wrath of the Sea Queen (48 page)

Nathan
's excitement at being
entrusted with his own mission
was evident
and
he
hoped that it would go well.  As the rookie, he knew the other members of his team would support him completely.  However, once everything was said and done, if he messed up a simple babysitting assignment, his teammates would never let him live it down.

CHAPTER
13

U
sing their special connection,
the
concern
in Vin's words
spilled over to
C
a
eli
as she listened
unobtrusively
to his conversation with Ben and Sal
ma
. 
Being able to speak and share their
emotions
through thi
s
link
was a new level of closeness they both enjoyed
.
  Right now, however, C
a
eli almost wished she couldn't feel Vin's anguish.  He was very
worried
about her.  It made this much more difficult for her to do.

She hated th
e
necess
ity of
start
ing
this process
without telling him
what she was doing
, but
Vin would not have let her go alone if he knew what she was planning.  He most certainly
would have
be
en
a distraction if she allowed him to
accompany
her. 
She could
n
o
t risk losing her focus in the middle of
such an undertaking
. 
That would put everyone on board the ship at risk. 
Nonetheless, C
a
eli
very much
wanted to reach out to Vin and tell him not to worry
. 
But, t
hat would have to wait until she
had everything ready
. 

Once she reached the end of the deck, C
a
eli slipped between two high metal posts
and several large crates
secured
to the deck.  She
sat down on the
wet steel,
invisible to anyone unless they walked up directly beside her.  She sat in the falling rain and
waited for the downpour to diminish to a light drizzle. 
Using
her new skills
,
C
a
eli
reached through the water
a
nd began to manipulate the waves once again.  This time, she did not intend to reduce the
m
.  Her purpose was
quite
the oppo
site
. 

C
a
eli
's
concentration slip
ped
twice
.  S
he needed to work faster.  If she didn't release this energy soon,
her mind
would be
as chaotic as the sea around her
.  She
most likely
would not be
able to find her way
to the surface
a second time. 
Her plan was simple. 
She
intended to
expel
all the
excess
energy in
a single
pass. 
The solution
had to work the first time
and
not endanger the ship.  After
carefully
working out the details,
C
a
eli
finally
called to
Vin
. 

"
Vin, I'm ready, but I'm going to need your help.
"

"
C
a
eli, w
here are you?
"
  Vin stood up
as he answered her
, knocking the chair over in his haste
to respond to her need
.

"
What are you doing?
"
  Salma asked.

Ben and Salma were also able to hear C
a
eli due to Salma's gift
,
the fact that she was
holding Ben's
hand
,
and their close proximity to Vin.  C
a
eli did not want to share her plan with Ben and Salma, but could feel Salma hanging on tightly to the connection.  This did
n
o
t deter her though.  Being the
hopeless
romantic that she was, C
a
eli devised an impromptu and amusing way to distract both Salma and Ben.

"
Uncle Ben, I have a special favor to ask,
"
C
a
eli said in her sweetest voice. 

"
What do you need?
"

"
I need a private conversation with Vin.  Do you think you could um…distract your wife
briefly
?  I'm confident that you can think of a way to pull her attention away from my thoughts for a minute or two,
"
C
a
eli couldn't restrain a small giggle as she asked.

"
Well
Lass
, that's about the best assignment I
ha
ve
ever
been given. 
I'm h
appy to oblige.
"

Ben reached over and grabbed Salma as she was about to utter an objection
. 
He
succeeded in planting a kiss on her before she could do so.  Ben waved his hand at Vin to let him know that he was free to
continue
his conversation with C
a
eli.

Vin just shook his head and laughed, finally
rel
easing his tension.

"
C
a
eli, only you could get away with that. 
All right, y
ou
hav
e your distraction,
"
Vin confirmed.

"
Good.  Go out into the steering room
please
.
"

Vin was happy to leave the scene in front of him and stepped out of the room.  He entered the nearly deserted steering room and pulled the cabin door closed behind him. 

"
Look toward the
far
end of the deck.  Do you see the safety line across from the tall metal posts?
"

"
Yes.
"

"
I'm down here by the posts. 
I need you to come out here with me. 
Pretend like you are bringing me a blanket
or something, but m
ake sure you secure yourself to th
at
safety line as quickly as you can. 
Whatever happens, d
on't let anyone else come out on deck.  The two guys
already
out here have their safety lines
secured
.
"

"
What's going on, C
a
eli?
"
  Vin was serious now, all trace of the previous humor gone.

"
I could only think of one way to release the excess energy all at once.  I
woul
d rather not get washed overboard doing it.  But
,
I don't know how to …
"

"
Overboard? 
I don’t' like the sound of this.  W
hat
exactly
are you doing
, C
a
eli
?
"
 

"
Vin, please
t
rust me. 
This will work if you
help
me
. 
S
trap yourself i
n and hang on.  Get ready to reel in a big fish when the water flows
over
you.
  Hurry!  It's almost here.
"