Exile: Sídhí Summer Camp #3 (4 page)

He couldn’t help it. Like the strongest
magnet ever created, her pull was impossible to resist.

Turning on his heel, he followed the gentle
aroma of heather and hyacinth laced with a sharp bite of fire. His
need to see her outweighed his caution.

He found her sitting on a large rock,
overlooking a deep ravine. Beams of moonlight caressed her hair,
giving her an unearthly glow. She must have heard his quiet
approach because she tensed.

Brushing a slender hand across her face, the
long, silky strands of her moon-colored hair shimmered as she
turned away from him.

“If you’ve come to yell at me then just go
away,” she said in her normally soft voice, a voice laced with what
he knew was tears.

His heart clenched tight, demanding something
he couldn’t give her no matter how much he wanted to. Clearing his
throat, he swallowed the knot blocking his voice, but he wasn’t
sure what to say.

He settled on not saying a word. For ten
minutes, he sat beside her, silently watching her beautiful profile
as she gazed into the darkness. The moon enhanced the soft lines of
her face, turning her from beautiful to exquisite. “Tell me what’s
wrong,” he said gruffly, as if a force beyond his control sucked
the words from him without his consent.

Shaking her head, she snorted.

Right. Her mate didn’t want her.

He needed to keep his big mouth shut.

“My little sister’s birthday is in a few
days,” she said quietly. “I’m going to miss it.”

“Miranda?”

She turned to him, eyes wide with surprise.
“How did you know that?”

“I heard you and Katie talking.” He shrugged,
uncomfortable that she knew he had wanted to listen to anything she
had to say.

“How old will she be?” he asked, giving into
the desire to talk with her, while refusing to admit how desperate
he was to know everything about her.

“Seventeen going on a hundred,” she said with
a smile coloring her voice. “Miranda and Mac keep me centered.”

Stifling a growl, he refused to ask who Mac
was. Any boyfriend she had didn’t matter to him. She would never be
his bonded mate. No matter how much he desired her, she was an
exile. Her values, her entire way of life, was so vile he would
never accept her.

He tensed, ready to stand up and return to
camp, when she started speaking softly, almost dreamlike, as if she
was talking to herself.

“Miranda might ask me a dozen questions about
stuff, but she never questions me. She accepts me without
reservation. Living in my shadow, she should hate me, but I know
for a fact she’d die to protect me.” She paused, glancing at him. A
slight smile touched her lips. “You’d like her. She is so sweet
she’d make your teeth ache.”

He scrambled for something to say, something
that wouldn’t hurt her or start an argument. “What’s the last thing
you did together?”

To his surprise she laughed. The shocking
reaction filled her eerily beautiful face with sunshine. “Long
story,” she said with a shake of her head.

“We’ve got all night,” he said, unwilling to
let her go, desperate to know what it might’ve been like between
them if she hadn’t been born exile and him clan, a staunch
supporter of vampire honor. Reluctantly, he admitted, he also
wanted to know what made her laugh with such honesty that delight
glowed from her eyes. The thought struck him, and he realized it
was the truth. Without the ice princess face, she appeared
different, pure of heart if that was possible. He shook his head at
his crazy thoughts, shoving them to the dark recess of his
mind.

“A few nights before camp started, I had
trouble sleeping,” she said hesitantly, giving him a flickering
glance filled with pain. The smooth skin above her eyes
tightened.

Hearing what she didn’t say, he sucked in a
ragged breath. She couldn’t sleep after having a mate dream, one
where he had tried to kill the evil exile he believed her to be. He
clenched his teeth, but she didn’t condemn him as she softly
continued her story.

“I heard a sound coming from her room. You
need to understand, she sleeps like the dead. Once down, she
doesn’t stir all night. My first thought was an intruder so I
ported into her room.” From the twinkle in her eyes, he could tell
she was trying extremely hard not to laugh. “Miranda was dressed
head to toe in black clothes. She looked like a ninja or something.
All I had to do was quirk a questioning eyebrow at her and she was
spilling her guts.”

