Exile: Sídhí Summer Camp #3

by Jodie B. Cooper

  At Maynard’s nod, Clarabelle gritted her teeth. She knew Maynard had no choice, but seeing her mate blame her, when it was Eve’s fault, was more painful than swallowing metal shavings.

  “You will not interfere,” the nightmare said, waving Bruxcilla forward.

  Moving forward with the speed of an attacking rat, the witch smiled, revealing a mouth filled with sharp, pointed teeth. The green haired freak-of-nature grabbed Clarabelle’s arm and sunk her teeth into tender flesh. Blood streamed down her chin.

  Agony ripped through the dragon as the witch sucked, pulling synth energy from Clarabelle’s blood.

  ____________

  Dinner and a movie, the hours passed quickly. Near midnight, Nick found himself propped against a giant furble tree watching Sarah throw her shuriken with deadly precision. Each target he pointed out, whether shrouded in shadow or highlighted under brilliant moonbeams, she hit with unerring accuracy.

  Pushing away from the trunk, he nodded to the sharp throwing star in her hand. “Will you teach me?”

  “Really?” she asked.

  At her look of unguarded pleasure, a sharp wave of possessiveness raced through him. He chuckled. He would never grow tired of her smiles. Sweet, yet mysterious, they sent a shaft of yearning through his body. “You act as if I’ve given you a present when I’m the one who’ll benefit.”

  “I know how much honor a Clan vampire puts on his training. I know you don’t think so, but the warriors in Trellick Valley do as well.” Her soft voice trailed off, caressing his soul with its honesty.

  “I know they do.”

  Disbelief flickered through her eyes.

  “I know they do because you just told me.” The tips of his fingers skimmed gently down her cheek. “As I said earlier, I may question why, but I vow I will never doubt you again.”

  Understanding flickered across her face. Another slender thread snapped tight, connecting them. For the first time, true hope flared in the depths of her clear, blue gaze.

  She tilted her face toward him.

  His lips met her halfway. The kiss was a gentle affirmation of their words, strong and unbreakable. Within seconds, he felt the liquid fire of desire burn through him. With each caress, he wanted her more than ever before.

  Who was he trying to kid? With Sarah, a single touch was all it ever took.

  Sighing, he pulled away. “Unless we want our first time under the stars, I think we better stop.”

  “Might be interesting,” she said, eyes sparkling with dancing lights of mischievousness.

  “You’re killing me,” he said with a groan, shifting his jean shorts to a more comfortable position.

  Her soft laughter warmed his heart, but the musical sound didn’t help other areas. In fact, the delighted sound made matters much worse.

  “If we can’t practice kissing, how about a different kind of activity?” she asked, unsheathing the large hunting knife she kept hidden on her back.

  “I figured you lost that when the kraken attacked,” he said, gingerly taking the curved knife into his hand. Touching a fairy-enhanced synth blade, without its owner’s permission, could have serious consequences, serious as in being thrown across the field when the fairy charm didn’t recognize him.

  She opened her mouth and snapped it shut. Giving him a look of frustration, she finally answered him, “I won’t lie to you, but I can’t explain how I got Bowie back, not yet. Okay?”

  He noticed worry lines pinching the skin between her eyes and growled. Gently kissing his way across the smooth skin of her cheek, he nuzzled the bottom of her ear. “That’s perfectly fine, if you’ll stop frowning.”

  She chuckled. “You do love giving orders, don’t you?”

  “Hey,” he said, grinning at her, “some people are simply born to give orders.”

  She shook her head. “I think you have…”

  Violence filled her eyes, and she roared her sister’s name in fury, “Miranda!”

  Jerking away from him, a sword of pure synth crystal appeared in her hand. A nano-second later, she disappeared.

  Blood pounded through his head. Swallowing hard, he stared at the empty space. The hair along the back of his neck rose in warning and he shuddered. His mind skittered around the truth, stubbornly refusing to wrap around what he had just witnessed.

  Chi’Kehra, the word whispered through his mind, bringing to life a red-haze of warning every vampire possessed.

