Exile: Sídhí Summer Camp #3

by Jodie B. Cooper

  At his raised eyebrow, she felt her fair features turn pink.

  How could she have forgotten? To keep her concentration, during the fight at the beach, she had shunted his surface thoughts to the back of her mind. The soft murmur had been a calm, constant presence that - to her embarrassment - she really had forgotten.

  Kissing her bent forehead, he chuckled. “Don’t be embarrassed. I’m glad you’re comfortable enough with me to listen or not.”

  “Thanks,” she said softly, “but I feel like an idiot. I’ve never shared my upper thoughts with anyone, but the first time we link together, I forget you are in my head.”

  He snorted. “You were rather busy. Come on, let’s go down the beach a ways and see if we can find a river or bigger stream.”

  “Yes, I’d rather not rinse in salt water. Not to mention, the dozen or so sea creatures that are probably hunting along the shore,” she said, motioning toward the small waves as they rushed toward the beach.

  “Yeah, attracting a hungry kraken or greenth shark would not be my idea of fun,” he agreed.

  “Have you ever seen a greenth shark up close?” she asked. She was hungry for information about his life. If he told her every detail of his entire life, she’d still want more.

  His pleasure - over her inquisitive behavior - surrounded her as his arm slipped around her waist. “Yeah, last year we had a school trip to the Museum of Science in Chesterfield. They had various plants scattered throughout the museum with questions as to how each plant received their common name. The shark plant was the easiest as they had the display next to the greenth shark’s tank. That fang-toothed monster was twenty feet long and bigger around than an elephant.”

  “If the dimensions really do collapse most of the people on Earth will never survive their first encounter with Sídhí plants and animals,” she said, noticing bamboo-like markles as they began appearing along the shoreline.

  “Yeah, mundanes are so stuck on what should be, like the dull edge of an Earthborn shark’s fin, the small things like the razor sharp edge of a greenth shark’s fin will be startling.”

  After nearly an hour of just walking and talking, they found the mouth of a river. Unfortunately, the freshwater river was wide with a dangerous marsh along either side. Discussing the pros and cons, they decided to port inland a few dozen miles. It took a little searching, but they finally found a small cove of clear water, one surrounded by trees and rocks, not quicksand and markles. The sinking sand was bad enough, but Sarah wasn’t fond of the red goo the markles sprayed when disturbed.

  “I can’t sense anyone nearby. Can you?” Nick questioned.

  She shook her head. “No, I can’t, but there is a large town farther up the river.”

  “You go first. I’ll keep watch,” he said, nudging her forward.

  She wasn’t about to pass up the chance to get clean. Stripping her shirt, she glanced at Nick, but he was studiously looking anywhere but toward her. His thoughts were another matter entirely. He wanted her, as much as she wanted him.

  “I do,” he said gruffly in her mind, “but I want our union blessed first.”

  She agreed. Every religion that she knew of considered the blessing - or whatever term they used - an absolute must. A blessed union was an important custom that most Sídhí couples went through.

  Her people were a mixed bag of religions, ranging from Christian, Jew, Muslim, First Believers, Druid, to Synthism, not discounting the numerous smaller religions.

  When his thoughts blended with hers and she saw his baptism, she felt relief. She respected other religions, but she always thought it would be so hard if her mate had a different religious belief.

  Knowing he was curious, she brought her own acceptance of Christ to the surface of her thoughts. When he saw the moonlit river of her memory, and recognized it as the Jordan River, she felt his surprise and envy.

  “As much as I hate it, I agree with you,” she said, yearning to give him a different answer. Placing her hands on his chest, she kissed his clenched jaw. “Brother Harvey has been my family’s priest for several generations, but if you prefer someone else, we can do that.”

  “No, he’ll be fine. I don’t want any more people than necessary seeing beyond the charade you’ve created. It simply puts you in greater danger.”

  Seeming to give up an argument with himself, he curled an arm around her bare back. His eyes twinkled as he looked into her face. “You are like a super-charged triple shot of caffeine, completely addictive.”

  “Caffeine?” she asked with a glimmer of humor.

