Vampire's Forbidden Territory (Sídhí Summer Camp Series #2) (2 page)

He heard branches swishing as someone ran through the trees. He didn’t need to look. He knew, by the deep rumbling growl, it was Nick racing back from the small stream that wove between the tall blue trees.

He didn’t bother swallowing his chuckle. The morning was about to get interesting.

A flickering movement caught Mitch’s attention. Glancing to his left, he immediately dismissed the two girls walking into camp. The strangers had to be hikers separated from their own group.

He froze.

Air hissed through his teeth as the image of the shorter girl registered, searing into his brain for all time. Jerking his head around, he stared at her. Lush. Rich. Gorgeous. Absolutely, the most gorgeous little thing he had ever set his eyes on.

His brain tripped over the multitude of words that continued tumbling through his brain. Beautiful didn’t begin to describe her sun-kissed body.

As tall as he was he didn't normally go after shorter girls, but her petite beauty demanded his unwavering attention. She was incredible. Satin skin the color of golden bronze. Her amber eyes glinted under the gloom of the trees, as if they contained a burning fire. Incredibly thick, multi-hued hip-length hair curled around her petite body.

Her golden eyes met his and he took an unconscious step forward as if drawn toward her, like a bear to a bowl of honey.

"Well, hello Short Stuff.” Mitch gave her his million dollar smile, a smile that had been known to blow the socks off a ton of girls back home. “Jeez, for such a tiny thing, you are stacked like Jessica Rabbit: big boobs, teeny tiny waist, and luscious hips that a guy can grab hold of.”

"Mitch, you're so full of it,” Emily said from her perch on a dead furble tree.

He held onto his smile, but grimaced as his newly 'adopted' sister berated him. He had grown to love the black-haired little twerp, but he didn’t need her interruption at the moment. Not when his newest summer play toy was looking at him like a bug she wanted to squish. He never got that reaction from girls. His own twin called him Casanova. Well, a sarcastic Casanova, but Katie’s description still counted.

He groaned as Emily hopped off the smooth blue log. The cabin’s peacekeeper quickly stepped between Nick and Sarah. “Nick, it wasn't Sarah's fault. Mitch asked her if all female exiles... well, never mind, it was rude and I'm not repeating it. He was being a butt head, acting like a five year old, instead of seventeen."

Always the diplomat, Emily couldn't have had time to suck in a breath before she whipped around, greeting the newcomers with a big smile and a wave. "I'm Emily."

Mitch returned his gaze to his newest challenge, watching the gorgeous little thing with sunshine and bitter-chocolate hair as she murmured a polite greeting to Emily. He was quick to notice she kept a wary eye on Sarah. Smart girl. He couldn't wait to get to know her better. His summer was looking up. He'd never been so instantly attracted to any girl in his entire life.

Emily shifted from foot to foot, drawing Mitch's attention from his plans to seduce the young woman. The young vampire’s blue eyes sparkled and Mitch groaned. He thought keeping his twin sister, Katie, in check was difficult. Emily beat his twin by a mile. The sweet vampire had more energy than ten people combined. Her curiosity, about everything, never ended. From the look in her eyes, she was about to launch into one of her more eager modes.

 “Oh! You smell human!" Emily cried gleefully, clapping her hands and hopping from foot to foot.

Mitch growled menacingly, snapping a tight-fisted strangle hold on the instant attraction he felt toward the girl.

Bloody ever-lasting crap! A mature Sídhí that smelled human could only mean one thing. His head pounded in anger, furious as his body continued betraying him with the desire he felt for the girl. His teeth ached, desperately wanting to sink his sharp teeth in her pulsing vein.

"Oh, my gosh! I've been wanting to meet a shifter so bad. I mean, I know dragons are shifters, but that's different. What kind are you? Can you turn into more than one shape? Does it hurt? Can you only change shape under a full moon?”

The taller girl, a leggy, hard-eyed blonde, shoved past the shorter one.

The shorter of the two girls rolled her eyes and groaned as the tall one snapped at Emily. “That's rude! You don't ask someone what kind of shifter they are.”

“Oh,” Emily said, a flush of embarrassment crossed her face, turning her golden tan bright red. She shuffled her feet, muttering an apology.

