wrath of the Sea Queen (250 page)

"And why couldn't you tell her what
has happening?"  Vin persisted with a tear-filled glance over at C
a
eli.  Learning the details of what she did for him only made Vin feel worse about his choice.

"
There was no time, and she would not have believed
us
,
"
Michael answered as he reappeared beside Raphael, loss reflected in his eyes.

"
C
a
eli
said she heard the baby cry. 
Is
that true?
"

"
Yes, when I took him across the barrier, his soul lived,
"
Michael confirmed.

"
Afterward, I
tried
to heal her, but she put the strength of her anger into her gift and managed to slip away,
"
Raphael added.

If Vin didn't know any better, he would
have said
that Raphael was embarrassed that C
a
eli
had been
able to do that.

"
What about
her memory?  Did you truly intend to make her forget?
"
  Vin asked the final question.

"
Not entirely.  We
only
wanted
to lessen the harshness of it
. 
Like you, we are fully aware of the
severity
of our actions. 
By removing the sight
of the baby being taken away, it would make
this
easier for her to handle.  Perhaps removing the pain of the cut would help her endure the loss
a little better
.  Of course, we wanted to let her know the truth, but she would not permit any of it, as you saw,
"
Raphael explained.

"
Brother, if we had not acted
when we did
,
C
a
eli
would have died,
"
Michael asserted.

"
I understand, and I am grateful that you saved her life.  You cannot begin to know how much.  Yet
,
I
cannot
approve of your methods.  I know
that
I have
absolutely
no right to criticize
you
, but I cannot
help
myself
.  Raph, you warned me of this
possibility
days ago.  Therefore, you must have known
that this could happen
.  There
must have been
time
to warn
her
.  There must have been another way to go about this.  At the very least, you could have knocked her out or covered her eyes before you did such a thing.  It was unimaginably cruel.  I don't blame her for lashing out, and now, belatedly, I understand why she
was adamant about not letting you
touch her again.  And I forced that on her.  My
own
betrayal was no less cruel.  I
wi
ll understand if she never forgives me for forcing her to endure your touch after she fought so hard to avoid it.
"
  Vin walk
ed away slowly, head hung low.

"
Eyvindr
, you must understand that, even with your assistance, I could not have he
aled her if she truly and freely chose to deny me
. 
Somewhere within, C
a
eli accepted
my help
. 
Do not give up on her
.  Hope
is not lost
,
"
Raphael offered parting words of encouragement before he and Michael vanished.

CHAPTER
58

"C
a
eli, will you come back to the hotel with me
, please
?"  Vin tentatively asked as he stood a few feet away from her, not daring to move any closer.

She turned to look at him standing there.  He looked like he might be cold without his shirt, which h
e
gave up for
her.  The wind
lifted
goosebumps on his arms, but he wasn't paying any attention to them.  Vin was not even looking at her
when he spoke
.  He was facing out to sea as she had been.  C
a
eli could tell that he was upset
; r
ightly so.  She fought him every step of the way, forcing him into an impossible position.  Then, to top it off, she accused him of terrible things
; things she knew he would never do.  He had every right to be
angry with
her.
  She should just stay out here where she couldn't
bring
any more pain or sadness
to anyone
, especially Vin.

"Yes
, I'll go
."

They walked in silence the entire distance.  C
a
eli followed closely behind Vin, who
used his gift to clear the tunnel and
graciously kept the pace slow enough for her to keep up. 
She
stumbled
wearily several times.  Each time
she faltered
,
Vin
was
right
there to help her
;
but then
he
turned around and continued forward.  When they finally emerged near the lighthouse, Vin stopped long enough to turn off the flashlight and ensure that she was still with him.  He moved down to the water's edge and walked slowly
toward
Apela's
hotel,
not yet visible in the distance.  Despite how mad C
a
eli
believed
he must be, Vin never moved mo
r
e than
an
arm's length ahead of her.

C
a
eli didn't know
precisely
how long it took them to walk that last half mile, but it
seemed
an eternity
to her
. 
She frequently looked out at the storm over the island.  It now seemed to
be sitting
there as if waiting for something.  A natural storm should have
continued to
vent its fury.  She knew this storm was anything
but
natural.  However, C
a
eli
had
also used her gift to send it on its way, or so she thought.  She wondered why it remained paused out there.  The mystery gave her something to occupy her mind while she walked, but it did nothing to ease her tension.

When they finally reached the familiar beach between the cave and the hotel, C
a
eli stopped.  She turned to stand at the water's edge once again, letting her feet get wet.  When Vin noticed that she was no longer following him, he turned
and walked
over
to stand
near
her.  He didn't say a word.  C
a
eli could see that his
brow
furrowed, as if concentrating on something important, but she could not get a look into his
downcast
eyes. 

Ben and Salma were returning to the lounge to eat the simple lunch they prepared when they saw Vin and C
a
eli walking up the beach. 
They
moved to
look out
the door, but neither went outside
in the light rain
.

"Oh, Ben
, s
omething awful has happened.  I
ha
ve never seen
such an obvious rift
holding
them
apart
.  I can feel it from here
," Salma expressed her concern at the
blatant
tension
her gift and
their postures revealed.

"Yes, it would seem so.  But, look on the bright side.  They are standing down there next to each other
.  Neither wants to walk away alone
.  Perhaps they need a little prodding; someone to speak first
," Ben remarked, but he was not any more eager to be that prompt than
was
Salma.  This matter was
obviously
way too personal to get involved.

"Pretty C
a
eli!"  Max did not have the self-imposed re
straint that Ben and Salma displayed
.  He ran
right by
them, out the door, and straight down the beach, hollering C
a
eli's name
as he ran.  Both Vin and C
a
eli turned to watch him approach.  Once again, Vin came to her rescue as Max was about to throw himself into her arms. 
C
a
eli took a nervous step back
as
Vin caught
Max
and kept him grounded
.  Vin
noticed her skittish reaction, but
still did not say a word.