Exile: Sídhí Summer Camp #3 (25 page)

“True,” she said with a slight frown, “but we
both need a good dunking to get all the blood off. Two inches of
water won’t be much help, not before it turns to mud.”

“If you can take us closer, we could look for
any sign of people before approaching the water.” Stopping, he
looked at her curiously. “Can you do a mental scan this far
away?”

“Yes and no. If I know someone’s mental
signature and I put enough energy behind the call, I can talk to
him or her on the other side of the planet.” She chuckled, sounding
rueful. “I could actually make everyone on the entire planet hear
me. Without a personal signature, I can sense a large group of
people, but a single person might slip through.”

“Same as a vampire, but on a larger scale,”
he said with understanding. “Let’s port closer and take a look
around.”

A few hops later, they appeared under the
widespread limbs of a furble tree. Blue leaves fluttered in the
brisk breeze. At the bottom of the hill water surged forward,
crashing against sparkling, blue-tinged sand.

She searched the expanse of water but when
she couldn’t see the opposite shore, she huffed in complaint.

Nick chuckled. “Yeah, I agree, it looks like
an ocean.”

She looked up at him in surprise.

At his raised eyebrow, she felt her fair
features turn pink.

How could she have forgotten? To keep her
concentration, during the fight at the beach, she had shunted his
surface thoughts to the back of her mind. The soft murmur had been
a calm, constant presence that - to her embarrassment - she really
had forgotten.

Kissing her bent forehead, he chuckled.
“Don’t be embarrassed. I’m glad you’re comfortable enough with me
to listen or not.”

“Thanks,” she said softly, “but I feel like
an idiot. I’ve never shared my upper thoughts with anyone, but the
first time we link together, I forget you are in my head.”

He snorted. “You were rather busy. Come on,
let’s go down the beach a ways and see if we can find a river or
bigger stream.”

“Yes, I’d rather not rinse in salt water. Not
to mention, the dozen or so sea creatures that are probably hunting
along the shore,” she said, motioning toward the small waves as
they rushed toward the beach.

“Yeah, attracting a hungry kraken or greenth
shark would not be my idea of fun,” he agreed.

“Have you ever seen a greenth shark up
close?” she asked. She was hungry for information about his life.
If he told her every detail of his entire life, she’d still want
more.

His pleasure - over her inquisitive behavior
- surrounded her as his arm slipped around her waist. “Yeah, last
year we had a school trip to the Museum of Science in Chesterfield.
They had various plants scattered throughout the museum with
questions as to how each plant received their common name. The
shark plant was the easiest as they had the display next to the
greenth shark’s tank. That fang-toothed monster was twenty feet
long and bigger around than an elephant.”

“If the dimensions really do collapse most of
the people on Earth will never survive their first encounter with
Sídhí plants and animals,” she said, noticing bamboo-like markles
as they began appearing along the shoreline.

“Yeah, mundanes are so stuck on what should
be, like the dull edge of an Earthborn shark’s fin, the small
things like the razor sharp edge of a greenth shark’s fin will be
startling.”

After nearly an hour of just walking and
talking, they found the mouth of a river. Unfortunately, the
freshwater river was wide with a dangerous marsh along either side.
Discussing the pros and cons, they decided to port inland a few
dozen miles. It took a little searching, but they finally found a
small cove of clear water, one surrounded by trees and rocks, not
quicksand and markles. The sinking sand was bad enough, but Sarah
wasn’t fond of the red goo the markles sprayed when disturbed.

“I can’t sense anyone nearby. Can you?” Nick
questioned.

She shook her head. “No, I can’t, but there
is a large town farther up the river.”

“You go first. I’ll keep watch,” he said,
nudging her forward.

She wasn’t about to pass up the chance to get
clean. Stripping her shirt, she glanced at Nick, but he was
studiously looking anywhere but toward her. His thoughts were
another matter entirely. He wanted her, as much as she wanted
him.

“
I do,”
he said gruffly in her mind,
“but I want our union blessed first.”

She agreed. Every religion that she knew of
considered the blessing - or whatever term they used - an absolute
must. A blessed union was an important custom that most Sídhí
couples went through.

Her people were a mixed bag of religions,
ranging from Christian, Jew, Muslim, First Believers, Druid, to
Synthism, not discounting the numerous smaller religions.

When his thoughts blended with hers and she
saw his baptism, she felt relief. She respected other religions,
but she always thought it would be so hard if her mate had a
different religious belief.

Knowing he was curious, she brought her own
acceptance of Christ to the surface of her thoughts. When he saw
the moonlit river of her memory, and recognized it as the Jordan
River, she felt his surprise and envy.

“
As much as I hate it, I agree with
you,”
she said, yearning to give him a different answer.
Placing her hands on his chest, she kissed his clenched jaw.
“Brother Harvey has been my family’s priest for several
generations, but if you prefer someone else, we can do
that.”

“
No, he’ll be fine. I don’t want any more
people than necessary seeing beyond the charade you’ve created. It
simply puts you in greater danger.”

Seeming to give up an argument with himself,
he curled an arm around her bare back. His eyes twinkled as he
looked into her face. “You are like a super-charged triple shot of
caffeine, completely addictive.”

“Caffeine?” she asked with a glimmer of
humor.

“Or sugar, maybe rich, dark chocolate,” he
said with a grin, kissing her upturned face. They were a near match
in height so he didn’t have far to go.

Warmth unfolded in waves, growing and
building as he deepened the kiss. Pulling her close, he groaned as
her bra covered breasts brushed his chest.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she licked
his lips. He opened his mouth. Warmth turned to fire, burning
through her as Nick’s desire entwined with her own.