“No harm done,” the shorter girl said, briefly touching Emily on the shoulder. "I'm Beth and this is Brianna. It would be impossible for anyone outside of Haven Valley to know our customs and such.”

That was certainly the truth. Up until the start of camp, everyone believed shapeshifters (except dragons) had either been left behind on the home world of Sídhí or were extinct. Mitch snarled in disgust, wishing the worst Sídhí trash in known history had remained dead and buried.

“Yeah,” Mitch said harshly. A snarl lifted his firm upper lip, revealing sharp fangs that ached to rip the shapeshifter’s throat out or drink her blood. His poor brain couldn’t decide which. He shuddered, internally chanting the common warning about shifters: The only good shifter was a dead shifter.

His granddad had told him numerous stories about The Great War fought on Sídhí. Shapeshifters were the loyal henchmen of the Dhark Lords or rather – at that point in time – the sadistic umbra.

Beth blinked up at him, shock flickering through her eyes as she glanced at his mouth.

His fangs had extended in an age-old warning. Do not mess with a ticked-off vampire, it might be the last thing you ever do. Vampires had a hot-tempered reputation for a good reason.

He felt a moment of pleasure flash through him. Withholding his smile, he relished the thought of how much fun he'd have antagonizing someone - no, something - like the offensive creature standing in front of him. "I know all about shifter customs. I know a major one includes torturing their prey, before eating them, their human prey.”

“Shifters do not eat people!” the tall blonde shouted at him. Her eyes began flickering silver in the morning sun.

He ignored the sleek girl’s outburst and focused on her companion. Well, really, he glared at her, putting as much menace in his next words as possible. “Do not ever touch Emily again. You got me?”

He wanted to make sure the filthy creature understood Emily was under his protection. He'd kill anything that hurt the young girl.

Grabbing Emily's arm, he carefully tugged her backward. Having tremendous strength, even bound by silver, was something he was overly conscious about. He’d rather rip his own arm off than hurt a friend.

Emily’s innocent blue eyes grew huge with shock as Mitch forcefully pulled her away from the disgusting shifter. He worried the girl was simply too trusting.

He hid a shudder of revulsion. He hated the mutt touching her. Emily might be older than he was, but after Jared (Emily’s older brother) bonded with Mitch’s twin sister, he considered the young vampire to be part of his family. Therefore, she fell under his protection whether she liked it or not.

“Mitch, stop it,” Emily said, slapping at his hands in a futile attempt to make him let her go.

An image of a yapping Chihuahua nipping at the heels of a Great Dane popped into his head.

He grinned despite himself. As much as he cared for the young vampire, he felt sorry for the poor guy who ended up being her lifeMate. Getting stuck with Emily's constant chatter - for several thousand years - would drive anyone totally nuts.

Mitch ignored Emily's words. Folding his arms across his thick chest, he dared the bewitching shapeshifter to say anything.

Ugh! He couldn't believe he had thought the shifter beautiful, but honestly, he couldn't help it. Her long multi-colored hair ranged from light honey to mahogany. The tips of it curled and flipped around her body, glinting with a healthy glow. Her dark amber eyes flashed with sparks of golden bronze and red as she gazed at him, ill-concealed anger flashed in their depths.

An angry buzz, like the blurred note of music, zipped through his head and was gone. For a split instant, he felt pulled toward her. Like a moth pulled toward a burning flame. He swallowed convulsively, wondering if all the old stories about shifters were true. Could they mesmerize the unwary?

Beth’s gaze flickered over him in apparent disgust. Turning, she pointedly ignored him and spoke to Nick in a husky soft voice that sent a shiver of desire straight to his most private area. She had a gentle lilting accent, nearly a Southerner crossed with a Scottish burr, but not quite. “I'm Beth and this is Brianna. Are you guys from cabin twenty-five?”

At Nick's slow nod of agreement, Beth continued, “I thought you must be, but I'm surprised we were able to catch up with you.”

“Then why did you bother?” Mitch asked nastily, making his dark thoughts on her presence known. His list of cabin mates had just gone from bad to the ultimate worst possible scenario.

Her jaw tensed; she appeared to be gritting her teeth. “Ella, the cabin mother, gave us no choice. When we checked into the cabin, she said all cabin mates must stay together and play together. So after nearly a week of hiking, here we are,” she paused, smirking at him with full lips, “like it or not”.

