wrath of the Sea Queen (145 page)

Ben pulled
Salma
aside, checking her for injuries.  She
had
inhaled a lot of smoke and was coughing, but seemed otherwise unharmed. 
He could
n
o
t believe it.  She should
at least
have some indication of the heat or flames
'
effect on her, but there was nothing. 
All
Salma needed
was
a good dose of clean air
,
and she
w
ould be fine.  Ben thanked Maku, and turned likewise to Vin
.  He
nodded, still feeling woozy from the
second
crack on his head
in as many days
.  They all
continued
to the exit in the coatroom, only to find their last hope of escape blocked.

"
Did you see that?
"
  Lorrie shouted at Scott
to be heard over the commotion
.  They
ha
d been
watching the group move along the wall ever since Scott's uncle
fell
.  Scott
swore
that someone would pay for the untimely death as soon as he found out what
went
wrong and wh
at caused
the
additional
explosions.

"
Yes.  Unfortunately, I did.  You said that man was the niece's husband?  Damn the luck!  I should have figured it wouldn't be as easy as snatching up some helpless lady.
"
  Scott fumed now that he recognized the
man the Deacon had failed to kill
.

"
Why?  What are you talking about?
"
  Lorrie was truly puzzled.  Obviously, Scott was not surprised by what
Vin
did
when the wall fell
.
 
Lorrie
had been
under the impression
that
Scott
had
never met
Vin
before today
.
 
A ruse she wanted him to believe about her
self
as well.  In truth
,
Lorrie had known him for many years, though Vin did not recognize her now.

"
That is Eyvindr Harding, descendent of the first bloodline, gifted with the wind elements, as you saw him so aptly demonstrate.  To say that he is protective of his wife is the understatement of the year.  He crossed the barrier twice for her; and she is no docile housecat herself.  She gave old Nemi the slip a few times
when she was being held in Idaho. 
Trust me.  That was no easy feat. 
If
C
a
eli
is
D
r. Erickson's niece
by blood
, then
both
are
descend
a
nt
s
of the second bloodline.  This is going to be much more difficult than I thought. 
I never intended to face Eyvindr's bloodline again, much less Eyvindr himself. 
The prudent thing to do would be to
forget about h
is wife
and
use Dr. Erickson's blood to access the book.  G
oing after
C
a
eli's blood
may bring me more tro
uble than I can handle
.  Then again, it could
also
be much more rewarding.
  The samples I
tested
show
ed
that her blood is much more
active
than Dr. Erickson's.
  That's why both Neal and I wanted to discover the donor's identity.
"

Scott mutter
ed
to himself, trying to decide his next course of action.  Lorrie no longer
listened or
cared.  Scott
once
told her that such people existed, and that learning elemental skills was possible
for
the rare few who
put forth the necessary effort
. 
Most people never made such connections.  Scott
was one of those few
who did.  He had
cruelly demonstrated his acquired talent with
a
j
olt of
lightning to prove his point.  When Lorrie asked
Rika
about it afterward,
her
long-time
friend
confirmed Scott's information
.  Anyone could learn to use the elemental skills, but it was
an inherent ability for anyone from
either of the two bloodlines. 
Lorrie never
imagined
that Vin
inherited
the bloodline
that could use the Book of Elements
or
that he would
master
an elemental
gift
, much less both
. 
Supposedly,
members
of the two bloodlines
c
ould attain
much
greater ability with their higher
aptitude for controlling the elements than someone
like Scott
who
had
learn
ed
it
from scratch. 
             

Lorrie was
also
surprised that
,
i
n all the times Scott
repeated
the
stor
y
about the incident in Idaho, she never
realized
that the victimized couple had been Vin and C
a
eli
. 
That was mainly due to the fact that
Scott
had not known
that Eyvindr and Vin
we
re
the same person.  Lorrie was embarrassed that she
was unable to make
the obvious connection. 
Of course, none of this would change Lorrie's plan in the least. 

Dr. Erickson was
only beginning to suffer.  Salma was
most certainly watching
as
C
a
eli
was
being
slowly
eaten away b
y
the poison. 
Yet b
efore C
a
eli reached the point of death, Lorrie would deliver her to Rika
as
he
r
promised
payment
.  Lorrie
did not know
what Rika wanted from C
a
eli
,
and she did not
care
.  From the change in Scott's mumblings
as he considered the best way to make Salma comply
, he would make sure that Dr. Erickson suffered even further
.  If Dr. Erickson died in the process, Lorrie was all right with that, too.  Lorrie's main goal
s
w
ere
to
see Dr. Erickson suffer and
deliver C
a
eli to Rika. 
Then she would finally be done.

Vin caught sight of Scott out of the corner of his eye. 
The redhead
watch
ed
them as they crossed the room, and Vin
could tell t
hat Scott recognized him.  There was nothing
Vin
could do about it.  He would have to deal with
that matter later.  Vin wasn't exactly certain
what
Scott's role was in all of this
, though
he
presumed it
involved
the Book of Elements and the bloodlines that
could
access its power.  Since
Scott
was at
tending
Salma's conference and
was
ma
king
the effort to
stay
close to her, Vin
presumed
that
Scott
was
helping his uncle with
the plot to abduct
Salma
.  But was his involvement anything more than that?  Vin would work with Ben to figure that out once they got Salma safely out of the building.

Ben caught
Vin's
arm and drew his attention to the group around him.

"
Vin, is there anything you can do about the air in here?  It
i
s getting
very
difficult
to breathe.
"
  Ben held Salma against his chest, where she was barely managing to keep her eyes open. 
Her breathing seem
ed
to be affected
more than the others, and Ben's concern was e
vident
.