wrath of the Sea Queen (247 page)

He
hated even to ask it of her
.  Nonetheless
,
Vin
needed to know what
brought about
her
desperation and why she was afraid of Raphael
.  Words were not going to suffice, and he needed a quick answer.  Michael was not going to wait
very
long.

Vin placed a hand over C
a
eli's eyes and watched as images flashed through her mind. 
He
even fel
t
some of her pain.  He
watched the replay of
her encounter with Lorrie, and then Maku's arrival and departure.  Then
she
stop
ped
near the cave entrance, which must
ha
ve been when she helped him and Ben.  Throughout it all,
C
a
eli
was in considerable pain.  All of these images
flashed
through her mind
in
a matter of
heartbeats.  The next scene, however, played in slow motion.  Vin watched and felt the horror as
C
a
eli
was cut open and the
ir
tiny
baby was
taken away
.  Vin's anger flared, but he remembered to keep his gift in check.
             

"
T
hey killed our son," C
a
eli
whispered
when he removed his hand from her
tear-filled
eyes
.  Her voice was soft, but filled with such
pain and
anger that lightning st
r
uck the water
nearby
.  Vin looked over in time to see
Michael stepping away from the water where the lightning hit with
a momentary flash of fire in
his
eyes
.  However
, it was quickly replaced by a deep sadness
as he watched Vin and C
a
eli and moved to stand beside Raphael.

"I couldn't move.  All I could do was watch
this
horrible
thing being done to me
.  The pain
of
Michael
's
cut was nearly unbearable. 
Yet, it was nothing in comparison to what I felt when
he took
our
baby. 
Vin,
I heard
him
cry
.  I heard our son cry
, and th
ere was nothing I could do. 
Nothing
!
  I failed to protect him.
"  C
a
eli's words conveyed the gut-wrenching agony th
at
she endured.

Vin's own desire to strike back at those who did this to her was barely
held in
check
.

"But
they
messed
up and allowed me to move.
 
I got away
before they could make me forg
e
t.  I will never forget
, Vin
. 
Now
it's a standoff between us.  I
a
m trapped here.
 
They will not let me
leave
if I don't
submit my memory to them
. 
I have nothing left for them to take. 
I'm no threat to them. 
Why
ca
n't they let me go
?  Please make them let me go
, Vin
.
"

"I'm sorry, C
a
eli. 
I should have been here to help you.  I'm so very sorry
, Honey
. 
I don't know why
any of this is happening
, but I
a
m going to find out. 
I'm going to resolve this. 
S
tay here
and be
still.  Keep
your
wound covered."
  He stood and walked over to Raphael and Michael.

Her words were true.  Raphael himself verified it.  Vin
had
watched
it
from
C
a
eli
’s viewpoint
and was appalled.  Even if there was a good reason for what they
did
, there was no excuse for the manner in which they
accomplished
it.  How could they justify such cruelty? 
And n
ow Michael
believed
that causing her more pain because she was upset was
an
appropriate
response
.  Vin could not accept that. 
Furthermore, he knew it would not work on her in her current state.  She was beyond a simple loss of control.

"How could you leave her injured like this?  Why would
you
put her through such a trauma
tic ordeal
?  I'm sorry, Michael, but I won't let you touch her, not unless you give me an explanation that justifies your actions.  Right now, I cannot think of anything that
could
do so," Vin said
as he approached the angels he believed to be his friends.

"
Brother, she must stop this, right now.  I will stop her, if necessary
.  O
r
,
you can choose to let Raphael he
al
her
; bu
t
it
must happen now, before she i
s too far gone to regain control of the forces she has unleashed
,
" Michael insisted.

"
Vin, you will have your answers, but not yet. 
We must deal with her first. 
What you need to know
right now
is that we did it to save her life.  It could not wait another minute or she would have died.  Please, let me heal her wound
.  C
alm her down, and then we'll talk,
" Rapha
el's voice reached out to him.

Vin wanted
very much
to believe hi
m
, but he knew that C
a
eli was not going to permit it. 
He didn't blame her.  Yet, i
f she continued to refuse Raphael's aid
, Michael was going to use a less polite method
to reach her logical mind
.  C
a
eli's injury
did
need attention.  Vin was torn.  Forcing this on her would be a betrayal of her trust, but it was also be the best way to help her
and get the answers he sought
.  Vin
could not find another
alternative.  He did not want to do it, but he nodded
acceptance
to Raphael.

Vin walked back to C
a
eli and knelt down to talk to her.  He put his arm around her shoulders and spoke quietly to her as he helped her stand.

"C
a
eli, I need you to listen.  Raphael wants to heal your wound.  You need to let him."  He
r
body
immediately went
tense
within his arms
.

"
I can't,
"
C
a
eli
's voice was still edged with
panic.

"If you don't let Raphael heal your wound, then Michael is going to step in like he did with me when I lost control. 
Do you remember how I described that pain? 
Please, C
a
eli.  I can't bear for you to endure that touch, and I can't let your wound go untended. 
You need help. 
No matter what else has happened,
I know that Raph can help you."

"
Don't you understand? 
T
hey want me to forget what
they did
.  I
ca
n't.  I won't be made to forget."  C
a
eli was adamant.

"C
a
eli, look around.  Look at what your gift is doing
without your guidance
," Vin pleaded.

"I didn't do this.  This is Rika's storm. 
If they
a
re so worried about it, t
hey can stop it themselves," she stubbornly refused.

"Please, Honey.
 
Rika is gone.  It
i
s your gift that is perpetuating the storm. 
You have to get control of your emotions
, and
I don't think you are in any shape to do that on your own.  You
'
re too upset.  You need help,
more help than I can give you. 
Raphael
will not hurt you.  Please let him
heal you
," Vin tried desperately to convince her.