Exile: Sídhí Summer Camp #3 (12 page)

Turning on her heel, she stalked away from
the blood-soaked clearing. Behind her, she heard Jared’s urgent
voice, “Nick, are you nuts? She looks madder than a wet hen. Do you
want her to kill you? Give her time to cool off.”

“Do not get between me and my mate,” Nick
said amid a growl.

Jared’s answering growl rumbled through the
trees.

Not surprisingly, Emily jumped into the
argument. “Sarah might be stomping mad, but she still looks like
she’s dancing across the ground. How does she do that? Did you see
her using that knife she calls Bowie? Wow, just, wow. She’s fast!
Do you think she’d teach me?” Emily rattled on, going a
mile-a-minute. When her questions met silence, she gave a short,
nervous laugh. “Come on, I want a hot shower.”

Sarah shook her head. As always, the little
peace keeper was trying to defuse the situation.

Sunshine
streamed into the room, casting a glow around Clarabelle as she
reclined on a sleek leather sofa. The cozy group of furniture she
sat in was one of many conversation areas within her mate’s private
study. She loved the sun. She could soak up the heated rays all day
and still yearn for more.

As she watched the recorded drama play out on
a large flat screen TV, a small smile curved her lips. Every moment
of Guardian Alexander and Sarah’s illegal entrance into TèVarrn
Prison had been captured on tape. Their activities were quite
entertaining. Sarah’s final demand made it even better.

Guardian Alexander’s harsh words echoed in
the stone cell as he agreed to Sarah’s crazy demand. Suddenly, the
scene replayed a second time.

Clarabelle’s mate slammed his fist against
the oak table sitting a few feet in front of her. A resounded crack
filled the air as the thick top splintered. Picking up a wooden
leg, he threw it against the far wall, destroying a thousand-year
old painting worth several million. “Bloody, freakin’ hell!” he
bellowed in fury. “If that wretched guardian provides Chi’Kehra
with a dragon from the Dyrst’Lye clan all our plans to force her
into helping us will be ruined.”

“Hmm, I disagree,” Clarabelle said
gloatingly. She loved it when he lost his temper. The volatile
emotion gave her a thrill of excitement as his bloodthirsty anger
flowed through her brain.

“Explain,” he said gratingly, dropping beside
her, “because if our benefactors realize we’ve let Chi’Kehra slip
through our fingers, they will not hesitate to destroy us.”

“We are in charge of this part of the plan,
not them,” she sniffed disdainfully.

His growl rumbled through the air. “Watch
what you say. They could be anywhere. You need to remember, we are
not the ones in charge.”

“We are too!” she shouted in anger. Her eyes
flared, hating the people that made her mate doubt her.

For a moment, he appeared concerned. His
emotions spiked, and an uneasy sense of alarm flitted through her
chest. His words, when he finally spoke, seemed nearly defeated.
“Why do you think Chi’Kehra is still ours for the taking?”

Pushing his silly worries to the back of her
mind, she chuckled. Leaning closer, she rubbed her hand up the
tense muscles of his arm. "In this you will trust me to take care
of everything."

“I trust you, but just how are you going to
take care of everything if she has her lifeBud burned out?” he
asked through gritted teeth. “They will not be mates. We need him
for leverage. If her lifeBud is burned out, she won't care what
happens to him.”

She chuckled again, cruel and deep. The sound
disappeared within the depths of the study. "What someone asks for,
and what they receive, is not always the same thing."

He stopped gritting his teeth. His emotions
turned from fury to curiosity.

She gave him a delighted smile, tinged with
evil. “Do you remember me speaking of a childhood friend named, Eve
from the Dyrst’Lye clan? Over the years, there have been many ways
she has learned to torture her captives. Experimenting with their
lifeBud was one of her earlier tests. Let’s just say, Lady Sarah
Trellick aka Chi’Kehra will no longer care what happens to
Nick.”

“But they’ll still be mates? She’ll keep her
lifeBud?” he asked anxiously.

“Oh, Eve is brilliant. Trust me, when she is
finished, Sarah will believe Nick is no longer her mate.”

“And she’ll be wrong?” he asked.

“What do you think?” Clarabelle asked in a
burst of uncontrollable laughter.

