Exile: Sídhí Summer Camp #3 (26 page)

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.

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.

Hours 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?”

“Oh, I can feel her, but I don’t know if the
Sídhí Chi’Kehra can detect so much power expended with my rapid
ports.” Pausing, a crease formed along her forehead. “She just
disappeared.”

“Yes, she did,” a deep male voice said
directly behind them.

At the words, they jerked around.

Sword in her hand, Sarah surged forward, only
to jerk to an abrupt stop. Her growl mingled with Nick’s snarl of
fury.

Twenty feet away stood an elf, regal in fine
cut leather and silk clothes. His long, black hair fluttered in the
breeze, entwining with the corn-silk strands of his captive.

The haughty elf held Miranda in his arms.

Sarah’s growl turned harsh, guttural, as she
demanded, “let my sister go.”

Bruises covered the girl, making her look
like a semi-truck had hit her and backed over her again. Frail, and
weak, she leaned toward Sarah as if reaching for her.

The look of fury in the girl’s eyes threw his
mental summary of her injuries totally off kilter.

“
Sarah, so help me, I’ll kill you myself
if you attack Colin after I spent hours convincing him you would
listen to reason!”
Miranda mentally shouted.

“You’re the Sídhí Chi’Kehra,” Sarah stated,
ignoring her sister. Frost covered her words.

“Yes, and you are Earth’s. If you attack me
with her in my arms, I will destroy you,” Colin stated. The icy
calm coating his words, gave them such a deadly ring that most
adversaries would run backwards instead of confronting him.

Sarah snarled at the threat and took a single
step forward.

“Both, of you, stop it,” Miranda whispered. A
look of pain flashed across her face.

If Nick hadn’t been Sídhí, he would have
never heard her from so far away.

“What the hell did you do to her?” Nick
demanded, baring his fangs in a snarl of anger.

“
You’re Nick, aren’t you?”
Miranda
didn’t wait for his answer.
“After ripping Sarah’s throat out,
night-after-night during your mate dreams, you can’t accuse anyone
of anything,”
she snapped at him. Her verbal voice might be
soft, but her mental voice held fire as she slapped him down.

“What happened between my mate and I is not
in question,” Sarah snarled, glancing at her sister.

“
Neither is my condition. Colin and I are
bonded mates. Either accept that or leave,”
Miranda said. Steel
laced her voice, but tears glistened in her blood colored eyes.

“He’s your mate?” Sarah exclaimed. The shock
of her words flowed through him.

“Yes,” Colin and Miranda said together.

Well, that put a different spin on
things.

Sarah eased back, but didn’t lower her
weapon. Her voice, firm and cold, echoed across the meadow. “As
much as I love my sister, I still need to know what your intentions
toward Earth are.”

“Answered with your hand in crystal,” Nick
added, and sucked in a breath of surprise as Sarah’s fierce
approval surrounded him, caressing him from the inside out.

The elf nodded, acknowledging Nick’s
demand.

The ground began to tremble. Halfway between
the two Chi’Kehra, liquid crystal erupted from the ground, spewing
dirt and flowers everywhere. Sprites dashed from the area as if
shot from a slingshot.

The geyser slowed, freezing into a solid
shape. A heartbeat later, the fountain liquefied slowly. Flowing
down it swirled and formed a four-foot square, milk-white pedestal
with smooth walls. The surface of the block dipped down, forming a
shallow bowl.

When nothing else happened, Sarah stepped
forward, and he caught the edge of her mental order as she directed
liquid synth to fill the shallow center.

From the opposite side, Colin approached the
block of crystal. With one arm, he cradled Miranda against his
chest. Raising his hand, palm up, he lowered it into the water.

Nick suppressed a snort. Did the man think
they were dumb? When liquid synth mixed with a person’s blood, the
liquid energy acted like a lie detector.

He glanced up in time to see Miranda’s
expression. She looked shocked. A small gasp escaped her lips. She
didn’t say anything, but she extended her claws, and made a shallow
cut down Colin’s hand.

Blood swirled in the white semi-clear
liquid.

“I’ve been visiting Earth for over five
hundred years, and haven’t made a play for it yet. The Great War
ended thousands of years ago, and I do not want another one, nor do
I have any intention of becoming involved with the elves petty
squabbles or their on-going war with the other races,” he paused,
looking pointedly at the liquid. If he had lied, the synth crystal
would have turned black as midnight.

Nick sighed in relief, but the man was not
finished. “And you, Sarah, what exactly are your intentions toward
Sídhí?”

“Intentions?” Sarah parroted the word. Nick
felt her confusion before it turned to humor. She smiled, and
actually uttered a small laugh. Slicing her hand with a quick flick
of her claws, she dunked her bloody palm into the liquid. “I have
more than enough trouble with the Dhark Empire and umbra without
adding a whole new world to the mix. I do not want to rule Sídhí.
Thanks, but no thanks.”

Nick didn’t need to glance at the liquid. He
knew it didn’t change colors.

“Umbra?” Colin asked. His gaze snapped to
Miranda’s face. Looking down at her, his face tightened with a
flash of concern.

The girl’s face went white with fear. “What
umbra?”

Sarah gave them a quick, sketchy outline of
what had taken place.

When she paused, Nick asked Colin, “Did you
know of the umbra and the gateway to Earth?”

“Not the gateway,” Colin said, shaking his
head in denial, “but after the war, there was a single umbra colony
remaining on Sídhí. The group was small and located on the far
continent of DarNeth. I make a rare visit to the shifter’s royal
court at Cambiar, the capital city of DarNeth, just to remind the
umbra ambassadors I’m around, but to my knowledge, the shifters
ruling that region have never had a problem with them.”

In his arms, Miranda shifted. She tried to
swallow a gasp of pain, but it hissed through her teeth.

“We’ll discuss this later. She needs bed
rest.”

“No, Colin, I’m fine,” insisted Miranda.
Placing a hand on his arm, she added, “This is important.”

“I agree with Colin, Sis. You look like
crap.”

“Thanks,” she said. Glaring at her older
sister, her face curled in a look of reproach.

Colin chuckled. “How about we change
locations?”

Without a further explanation, Colin walked
away.

Nick was about to ask where he was going when
a gateway appeared.

The large elf walked through the doorway,
into a room with high peaked ceilings and a marble staircase. The
glimpse was enough to shout castle.

Nick glanced at Sarah. She appeared as
stunned as he felt, but not for long.

Curling her fingers around his, she met his
eyes.
“Well, he might be more useful than I first thought,”
she said into his mind, keeping their conversation private.

“
How?”
he asked, sending his question
only to her, just as she had done.

“
Trellick Valley is riddled with gateways.
It is the only reason we pretend loyalty to the Dhark Empire. If
Colin can teach me to open and shut a gateway…”

“
You can defend your home against the
empire,”
Nick finished her excited thought.

“
Yes,”
she said, tightening her
fingers around his. Determination radiated from her.

As soon as they walked through the gateway,
Colin introduced them to an elf whose stiff demeanor and uniform
cried guard. “Gabe, this is Lady Sarah and her mate, Lord Nicholas.
Sarah is Miranda’s sister and is to be treated as family.”

Colin turned from the weapon-covered elf.
“Captain Gabrielle will show you to your rooms. Later this evening
we’ll meet for dinner. Please, consider my home as your own.”