wrath of the Sea Queen (223 page)

C
a
eli looked up at Vin.  He had heard, too.  Both knew that Rika was not bluffing.

"I have to try.  I have to go, Vin."

A single tear
joined the raindrops sliding
down C
a
eli's cheek as she
glanced back at the hotel.  She could not take the chance that her entire family and her new friends would be lost.  If she could prevent the deaths of so many people, C
a
eli had to make the attempt. 

"There has to be another way. 
Please, C
a
eli! 
U
ndo her damage. 
You can call off the storm, can't you?"  Vin asked desperately
.

C
a
eli
looked up at
Vin
and smiled.  Why hadn't she waited for him?
  Why had she so foolishly rushed out to meet Rika?
  She kissed him for what she hoped would not be the last time. 

"
I
love you, Vin.
"
 

C
a
eli
sensed
the approaching danger
and
knew that if she resisted, Vin would be
Rika's first victim
. 
She
would
n
o
t permit that.
 
Vin was so focused on C
a
eli that he
did
not notice the
odd shift of the
tide
rushing
in
land
.  In the next instant
,
an unusual
ly powerful
wave k
nocked C
a
eli from her feet. 
It was almost as if hands reached out and pulled her down. 
Vin tried to hold on, but
C
a
eli
was
yanked
away
from him
.  In the blink of an eye, the water receded and C
a
eli was gone.

When she was finally able to stop the tide from carrying her further, C
a
eli
trudged
out
of the water and
onto the shore. 
S
he
was no
longer
near the hotel.  Vin was nowhere in sight.  C
a
eli
stepped
on
to the small island from her dream
and from recent memory
.  She saw the shelter
a little further in
land
, but did not move
toward
it.  To do so would
bring
her dream
into reality
.
 
C
a
eli
waited, knowing Rika would soon emerge from the water to
put
an end to this once and for all.

"
I have to admit,
you handled
that w
ell
.  You
learn
quickly
,
but
a
re
a
fledgling
still
. 
Y
our skills are no match for mine.  My resources
are far beyond your comprehension
. 
My helper was
merely
the smallest
example of
my
skill
, and pain is the least of the emotions I seek from you
. 
You see;
I
a
m not
merely
a representation of the
S
ea
Q
ueen
of
island
folk lore.
I am the
S
ea
Q
ueen
.  No one is my equal
.
"

"
Really?  Then why
a
re you
so
scared of Vin?  Why
drag me away from him?
  For that matter, why sneak up on me wh
ile
I slep
t
?  Why not meet me face to face?
"
C
a
eli taunted.

Her mind was made up.  Her choice was made.  C
a
eli refused to allow Rika to intimidate her any longer and adamantly rejected
Rika's
proposed
friendly
arrangement.
 
Oddly, C
a
eli's refusal was based largely on the strength of a
n
emotion
she had not expected to feel during this encounter
.  While she did not like the idea of Rika taking over her body or her life, C
a
eli was even more disturbed at the thought of this woman getting anywhere near Vin with the intent of starting a family of her own.  That thought stirred anger in C
a
eli such as she
ha
d never
known
before.  Was this jealously?  No, Vin would have to have an interest in Rika for C
a
eli to be jealous of her.  That
definitely
wasn't the case. 

This emotion was quite different.  In fact, C
a
eli
now
recognized it as something
about which
Vin enjoyed teasing her. 
He derived great pleasure out of seeing her blush. 
Though she trusted Vin completely, C
a
eli had a tendency to interpose herself between him and any woman she thought to be overly interested in him.  He called it a natural instinct to defend the one you loved from predators of any kind.  Vin told her he
suffered
much
the same
response
when men approached her, though he was
surprisingly
better at concealing
it
.
  C
a
eli often got the impression that Vin even enjoyed the way she, as he called it, staked a claim on him. 
Well
, if that is what she was doing, then so be it. 
It gave her strength. 
If she was going to confront Rika in person, then C
a
eli would take any spark she could
ignite
t
o help her
see this through.
  When it came to Vin, C
a
eli definitely had more than sparks that she could call forth.

"
Ah, but we have already had
a personal
meeting.  If you would
allow
yourself
to
remember
then
you would
understand
that
you were always meant to join me. 
You
ha
ve belonged to me since you were a child. 
I
ha
ve waited
over
twenty years for you to return.
"

That took C
a
eli by surprise.  She
could not
recall ever
m
e
et
ing
Rika before
.  Was
it true
?  H
ad
they met previously
?

"I belong to no one, especially not you."
 

"
You don't remember. 
It was
your first trip to the beach
.
  You were seven
and
loved to swim.  The
sight
of the
ocean fascinated you
the fi
rst
time you laid eyes on it
, but
you
did not realize how large the sea truly was or how strong the tides
could be
.  You snuck away from your mother and set out to swim
to
the
other side
.  It was an impressive
, though naive,
attempt. 
You nearly drowned. 
Naturally, I
was obligated
to
rescue
you
. 
For even then, the strength of your gift
was formidable
. 
We spent the entire day talking and were becoming
good
friends
by the time the sun began to set
. 
That was when I first told you how special the water was for you.  Naturally, w
hen
your mother found you washed up on shore that evening
, chatting with an invisible friend
, s
he thou
ght you
had been
careless
. 
She was right, of course.  Yet, s
he
knew nothing of
your gift and
kept you away from the
water
after that.  I
sent
my man to bring you to
visit
me
each
night
after
your mother w
ent
to
sleep.
"