The Siren and the Deep Blue Sea - Kerrelyn Sparks Page 0,24

the light began to dim, he lit the lantern and built up the fire in the hearth. And that was when it struck him.

He was still human. Still the Seer.

His heart raced. Was he cured? He attempted to change back to his own body, but instead, he ended up as a dog.

Trouble, who had come inside earlier, hissed at him.

Brody trotted outside and lifted a hindleg to relieve himself against the garden wall. How had he managed to stay human for so long?

He thought back, remembering that horrific day. The sound of the witch’s voice would be forever imprinted on his mind, but what had been her exact words?

He’d been so frantic and terrified at the time. The ship had suddenly cracked in two. Sailors had screamed and scrambled to latch on to anything in order to keep from falling into the ocean. As the ship began to sink, there were more screams. Brody’s father had desperately tried to protect his two sons. Unlike the other sailors, Brody and his brother had known how to swim, and they had stayed close to their father, hanging on to broken boards. But drowning sailors had kept grabbing at them, pulling them under.

It was during one of these times, when Brody had been yanked far underwater, that his Embraced gift had suddenly been activated for the first time. He’d shifted into a seal. Able to wriggle free from the grasping hands, he had surfaced, only to find his father floating lifeless among the wreckage.

Desperate, he’d dived back into the water, trying to locate his brother. But by the time he found him, it was too late. His brother was gone. All the sailors were gone.

Devastated, he’d let himself sink. And that was when he’d heard her voice, laughing at him through the depths of the ocean. Taunting him.

“You think you can escape my wrath, boy? I could kill you in an instant, but instead I will make you suffer. From now on, you are doomed to live with a curse. You will be able to maintain your true form for no more than two hours a day.”

True form? Brody paced about the garden. He’d always interpreted that as being able to hold a human form. But the Seer was not his true form.

He snorted. So he could be human for longer than two hours as long as he wasn’t himself. He’d never realized it before because he’d never masqueraded as another person before.

In a way, it stank. He still couldn’t be himself for very long. But it was also a good thing. Whenever Cahira came to pick up the Seer, he would be able to hold that form for as long as needed.

He shifted back into the Seer, then strode into the cottage to continue reading the journal. When Cahira’s ship arrived for him, he would be ready.

He would do everything in his power to safeguard the Seer’s reputation. And protect Maeve.

Chapter 5

That evening at the convent, Maeve continued to investigate her theory that other islands might have survived the destruction of Aerland. Mother Ginessa and a few of the older nuns had heard of the legend, and they agreed with her that the existence of another island was quite possible.

In the library, she discovered a map of decaying yellow parchment that showed the ancient continent. When she placed it side by side with a modern map, she could tell that the landmass had extended far to the south and west. The Isles of Moon and Mist had been on the northeastern edge of the continent.

She stayed up late into the night, skimming through the library’s aged tomes until her eyes were burning with fatigue. For all her work, she learned very little new information.

The civilization had been quite advanced, with paved roads and elegant stone villas with pools overlooking the sea. Members of the ancient race had been capable of different kinds of sorcery—shifting into animals and sea creatures, telepathy, telekinetic abilities, the gift of foresight, and even mind control. Not surprisingly, the most powerful sorcerers belonged to the nobility, and so the continent experienced a turbulent and violent history as the different noble families constantly battled one another for the throne.

How sad, Maeve thought, that people so powerful hadn’t been able to live more peacefully among themselves. In today’s world, only the Embraced had similar powers. Perhaps the goddesses, in their wisdom, had decided it was better if such gifts were rare.

Even though she was exhausted, when Maeve finally collapsed on