  The last Chi’Kehra had left a mental scar no vampire would ever forget. For thousands of years, stories had been whispered around campfires about the dead elvish monarch, truthful stories repeated to warn the newest generation of vampires.

  The ancient Chi’Kehra had been insane, believing vampires were evil. The old elf waged a stealthy war against Nick’s race. At first, there was no sign of an army, only horrifying disasters that, at first glance, appeared to be natural.

  The campfire stories that had bothered Nick the most included massive sinkholes; the sinkholes would suddenly appear, swallowing entire towns of vampires, killing men, women, and children.

  Sarah - minus the crystal sword - reappeared. Her look of intense fury hadn’t lessened. Her fierce gaze locked with his.

  His mind splintered as thoughts, going a million times faster than the speed of light, whirled through his head. Keeping Bowie at his side, he surged forward, wrapping his free arm around her.

  “What happened?” he asked. Kissing the top of her head, corn-silk hair muffled his strangled question.

  She sucked in a harsh breath and a terrifying growl rumbled from her chest. He belatedly realized she was not trembling with worry she was shaking with pure, undiluted fury.

  Chi’Kehra! His instinct bellowed a little louder, demanding his attention. With her in his arms, his sixth sense was nearly impossible to ignore. His hand clenched around the hilt of the foot long knife.

  Pulling back, he looked into her blazing eyes. “You screamed Miranda’s name. Tell me what happened to your sister,” he ordered.

  “She’s gone. I can sense her, nearly touch her, but it’s like something is blocking me.”

  Mac, the wretched phoenix, picked that moment to appear beside them.

  Nick snarled a warning at the man.

  “No,” Sarah said, touching Nick’s chest, “we don’t have time. I watched an elf kidnap Miranda. I’ve got to go home and gather a search party.”

  Mac cursed.

  Nick nodded his agreement. Stepping back, he flipped Bowie around, slipping the curved tip under the restrictive bracelet. The synth blade would slice through the silver like butter.

  “Wait,” Sarah touched his arm.

  “I’m going with you,” he said firmly, not willing to let her out of his sight.

  She shook her head gently. “I need you to cover for me.” Turning toward the phoenix, her eyes narrowed. “I want you to stay with Nick.”

  The man’s eyes turned silver. “You are my liege, not the boy.”

  “The boy, as you call him,” she growled, baring extended fangs, “is my mate. Protect him.”

  Briefly, she turned and gently touched her fingers to Nick’s cheek, silently begging him to understand.

  Jerking his head in agreement, he choked back a snarl. “Don’t take unnecessary chances.”

  “So bossy,” she said softly. A whisper of a smile touched her lips and she disappeared.

  The two men, one nearly twenty, the other thousands of years older, glared at each other.

  Mac stomped across the small clearing. Turning, he flared his wings wide. “Don’t get yourself killed or she’ll blame me.” With those mocking words, he surged into the sky.

  Chapter - King Estate

  Sarah searched non-stop for her sister. For twenty-four hours, she mentally scanned the world over. No matter how hard she had tried, she couldn’t find her sister, not even when she scanned for the teeny-tiny bit of synth crystal she had embedded under sister’s skin.

  It was as if Miranda had disappe
ared from the face of the Earth and all the Sídhí valleys combined. That left a single option, a theory that made Sarah’s blood run cold.

  Deep down, Sarah had known from the very beginning what had happened. Her sister had been captured by an enemy far worse than any dhark lord of the empire could ever be. Sarah had known it the instant she watched an elf pull her struggling sister through an open gateway, a gate that snapped shut behind them.

  No one, not the dragons, not even she could create a gateway out of thin air.

  She had tried to follow the power signature of the gate, but something, or someone, had blocked her every attempt.

  All the details added up to one horrifying fact: there was another Chi’Kehra, one with a lot more knowledge than she had.

  Sarah didn’t doubt for an instant that Miranda’s kidnapping had been planned. The pureblood Chi’Kehra saw Sarah as competition, an enemy that had to be removed any way possible, even if it meant kidnapping an innocent seventeen-year-old girl.

  Knowing she was spinning her wheels, she returned to camp a few hours after midnight. After five hours of fitful sleep, worry for Miranda had her staring blindly toward the lake, wishing she could do something, anything to turn the clock backward.