  “Or sugar, maybe rich, dark chocolate,” he said with a grin, kissing her upturned face. They were a near match in height so he didn’t have far to go.

  Warmth unfolded in waves, growing and building as he deepened the kiss. Pulling her close, he groaned as her bra covered breasts brushed his chest.

  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she licked his lips. He opened his mouth. Warmth turned to fire, burning through her as Nick’s desire entwined with her own.

  With a groan, Nick pulled his lips from hers. “We need to stop,” he said amid a ragged breath. Kissing her ear, he stroked the sensitive shell with his lips.

  Flames shot through her, and she shivered.

  Groaning, she looked into his startled face. From the vein of his surface thoughts, he couldn’t figure out what he had done, but whatever it was, he wanted to do it again.

  She chuckled, and her need turned the soft sound husky with desire. “Haven’t you ever heard how sensitive an elf’s ear is?”

  His eyebrow shot up, and she felt a mixture of surprise and excitement flow from him. “Really?” he asked curiously. The tip of his tongue flicked out, curling up the edge of her ear.

  She gasped. Lava-like flames of pleasure surged through her body, turning the simple act into one of heated foreplay. Struggling to put words together, she gripped his arms. “Keep that up and we’ll make love before the blessing.”

  “Sorry,” he chuckled. Nuzzling her neck, he licked her pulsing vein amid a burst of male satisfaction. The smug emotion put his apology in question.

  Well, two could play at that game.

  Kissing his chin, she rubbed her nearly naked upper body against him. At his moan, she pushed her hips against his. Sensually purring as he uncomfortably shifted his hips.

  “Sarah,” he said between what sounded like gritted teeth.

  “Paybacks are made to be uncomfortable,” she whispered softly. He was about to learn that the hard way.

  Sliding her hands down his firm backside, she pulled his hips firmly against hers.

  “Minx,” he snarled, lightly nipping her ear.

  Throwing her head backward, she laughed. “We’re going to have so much fun.”

  Pulling away from him, she finished undressing.

  “Fun?” he snorted, watching her every move with spellbound anticipation. “You mean you’ll take great pleasure in torturing me?”

  “Who started it, big guy?” she asked playfully, before diving into the water.

  Scrubbing the blood from her skin and clothes using blisk, a brilliant yellow water flower that produced a rich lather, didn’t take long.

  Chapter - Hunting Phoenix

  Mackenzie silently watched the hunters as they tracked Eve across the rocky ground.

  Trying to calm the impatient instinct pounding at the back of his head, he clenched his hand against his thigh. From the moment the two vampires picked up Eve’s scent, the bloodsuckers had kept a steady pace. It hadn’t been a difficult hunt. The dragon wasn’t even attempting to cover her trail.

  For the last hour, they had been climbing across a landslide. From the looks of strewn rocks and dirt, the side of the mountain had given way years before. A scattering of weeds, bushes, and saplings dotted the area.

  The sun was burning the morning haze out of the sky when a woman’s screech of anger broke the quiet symphony of birds and sprites.

  The vampires stepped up their s
peed, racing across the uneven ground.

  Mac took to the sky. Soaring upward, he darted over the vampires. Topping a rise covered in thick growth. He knew the short, fat bushes, known as sharks, would slow the vampires. The bush might be small, but the oval leaf, shaped like a real shark fin, was sharp enough to cut through denim.

  The area leveled-out, forming a small cul-de-sac with the walls of the mountain rising high above. Large boulders dotted the area.

  Locating the woman wasn’t difficult.

  Eve sat on a waist-high boulder, shouting into a cell phone. “Lawrence, don’t tell me you can’t find a knife! How hard is it to go in the kitchen, look in a drawer and pick-up a damn knife?”

  Mac snorted in contempt.

  Sitting hunched over, clutching her stomach, she hadn’t even noticed his arrival.

  Hovering in the air, he paused, weighing his options. He wasn’t sure if he should just grab her or wait for the unknown Lawrence to show up.

  Below him, he heard the vampires approaching.

  The decision was taken out of his hands when a young man appeared in front of her, clenching a large synth blade in his hand. It looked like Mac was about to get two for the price of one.

