wrath of the Sea Queen (207 page)

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Authors: Cynthia Woods

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"
Max, please go and talk to Maku and Jeremy.  Help them keep an eye on us from back there.  I need to talk to C
a
eli privately,
"
Salma told him.  Max agreed,
believing
he was still doing his job like the grown men.

"
That sounds ominous
, Salma
.  Can't we just enjoy this walk without any dire conversations?
"

"
I want to know how you are doing.  You seem to have made a speedy recovery after that bath, but then that man came after you. 
How
are
you really feel
ing
?  It's just
us
.  Tell me the whole truth this time, C
a
eli. 
Y
ou know I won't reveal anything you tell me in confidence, but I need to know. 
As your doctor,
I can't treat you properly if you continue to keep things from me
.  As your friend,
I'm asking you to
l
et me help you
, please
.
"

"
I'm c
onsiderably better, Salma.  The bath was a g
reat
idea. 
I
was
finally
able to
use my gift
on myself
, and the water
worked wonders
.  Nearly all the damage
ha
s
been repaired
.  The
re are only those large gashes left; they wi
ll take a little more time. 
And my
cracked rib
s are
the worst
, but my gift
doesn't seem to
work on bones
.
"

"
And the new injury?
The one you called me about?
"
  Salma didn't miss a beat.

"
You already know
?
"

"
I saw the spots on your robe. 
I was able to reach across the room with my gift and feel your
lingering
pain. 
I figured that you must be worried about the baby given the location of the injury.  T
ell me about it
.
"

C
a
eli
should have known that Salma would not
ice

That was exactly the sort of thing that would catch her physician's eye and that her gift would
bring to
Salma's
attention
.
  C
a
eli was impressed that Salma
had been
able to discern the pain without
direct contact
.  Salma's gift was growing, too.

"
Surprisingly, i
t wasn't
all
that bad.  Vin ran out
after
him
;
but w
hile he was gone
,
the man
reappeared
suddenly from
the tub.  It was so quick, I hardly even
knew
it happened,
"
C
a
eli explained without mentioning the act itself.

"
What
happened so fast
?  What did he do
, C
a
eli
?
"
  Salma persisted.  She
would
not let C
a
eli off that easily.

"
I guess you could say h
e
sort of
stabbed me,
"
C
a
eli whispered so that Salma was barely certain of what she heard.

"
What?!  Stabbed you?  Goodness sakes, C
a
eli!  What is going on in that head of yours? 
Why didn't you tell me
right away

No
w I understand why
Vin didn't want you to go for a walk. 
Thank heavens he
has more sense than you do
at the moment

We need to g
et you
back
inside. 
Why would you take such a risk after that? 
I need to look at you
r wound

"

C
a
eli immediately tried to calm Salma
so the oth
ers
would not overhear.

"
Sh
h

Salma
,
please
, not so loud
.  I
t's ok.  I'm fine, really. 
It's not as bad as it sounds. 
He used
two of his long fingernails
to
reopen
one of
the deep
er
gashes on
my
side
and
poke
in
to
my
stomach

I panicked when I called you, concerned that he might have hurt the baby. 
But,
I
i
mmediately
used my gift to
s
top the bleeding
.
  He only got me once before he vanished.
 
I think he heard Vin returning. 
Please
don't make a fuss
.  It's not that big of a deal.  It's nothing
really
,
but
…"  C
a
eli
casually
described the incident to Salma.

"
But
?
 
Are you going to tell me it gets worse
?
"
  Salma couldn't believe that
C
a
eli
considered this a minor incident.

"
No, but
Vin doesn't know. 
The reason h
e did
n
o
t want me to go for a walk
had nothing to do with
this

H
e
i
s
only being his normally
protective
self, which I love

That's why I
couldn't
tell him
yet

N
ot only would he feel guilty,
but
he would
likely
already have us
on our way to some remote desert by now; somewhere where
there
wasn't a drop of water in sight
for miles

I wanted to let him calm down before I told him. 
Vin
ha
s
been
through
so
much.  I don't want to worry him over nothing
.
"

"
C
a
eli
, g
etting stabbed
i
s
definitely something

The man
must have
h
ad a reason for such a specific attack. 
Are you sure you fixed it
completely
?
  I
still
sense a change in you,
"
Salma reached out and p
laced
her hand on C
a
eli's stomach as they continued t
heir stroll
.  Salma concentrated while C
a
eli walked
on
in silence, feeling Salma's gift inspect her most recent injury.  After a minute, Salma removed her hand.

"
How'd I do, Doc?
"
  C
a
eli asked
in an attempted jest
.

"
You seem ok
, but…C
a
eli,
can you tell if there was…
well,
are you sure he didn't
hurt your baby?
"
  The hesitation in Salma's question mirrored C
a
eli's response.
  She stopped walking and turned to face Salma, but did
n
o
t answer right away.
  The look on her face spoke volumes.

C
a
eli wasn't sure she knew
the answer

She
walked a little further before stopping
again
in
the next
beam of moonlight.  The men following stopped a polite distance behind, fussing with Max
,
who had
found Maku's video camera in a holster at the man's waist and was pestering him about it.

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