wrath of the Sea Queen (98 page)

Apela and Maku were there to help Vin and Jeremy out of the water.  Jeremy
couldn't wait
to be pulled to the safety of dry land, gladly accepting
the
aid
being offered
.  Vin, however,
knelt
down
within the shallow water waving away the offered assistance.  He
told
them
he wanted a minute to
catch his breath
.
  In reality,
Vin
wa
nted to
talk to C
a
eli.

"
Honey, w
ho
were you talking to
a moment ago
?
"
Vin asked
her about the
bit of conversation he overheard
.  Perhaps C
a
eli
had
not
been
confused
last night
.  As
he quickly recalled
he
r
words
, it
seemed
more likely that
Vin had been
too quick to dismiss
what she said
simply
because he did not
understand
.

"
A
nuisance
,
but she
i
s not important. 
You are. 
Put your arm in the water, Vin.
"

"
What?
"

"
Y
our
right
arm is
hurt.  I
can feel
how
much
it
is hurting you
, and I can
help.  P
lease, p
ut
your
arm under the water.
"

Vin did what she asked and an odd sensation surround
ed
his arm.  It was a little bit painful at first.

"
C
a
eli,
are you doing that?  W
hat are you doing?
"

"
I am f
ixing it.  Thankfully, the bones
don't seem to be
broken.  I
would
n
ot
be able to fix that
. 
It is awfully
banged up though. 
But, w
ith this much water, I should be able to
work a little magic
. 
Give me a minute…
t
here
!
 
Is that better?
"

Through their link, Vin clearly felt
C
a
eli's pleasure at being able to
help
him
.

"
Yes.  That's amazing
!
  It feels as good as new
,
"
Vin said as he pulled his arm out of the water, testing its wholeness.

"
Good.
"
 

"
But, you don't need water to work your magic on me. 
Jeremy was righ
t
.  You are one hot ticket.
"
  Vin
flirted with her and
smiled to himself at the thought.

"
Ticket?  What are you talking about?  One…
"

A wave of pain suddenly racked C
a
eli's body, cutting off her reply.  It happened so quickly that she could not
sever her connection from Vin before it hit.  Some of the pain flowed through to him.

"
C
a
eli! 
Is it the same pain as before?
"

"
Yes.
"

"
I
s it
a
s bad
as
last night?
"
 
Vin could hardly stand
the amount of pain
coursing across
the
ir
connection
.  If this is what C
a
eli
had
felt at the arena, he was astounded that she didn't pass out from the severity.

"
This is not
nearly
as bad,
" C
a
eli began to have trouble concentrating.

"
Last night's pain
was worse than this?  C
a
eli, I'm sorry.  I knew you were
hurting
, and I knew it was bad;
but I had no idea
just
how bad it really was until now.  What I'm feeling could bring an elephant to its knees.  I can't believe you
a
re able to endure it.
"

"
It p
robably
has something to do with
the remnants of Salma's medicine in my system.
"

"
I never should have left you this morning
,
"
Vin berated himself
.

"
You were right to go
, Vin.  I'm sure
this
will pass soon.
"

"
Honey, something is
terribly
wrong with you.
"

"
Salma will figure it out.  I
'
ll be ok.
"

"
Where is
Salma?
"

"
She is in the lounge
.  Max is keeping me company right now
.
"

"
Send him after Salma, and then s
tay with
her
until I get back. 
Make sure you tell her how bad you're hurting so that she can treat you properly. 
Please
do as she says, C
a
eli
.
"

"
I will, Vin.  Don't worry.
"

"
How can I not?
"

"
I want to get throug
h this as much as you want me to get well
.
  There.  Can you feel?  The pain is already easing up.
"

"
Ok. 
I
wi
ll be back as soon as I can,
"
Vin was concerned, despite
C
a
eli's
assertion
.

He was about to
end the connection
when
another
wave of pain
dropped
C
a
eli
to her
side.  She curled up in a ball
on the cave floor as Vin fell
forward on
his
hands and
knees in the shallow water
. 
The pain flow
ing
through to Vin
, though not physical, was
emotionally
unbearable
.

"
C
a
eli!
"

Vin's inability to help her punched him in the gut
. 
The only aid
he could
offer
was
maintain
ing
the
ir
connection
,
which she could no longer hold
. 
He held on for both of them so that she would
n
o
t
be
alone. 
How C
a
eli managed to
withstand
such pain was beyond
Vin's
comprehension.