wrath of the Sea Queen (242 page)

Maku was halfway out of the opening as Ben
leaned down to l
end him a hand.  Rather than accept
the proffered
assistance, Maku quickly drew a knife from somewhere
near his waist
and hurled it across the roof.  Ben turned in time to see the knife pierce Scott through the heart.  Scott dropped the handgun he
was raising toward
Ben's back and fell again to the rooftop.  This time, he would not be getting up.

"
Thank you,
"
Ben sincerely appreciated Maku's fast reflexes. 

After discussing how best to handle the body, they returned below to find Salma anxiously pacing in the lounge.  She ran up to Ben as soon as he
ca
m
e
around the corner.  Ben was followed by Maku, carrying a squar
e
object tucked under his arm.  As Ben embraced Salma, letting her know that everything was all right, he furtively nodded to Maku.  Maku slipped off and placed the
object
in their room and returned a few minutes later, empty-handed
.  Maku moved away to
talk to Jeremy
about getting the guardsmen to remove Scott’s body
before heading outside to meet Vin as he walked up the beach with an unknown man.
 

"
Ben, what happened?  Where is Scott?
"
  Salma asked concerned.

"
He's dead.  Maku and Jeremy will take care of the details.  He won't be bothering
us
again.  Now, you should not be out here.  You're supposed to be resting in
the
relative safety
of our
room.  Come on,
D
oll.  Back you go.  Besides,
we
a
re going to have a little talk.  I
woul
d like to know why you didn't tell
me that Scott intended to come after you
again
.
"

Ben gave her a stern look as he escorted Salma back to their room.  She should have known that Ben would figure it out, even without
the benefit of reading Scott's thoughts
.

CHAPTER
56

"
Hang on, little one.  I
will
try to get us back.
"

A
fter
C
a
eli finished helping Vin
with his injury
, she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. 
A
very bright,
white light
approach
ed
from twenty feet in front of her as she rested by the tunnel entrance
.
 
T
h
e
intensity of the
light faded
when it was no more than five feet
away
and a man stood
there
, seemingly waiting for something.  C
a
eli turned to face him
directly
.  At first,
she
thought it might be Urim coming to speak with her, and she
saw
a brief glimmer of hope.  But, upon closer inspection, it was not Urim who stood
before her
.  In fact, this man looked so much like Max that C
a
eli thought they must be related
.  S
urely that was not possible.  Then she remembered that Max
referred to him as
his uncle.

"Michael.  Why are you…?"

Unseen hands reached
out
from behind C
a
eli and rested firmly on her shoulders.  In that instant, an odd sensation flow
ed
through her entire body. 
From her neck down, e
very
joint,
muscle
, and tendon
that permitted movement
was suddenly frozen in place
.  Al
though the pain in her stomach continued to increase
at an alarming rate
, she could not even console herself with shifting to ease any of the discomfort
.  At the same time,
Michael
drew a long dagger from his belt and began to
stride
forward
. 

C
a
eli
met
Michael
for the first time
only
recently
, though
Vin
had
previously
described him in vivid detail.  The sight of
the archangel
approaching
with his
silver
dagger in hand filled C
a
eli with fear. 
There was no question in her mind that whatever was going to happen in
the next few moments would decide her fate
. 
But why would Michael want to hurt her? 
C
a
eli
was confounded by the situation
and
powerless to do anything to prevent it.

"
Do
n
o
t be afraid, Sister.  It is necessary.
"

A soothing voice came from the man whose face she could not see behind her.  His words
sounded
kind, but C
a
eli could not accept them
.  H
er
wide
eyes remained fixed on the gleaming metal blade in Michael's hand.  C
a
eli's panic
increased as t
he
blade
arced
rapidly
toward
her
stomach
, caus
ing
the
pouring rain to sting her skin
. 
H
opefully theirs, too
, she thought.
  Large waves came barreling toward the small island, crashing into the three as they stood there.

"No, please! 
Stop! 
Don't do this!
 
Vin, help me!
"  C
a
eli begged, but it was too late. 
In her despair, C
a
eli silently reached for Vin's support, but was too distraught to realize what she was doing or even know if he heard her.

Michael's aim was true and
unwaveringly
precise.  A
thin
red line appeared across
the lower half of
C
a
eli's
belly
. 
T
he
sting
of the cut
was a quick jolt of pain
. 
She desperately tried to move and
continued to
plead for them to stop. 
Michael's hand
momentarily covered
the open
wound dripping blood down
her stomach
and then the pressure of his touch inside her belly seemed as if he was ripping her apart from the inside
. 
A moment later,
he
held a tiny child in
the palm of
his hand and quickly turned away from her.  Michael's form shimmered momenta
rily, disappearing from sight
. 
As
it
did, C
a
eli heard her son cr
y as if from a great distance. 
T
he sound tore something loose in her mind.  C
a
eli
assumed
it
to be
the last
frayed bit
of her sanity.  This w
as too much for her to endure. 
Michael returned minutes later to stand before C
a
eli, empty
hand
s
hanging at his sides
.  I
f not for her anger at this horrid act,
she might not have found the strength to question him
.

"Why?  How could you
do this
?
  Where did you take my son?  Please!  Please bring him back."

"
Brother, we must close her wound and ease the harshness of this memory. 
Her mind
cannot bear it.
 
I will hold her still while you work,
" Michael spoke quietly to the
man
behind
C
a
eli. 

C
a
eli was beyond consolation.  The only thing she understood was that
Michael had taken her child and
these two were not done with her yet. 
With her remaining
clarity
,
C
a
eli
held
one thought in her mind.  No more!  She would not allow either of them to touch her again, no matter
the consequences
.