Exile: Sídhí Summer Camp #3 (2 page)

She surged forward, bellowing her anger and
her fear in the form of burning dragonfire, expelling the flame as
hard as she could.

The curling flames hit the translucent dome.
The strong blast of dragonfire encased the surface, surrounding the
globe. The volatile weapon of fire melted rocks on either side of
the paper-thin dome, turning the ancient boulders to lava. Liquid
rock streamed across the sand.

Seconds later, Clarabelle stopped blasting
them. Sucking in a breath of air, she readied herself to hit them
again.

The teenage couple showed the appropriate
fear of her magnificent dragonfire. The boy roared in helpless
anger, putting his body in front of the girl. The girl screamed in
terror.

Sarah? Well, the long-legged freak appeared
arrogantly pleased.

Clarabelle waited too long before launching
her second attack. Later, she realized the length of time she
wasted had made no difference to the outcome. Clarabelle had been
screwed from the very beginning.

The achingly cold features of the beautiful,
young woman changed slowly, morphing from bored aristocrat to
enchanting ice princess. A slight smile graced Sarah’s elegant
features. Her vivid Caribbean blue eyes sparkled, reflecting the
pink glow of the ceiling. Flushed with excitement, the half-breed
looked straight into Clarabelle’s eyes.

Sarah's reaction turned Clarabelle’s blood to
ice.

The dragon soon understood why no person on
Earth could have evaded the swift attack.

Sarah moved with the lethal grace of a born
killer. The teenager formed a single javelin out of a source of
synth crystal Clarabelle couldn't detect.

The simple act confirmed the dragon’s fear.
Only a single person had the ability to manipulate raw synth
crystal. Sarah was Chi'Kehra, the long awaited supreme ruler of the
elves. She could pull synth crystal from any source, whether it was
from the earth or from the girl’s own blood.

Sarah reared back and threw the spear at
Clarabelle. The dome never wavered. The spear travelled through the
dome and arched across the cavern.

She didn't have time to dodge the missile.
The sharp projectile slammed into her chest, breaking through a
thick layer of dragon scales. The spear sank into her chest. A
second and third shaft of crystal followed. Razor-sharp tips ripped
through her body, rupturing vital organs.

She roared. Pain consumed her. Dragonfire
uselessly scorched the air as she twisted madly in midair, trying
to rip the javelins out of her chest.

With her last coherent thought, Clarabelle
focused her mind, searching frantically for the mental signature of
her mate.

Through their lifeBond, his terror slammed
into her, distracting her for a heartbeat.

Her mind latched onto his mental signal and
she ported to his location, not caring who might see. She appeared
under the brilliant, blue sky less than thirty feet from him.

Her mate's fury scorched Clarabelle’s mind,
rushing through her like a living flame, hotter than her own fury
had been.

She bellowed in agony, clutching at the
spears jutting out of her chest. Blood gushed over her claws. Her
body constricted. Her failing heart fluttered, skipping unevenly.
Her gaze dimmed and she crashed to the ground. Pain exploded
through her.

Terror, not her own, flooded her as her mate
caressed her mind with his urgent demand for her to hold on,
ordering her not to die.

He released a burst of burning dragonfire
toward the people he spoke with, destroying them in an instant.

She felt no pity for the filthy people. Their
mere presence kept her mate from helping her.

Sarah's clear blue eyes never betrayed her inner turmoil. Over the
span of nineteen years, she had perfected her ice queen charade.
Even her best friend, Mac, who knew her better than anyone, had
trouble guessing her moods.

Standing beside the underground lake, she
glanced toward the empty space above the large body of water. She
should have gone after the injured dragon when she had the chance.
Now, it was too late.

A body slammed into her, knocking her
backward several feet.

“Thank you. I knew you’d come,” Katie said as
she hugged Sarah.

Returning her young aunt’s embrace, Sarah
couldn’t stop the soft chuckle as it slipped past her lips. “I
think you’d best go to Jared, before your mate has a stroke,” she
said, giving Katie a gentle push in the vampire’s direction.