  Clenching the wooden railing that wrapped around the cabin’s rear deck, a cold feeling of foreboding slithered up her spine.

  The squeaky screen door slammed shut, and almost like magic, her black mood melted into the back of her mind, not forgotten simply put on a backburner to simmer.

  Heart fluttering, her lips curved in anticipation.

  Nick’s strong hands wrapped around her bare arms, sliding his warm palms up the back of her arms until his fingers caressed her shoulders. Leaning forward, he gently kissed her exposed neck.

  “Did you find her?” he asked, concern laced his voice.

  “No,” she said unhappily, leaning into the heat of his body. “My guards and family are hunting for her.” Even though it wouldn’t do a bit of good, she - once again - mentally added to herself.

  “What are you doing in a bikini? One, I might add, that bares way too much of your lovely skin,” he said in a soft growl, while his lips traced an imaginary line up the side of her neck.

  As he teased her gently, obviously trying to lessen her noticeable worry, she felt a sense of relief. After a full day, and two nights of sleep, he still wanted her. The strands between them pulled tighter. Heart in her eyes, she turned in his arms.

  His fathomless black eyes stared into hers. “Your eyes are black,” he stated needlessly.

  “Yes, they are,” she wrapped her arms firmly around him, not caring who might be watching, because she needed his touch more than a bird needed the open sky. “I heard Beth and Brianna talking about the beach. If we go there later in the day, I knew I’d burn to a crisp so I decided to get a little early morning sun.”

  “The only way we’ll go is if you agree to some heavy duty suntan lotion and a lot of time in the shade,” he ordered.

  At her raised eyebrow, he smiled arrogantly. “We can take turns being bossy. This is my turn.”

  Hugging him tight, she hid her grin of pleasure against his neck.

  “Well, then I guess I must agree with your orders, but that means you have to help me rub the sunscreen on.”

  “Try stopping me,” he growled softly. He searched her eyes, before touching his lips to hers gently. Groaning, he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss until her skin felt on fire.

  Before she was ready, he raised his head.

  She wanted to argue, but he dropped another quick kiss on her swollen lips, and said, “By the way, good morning.”

  “Good morning,” she said breathlessly, pleased to note, his breathing seemed just as erratic.

  “We’ve got breakfast ready,” Katie called from the kitchen area.

  Sarah raised her eyes to his, questioning him silently as to why Katie was cooking breakfast and not their cabin mother.

  “Ella disappeared and the dragons didn’t send a replacement so Katie and Emily took over cooking duty. Everyone else has been rotating through clean-up duty. Well, everyone is helping except Clarisse and no one has seen her or Harry since we returned from the hike.”

  Eyes narrowed in thought, she turned toward the cabin. Along, with the disappearance of Ella, their dorm mother, Clarisse’s disappearance was one more question for Guardian Alexander when - or if - he ever showed up. She was quickly losing patience with the dragons.

  Brushing his fingers along her jawline, Nick claimed her attention. “Not that I’m complaining, because you are gorgeous with black eyes, but I miss your ruby-red gaze.”

  Curling her fingers around his free hand, she smiled at him. Love and pain filled her. Love for the young man who seemed to adore her, pain for the loss they shared.

  Breakfast was a unique experience. The girls made a huge omelet and biscuits. At least, an omelet was what they called the egg concoction. It certainly didn’t look like any of the pictures she’d ever seen.

  “Sarah, just try it,” Katie said with a huff.

  “I’m not really very hungry. I was thinking about a biscuit and jelly,” she answered calmly, avoiding looking at the bowl of yellow stuff.

  Katie snorted. “The omelet might look horrible, but it tastes great. We mixed in grilled jalapeno pepper sausage, tater tots, mushrooms, and grated Colby cheese.”

  Nick bravely scooped a large spoonful onto his plate.

  “I’m sure it’s great. It looks very, um, fluffy,” Sarah said, watching in grossed-out horror as Nick took his first bite.

  Grown Sídhí, unless they were pregnant or poisoned, didn’t get sick but she knew there was a first time for everything.

