wrath of the Sea Queen (230 page)

Thunder clapped loudly outside. 
The
storm unleashed its
fury
off shore and
the
fallout
expand
ed
i
n
land.  A
strong wind began to blow through the cave.  Salma noticed water
running
down the walls and
the
center of the cave floor.  The
flow
was
increas
ing
steadily, and
very
soon
those six inches of pooled water had become eight.  The water was rising quickly.

Loud voices
erupted in
the next room, but Salma could not understand what they were saying.  Salma closed her eyes and the room did not spin this time.  She called to Ben.

"
Ben, are you all right?
"

"
Yes, where have they taken you?
"
  He answered
succinctly
.

"
I
'm i
nside a cave.  I think it's the
one on the
beach
where you found C
a
eli
,
"
Salma replied.

"
Good. 
W
e chose correctly. 
Hang tight.  We'll have you out soon
.
"

"
Ben, where…
"

Salma's thoughts were interrupted by a strong hand gripping her chin.  Scott walked over and
roughly
grabbed hold of her, trying to get her attention. 
App
arently
, he
had been
talking to her,
but
Salma
had
not hear
d
a word he said
.

"
There you are.  I
t's not polite to
ignor
e your host
.  Now,
before we are interrupted,
let's
see exactly how your family's blood reacts to this book
.  S
hall we
take it for a test
drive
?
"

Scott freed Salma's left wrist, leaving the other
cuffed and
chained to the floor.  He took out a hunting knife and
pointed it
menacingly
at Salma.  Squatting in front of her,
he
held the book on his knees
,
no longer in the box but
still wrapped in its linen cover.  Scott pulled back the
cloth
to reveal
the
worn cover decorated with different triangle-shaped designs.  He
placed Salma's free hand on top of the book,
covering it with his own
. 
Then he placed the hunting knife
against
Salma's throat. 
The water in the cave was continuing to rise
a
round them
.  Already it was nearing
Salma's waist as she sat on the floor.
  The book itsel
f would get wet soon
,
if Scott
stayed in his current position
.
 

Salma felt
a sudden
rush of power flow from the book
as her hand made contact with the aged leather cover
. 
It was an unfettered stream of energy waiting to be directed by her gift. 
She could tell that Scott was trying to get her to
pass
that
energy on
to him. 
Initially,
Salma
considered
shifting her
hand
to
dump the book into the water
.  S
he
could
n
o
t think of any other wa
y
to stop
this
from happening
.  Yet she could
n
o
t bring herself to damage the book
;
so she tried the only other
idea that came to mind and that s
he
might be able to
control
.  S
alma
concentrated on stopping the flow
of energy
.  She did not want to draw any more energy from the book
.  Salma
also
att
empted to
prevent
that which she
ha
d already
extracted
from
travelling
into Scott
.

As she did
this
, the energy
was
building inside of
Salma
, gathering strength. 
The sensation made her understand
what
C
a
eli must have felt when the excess energy from the waves collected inside of her.  It was
extremely
frightening.  Salma wasn't certain how long she could continue to do this before she would be overwhelmed and forced to expel the energy into Scott. 
Regrettably,
Salma did not know how to use the energy to her benefit.  Her
honed
skills did not include anything beyond determining a person’s health and emotional state and speaking mentally with her immediate family members
and those closest to her
.

Thankfully
for Salma
, Scott
’s
impatien
ce got the best of him
. 
With a sudden shout of rage, Scott
removed his hand from Salma's and
plunged the knife
deep
into
her
right shoulder, near the socket.  S
alma
cried out in pain and
yanked
her hand away from the book, reaching up to grasp her wounded shoulder.

"
You bitch!  Do you think you can keep me from accessing the book?  Perhaps I should take your blood instead of C
a
eli's. 
It might not be as strong, but it
would
amuse me for a while. 
Better yet, maybe I
wi
ll take both
; o
r maybe
I
wi
ll leave you here while the water rises.  This cave is known to flood
quickly
during heavy rains.  Wouldn't it be
devilishly cruel
if your husband somehow managed to get through all of my men out front only to
discover
your lifeless body
in
a pool of water
?  That would certainly make him suffer enough to meet with Dad's approval
.  Don’t you agree?
"
  Scott
re
wrapped
the book and snatched it up
under his arm
before stalking
off into the darkness at the back of the cave
.  He did not return.

Salma surmised that there must be another exit at the opposite end
of the cave
, but she did not know if Scott's absence would be permanent.  She took advantage of the opportunity to try and free herself or lead Ben to her.

"
Ben!  Help!
"

The water was rising
more
quickly
than before.  T
he rain outside
must have increased
. 
The pool
was
already
up to
the middle of
her
chest
as she sat
flat on the floor
.  Salma tried to stand, but the chain on her wrist prevented it.  She could get no further than a kneeling position.  The wound in her shoulder bled profusely and worse
ned
as she continued to struggle.  If she didn't get help soon, it would be too late.
  She tried to use her gift and
the excess
energy
she held
to slow the bleeding
as she
ha
d watched C
a
eli do for Vin
. 
To
Salma's
astonishment
, i
t
actually
worked for a few minutes, but the energy was quickly expended by the serious nature of the injury
and her own inability to focus the effort properly
.  Salma was not able to stop the bleeding
entirely
.

"
Ben.  In case you don't reach me in time, you need to know…
"  Salma started to explain.

"
Don't talk like that. 
I am
almost there
.
 
H
old on, Love.
" 
Ben refused to consider the possibility that he would
be too late
.