’d be nothing there.
    As Dominic continued to look at her, a heart-wrenching grief settled deep in his bones.  He tried to tear his eyes away, but couldn’t.  And when the woman reached out and plucked a rose from the vine, Dominic saw the thin webbing between each finger.  He saw the seaweed that snaked up her forearms, like chains, and the silvery minnows that flopped over the earth by her feet, gasping for the seawater that dripped from her sleeves.
    Her slender fingers reached out, plucking another rose from the vine.  And as the petals dried and cracked and turned black in her hand, Dominic watched as she turned her palm over, and the ashes fell to the ground, scorching the wet earth at her feet.
    In the steam that rose from the ashes Dominic watched an image form.  Tara’s limp, lifeless body lay face-down on the sand, the surf crashing over her broken, twisted limbs.  He watched himself run across the beach, hauling her from the water.  But when he turned her over, cradling her in his arms, sick black bruises circled her neck.  Tearing his eyes from the vision, he looked back at where the woman had been standing.  But all that was left of the selkie was a puddle of seawater and a dozen dead minnows floating on the surface.
     
    ***
     
    Caitlin looked up from the sink when Tara walked back into the kitchen.  “Did you see Dominic?”
    “No.”
    “That’s odd,” she said.  “He went to your house looking for you.”
    Tara’s gaze snapped up to Caitlin’s.  “Why?  What did he want?”
    “I don’t know,” Caitlin said, taking in Tara’s suddenly pale face.  “Are you okay?”
    Tara nodded, but her hands shook as she slid the apron over her head.
    “You don’t look so good,” Caitlin said, turning to face her.
    “I’m just a little tired, that’s all.”
    “Why don’t you sit down for a minute?  Get off your feet?”
    Tara shook her head, reaching for a potato peeler.  “It’ll pass.”
    Caitlin watched Tara slice into the potato, narrowly missing her finger and walking over, she pried the sharp instrument from Tara’s hand and laid it on the counter.  “Sit,” she ordered, pushing her toward the chair.
    Tara sank into it, dropping her head into her hands.
    “What’s going on?”
    “Nothing.  I just need a minute.  I’ll be fine.”
    “Why don’t you go home and rest?  I can finish up here.  Maybe you just need a little time off.”
    “No.”  Tara shook