She couldn’t find fault with the young man’s
protective attitude. As Chi’Kehra, Sarah was the
monster-under-the-bed for most full blood vampires like Jared.

Katie turned to Jared, acting like a kitten
with a huge bowl of cream.

It was obvious Jared adored his new mate.
Sarah could only dream that Nick, her supposedly perfect mate,
would ever look at her with such unconcealed love.

She sighed silently. She knew her decision to
protect the two teens had been the right thing to do, but now, the
wounded dragon presented a serious problem. The dragon had
witnessed Sarah creating a dome and javelins from the synth crystal
in her blood. No doubt, the dragon would soon piece together who
Sarah really was, if she hadn't already.

It didn’t take a detective to know the bloody
dragon had to be a member of the terrorist organization known as
the Khr'Vurr. What a screwed-up mess. Once the Khr'Vurr realized
Sarah was the first Chi’Kehra in four-thousand years they would not
stop until she was recruited or dead.

Tasting the truth of her thoughts, her eyes
narrowed in thought. Assassination or recruitment into the
terrorist organization was not a major concern to her. Both were
minor details compared to the third possibility and the single risk
that really concerned her. The Khr'Vurr might consider selling her
identity to the highest bidder. If they sold the information to the
elves, the purebloods would stop at nothing to destroy her. As a
fragmented race, the elves were not currently a problem, but if
bickering elvish houses set aside their differences and joined
forces, the united elvish nation would become a massive
headache.

Until then, she dismissed the elves from the
equation, because the Dhark Empire was the immediate concern. If
the Khr'Vurr's connection to the lords of the Dhark Empire was
strong enough, she was in deep trouble.

The Khr'Vurr and elves she could handle, but
the Dhark Empire's armies were massive. If they realized she was
Chi’Kehra, the dhark lords would not simply stop at killing her.
The empire would crush Trellick Valley, her family’s ancestral
territory. Abandoning the second dimensional valley was not an
option, not with the dangerous secrets contained within the vast
area. Secrets she would die to protect.

She stifled a growl of frustration. She had
hoped the peace camp would provide her a way to nullify the threat
of the Dhark Empire. No such luck. Nearly a week had passed since
the first day of camp and she still didn't have the critical
information she needed.

If she could just convince the dragons to
help her, she might have a fighting chance against the empire. As
it stood, the dhark lords could attack at any moment and crush her
home.

Over the next hour or so, Sarah and the teens
stood in the dank cave arguing with Guardian Alexander, trying to
convince him that she was not the boogieman he thought her to
be.

Arguing with the recently tortured shifter
was turning out to be an impossible task, but she refused to give
up. In order to keep the Dhark Empire out of Trellick Valley, she
needed the secret of how to close a gateway, and only the dragon
council knew that information.

As a guardian, Alexander was her best hope to
contact the dragon council, a group of elderly dragons stuck in the
past. The dangerously stagnated council had refused to change with
the times. The denial to change had brewed the perfect atmosphere
for the Khr’Vurr to step in and stir up a rebellion.

To gain Alexander’s trust, and to make him
believe her, she even sliced her hand and placed the bleeding palm
in a bowl of liquid crystal, the Sídhí version of a lie
detector.

Unfortunately, the move didn’t help as much
as she had hoped. Arguing with the wind would’ve been easier,
because Alexander refused to cooperate. Deep in thought, her eyes
narrowed. If the guardian - and the stubborn council - needed a
little incentive, she was more than willing to give it to them.

Her tactics changed, turning her voice syrupy
sweet. She watched Katie shiver. It was good to know that someone
had enough sense to be terrified when Sarah turned too sweet for
words.

“Having seventeen hidden gateways that open
into Dragon Valley, and other dragon dominated valleys, might be
the turning point toward change. Don’t you think?” Sarah asked,
bluntly laying facts on the table. Her voice was pure sugar,
holding the barest hint of sharp steel as she threated the dragon
council, referring to the deadly secret that Trellick Valley
possessed.

Alexander hissed his fury, staring at Sarah
in disbelief. Specifically, at her hand that lay submerged in
liquid synth crystal, not only was synth the root of immortal life
on Sídhí, but a powerful lie detector. Had she lied, the semi-clear
liquid would have turned black.

