wrath of the Sea Queen (249 page)

"
I won't forget.  I remember my son.
"
  She was repeating the phrases to herself with determination. 

"
C
a
eli,
i
t's over.  You're
all right now,
"
Vin tried to reach her.

"
I won't forget.  I remember my son.
"

"
So do I
, Honey
.  I remember our son.  I saw
the terrible thing
they did to you.  Don't you want to find out why?
"
  Vin tried again.

C
a
eli stopped and looked up at Vin, eyes
suddenly clear.  Vin read
anger
in
her eyes
like he
ha
d never known from her
.  The waves la
shed out again and the rain pounded against the sand
.

"
No, C
a
eli.  Not like th
at
. 
Provoking them will not get us the answer
s
we want
. 
We need to talk to them.  There must be a reason for what they did.  I would like to
hear
it before I pick a fight with
our
friends.
"

"Your friends
!
"
  C
a
eli said in a harsh, pain-filled whisper,
no longer a
ble to look at Vin directly.   

C
a
eli stood up and stalked away from Vin, away from the angels.  She walked
with determination
out into the water
. 
There was n
o resistance this time.  She was no longer a prisoner
,
though
she
now
had nowhere
else
to go
.  She continued out
until
the water
nearly reached her
waist
and then stopped.  After she stood there for several minutes, the
thunder and lightning
d
iminished
.  The
rain
changed from a
downpour to a mild shower
,
and the waves
slowly
returned to
an almost
normal rhythm. 
The clouds overhead
, however, would not be dissipated, especially
over the
small
island
.

She
calm
ed
the unnatural
,
aquatic elements in the storm
and the portions that her anger had fueled
, but she could not undo the original threat instigated by Rika.  She
could not bring herself to
care
at the moment
.  Her emotions and her gift were under control, and that
was the only point she needed to make.
 
C
a
eli
looked back once at Vin, making it evident that she knew exactly what she was doing.  She
looked
away
before he could see the shame in her eyes
and
continued to
stare out acr
oss the water.

Vin
thought he
u
nderst
oo
d
why
C
a
eli
had
no desire to talk to
him or
his friends
. 
He could
not
begrudge
her
this reaction, though he wished there had been another way
.  All three of them hurt her, and it pained him to know the truth of it.  Vin would have to deal with the consequences of his decision. 
C
a
eli was a
reasonable
person. 
He had to believe that o
nce the rawness of this incident began to fade, she would
eventually
understand. 
In the meantime,
Vin
walked over to speak with Michael and Raphael.
  Unfortunately, Michael
had already gone
to attend to
other pressing business
.

"
She has obviously gained control of her emotions.  That much is clear, though I already regret my actions.  Please, tell me what happened. 
Tell me why it was necessary for me to betray her trust to save her from Michael's touch. 
How is it that you found it necessary to cut our child from her womb in
that
way
and
force her into
such a
state
?
"
  Vin would not be denied his answer this time.

"
Your child
was already dead
. 
You felt his loss, did you not?
"  Raphael began.

"Yes.  I didn't realize it at the time, but I knew."
  Vin
did not feel
the
tingling sensation
of
the
baby
's response
when he touched C
a
eli.  That was why he refused her request after her walk on the beach
with Salma
.  In a place he kept
buried within,
Vin
had known
why, even if he refused to admit it to himself.

"
The baby's
body
was
poisoned by the same chemicals that made her sick. 
Had the child's body remained intact, it would not have been necessary to remove him. 
Whether the baby's body would sustain any damage
is
one
outcome we were waiting to discover. 
When she was
stabbed,
the c
hild's skin
was punctured
and the toxins began to
leak into
C
a
eli's
bod
y
.  She was
again being poisoned
,
at a much quicker rate,
and
i
t
was already
caus
ing
her
a great deal of pain.  The chemicals were killing her
much more rapidly this time
. 
If
the child's body
had
continued to pour forth the damaging
toxins
,
she would have been beyond
my
aid. 
C
a
eli didn't
stand
a chance
without our help
.  The source
of the toxin
had to be removed.  We intervened at the first opportunity
. 
Yet, t
hat too,
was deferred
until
after her fight with Rika was concluded
and her final decision was made
. 
Because she chose to sacrifice herself to save you and Salma, we were permitted to act.  Even still, i
t was almost too late
.  She was only a few
heartbeats
away from th
e
tipping
point
.  We
had to act immediately,
"
Raphael explained.

"
What do you mean she sacrificed herself?
"
  Vin asked.

"
C
a
eli
chose to stay
here
and give you aid rather than leave the island before the tunnel flooded. 
Doing so left her too drained to use her gift to
return
. 
She did this knowing that she would not survive the storm out here
;
but she didn't hesitate. 
C
a
eli
chose to help you and Salma
.  She
gave up
the
chance to save herself
.
  It was a truly selfless act.
"