wrath of the Sea Queen (99 page)

"
Vin,
p
lease release our link
.  I need my full
concentrat
ion
,
"
C
a
eli asked him to break the connection. 
It was bad enough that she was in pain.  She did not want Vin to shar
e it with her. 
Her head was already spinning and weakness overcame her. 
As Vin released their link, C
a
eli
lay
on the cave floor unable to move.

C
a
eli
looked up
after a few minutes
,
remember
ing
that Max still st
ood
behind her.  She
had
probably frightened him
already
and did not want to scare him
any
further
, but
the pain was getting
progressively
worse.  C
a
eli waved Max forward so that he would come up and stand beside her.

"
You should not have interfered,
" Rika
intoned angrily
.

"
You should not have threatened Vin. 
Try your best against me, but
I will not let you hurt him.
"  C
a
eli held her ground as a stronger wave of pain coursed through her abdomen. 
She endured it as she had the others.

"
Max, will you help me?
"
  C
a
eli intended to have him bring some water to help quench her excessive thirst.  It might also help ease the pain.
  She tried to ignore Rika.

Before Max could answer something strange happened.  C
a
eli
abruptly
became
too tired to stay awake, but she did
n
o
t
fall
a
sleep.  Her
own
thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind, and Rika's presence made its way into
the forefront of
her
mind
,
into her.  The feeling was inexplicably invasive, but C
a
eli could not stop it or push it away.  C
a
eli
no longer
had control o
f
her
body
.  All she could do was watch helplessly as
Rika
took over.
  C
a
eli listened as Rika spoke using her voice.

"
Hello,
my son
.  It's
so
good to see you
through living eyes
.  You
ha
ve grown.  Come
and g
ive me a hug.
"

Max stared wide-eyed at C
a
eli.  He was frozen in place and looked as if he wanted to flee.  Yet
,
Max surprised C
a
eli with the conviction of his response.

"
You are not pretty C
a
eli!
"

"
No, but I will be
when the moon is full
.  T
hen she will stay here with you
forever
.  She w
ill
take care of you and never go home.  Wouldn't you like that, Max?
"

"
No.  If you
borrow
pretty C
a
eli, she will not be able to talk to me.  It will
only
be you. 
I don't want to talk to you. 
You should go away!
  Only pretty C
a
eli should stay.  Please come back, pretty C
a
eli!
"
  Max shouted the last phrase
s
.

"
Now, Max.  You should
not speak to people like that.
 
We
wi
ll
definitely
have to work on your manners. 
You've got t
oo much fire in you; like your father.
"

From the depths of her mind, C
a
eli found strength in her anger at this woman and her insinuations.  It was a strong enough emotion that C
a
eli
's
gift respond
ed
instinctively.  Somehow, it helped her push the intruder from her mind
in an
attempt to retake control of herself
.  C
a
eli d
id
not yet notice the white light that appeared beside Max as she struggled with her own problem.

"
That's enough, Rika. 
S
top this.
"
  The
powerful
voice
commanded attention.

C
a
eli sensed Rika's presence shy away at the sound.  She used the opportunity to
completely
regain control of herself and send Rika away, though her presence
remained
nearby.

"
You cannot order me about, Michael.  You gave up that right the day you gave away
my son
,
"
Rika responded.

"
I did not give him away. 
He never
belonged to you
, and he was not mine to give away
. 
I am truly sorry that you formed such an attachment.  You should
not have remained
near
him
.
"

Rika did not respond.  Instead, he
r presence
f
aded
away, only her anger lingering in the cave.  C
a
el
i glanced over and
noticed
that Max
had reach
ed out to hold the hand of the man
who appeared
to
stand beside him.  That presence, too, began to fade away
as C
a
eli watched
.

"
Take care of her, Max.  She needs your help
.  Remember, you promised to keep an eye on her
,
" Michael's voice echoed in C
a
eli's mind as well.

"
I will. 
Bye
!
"
Max
waved
cheerfully
to the departing figure.

"
Max
,
how
d
o you know him?
"
  C
a
eli asked through her pain.

"
That's
my
U
ncle
Michael
.  He's an angel, and he
i
s very strong.  He
made the
S
ea
Q
ueen go away. 
Nobody else can do that 'cept him.  Pretty C
a
eli, why were you talking to the water
this time
?  Were you helping Mr. Vin? 
Uncle Michael said you would
want to help him
. 
Is
Mr. Vin
ok? 
Is that w
hy you let
the
S
ea
Q
ueen
borrow you, pretty C
a
eli?
  Did you ask her
to
help Mr. Vin?
"
 
Max
casually explained his relationship to Michael and then asked a s
uccession
of questions
that C
a
eli now understood based on Max's story
.

C
a
eli was
intrigued
and wanted to know more
about Michael's involvement
, but
she
first
needed to ensure that
Max
would not repeat this incident to anyone. 
Additionally
, her condition
remained
a
pressing
issue
.
 
The pain had subsided while she used her gift to help Vin.  It went away entirely while Rika control
led
her
body
.  But then,
Rika made the pain
return at a much worse level
as a parting expression of her an
imosity
.