wrath of the Sea Queen (152 page)

"
That is not pretty C
a
eli,
"
Max answered, fear causing his voice to tremble.

Vin caught Max's movement out of the corner of his eye.  It only confirmed what he already knew.  He continued to taunt the lady, still hoping for any clue that might tell him how to help C
a
eli.

"
I will not help you
with whatever it is you are trying to do
.  C
a
eli and I will be leaving here together
.  You will release her or else
,
"
Vin
asserted
.

"
Foolish man
!
 
You dare
threaten me
?
 
I have
grow
n
tired of this conversation.  You two
will
leave
, while I
a
m still inclined to set you free
.  Your wife and the boy will remain with me.
"
 

Vin was confused, but he was out of time.  He would have to sort it out later.  His first concern was getting C
a
eli out of there. 
He
needed to take some sort of
act
ion before it was too late
.

Max squeezed Ben's leg and frantically tried to climb up as if Ben were a tree.  Ben picked him up out of the dangerous waters.  Vin moved forward to take hold of C
a
eli, but without warning, she made a lunge for Max.  At the last moment, it seemed as if s
he changed her mind and
was jerked
beneath the suddenly turbulent water
instead
.  It appeared
to Vin
that
she
was
tugged
beneath the surface
by
an unseen p
air of hands
.  Vin rushed to catch hold of her, but was not quick enough. 
C
a
eli
resurfaced a moment later, further away from Vin, and looked
around to locate
Max.

C
a
eli spoke to Max, almost frantically.

"
Max, go with
Ben
. 
He
will keep you safe.  No matter what, don't come
near
me.  I know you understand, Max.  Please go.  Ben, get him out of here!
"
  C
a
eli's voice pleaded.

The water in the cave r
ose
faster now.  It was almost to C
a
eli's shoulders as she stood.

"C
a
eli, I knew you would fight her."  Vin recognized the return of the
brown-eyed
woman he knew so well.

In the next instant,
C
a
eli
made another quick movement
toward
Max, now secure in Ben's arms.  Ben was faster and side
-
stepped her attempt.  While she was distracted, Vin came up beside C
a
eli and caught her around the waist.  She would not be so easily held
in her native water
, though, and was soon free of his grasp.  C
a
eli again plunged below the water's surface, with less resistance this t
ime, and disappeared from sight, leaving Vin with nothing more than a large smear of blood on his arm.

Vin searched
frantically
for several minutes, but could not locate her.  She
simply
vanished in the high, frothy waters.  Given the pool-like dimensions of the room, Vin did
n
o
t think that C
a
eli could have swam
by
both h
e
and Ben unnoticed, or that she could have stayed completely submerged for this long.  He was frightened for her.  What if C
a
eli was caught on something below the water and could not free herself?  What if this other presence
had taken
complete control
once
again
?  Vin dove under the water several times, trying to see anything, but the water was too choppy and visibility in the d
im
cave water was almost nonexistent.  Vin called C
a
eli's name repeatedly, but
received
no response.

He
had been searching for almost five minutes when a firm hand
grasped
his shoulder. 
Vin
looked to his left where Ben st
ood
at his side, Max still in his arms.  Ben nodded to indicate something in the o
pposite
direction.  For the first time, Ben was able to see the shining, white light
.  A
vaguely man-like form rose from the water and approached Vin.  When it spoke, Ben could also hear the words. 
He
was enthralled by the sight before him.  Vin, on the other hand, paid close attention to every word, knowing they would be few
and
important.

"
Eyvindr, she fights for lives
in addition to
her own, as she
must
.  But,
this
has left her vulnerable to the force which now threatens to overwhelm her.  If you want her back, then you must fight for her.
"

"
Urim, you k
now I will fight, but who is this
enemy? 
How can I fight her without harming C
a
eli? 
I don't even know w
here
she
has
taken
C
a
eli
.
"
 

"
C
a
eli
remains.  She struggles even as we speak. 
She
has been through
much
today
. 
Alt
hough she has been spared the recollection of certain moments
,
the moments ahead will be worse. 
C
a
eli
has
little
strength remaining. 
Lend her your
s
.
Fight for her
,
Eyvindr, as only you can.
It is he
r
only chance to win
her
free
dom
.
"
  With that, Urim's presence faded as rapidly as it
had
arrived.

Vin considered the angel's words carefully and
a
new
look of
determin
ation chiseled
its way
into his features
.  The wind in the cave began to stir, stronger and stronger with each heartbeat.  That was
the
c
ue Ben needed.
  Vin
had
devised
a plan
and was already setting it in motion
.

"
Ben, get Max out of her as fast as you can.  Wait at the hotel.  Don't come back
for us
, no matter what.  Hurry!  I don't have time to explain.
"

"
You don't need to,
"
Ben answered.  He had a pretty good idea what was about to happen, and Ben did
n
o
t want to be anywhere near it.  He rush
ed
toward the e
xit
as the wind began to howl within the confinement of th
e pool-shaped
room
.

The water around C
a
eli swirled and tugged at her.  No matter how much she tried, she could n
ot regain the surface.  She
was
able
to use her gift to shelter herself so that she didn't drown, but that was about all she c
ould do
physically
. 
C
a
eli soon
won free of Rika's
mental
intrusion
, having heard
the words
Rika spoke
to Vin. 
Rika
implied
that
C
a
eli allowed this to happen.  If that were true, then she should be able to deny it.  When
Rika
tried to
grab
Max, C
a
eli made a concerted eff
ort to enforce that denial and
succeeded for a few
,
brief moments. 
I
t was enough to
stop Rika and
let C
a
eli know that it was
possible.