wrath of the Sea Queen (8 page)

"
What is it, Ben?
"
  Vin asked.  He
did
not
see
any of
the names.

"
Sam was o
ne of the men who escaped
."

"You mean
Chief Matthews
?"

"Yes
.  Seems our luck is not for the better today.  Make sure you keep an eye out.  He was pretty angry with
us
after the trial. 
Sam
believes
it was our testimony, rather than his own
deeds
, that put him away.  As they were hauling him off,
Sam
swore
C
a
eli and I would
be sorry if he ever got out.
"

"Do you think he might come after C
a
eli?"

"Not directly.
 
T
hat would be too risky.  But, it would not surprise me if he sen
ds
someone, and t
here is no telling wh
o he may have hooked up with while he was in the
pen
.  Th
ere
is no
end to the
trouble
he might
cause
if they don't apprehend him
quickly
,
"
Ben answered. 

Vin's brow furrowed.  He did not like the thought of that. 
At least they would all be leaving town soon.  That might be a good plan for keeping C
a
eli and Ben safe.  Then again, C
a
eli would be much too far away if she should need his
help. 
The
y
watched
the report
a m
inute
longer. 
As the anchor closed the story
, they continued on to Salma's room.

C
a
eli looked over in surprise at the sound of Salma's voice.  She was awake.  Her eyes were open and clear.  Salma gave C
a
eli a smile and then a puzzled look as C
a
eli moved quickly around the bed.

"
Aunt
Salma, oh, I'm
so
glad you
'
re finally awake.  Are you ok?  Can I get you anything?  I
ha
ve to go get Ben.  He
ha
s been so worried about you.  He
i
s going to be upset that he wasn't here when you woke.
"
  C
a
eli rambled
again
in her typical
manner.

Before C
a
eli moved too far away, Salma reached out and caught her by the wrist.

"
C
a
eli, what did you do?
"
  Salma asked seriously.

"
What do you mean
?  Are you talking about t
he little jolt?  I guess it was wet hair versus electrical wires.  I really am sorry, Salma.  Did it hurt you?
"
 

"
No, it wasn't from the wires.  It was from you.  I felt energy flow from you,
similar to
when I use my gift.  The only difference is that my energy doesn't heal, it
only
senses the problem. 
Now,
do you want to tell me what you did?
"
  Salma persisted.

"
H
onestly
, I
don't know, Salma.  I thought I felt what you describe
d
, but how could that be
?
 
I share your bloodline, but I do not have such a gift. 
If anything
, it was
most likely
your
own
gift drawing something from m
y kindred blood t
hat you needed. 
If so, I'm glad to have helped. 
Whatever it was, I
a
m
very
glad
that
it woke you,
"
C
a
eli replied sincerely.

"
It did more than that, and I
a
m certain it came from you. 
But
,
we can talk about that later.  I
t
i
s good to see you, C
a
eli. 
It feels like you
ha
ve been gone fo
r such a long time," Salma said,
intending to
let the matter drop for now.

"Two weeks seemed like an eternity
.  O
utside of the actual workshops
, I was bored out of my mind
.  I
a
m
so
happy
to be home."

"
You look like you've lost some weight, and there
i
s something different about you.  I can't put my finger on it.  Are you sure you haven't discovered a new talent similar to mine?
"
  Salma wondered.

"
Salma, please
; i
t wasn't me, at least not directly.  If it wasn't the wires, it
must have been
you.  And, yes, I have lost a few pounds.  I didn't have much of an appetite while I was out of town.  Call it homesickness if you like, but I did
n
o
t eat as well as I should have
.
  However, I think I can remedy that during our upcoming trip.  It will be
so
much fun
vacationing with you
.
"

C
a
eli insisted that she
did not do
anything to
aid
Salma. 
She
had neither an elemental gift like Vin
's talent with the wind
nor an empathic
gift like
Salma
's ability to tell what was wrong with someone
simply
by touching them
.
 
However,
C
a
eli
did share Salma's a
bility to speak mentally with others who were close to her, especially Vin.  C
a
eli had a
tremendously
strong mental link to Vin.  If she had any empathic
ability
, it w
ould be
specifically
linked to
him.  There
were
a few
times when they could feel each other's emotions
through their connection
;
but they both
believed this bond
came from Vin's
well developed
skills
et
, not from C
a
eli
. 
They were
probably
correct
.  In fact,
for the past six months,
Vin
had been
teaching C
a
eli how the connection worked and exploring its potential with her.

Vin's
skills were considerable, and his connection to C
a
eli seemed to grow stronger each time they used it.  She was happy to let it stay that way.  Such gifts we
re intriguing and could be helpful at times,
but they could also be a burden.  C
a
eli did not think she was missing out on anything
.  S
ince learning of her
rare
heritage,
C
a
eli had not put forth any special effort
to discover if she had a gift of her own.  It did
n
o
t matter to her.  Her life was
happy and
complete without it.

"
If you say so, but I'm not sure that I agree. 
I still find it difficult to believe that you did not inherit any talent at all. 
Maybe it is a new development.  Maybe that
i
s what
I sense
different about you. 
I suppose we will
have to leave it
be
for now. 
What were you saying about Ben?
"

"
Oh!  I need to go get him.  He and Vin stepped out for a few minutes. 
I think Vin
brought
some
information about the accident
to share with him. 
Ben will want to know you're awake
!
"

C
a
eli moved
toward the door as it opened inward, banging her forehead against the edge.  Ben reached out and caught her as she stumbled backward, momentarily dazed.  A small, purple knot was rapidly forming
around a fresh cut
over C
a
eli's left eye.