“She calls it a hobby, but she has this
fascination with fountains. She has collected miniature fountains
and pictures of them for years. Last Christmas I gave her a camera
and a How To book on taking pictures of moving water. Now, she
drives everyone crazy with wanting to visit famous fountains.”

“She was sneaking out to take pictures?” he
asked doubtfully. “You sure you know your
innocent
sister?”

Sarah chuckled. “Yeah, believe me she wanted
to visit the Trevi fountain in Rome. She even had a map with yellow
highlighter marking her route. Earlier that day, she snitched three
coins from my bedside stand, hoping she could throw the coins in
the fountain and make a wish.”

“I thought she wanted to take a picture?” he
asked, frowning as he tried to keep up with her story.

“Yes, well, during her internet research on
fountains, she found one that supposedly grants wishes of true
love.”

Nick snorted. “And so she stole money from
you to visit the fountain. Sarah, that doesn’t sound like a
too-sweet-for-words type of girl.”

Sarah looked at him. For a split moment, her
eyes reflected such a deep pain he nearly groaned. “The wish wasn’t
for her. It was for me.”

Clarabelle reclined in the luxurious
California King bed, arching her body seductively in the beams of
sun pouring through the oval skylight. Her silky human skin glowed
with health. The dark gold color reflected hours of time spent
under the hot sun. At times, she didn’t know which form she
preferred, her luscious human body or her sleekly, dangerous dragon
form.

She glanced around the room, feeling a surge
of arrogant possessiveness. The restricted suite of rooms took-up
thousands of square feet in her mate’s fortress. The fairy enforced
walls kept all curious eyes and ears from seeing or hearing
anything that went on within the rooms.

No one, except her mate, had ever seen her
within his bedchamber. She was Lady Clarabelle of a domain that
didn’t know she existed.

With a curl of her finely manicured finger,
she imperiously ordered her mate to attend her.

His lips twisted into a smile. To the average
person, the thin curving of his lips looked bitter. And why
wouldn’t he be bitter? Even his fellow members on the dragon
council understood why one of the oldest members of that esteemed
group of dragons was harsh, an unpleasant person through and
through. It was a well-known fact he was one of the oldest dragons
alive that remained unmated… or so they believed.

Keeping the mating bond a secret for the last
hundred years had been harder than killing her own grandparents but
like that nasty chore so many years before, the lifeBond between
her and her mate had to remain secret.

“I’d love nothing more than to stay here with
you, but while you were sleeping I received a summons to an urgent
council meeting,” he said, kissing the tips of her fingers as he
rubbed his free hand across her unmarred chest, searching for the
slightest scar. “Are you sure it no longer hurts?”

“I’m fine.” She tugged him closer for a
proper kiss. “I was fine yesterday, but someone was overly cautious
and demanded I stay in bed.”

“I didn’t hear you complaining last night or
this morning for that matter,” he said with a smirk on his face.
His satisfaction filled her, matching her own feelings. They had
been together for so many years. They had become perfect companions
even before the bonding, held together with an overwhelming lust
for power.

His synth crystal had sang for her (naming
Clarabelle his perfect mate) the day she outlined her plan to
return Dragon Valley to the Sídhí home world. It had been a near
impossible dream, because without having Chi'Kehra, the legendary
leader of the elves, available to charge the long dead energy
landfills her brilliant blueprint for the future had very little
hope of succeeding. At the time, she estimated her plan had less
than a single chance in one billion of succeeding, but it would be
worth anything if they could accomplish returning dragons to
Sídhí.

Modern dragons made her sick. Every year more
and more dragons lost focus on what it meant to be dragon. Dragons
were a magnificent race born to rule the world. Yet, too many
dragons had a mind-set of solitude and peace, wanting nothing to do
with taking their rightful place among the other Sídhí races.

“You don’t think Cornelia suspects anything,
do you?” Clarabelle asked, with only a hint of concern in her eyes.
She didn’t doubt her plan was perfect, but the councilwoman had a
knack for screwing-up the Khr'Vurr’s strategy.

Clarabelle was still irritated about the last
time. The old, gold dragon had been the one that discovered their
plan to plant a bomb at the last council meeting. If the old hag
hadn’t interfered with Clarabelle’s flawless plan, the bomb would
have destroyed the bulk of the dragon council.