“Impossible,” Alexander snarled, glaring at
the translucent liquid, pure energy no matter the form.

Sarah smiled and watched Katie cringe. She
supposed the girl was correct: the lifting of Sarah’s lips - that
exposed her fangs - was not a nice smile. “I am aware of seventeen
gateways leading into dragon dominated valleys. Gateways the
dragons are completely unaware of. If the dhark armies found those
entrances, Dragon Valley would be destroyed. At the very least, the
dragons would be in a war more horrific than the last Great War on
Sídhí,” Sarah said, watching Alexander’s face for the slightest
change as she mentioned the Dhark Empire, a sprawling network of
second dimensional valleys ruled with blood and terror.

By the time she finished, the dragon had
turned from red, to white, and back to a mottled red. His growl
made her want to grin with satisfaction. She withheld the telling
emotion, keeping an ice-perfect appearance.

He opened his mouth to speak and abruptly
snapped it shut. Smart man.

When Alexander finally found the right words,
his voice sounded nearly defeated. “I’ll say it again. The Dragon
Council will never trust you. I wish I was wrong, but even if you
show them one of the gateways, they’ll scoff and call it pure
happenstance. I believe you, but they... they’re old.” He stopped
again. His skin took on a greenish sheen, looking like he was about
to be sick.

Katie surprised Sarah by asking the dragon,
“What if Sarah proved she is trustworthy? Would that help?”

Sarah stifled her growl. The girl needed to
learn to keep her mouth shut.

Seeming to sense her distaste for Katie’s
suggestion, Alexander glanced at Sarah. “In order for them to
believe, you would need to save Dragon Valley single-handedly and
even then, they might take years to agree with your demand.” He
sighed, raising his hand as if he were helpless. “I personally know
a high councilor and I swear to you, on my word of honor, I will do
everything in my power to sway her opinion, but only if you swear
not to reveal the location of those gateways to the dhark lords.”
He hesitated. “But I would like to know how you found the gateways
and how you are keeping them secret from your father.”

“My dad showed them to me,” Sarah said with a
soft snarl. Pausing, she considered his offer. It seemed to be her
only choice, because as much as she wanted the information she knew
she’d never give the dark lords access to Trellick Valley’s
gateways, not that the dragon needed to know that. “Let’s
compromise. In exchange for your oath of assistance, I won’t betray
the location of the gateways to the dhark lords, but I want an
introduction to your council contact.”

Alexander growled. If he clenched his teeth
any harder, he might shatter his jawbone. “She’ll never trust
you.”

“What if Sarah helped you catch the
traitors?” Jared asked.

Sarah groaned. Why had she helped them again?
Right, Katie was family. She was beginning to think the two teens
had it in for her. Stopping the traitorous Khr’Vurr would not be
easy, nor was it her job.

Alexander slowly nodded his head. “That might
work. She’s furious over this whole screwed-up mess.”

Well, great, just fabulous, she grumbled to
herself, quickly suggesting yet another alternative, “All
right...”

The cavern rumbled with an aftershock. A
shower of grit drifted down, covering her with a second layer of
grime. The baby tremor stopped her words.

The vast cavern shook again with a bit more
strength. She waited for the movement to stop. After the earlier
explosion, that destroyed half the mountain, aftershocks were
inevitable.

Her eyes landed on Guardian Alexander. An
idea crept through her mind. It would be simpler to make him
disappear. She shook her head, refusing her plan before it took
root. She couldn’t make the dragon guardian disappear, not when the
man posed a problem and a possible solution, at the same time.

She needed Alexander’s help, but heaven help
her, she didn't know how to reach an agreement with the stubborn
dragon when the mountain’s foundation kept shaking. It was the
third strong tremor in as many hours.

She stood still, waiting for the mountain to
cease its bucking, but the gentle trembling turned into a violent
shudder. She glared upward at the swaying stalactites.

Gunshot-like cracks filled the dank air as
several dangling rock formations snapped. With little warning, the
entire ceiling collapsed, crashing toward them with the destructive
force of an upside-down tsunami.