wrath of the Sea Queen (220 page)

"
Poor kid.  As if his lot in life hadn't been bad enough.  He deserved better than this,
"
Vin observed sadly.

Ben noted the burnt remains in the trash can and looked around for any other clues that might tell him what happened and where to look for Salma.  Finding Pete
's body
increased his fear for
her
tenfold. 
The
search was fruitless.  He could not find anything helpful in the lab.  As they walked out into the hall,
out of
frustration, Ben punched the wall.  His action left a
large
hole in the drywall and blood on his knuckles.

"
Ben, that won't help.  We've got to think
about
…ow!
  What the…?
"
  Vin was trying t
o help calm Ben's anger when
a s
harp
pain radiated across
his shin, repeat
ing
twice more before he reach
ed
down and h
e
ld Max
ou
t
at
arm's length,
beyond kicking range.

"
You promised!  You lied!
"
  Max was still kicking
aimlessly
at Vin and trying to punch him. 
The boy
was clearly upset, but Vin
had no idea
what he was talking about
,
at first
.

"
Max, calm down.  What did I do?
"
  Vin knelt down and asked.

"
You said you would try to change the ending.  You promised!  You didn't even try
to stop her.  Now it's too late.
"

Max managed to kick Vin again, nearly knocking
the knee on which he knelt
out from under him.  Vin
realized that
he deserved it.  In the rush to help Ben, he completely forgot about C
a
eli
.  He left her alone
. 
Vin
had no trouble
guess
ing
what she
did after he left
the room
.
 
Max, however,
was
keeping an eye out for
C
a
eli
from the lounge.  He
watched
her
walk
down to the water
, heedless of his calls
for her
to stop.  Max did
n
o
t follow her because the closer she got to the water, the stronger the
storm
outside became. 
The calm morning was all but forgotten. 
The rain pour
ed
, thunder rumbl
ed
loudly, and flashes of lightning danced through the thick clouds. 
Max’s fear of the
S
ea
Q
ueen
kept him inside and sent him running in search of Vin instead.

"
She must have slipped out without me.  Damn!  Ben, I'm sorry.  I
hav
e to go after her.
  I can't l
et her do this alone
.
"

"
I understand.  I know about her dream.  It
gives me hope
that Salma will turn up
somewhere
near
C
a
eli.  Their troubles seem
at least partially
en
twined
.
I'm going to check the other rooms to be sure
I don't overlook anything
.  Go on, Vin.  I'll only be a few minutes behind you.
"

"
I
wi
ll have my men come inside and help.  The search will be quicker that way,
"
Colonel Franks offered.

Vin was already running down the hall and out the door of the lounge, headed
toward
the
now turbulent
water.  Max tried to keep up with him, but his lit
tle legs were not up to the
task
.
 
The boy
was quickly
outdistanced and left behind in a gust of wind. 
Maku returned in time to see Max stop at
the exterior door of the lounge, watching Vin run
toward
C
a
eli.
 

"
What's
going on
?
"
  Maku asked
w
he
n
Ben c
a
me
rushing
around the corner.  From the loo
k on Ben's face, Maku
could tell that
they
found something.

Ben
revealed
the grim news
a
bout Pete. 
Maku
had seen
Lorrie
do
some pretty shameful things over the years, but never anything like this, and not to Pete.

"
She couldn't do that.  She wouldn't.
"
  Maku couldn't accept it.

Then, slowly, the reality of her deed sank in, and
Maku
knew the harsh truth. 
The loss of his brother
sad
dened him greatly
and the acute sting of
Lorrie's b
etrayal
made his skin burn
. 
Lorrie
was
definitely
no
t
the same girl he
fell
in love with all those years ago. 
The flame he still carri
ed
for her
was
finally
and completely
snuffed
out as
Maku walked
glumly
into the lab
to
retrieve Pete's body
.  He
wrapped it in the blanket
that Lorrie
had
used to cover him
.  Colonel Franks and Apela helped Maku take his brother out to the plot to be buried alongside the others who
took their final
rest near the hotel.

Ben and the guardsmen continued the search of the few remaining
hotel
rooms, but came up empty-handed.  There was no sign of Salma.  Ben did find what appeared to be a nozzle of some sort near the bathroom door in his own room, confirming his theory
.  W
hoever did this used some sort of gas to put him out of commission long enough to take Sa
lma and make a clean getaway.

W
here was Salma if not in any of the rooms?  Lorrie
had to have knocked her out and
could not have carried her far. 
Lorrie wou
ld
have
needed
help. 
They
must
be hiding her
until they could sneak away safely
, and it had to
be somewhere close.  The only thing that was close to the hotel was…the cave.  Of course!  Ben called for Max and asked the boy to join him, taking his hand as he hurried outside.  Ben followed
the path t
hat remained of
Vin’s footsteps through the
wet
sand
.

CHAPTER
49

The ti
me had come.  Vin unwittingly g
ave
C
a
eli
this one chance to face
Rika
without putting him at risk.  She could
n
o
t let the opportunity go to waste.  She walked down to the water's edge
as she had do
ne in her dream.  Only
this time
, C
a
eli was not dreaming.
  Rika's presence in the storm
mingled with
C
a
eli
's
own gift
as they surged through t
he
rain
clouds.

C
a
eli
hesitated at the water's edge and gave one last look toward her room. 
T
his was the right choice, but she disliked leaving
the security of
Vin
's unwavering support
.
Yet, it was
what she had to do.  It was the only way
. 
C
a
eli
let her mind drift
as she stood there
.  Over the
course of the l
ast few days,
she
had been
exposed to her gift in a variety of ways
and
was
given no instruction, no guidance.  She
clung to
the few words that Urim shared with her
, cautioning her
not to let
herself be
overwhelm
ed
.  Most importantly, Urim told C
a
eli to find the strength within to master her gift.  That was all well and good, in theory, but C
a
eli had to figure out the
more practical
details for herself.