  Looking up, the man’s serious eyes grew huge as he registered Mac’s presence. “Mom!” he shouted.

  Mac pulled power from his blood. His wings glowed. Hand outstretched, he hit Lawrence with white-fire. The burning flame hit him square in the chest, throwing him backward against a boulder.

  Landing, Mac ran forward before the dragon had time to shake off the soft hit. Taking one of the crystal zip ties (that he had commandeered from the troll’s training facility) from his pocket, he flipped the dragon onto his stomach and cinched the flexible strand around the man’s wrists.

  His scalp tingled in warning.

  From behind, Eve tackled him, trying to rip one of his wings off with her bare hands. With silver embedded in her gut, she couldn’t shift to dragon, but physically touching a phoenix was dumb beyond measure.

  Mac pushed a burst of voltage into his wings. The sharp crackle of power was instantly followed by Eve’s wail of pain.

  Turning, he backhanded the dragon, knocking her a dozen feet away, right at the feet of two dragons in human form.

  “Guardian Alexander,” Mac said, growling a greeting to the dragon that got Sarah dumped into the Khr'Vurr’s business. “This is a private matter. Stay out of it.”

  Mac motioned for the two approaching vampires to stop. He didn’t think it would turn into a fight, but he didn’t want the vampires caught in the crossfire.

  “Try that on someone who might believe it,” the small female to Alexander’s right said with a snort of derision.

  “Want to try again?” Alexander said sarcastically, shifting forward a bit until his body was between Mac and the young woman - Mac assumed she was the guardian’s mate, Lizzie.

  “Perhaps, I should have said this is Lady Sarah’s business. Stay out of it,” Mac snarled, leaning forward, ready to fight the arrogant shifter.

  “Ah, I wondered how a phoenix came to be in Dragon Valley,” Lizzie murmured, tilting her head of brown hair, studying him as if he were a zoo specimen.

  “Nothing about that girl surprises me,” Alexander snorted. “Eve is a suspected member of the Khr'Vurr. When she went missing last night, we went hunting.”

  “You were following the boy, hoping to catch Eve?” Mac questioned. A sudden thought curled his lips in anger. He felt his eyes silver with growing fury. “What color dragon is he?”

  “Beige with dark brown wing tips,” Alexander said. “Why?”

  Mac cursed. “Did you send him to burn out Sarah’s lifeBud?” Mac said, taking a menacing step toward the muscular guardian.

  “No,” Lizzie snapped. “We haven’t sent a Dyrst’Lye to her in hopes she’d change her mind.”

  “Well, then who did you tell about Sarah’s demand for a Dyrst’Lye?” Mac asked snappishly.

  “No one,” the guardian snarled back at him. The confusion in his eyes cleared. “Did Lawrence approach Sarah?”

  “Yes, the little rat destroyed her chance to bond with her mate. He is mine,” Mac said, emphasizing the last few words with deadly intensity.

  “No!” Lawrence shrieked from his place on the ground. “I’m dragon. I demand protection!”

  Kicking the wailing man, Lizzie snorted in contempt. “We should hand you over for the fun of it, but we need to have a little chat about your mother’s best friend.”

  “Clara?”

  “Shut up, you little turd,” Eve snarled at her son.

  “Mom visits her all the time. She made me attack Sarah!” Lawrence squealed as Mac stomped toward him.

  After an hour of interrogating Eve, Mac knew they wouldn’t get a straight answer out of the dragon. Against his better judgment, he left the two Khr'Vurr with the guardians.

  Not even considering Sarah’s order to protect the teens, Mac felt driven toward the campgrounds. His wretched instinct kept screaming for him to hurry. For what, he had no clue.

  He quietly landed on the cabin’s front deck. Pausing, he listened to the environment around him. Either he was mistaken or only a single teen was in the cabin.

  Before entering the cabin, he gave a token rap of his knuckles against the wooden frame of the door.

  A girl with a mass of silken black hair was in the large gathering room watching TV with rapt attention. Her scent called to him. Like a siren’s song, he knew it would be difficult to resist, but he had no choice because no matter how much he yearned to talk with the blue-eyed vampire, Emily was off limits and with good reason.

