wrath of the Sea Queen (221 page)

C
a
eli finally accept
ed
t
he full nature of her gift, not
only
as
a skill that
she could use, but also as an
extension of herself.  She had successfully banished
Rika
from her mind and did not have to worry about
having
her
thoughts
breach
ed or about Rika trying
to take control again
.  Vin
had
provided
C
a
eli
with
the solution
to that problem
as he steadfastly held her
in the shower.  It wasn't the water that
provided the answer
, but
rather Vin's
sim
ple determination and relentless
refusal to let her go.  It made C
a
eli realize
what she had known all along;
that she could do the same.  All she had to do was say no
to Rika
and mean it. 
It had always been her choice.  That's why Rika kept asking for permission. 
C
a
eli
had then
called up
all
her
recent
frustration
s
and her
anger
a
bout the way
she and Vin
had been
manipulated.
Foremost in her mind were thoughts about her baby
.  She
absolutely would not
expose he
r
unborn
child to
Rika
's parenting
.  Th
e
combination of all that emotion provided C
a
eli the
necessary
determination to permanently close the door
way
into her mind.

Unfortunately, Rika
was
still
capable of harassing her in
countless
other ways
to
attempt to
force her
compliance
. 
That's why C
a
eli
needed to face her.  She
had
to
find a way to convince Rika to give up
her pursuit
.
Rika
was
extremely
angry
after
her master plan
fail
ed
to get
C
a
eli
away
from Vin
; so she
was
n
o
t going to be easy to
dissuade
now.  C
a
eli expected it to be more of a
contest of wills
than a conversation.  With the way the storm stirred
and the rain intensified
at her approach, C
a
eli concluded that this fight would include
a test of her
ability to use her
gift as well.

However, C
a
eli
was not completely unprepared. 
She even had a surprise of her own in store for Rika
should she get the opportunity to use it
. 
C
a
eli
had given
a
lot of thought to Scott's presence
. 
It
reminded her that everyone, to some extent,
possessed
a dormant ability to connect with
any
of the elements.  C
a
eli
had
f
elt th
e
shocking truth
of that
fact
firsthand when both Kent and Antonius
, neither of whom were descendent of the two bloodlines,
inflict
ed
pain on her
using
their
acquired ability
to
draw an electrical current from the air
.

It was
C
a
eli's
familiarity with that sensation that made
her
aware of the
supercharged
force
bouncing around with
in the
enormous
tropical
storm
hovering over the island
. 
Rika may be generating the storm, but C
a
eli was able to manipulate
parts of
it.  She
had
managed to connect with th
e lightning
at
the edges of the storm
yest
erday morning
after learning that Vin had set fire to the energy bar wrapper in the same manner
. 
She
wasn't entirely certain how she
accomplished
it, but she
continued to feel
the connection
,
eve
n now
. 
C
a
eli
kept
th
is
new
discovery
well
-
guarded. 
She
hoped it would give her a
slight
advantage in th
is
inevitable
,
final
confrontation
between her
self
and Rika. 

She stood barefoot at the edge of the water.  C
a
eli
's gift
immediately respond
ed
to the
cool liquid
.  She
closed her eyes, allowing it to flow freely through her.  When she opened them, the
man in black st
ood
before her with a wicked grin on his face.  This man, though he did
Rika's
bidding,
had
already cost her one child and tried to hurt Max. 
He had beaten her to within a few heartbeats of death. 
There was no telling how many others he
had
hurt over the years
at
Rika's
request
.
 
Rika sent him to places on land where she coul
d not go in her present state.

C
a
eli's anger
stirred
at the thought
.  The storm clouds overhead darkened
in response to
the
open link
with
her gift
.  The rain and lightning intensified to match her mood
change
. 
W
aves
began to swell in the distance
as she stared defiantly at
Rika's errand boy
. 
He
was the first obstacle
she
would have to surpass
.  If she could
n
o
t get
by
him, then C
a
eli didn't stand a chance against
Rika
. 

In her previous encounters, C
a
eli had been frightened, sick, or confused. 
But C
a
eli now
understood
the man in black.  She
subtly
discovered his
identity
from
Rika's mind
.  While
Rika
was
busy
taunt
ing
Vin
earlier
, C
a
eli
took advantage of the opportunity to
brows
e
Rika's
thoughts. 
Since
Rika could read her thoughts
when she touched her mind
, C
a
eli assumed
the process
must also work in the o
pposite
direction.  She was
pleased to discover that she was
correct
.
  As much as she disliked letting Rika struggle with Vin,
C
a
eli
knew this was the only opportunity she would get, and she could not pass it up; so she had allowed Rika to have control while she searched.