wrath of the Sea Queen (192 page)

"
The picture of the babies and the
strange
marks it shows.  Do you have any idea what might have caused that?
"

"
No
, I've never seen anything like it
.  I mentioned it to C
a
eli
when I first ran the ultrasound on her
, though I
don’t believe she was in a state to consider it at the time
,
"
Salma informed him.

Ben proceeded to tell Salma everything that Vin shared with him about C
a
eli's struggle with her gift and
Rika,
who
C
a
eli believed was trying to
take
control
of
her.  When he mentioned the change in eye color, Salma found the
thinnest
thread
of a connection.

"
Ben, eye color is a physical change. 
I
f one physical change can happen, then it would follow that another could happen just as easily.  If C
a
eli has been fighting an internal battle with this
Rika woman
, then the slash marks could be
a manifestation
of
…
oh!
  Before I say anything else, I think we
need to
talk to Max and C
a
eli.  I
believe
both
of them
know more than they
ha
ve told us. 
However
,
C
a
eli
and Vin have enough to d
eal with at the moment
. 
Let's start with
Max
and his favorite fairy tale
.
"
 

Like the flip of a light switch, Salma thought she
had
stumbled onto
a big
part of the mystery; but she needed to be sure before she revealed it.  If both Max and C
a
eli believed that
C
a
eli
was connected to
t
his fairy tale, then they needed to hear the tale and compare it to
current
events.  Salma would be surprised if they were not very similar.
  In fact,
now that she
had made the connection
,
Salma suspected that C
a
eli
must have
discovered the correlation with Max’s story right away.
  Before all this madness started, C
a
eli had even told Max that she would come by for a visit to hear the rest of his story.  C
a
eli
must have
known
,
or at least suspected this
,
since the beginning
; a
nd never said a word about it.
  Understandably, it would have sounded crazy a few days ago; but not now.

Salma was already lost in her own thoughts when
Ben
stood
up to go find
Max
and offered his hand to Salma.

"That's ok.  You go ahead," s
he declined, preferring to sit and wait,
considering the matter further as she
sipp
ed
absently
at her coffee.

"
Sorry,
Love
.  I have to insist.  I'm not letting you out of my sight again.  Consider yourself officially under
my
protective custody.
"

Salma declined a second time, not realizing th
at, though polite, Ben's words wer
e
quite
serious.

"
Really, Ben
,
I'm fine. 
Besides,
Colonel Franks and Jeremy are on duty outside.  I
wi
ll be
perfectly
fine
while
you
locate
Max,
"
Salma replied.

Ben laughed
in resignation
and shook his head.

"
Po
or
,
Vin.  Now I
understand
his
challenge
with
C
a
eli
, trying to keep her
safe from
her generous heart or from that which
she
is unable to
s
e
e fr
om
her
perspective
. 
You two ladies are more alike than you realize," Ben chuckle
d
.

"Ben, I cannot tell if I should be flattered or insulted by that
particular
comparison. 
What exactly a
re you saying?"  Salma asked puzzled.

"
Salma
,
D
ear, I'm
saying that while
your
logic
sound
s perfectly reasonable
to you
,
I assure you
that
you are not seeing this situation clearly
. 
Your safety is my
first
priority.  Leaving you
alone or
in the care of another, even for a few minutes, is unacceptable after what just happened.  And from the look on your face,
I doubt I
'm going to
convince you
to agree with me. 
I don’t have Vin's
gift of verbal
persuas
ion
. 
Therefore
,
I'
m afraid
I
have to resort to
a tactic within my
own skillset
. 
Now,
Mrs. Erickson, I am asking you to come along willingly.  I would really hate to have to
enforce
my
protective custody order by
arrest
ing
you.
"
 

Salma stared at him in shock
. 
Ben
was serious
, but
he
grinned at her mischievously and extended his hand again.  She
placed
her coffee cup
on a nearby table
and reached up to
accept
his
assistance
.  They strolled out of the lounge together in search of Max.

CHAPTER
43

C
a
eli stood on the shore, her
bare
feet in the water. 
Large waves and strong winds from the storm surrounded her, but they did not touch her directly. 
The moon was full
when it peeked through the thick clouds in t
he
dark and starless
sky. 
Images began to flash through her mind. 
The man in black stood before her, holding her son in one hand. 
Vin and Salma were hurt, and she could not reach them both. 
She only had time
to
help
one of them.  Then s
omething sharp ripped across
C
a
eli's
stomach.  She
could feel
the pain, but
was unable to
see
what
caused it. 
A
s she looked down at her abdomen
,
C
a
eli saw blood. 
Sh
e stood there
momentarily bewildered
.  She could not move
.  Rika laugh
ed
at her
.  A man's hand reached toward her to steal her remaining child. 
This jolted
C
a
eli
back to her senses, and she
finally found her voice.

"
No!
"
  She screamed.

Vin was suddenly by her side, gently shaking her.  C
a
eli was lying in bed, sweating.

"
C
a
eli
, wake up.  You were dreaming;
actually
, it
sounded more like a
nightmare.
"
 

C
a
eli bolted upright
, remember
ing
every vivid detail
of the dream
.
  She clung to Vin, shaking until the
terrible
imagery began to fade.