  Phoenix never dated outside their race, not when the cost was so high.

  Chapter - Chi’Kehra

  After Nick finished his turn in the water, they returned to the beach. Glancing toward Sarah, he noticed her satin-smooth skin was beginning to burn. “We need to find some shade until the sun sets.”

  As she gazed into his serious, coal black eyes, a flash of her emotions, something like reluctant humor, raced through him. “You can’t always protect me.”

  “If the tables were turned, what would you do?” he asked, trying not to smile at her look of disgruntlement.

  Nodding her head, she sighed. “Okay, point made. I’d do the same thing.”

  “How many times can you port the both of us without getting tired?” Nick asked, motioning toward the ocean as they walked hand-in-hand along the beach.

  “As long as necessary,” she said, slightly shrugging her shoulder. “Honestly, I’ve tried depleting my energy by porting large groups of people and by manipulating solid crystal, but I’ve never hit the bottom. I get physically tired, but the power is everywhere for the taking.”

  “Are you tired?” he asked gently. She’d been going nearly non-stop for days. If she said no, it’d kill his masculinity.

  When she chuckled, he groaned. As much as he adored her, he’d rather she had not heard that last bit of information.

  “Actually, I’m beat,” she admitted, pulling him toward a slight rise in the sand. “You had a little nap, but I’ve been going for more than twenty-four hours.”

  He snorted. “Naps induced by mite juice, do not count.”

  They entered a small grove of fiskberry bushes and brandish trees. With soft, feathery leaves and sweet smelling purple flowers, the tall, white trees offered plenty of shade. He dropped to the sand near a bunch of squat berry bushes.

  She didn’t resist as he gently tugged her toward him. Tucking her against his chest, he curled his body protectively around hers.

  “Sleep,” he said, gently kissing her cheek. “I’ll stay awake.”

  “We both need rest,” she said, pulling his arms closer around her. His eyes followed her sharp gaze.

  An extremely thin dome of synth crystal enclosed them in a protective shell.

  “Great idea, my favorite Lady Chi’Kehra,” he said with a smile on his face.

  Hou
rs later, Nick opened his eyes and watched the sun reach for the morning horizon. The sky filled with rays of brilliant color. A large full moon hung low over the ocean. A smaller sister moon hung to the right of it. He knew the position would change as the little one moved around its larger counterpart in a never-ending sky dance.

  With a soft grunt, he realized they had slept clear through the afternoon and night as well.

  “Don’t move,” Sarah ordered softly. Her thoughts were slower than normal, easier for him to follow. Her contented sigh sung through his entire body as her love surrounded him.

  He kissed her cheek, very careful to avoid her sexy little ear. The pointed tip was nearly impossible to resist. “Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”

  Rolling toward him, she cupped his cheek in her hand and smiled. “Good morning.”

  Leaning into her touch, his cheek rubbed her palm, soaking-up her touch. “I am so addicted to the way you say, good morning.” He not only felt her love, but also saw the stark emotion in the way her firm body curved next his. Given a choice, he would stay like that forever, but they needed to find Miranda. There was no telling what the Sídhí born Chi’Kehra was doing to his new baby sister.

  “I like the way you think,” Sarah said, giving him a sweet smile that brightened her face.

  After taking care of business and eating a handful of dark colored fiskberries, Sarah curled her arm around his waist. Moments later, they were porting high above the ocean.

  Even though each port ate-up twenty miles and then some, it took a while before the distant shore appeared on the curved horizon. They passed near a large city, but the bustling streets and towering stone buildings quickly disappeared into the distance.

  A dozen ports later, they found an isolated meadow and stopped. Hundreds of sprites, human-like bugs no bigger than his little pinky, filled the small meadow. Iridescent wings sparkled in the sunshine as the little creatures played amid the blue and yellow flowers.

  “I’m not sure how much farther I should go,” Sarah said, looking to the north, seeing something he couldn’t see.

  Gently tucking a strand of white-blonde hair behind her ear, he asked, “If you can still feel her, why shouldn’t we go all the way?”