  As Nick chewed, pleasure spread across his face. He grabbed a biscuit and buttered it quickly. Without pausing, he scooped a smaller amount of the omelet from the skillet sitting in the middle of the table.

  “Nick,” she said warningly, as he dumped the spoonful on her plate. “I won’t be coerced.”

  “They went to the trouble of cooking. Try it before curling up that pert nose of yours,” he said with an encouraging smile.

  Never let it be said that she was afraid of anything.

  She aimed a look of disgruntlement at Nick then Katie, who was still waiting for her to try the awful mixture. Grumbling about keeping family happy, she cut a small bite and shoved it in her mouth with all the enthusiasm of eating a dead skrivett.

  A mixture of flavors exploded across her tongue, making her eyes widen in surprise.

  Her eyes flickered from Katie’s knowing grin to Emily, who was picking at her plate of food. “This is really good,” Sarah said honestly, reaching for the spoon to add a bit more to her plate. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Katie said, digging into her own eggs.

  After breakfast, Sarah helped with cleanup. As soon as it was finished, they gathered around the table to discuss the day’s possible activity.

  “There’s always the beach,” Beth said, casting a brief glance at Mitch.

  The big halfling grunted. “I’d rather not be blinded by a stubble-covered body.”

  “Stubble? You know perfectly well that Sídhí do not have lower body hair, and I don’t have fur when I’m in my human form,” Beth said, snarling through her teeth. Leaning forward, the young shifter glared at him with the promise of violence in her eyes. “I wear shorts every day. Are you blind? Have you seen any fur?”

  Tilting his chair backward, he crossed his arms. “I figure you’ll slip up soon enough. Then I’ll go blind when you shove your hairy butt in my face.”

  Beth slapped her palm on the table. The noise of her rumbling growl was the only sound in the eating area.

  “Okay,” Katie said hastily, obviously trying to keep the peace, “any other ideas of what we can do today?”

  No one spoke.

  As long as Sarah spent her day with Nick, she didn’t care what they did.

  Beth was too busy glari
ng daggers at Mitch who was gazing intently out the window. It was as if the muscle-bound guy knew ignoring the girl was just making her angrier.

  “The lake is fine with me,” Jared said, pitching his two cents into the discussion.

  “How about checking out the jet skis?” Nick asked, glancing at Sarah’s face.

  His hand curled around her back, caressing the smooth skin of arm. She had left her bikini on, but added a black spaghetti strap top and a matching pair of shorts.

  As everyone discussed the possibility of jet skis, Nick slid his hand across her back and whispered in her ear. “No weapons?”

  Leaning into his embrace, she gave a soft sigh of pleasure and glanced into his eyes. “Where would I put them?”

  He kissed her temple, and said with a chuckle coloring the word, “True.”

  “Emily, what about that haunted house?” Katie asked.

  Everyone turned to the blue-eyed vampire who was gazing out the window.

  Sarah frowned at the girl’s odd behavior. Emily usually jumped into the middle of everything, but not today.

  “Emily,” Katie said a little louder.

  “Huh?” Emily said, turning toward the curious stares of a half dozen curious silent teens. “Yeah, sure, whatever everyone agrees on is fine with me.”

  Mitch snorted. “You aren’t going to find bird boy out the window.”

  Emily glared at Mitch. “That is none of your business,” she said, a soft growl bubbled through her words.

  “Mitch, shut up,” Katie snapped at her twin brother. “Em, we were talking about using the jet skis. I thought we might take a lunch and visit that haunted house you mentioned the other day.”

  “Oh, okay,” Emily said with a complete lack of enthusiasm. When no one spoke, she sighed, appearing put out. “A couple of guys from our sister cabin told me about a haunted house that was near the maze.”

  “Maze?” Brianna asked. “What maze?”

  “It’s across the lake. The dragons are doing some kind of maintenance so the maze won’t be open for a few more days, but the house is open,” Emily said with a shrug, glancing back out the window.

  Jared opened a map of the campground area. Laying it on the table, his finger skimmed across the lake, hovered over the maze, and stopped on the picture of a weird looking house. Sure enough, just to the southwest of the maze was a small area marked King Estate.