wrath of the Sea Queen (218 page)

"Stop this.  You don't want your prize damaged, and I do not want to hurt C
a
eli."

"
Then let me go.  I can heal her.  You cannot.  She is better off with me.
"

Vin maintained his grip around her waist as she
continued to struggle and
squirm, trying to bre
ak free.  When they finally rolled
to a stop, wet sand clinging to
both of
them,
C
a
eli
ended up on top of Vin, facing him.  This enabled
Rika
to land a well
-
placed knee to his groin.  Though the pain was intense, Vin
refused to
relinquish his hold
on her
.

"
That's certainly no way to start a family. 
Still, y
ou
wi
ll have to do
much
better than that
to steal my family
," Vin retorted.

Vin's mockery of
Rika
's stated intention instigated another roun
d of struggling.  Vin sensed
desperation in her efforts
. 
Rika
was no longer confident of her success.  In fact, she was
becoming more
frantic
in her efforts
to get away. 
He
simply would not permit it
.  E
ventually
, he
managed to
drag
her up from the sand and pull her back inside.  Once more, Vin maneuvered C
a
eli into the shower where he diligently held her beneath the steady st
r
eam of water.

The
physical
exertion took its toll
on C
a
eli
's body
as Vin
knew it
eventually
must
.  He count
ed
on her exhaustion this time.  H
e felt terrible for again being
the one
responsible for placing C
a
eli in such a vulnerable state
, but it was necessary
.  Before long, C
a
eli's body gave out.  She simply did
n
o
t have the strength ne
eded
to overcome Vin's determination. 
It was the
on
e good thing that came from this misadventure
.

Vin knew all too well that when C
a
eli was
healthy and well
, she was
fully cap
able
of
hold
ing
her own
when
sparring with him. 
Her stamina and determination were no less than his.  After all, i
t was Vin who
encouraged
C
a
eli
to learn
to defend herself
in case a time
came
when
he wasn't around
to do it for her
. 
She enjoyed the lessons for the exercise and friendly competition, but Vin knew she retained a
portion
of the training out of repetitive habit, if nothing else.

Vin was relieved to notice another change as
C
a
eli's body went limp in his grasp
.  C
a
eli
began to shake
her head as if trying to wake from a dream.  Instead of pulling away, she now cl
ung
firmly to his arm.

"
That's it, C
a
eli!  Keep fighting. 
Rika
knows she
i
s losing
.  She is scared of you
.
"

Th
e struggle
continued for another five minutes before the change became permanent.  The fight
appeared
to be over, but
Vin was wary against
another ploy to mislead him.

"
Vin!  Vin, I did it
!
  I found the answer.
"
 
A new
wave
of energy surged through C
a
eli
as she stood beneath the water
.  Vin thought this
voice
sounded like C
a
eli's personality.

"
C
a
eli?
"

"
Yes.  It's me.  She's gone.  Oh, thank you, Vin!
"
 
She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. 
When she looked up at him, Vin
realized
that C
a
eli's eyes
had
returned to their normal shade of brown, and he hugged her close.

"
C
a
eli
,
I
'
m
so
sorry.  I don't know what I was thinking last night. 
I sensed the trouble, but I ignored it.  I knew
you were tired
, still weak
.  I
should
n't have given in,
"
Vin apologized
.

"
Don't be sorry.  I
wi
ll never be sorry for loving you
, Vin
.  Besides,
this was not
your fault
.  I certainly didn't discourage you, did I?"
  C
a
eli asked
with a smile
.

"No, definitely not," Vin
returned her grin
.

C
a
eli was trying to make him feel better
,
attempting to assuage
his guilt.  He was certain, now, that this was his wife and not Rika trying to fool him.  Rika would not have cared about Vin's feelings.

"Honestly
,
without this
misstep
, I might n
ever
have found the
answer
s
I
needed
.
  It
i
s exactly what
you told me
Urim said.  I could not win unless I surrendered
myself
."

"But you didn't surrender.  Rika cheated
,
"
Vin countered.

"Ah, but Urim did not say
to
who
m
I had to surrender, did he?
 
By giving
myself over
to you
, I was forced to
go through this
bout with Rika
.
While she was distracted with you,
I gained
a lot of
knowledge I could not have learned any other way. 
Also
,
I now remember everything that was hidden from me
. 
I know what's happening with my gift
, Vin. 
I know what it will take to fix it.  I finally know what I have to do.  But…,
"
C
a
eli stopped, trying to find a way to explain it to him.  She reached up and turned off the water, then reached for a towel.

"
But I'm not going to like the solution, am I?
"
  Vin completed her thought.

"
No more than I do. 
I won't lie. 
It
frightens
me,
"
she replied quietly.

Vin hugged her tight again.  He knew he could not shelter C
a
eli from what she needed to do. 
C
a
eli's
gift was a
n active
part of her
now
, and she had to come to terms with it
on her own
. 
Vin
could not face this for her, but he could face it with her.  Vin could be beside her to support her effort.

"
I don't know how to lessen your fear, except to say that I have no doubt that you are capable of doing whatever it takes to see this through.  I
wi
ll help you any way that I can. 
T
ell me what I can do.
"

"
To start with, y
ou can let me get you a
n
ice
pack
.  I
a
m really sorry about that kick.
  I couldn't stop her.
"
  C
a
eli tried to diver
t
him
from the topic long enough to think of some way to dissuade Vin from thoughts
of assisting her
.  If her dream was a true indicator, then she
had to find a way to kee
p him away while she finished
this fight
.