Sarah’s eyes
snapped open. Sunshine appeared beyond the cabin’s window. A gentle
morning breeze, smelling of mint, filled the girl’s dorm room. The
music of birds sweetened the air.

She glanced around the room. Everyone, except
Katie, remained dead to the world. It had been a rough week, and if
Alexander came through with a Dyrst’Lye, it would become even
worse. At least, it would for her.

As if she had an anvil sitting on top of her
ribcage the thought of losing Nick forever made breathing
difficult.

Beyond the closed door, Sarah heard the front
door open. A few minutes later, Katie entered the dorm room. The
blonde halfling caught Sarah’s gaze.

Sarah frowned at the worried look on the
girl’s face. What more could go wrong?

“There’s someone to see you,” Katie said in a
hushed voice.

“Tell them I’ll be out in a minute.” Shoving
her feet into a pair of flip-flops, she headed toward the
bathroom.

A few minutes later, Sarah exited the room
dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. The clock on the opposite wall
said she had missed her guess. It wasn’t morning. It was a few
minutes before noon.

Perched on the edge of a chair, a young man
bounced to his feet. Nervously, he pressed down perfectly smooth
hair with a trembling hand. Big, brown eyes looked at her from
under thick eyelashes. Dressed in dark gray slacks and a pale
yellow polo shirt, the young dragon shifter looked extremely out of
place. He swallowed nervously, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and
down.

“Lady Sarah?” he asked. Fear flickered
through his eyes. He reminded Sarah of college graduate on his
first job interview.

“Yes,” she said coolly, refusing to lower her
guard. Anyone looking for her could easily be an assassin in
disguise.

“I’m, uh, well, my name is Lawrence
Dyrst’Lye. Guardian Alexander... well, I, mean, he said, uh, I
mean, he ordered...”

Sarah held up her hand, stopping his rambling
words. She watched him clench his hands and glance nervously toward
the front door. It was obvious Alexander had told the boy who she
was. The poor kid was petrified of her.

Katie grabbed her arm. “Sarah, don’t do
this,” Katie begged. Tears filled her eyes.

Across the room, the door to the boy’s dorm
room slammed open. Clothed in a pair of plaid boxer shorts, Jared
snarled as he searched for his upset mate.

“Where is he?” Sarah asked without much hope.
It was morning, and she knew Nick would have changed his mind after
a good night’s sleep.

“Back deck,” Kate said quickly, ignoring
Jared as he watched them through narrowed eyes.

Struggling not to get her hopes up, Sarah
briefly closed her eyes. Should she go talk to him and try to reach
him at least one last time? She just didn’t know.

“Don’t do anything,” Katie urged. “I’ll be
right back.”

Sarah gave a short nod. The rhythm of her
heart pounded in her ears, sounding like a boom box set on
maximum.

Katie shot toward the back door with Jared
hot on her heels.

The screen door banged shut a split-instance
before Katie spoke. “Nick? Sarah’s up and she...”

“Go away,” he said harshly.

“Nick, you’ve got to listen to me. I know you
love her, but the Dyrst’Lye will destroy everything!” Katie yelled
heatedly.

The frantic sound mirrored Sarah’s panicked
heartbeat. Nick’s next words destroyed her.

“Katie, go away. I’m not in the mood,” he
said darkly.

“Mood? She’s getting her lifeBud burned-out
and you aren’t in the mood?” she demanded shrilly.

It was over, Sarah’s hopes, her dreams,
everything. He didn’t want her. Empty and cold, eternity yawned
before her. She would live her life alone, without Nick, without
her other half. Her very soul clenched, screaming in agony as she
turned toward the nervous Dyrst’Lye.

Ignoring Katie’s continued cries of
accusation. She felt the last emotion drain from her. What good was
emotion without a mate to receive it?

Face impassive as stone, she turned to the
Dyrst’Lye. “Do it.”

Giving her a jerky nod, perspiration dripped
off his forehead. He concentrated a moment then frowned. “You need
to drop your shields,” he gulped, “and I need physical
contact.”

For a moment, she glared at him. Without
another option, she raised her hand up.

The moment he touched her skin with an
outstretched finger, she dropped her shields. A split-second later
her world shattered. Fire blistered through her mind. She screamed
in agony. Distantly, she heard a wordless roar, a sound filled with
desperation. She crashed to the floor in a boneless heap as blood
streamed from her ears and nose.