Mitch growled softly. He had already known the answer. After the disaster a few days ago, a dark blue-scaled Guardian caught up with them and suggested they change their plans to join their sister cabin as the other teens rafted down the river.

Clarisse (a clan vampire and giant pain in the backside) pitched a fit. She wanted out of the bug-infested woods, as she called it.

For once, Mitch agreed with the self-centered vampire. He was sick of the arrogant dragons sticking their snouts in everything. The interfering dragons – and their ridiculous attempt to create peace between the Sídhí races by hosting a Peace Summer Camp – had ruined his plans to explore Clan Valley with his granddad.

He grunted a response to the shifter's remark, curbing a grin of slow burning anticipation. He couldn't get out of the camp, but at least he had one thing to look forward to. From the shifter's tense reaction and muscle twitching jaw, she had a temper. OMG! He couldn't wait for the fun to begin. Baiting her into a fury would be a piece of cake.

A shadow passed over them and a black dragon, the size of a small jet landed in the middle of the sun splotched meadow just south of the tall trees where they had made camp.

Mitch shook his head and headed toward the dragon, not understanding dragon mentality. A couple of days ago their group had barely escaped death. You'd think the stupid dragons would cut everyone some slack and return the teens to the main campgrounds, but no, that would be too easy. Instead, the scaled trouble-makers first flew Clarisse to the campsite then brought in Nick and Sarah.

Mitch didn't mind Nick being around. As full bloods went, the vampire was an okay guy. A bit arrogant, but that was part and parcel of being Sídhí. As far as the other two, he refused to consider anything about them in a pleasant light. He disliked Clarisse and Sarah with a hot-blooded intensity.

Mitch shoved his frustration to the back of his mind, focusing on something a thousand times more important. “Hey, Sis!” he shouted enthusiastically. For seventeen years, they had never been separated, not until a few days ago. He had missed her something fierce.

A second later, he caught Katie as she flew into his arms. Her golden hair, identical to his own, swirled around him. He gave her a welcoming bear hug, mentally adding for her ears alone,
“Don't ever scare me like that again. I thought I'd lost you.”

“I love you, too,” Katie said impishly, grinning from ear to ear.

“Ditto,” he said gruffly, uncomfortable uttering the L word. Gooey sentiments didn't come easy for him.

Katie's eyes left his face, searching for her newly bonded lifeMate. The instant her eyes found Jared, surrounded by his family, her entire face lit-up with ill-contained love.

Mitch felt a moment of burning jealousy flare in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't help it, he didn't begrudge his sister her happiness, but he dreamed of finding his own lifeMate. He knew that when he did find her – his perfect other half – he would adore her. The synth crystal in his blood would allow nothing less. Seeing Katie's look of love returned by Jared's look of pure adoration only made Mitch want to find his lifeMate that much more.

Emily and Nick, Jared's younger sister and older cousin, had Jared in a group hug, but his eyes were automatically drawn to Katie. Mitch was glad his sister had managed a few days of privacy with Jared before the dragon's thrust her into a group setting once more.

After several minutes of congratulating the new couple, everyone settled down and began discussing the day's plan. Of course, the stupid dragon picked that moment to butt his scaled head into their business.

“There are a couple of small trails branching off the main path. You might try Blue Bertha, but whatever you decide you need to stay in this area for a few days,” Alexander said arrogantly. Not waiting for a reply, he surged into the bright morning sky.

“Well, wasn't that helpful?” Emily asked sarcastically, in a rare show of annoyance.

“He's in a hurry,” Jared said, his eyes softening as he wrapped an arm around Katie's waist. “The guardians received a hot tip on who tried to kill us and he wanted Katie and me out of the main campgrounds.”

“That makes sense,” Nick said. He spoke to Jared, but his eyes followed Sarah as she moved farther away to stand under the shade of a large tree.

Mitch curled his lip in gut wrenching disgust. There was no way in the world Mitch's synth would ever sing for a lousy member of the Dhark Empire. Revulsion seeped through him as he watched the two of them glower at each other. Ever since Nick and Sarah showed up the day before, they had given each other the silent treatment. It was creepy, even to someone as tough as Mitch was.

Everyone gathered around the cold fire pit, discussing the various trails. As conceited as the dragon appeared, he had suggested an interesting destination. They all agreed Blue Bertha sounded like the best option.