wrath of the Sea Queen (207 page)

"
Max, please go and talk to Maku and Jeremy.  Help them keep an eye on us from back there.  I need to talk to C
a
eli privately,
"
Salma told him.  Max agreed,
believing
he was still doing his job like the grown men.

"
That sounds ominous
, Salma
.  Can't we just enjoy this walk without any dire conversations?
"

"
I want to know how you are doing.  You seem to have made a speedy recovery after that bath, but then that man came after you. 
How
are
you really feel
ing
?  It's just
us
.  Tell me the whole truth this time, C
a
eli. 
Y
ou know I won't reveal anything you tell me in confidence, but I need to know. 
As your doctor,
I can't treat you properly if you continue to keep things from me
.  As your friend,
I'm asking you to
l
et me help you
, please
.
"

"
I'm c
onsiderably better, Salma.  The bath was a g
reat
idea. 
I
was
finally
able to
use my gift
on myself
, and the water
worked wonders
.  Nearly all the damage
ha
s
been repaired
.  The
re are only those large gashes left; they wi
ll take a little more time. 
And my
cracked rib
s are
the worst
, but my gift
doesn't seem to
work on bones
.
"

"
And the new injury?
The one you called me about?
"
  Salma didn't miss a beat.

"
You already know
?
"

"
I saw the spots on your robe. 
I was able to reach across the room with my gift and feel your
lingering
pain. 
I figured that you must be worried about the baby given the location of the injury.  T
ell me about it
.
"

C
a
eli
should have known that Salma would not
ice
. 
That was exactly the sort of thing that would catch her physician's eye and that her gift would
bring to
Salma's
attention
.
  C
a
eli was impressed that Salma
had been
able to discern the pain without
direct contact
.  Salma's gift was growing, too.

"
Surprisingly, i
t wasn't
all
that bad.  Vin ran out
after
him
;
but w
hile he was gone
,
the man
reappeared
suddenly from
the tub.  It was so quick, I hardly even
knew
it happened,
"
C
a
eli explained without mentioning the act itself.

"
What
happened so fast
?  What did he do
, C
a
eli
?
"
  Salma persisted.  She
would
not let C
a
eli off that easily.

"
I guess you could say h
e
sort of
stabbed me,
"
C
a
eli whispered so that Salma was barely certain of what she heard.

"
What?!  Stabbed you?  Goodness sakes, C
a
eli!  What is going on in that head of yours? 
Why didn't you tell me
right away
? 
No
w I understand why
Vin didn't want you to go for a walk. 
Thank heavens he
has more sense than you do
at the moment
. 
We need to g
et you
back
inside. 
Why would you take such a risk after that? 
I need to look at you
r wound
…
"

C
a
eli immediately tried to calm Salma
so the oth
ers
would not overhear.

"
Sh
h
! 
Salma
,
please
, not so loud
.  I
t's ok.  I'm fine, really. 
It's not as bad as it sounds. 
He used
two of his long fingernails
to
reopen
one of
the deep
er
gashes on
my
side
and
poke
in
to
my
stomach
. 
I panicked when I called you, concerned that he might have hurt the baby. 
But,
I
i
mmediately
used my gift to
s
top the bleeding
.
  He only got me once before he vanished.
 
I think he heard Vin returning. 
Please
don't make a fuss
.  It's not that big of a deal.  It's nothing
really
,
but
…"  C
a
eli
casually
described the incident to Salma.

"
But
?
 
Are you going to tell me it gets worse
?
"
  Salma couldn't believe that
C
a
eli
considered this a minor incident.

"
No, but
Vin doesn't know. 
The reason h
e did
n
o
t want me to go for a walk
had nothing to do with
this
. 
H
e
i
s
only being his normally
protective
self, which I love
. 
That's why I
couldn't
tell him
yet
. 
N
ot only would he feel guilty,
but
he would
likely
already have us
on our way to some remote desert by now; somewhere where
there
wasn't a drop of water in sight
for miles
. 
I wanted to let him calm down before I told him. 
Vin
ha
s
been
through
so
much.  I don't want to worry him over nothing
.
"

"
C
a
eli
, g
etting stabbed
i
s
definitely something
. 
The man
must have
h
ad a reason for such a specific attack. 
Are you sure you fixed it
completely
?
  I
still
sense a change in you,
"
Salma reached out and p
laced
her hand on C
a
eli's stomach as they continued t
heir stroll
.  Salma concentrated while C
a
eli walked
on
in silence, feeling Salma's gift inspect her most recent injury.  After a minute, Salma removed her hand.

"
How'd I do, Doc?
"
  C
a
eli asked
in an attempted jest
.

"
You seem ok
, but…C
a
eli,
can you tell if there was…
well,
are you sure he didn't
hurt your baby?
"
  The hesitation in Salma's question mirrored C
a
eli's response.
  She stopped walking and turned to face Salma, but did
n
o
t answer right away.
  The look on her face spoke volumes.

C
a
eli wasn't sure she knew
the answer
. 
She
walked a little further before stopping
again
in
the next
beam of moonlight.  The men following stopped a polite distance behind, fussing with Max
,
who had
found Maku's video camera in a holster at the man's waist and was pestering him about it.