It was finished. There was no going back. The
desolate thought flickered through her mind before the world turned
black and she fainted.

The floor shuddered beneath her. The smell of
blood, her blood, filled the air with iron touched by power. Her
heart thundered in her ears and she couldn’t hear anything but the
deafening sound. At the touch of a warm, wet cloth sliding across
her skin in gentle strokes, her eyes fluttered open.

Her head hurt. It felt like a werewolf was
trying to rip through her skull. Her thoughts steadied. The
sensation was only pain. Physical pain she could tolerate. It was
the other kind of pain, the emotional agony, she feared as it
smashed through her weakened defenses.

She searched her mind, her body, but she felt
no different. She didn’t suddenly hate Nick. That would have been a
blessing, but just the opposite was true. Her chest constricted as
her love for him continued pulsing through every fiber of her
being.

What had she expected? Her lifeBud had been
burned out, not her heart or soul. Every time she saw him, she felt
alive. She knew, without a shadow of doubt, she would love Nick
with her entire being for all eternity.

Something hit the outside wall and the room
shuddered under the heavy impact.

She moved to sit up, but a firm hand held her
down. “Sarah, don’t move,” Katie said. Her voice sounded husky, as
if she had been crying. “The bleeding has stopped, but if you get
up too quickly it might start again. As soon as those idiots stop
fighting, I’ll send one of them for a healer.”

“Fighting?” she asked numbly. Taking the wet,
terry washcloth from Katie she wiped the remaining blood from her
neck and face. She wouldn’t need a healer, not when the pain was
already fading. Dropping the bloody rag on the floor, she turned
toward the door.

“Nick attacked the dragon and then...”

Emily ran through the front door and slid to
a halt. Eyes wild, midnight hair swinging around her hips, she
caught Sarah’s gaze. “You’ve got to stop them! They’re going to
kill him!”

The frantic vampire darted out of the cabin.
The ever-calm girl screamed, sounding outraged. Emily’s scream
turned quickly into the furious roar of a ticked-off vampire.

It was then Sarah realized the roaring wasn’t
coming from inside her head.

“What’s going on,” she asked as she climbed
unsteadily to her feet.

From Emily’s reaction, it sounded like it
might be time to put a stop to whatever got Miss Peace Maker in a
tizzy.

“When Nick heard you scream, he attacked the
Dyrst’Lye,” Katie said, offering Sarah an arm to steady her.

She didn’t bother to smother a snort.
Surprise, surprise... whether he wanted her or not, anytime she was
hurt his honor demanded he protect her.

Strength returned quickly and she refused
Katie’s offer. Walking slowly toward the front of the cabin, she
took in the damage. The large picture window, to the left of the
door, had been shattered and the thick, wooden door hung by a
single hinge.

“Nick took one look at you and slammed into
the boy, sending them both crashing through the window. Jared and
Mitch charged after Nick. Beth jumped into the fight when it was
obvious Mitch was in the thick of things and wasn’t winning.”

Sarah reached the doorway and froze. The
scene in front of the cabin looked like an action movie in a
repetitive cycle, a really bad one with lots of violence and no
story.

She heard flesh hit flesh, and Mitch went
flying across the path, crashing into a thick swath of furble
saplings and mint bushes.

Mac stood in the center of the small
clearing. Anticipation glowed in his flashing eyes as he waited for
the next attack. His soot colored wings spread wide, soaking up the
brilliant noon sunshine. In contrast, the dusting of gold and wine
along his dark wings seemed to shimmer. All he needed was a flaming
sword, and he’d look like a dark avenging angel.

Jared charged him.

Mac backhanded the vampire, knocking him
twenty feet away.

The phoenix was no angel.

Mitch stumbled to his feet and charged the
winged fairy. He didn’t land a single punch before Mac hit him,
smashing him to the ground with a bone-jarring thump.

A furious yowl filled the air, and a brown
khatt with golden streaks shot forward. Beth faired a bit better
than either guy had. A swipe of her paw and she scored a set of
claw marks across his hip.

Mac blasted her with a pulse of white-fire.
The shimmering bolt of burning power hit her chest, knocking her
head-over-heels. Her smoking, feline body smashed into Mitch and
they tumbled backward into the forest.