wrath of the Sea Queen (198 page)

"
And most of the things that felt beat up inside
of
me
now
feel
like they
ha
ve been
fixed
as well
.  Although,
my ribs still hurt
. 
I could not
mend
th
e bones
, but
they do
feel better,
"
C
a
eli added, omitting the
details about the
new
internal
damage. 
Vin
was still
too keyed up to hear about that
.
  She would wait until he calmed down to tell him what happened.

Vin thought she looked more than healed; C
a
eli looked healthy and stronger than she had in days.
 
The change
was astounding.

"
That's amazing!  However, I would prefer if you explain it to Ben and Salma without the peep show.  Come on
.  They are waiting for us in the other room
. 
Can
I assume you would prefer to walk?
"
  Vin smiled at her, briefly noting that
he
did
not fe
el
the familiar tingling sensation when his
hand
brushed her stomach
as he helped pull her robe closed
.
  He
decided to put the thought out of his mind for now
.

"
Yes.  I'm m
ost definitely
walking
,
but
perhaps with a little help
.  I
woul
d be grateful
if you fend off Salma when she sees me
disobeying her instructions
.
"

"
Happily into the lion's den for you,
"
Vin
grinned
.  He added his
buoyant
support, and C
a
eli thought she might float into the other room.

CHAPTER
44

"
Pretty C
a
eli!
"

Max was
standing in front of Salma, whose
hands
rested lightly
on both
of
his shoulders
.  H
e wriggled out of her arms
, and
S
alma
tried unsuccessfully to catch him.  He was as slippery as a greased pig.  In his excitement to see C
a
eli, Max ran
toward
her and would have jumped straight into C
a
eli's arms if
not for
Vin
's quick re
flexes
.  Vin snatched
Max
up at the last second, hefting
the boy
over his left shoulder like a sack of
flour
.  Max giggled and reached behind Vin to touch C
a
eli's hair.  She turned and smiled at him.  Both Ben and Salma immediately noticed the considerable improvement in the way C
a
eli
looked and how she mov
ed
. 

She walked slowly
toward the couch under the window, turning on
two more lamps
along the way
. 
Everyone found a comfortable place to sit.  Vin
sat
beside
C
a
eli on the sofa
.
  Ben and Salma sat in the two chairs at the small dining table a few feet away.  Max sat on the floor, leaning against the coffee table in front of the sofa, staring
up
at C
a
eli.

Vin explained about the visit from the man in black.  Max climbed up and huddled against C
a
eli's side when he heard the details, and she soothed him
by rubbing his back
.  Max casually placed his little hand over the two red holes in her robe.  To C
a
eli's relief, he did not say anything about them.  The others could tell that the two shared some sort of special bond related to this man, and
perhaps something more.  They were hoping to find out wh
at
.  They also wanted to hear what happened while they were away at the conference.  Since both C
a
eli and Max
were now
in the same room
, they thought they would
finally
get the whole story and could possibly begin to
see the big picture
.  Salma,
though she eyed C
a
eli suspiciously
,
did not ask the
question
C
a
eli expected
.  She posed a different query instead.

"C
a
eli, what can you tell us about your eyes changing color?"  Salma asked.

"Not much.  Vin noticed it when I was tired and sick.  I
ha
ve never seen it myself, and I cannot tell when it happens
.  I don’t know why it happens
," C
a
eli replied.

"Fair enough.  Max,
would you like to help C
a
eli? 
You
would
be
doing her a favor
if you could tell us
why C
a
eli's eyes change color?"  It was Max's previous comment that Salma wanted to clarify. 

"Salma, how could he know such a thing?"  Vin asked, surprised that Salma was looking to the child for
such
an
answer.

"
I
do
know
!
 
It's because
pretty C
a
eli
is a
S
ea
G
oddess. 
A
S
ea
G
oddess makes her
eyes turn blue like the water
when she is borrowed
. 
Pretty C
a
eli knows she is, but she keeps trying not to be," Max's answer made it clear that he knew something about C
a
eli that the rest of them did not.

"Max,
th
ey don't want to hear that
story
," C
a
eli politely
tried to get
Max to drop the subject
of his favorite
bedtime story
.  To Salma, it seemed as though C
a
eli was asking
Max
to
keep a
confidence
.  Vin noticed the same tone in C
a
eli's request.

"C
a
eli, I
would
like to hear what Max has to say," Vin
added
.

However, it was unnecessary.  C
a
eli's
request
was
n
ot sufficient
.  Max
would
not be silenced that easily.

"
But, pretty C
a
eli, she borrowed you.  She can only do that if you're a
S
ea
G
oddess; and the water…," Max tried to explain,
but C
a
eli cut him short.

"
Max, please
!
  Remember our secret?
"  C
a
eli silently pleaded with him not to reveal anything further. 

"I remember, but I only promised
the first time
she did it
," Max said dejectedly.

"What did you promise, Max?  Who borrowed her?  C
a
eli, what did you say to him?"
  Vin wanted answers, and he was not going to let C
a
eli avoid the subject this time
, even if it meant getting those answers from Max
.

"Vin, it's complicated. 
T
here
are other details that
you need to hear first
in order to under
stand.  It will help me, too. 
Please, c
an you be patient a
little
longer?"

"
You know patience is n
ot m
y strong suit
. 
Why won't you talk to me about this, C
a
eli?
"