“That old bat won’t see us coming until I’ve
got a sword passing through her neck. She’s as blind to the world
around her as a true bat.” He smiled; a wicked looking crease of
his pale lips. “Once we have the chit shackled to do our bidding,
I’ll enjoy a bit of torture on the old bird. They say Cornelia is
so old, she heals nearly instantly.”

Clarabelle glared at her mate. Worry made her
words harsh. “That chit nearly killed me. Sarah might be young, but
she is still the Chi’Kehra. The power that girl has is unreal.
Don’t underestimate her.”

His chuckle turned nasty. “Oh no, she’ll not
get the chance to harm either of us ever again. And once I have her
mate in my dungeon, she’ll regret the day she ever harmed you.”

Early the next morning, Sarah exited the
tent to find a dragon - in his human form - starting the campfire.
He stuck around long enough to discuss cabin twenty-four’s decision
to take the river rafts back to the main campground.

Guardian Alexander did not make an
appearance, and the dragon he sent in his place was not subtle. The
dragon
suggested
Sarah and her cabin mates should not join
the other teen's trip down the river. By leaving them in the
forest, Alexander was trying to turn her - and her cabin mates -
into bait.

Sarah assumed the twisted plan was the
guardian’s way of giving her the chance to catch the Khr’Vurr.
Wasn’t she the lucky one?

Over the next few days, the teens hiked into
the surrounding forest exploring the area. Nick joined the
expeditions, but she avoided him as much as possible. For her, it
was abnormal behavior. She never avoided a problem but this time it
was different.

This time, she freely admitted (to herself),
she was being chicken. She didn’t care. Her semi-truce with Nick
had ended the very minute he looked at her the next morning. Seeing
the sunshine turn her eyes red, he curled his lip in a snarl of
distaste and stomped away. He really had a problem with her red
eyes.

As the days dragged on, the number of teens
at the campsite increased. The dragons brought in the remaining
members of cabin twenty-five, first Clarisse (who Sarah suspected
was a junior member of the Khr’Vurr) then Jared and Katie.

Well, they flew in everyone, except a couple
of shapeshifters, Beth and Brianna. The two shapeshifters, both
girls in their late teens, had arrived at the main camp several
days late. When the girls checked into the cabin, Ella, their cabin
mother, insisted the girls hike through the forest and catch-up
with cabin twenty-five.

The dragons had one big, all-important rule
for all campers during the Peace Camp: all cabin members had to
stay together and play together. The rule was a pain in the
backside. Unfortunately, Sarah was in for the duration, playing
impotent little camper along with the other teenagers. It meant she
had to follow the camp rules. Well, for the most part.

As soon as Katie and Jared arrived at the new
campsite, the teens had a quick meeting, and decided to visit Blue
Bertha, a unique hot spring that glowed. No one mentioned waiting
for Clarisse, the single absent cabin mate. The girl had taken off
at the crack-of-dawn, ignoring everyone around her. She was the
daughter of a high councilor in Clan Valley. As such, she had an
attitude the size of the Grand Canyon. Given enough time, Sarah
hoped the young vampire would implicate herself as being
Khr’Vurr.

Halfway to Blue Bertha, the teens came upon a
split in the trail. One trail was marked with warning signs, while
the other trail made her hair rise in warning.

“The lower trail isn’t safe,” Sarah said,
pointing to the trail with no warning signs.

Nick glared at her. “And why should we take
an exile’s word for it? That happens to be the approved trail or
can’t you read the warning signs plastered all over the other
trail?”

“The exile is right,” Beth said emphatically.
From the overly confident expression on the shapeshifter’s heart
shaped face, she believed the group of teens would accept her words
as gospel. “Whatever is down that trail isn’t safe.”

“Look Mutt, we can’t go up the mountain,”
Mitch said, glaring at Beth. The big, muscle-bound halfling towered
over the petite girl. His intense dislike of the shifter came
through each growled word. “The trail is off limits and probably
for a darn good reason like a werewolf nature preserve or
something, not that you wouldn’t fit right in with your furry kin
folk.”