With a groan, Nick pulled his lips from hers.
“We need to stop,” he said amid a ragged breath. Kissing her ear,
he stroked the sensitive shell with his lips.

Flames shot through her, and she
shivered.

Groaning, she looked into his startled face.
From the vein of his surface thoughts, he couldn’t figure out what
he had done, but whatever it was, he wanted to do it again.

She chuckled, and her need turned the soft
sound husky with desire. “Haven’t you ever heard how sensitive an
elf’s ear is?”

His eyebrow shot up, and she felt a mixture
of surprise and excitement flow from him. “Really?” he asked
curiously. The tip of his tongue flicked out, curling up the edge
of her ear.

She gasped. Lava-like flames of pleasure
surged through her body, turning the simple act into one of heated
foreplay. Struggling to put words together, she gripped his arms.
“Keep that up and we’ll make love before the blessing.”

“Sorry,” he chuckled. Nuzzling her neck, he
licked her pulsing vein amid a burst of male satisfaction. The smug
emotion put his apology in question.

Well, two could play at that game.

Kissing his chin, she rubbed her nearly naked
upper body against him. At his moan, she pushed her hips against
his. Sensually purring as he uncomfortably shifted his hips.

“Sarah,” he said between what sounded like
gritted teeth.

“Paybacks are made to be uncomfortable,” she
whispered softly. He was about to learn that the hard way.

Sliding her hands down his firm backside, she
pulled his hips firmly against hers.

“Minx,” he snarled, lightly nipping her
ear.

Throwing her head backward, she laughed.
“We’re going to have so much fun.”

Pulling away from him, she finished
undressing.

“Fun?” he snorted, watching her every move
with spellbound anticipation. “You mean you’ll take great pleasure
in torturing me?”

“Who started it, big guy?” she asked
playfully, before diving into the water.

Scrubbing the blood from her skin and clothes
using blisk, a brilliant yellow water flower that produced a rich
lather, didn’t take long.

Mackenzie
silently watched the hunters as they tracked Eve across the rocky
ground.

Trying to calm the impatient instinct
pounding at the back of his head, he clenched his hand against his
thigh. From the moment the two vampires picked up Eve’s scent, the
bloodsuckers had kept a steady pace. It hadn’t been a difficult
hunt. The dragon wasn’t even attempting to cover her trail.

For the last hour, they had been climbing
across a landslide. From the looks of strewn rocks and dirt, the
side of the mountain had given way years before. A scattering of
weeds, bushes, and saplings dotted the area.

The sun was burning the morning haze out of
the sky when a woman’s screech of anger broke the quiet symphony of
birds and sprites.

The vampires stepped up their speed, racing
across the uneven ground.

Mac took to the sky. Soaring upward, he
darted over the vampires. Topping a rise covered in thick growth.
He knew the short, fat bushes, known as sharks, would slow the
vampires. The bush might be small, but the oval leaf, shaped like a
real shark fin, was sharp enough to cut through denim.

The area leveled-out, forming a small
cul-de-sac with the walls of the mountain rising high above. Large
boulders dotted the area.

Locating the woman wasn’t difficult.

Eve sat on a waist-high boulder, shouting
into a cell phone. “Lawrence, don’t tell me you can’t find a knife!
How hard is it to go in the kitchen, look in a drawer and pick-up a
damn knife?”

Mac snorted in contempt.

Sitting hunched over, clutching her stomach,
she hadn’t even noticed his arrival.

Hovering in the air, he paused, weighing his
options. He wasn’t sure if he should just grab her or wait for the
unknown Lawrence to show up.

Below him, he heard the vampires
approaching.

The decision was taken out of his hands when
a young man appeared in front of her, clenching a large synth blade
in his hand. It looked like Mac was about to get two for the price
of one.

Looking up, the man’s serious eyes grew huge
as he registered Mac’s presence. “Mom!” he shouted.

Mac pulled power from his blood. His wings
glowed. Hand outstretched, he hit Lawrence with white-fire. The
burning flame hit him square in the chest, throwing him backward
against a boulder.

Landing, Mac ran forward before the dragon
had time to shake off the soft hit. Taking one of the crystal zip
ties (that he had commandeered from the troll’s training facility)
from his pocket, he flipped the dragon onto his stomach and cinched
the flexible strand around the man’s wrists.

His scalp tingled in warning.

From behind, Eve tackled him, trying to rip
one of his wings off with her bare hands. With silver embedded in
her gut, she couldn’t shift to dragon, but physically touching a
phoenix was dumb beyond measure.

Mac pushed a burst of voltage into his wings.
The sharp crackle of power was instantly followed by Eve’s wail of
pain.

Turning, he backhanded the dragon, knocking
her a dozen feet away, right at the feet of two dragons in human
form.

“Guardian Alexander,” Mac said, growling a
greeting to the dragon that got Sarah dumped into the Khr'Vurr’s
business. “This is a private matter. Stay out of it.”

Mac motioned for the two approaching vampires
to stop. He didn’t think it would turn into a fight, but he didn’t
want the vampires caught in the crossfire.

“Try that on someone who might believe it,”
the small female to Alexander’s right said with a snort of
derision.

“Want to try again?” Alexander said
sarcastically, shifting forward a bit until his body was between
Mac and the young woman - Mac assumed she was the guardian’s mate,
Lizzie.

“Perhaps, I should have said this is Lady
Sarah’s business. Stay out of it,” Mac snarled, leaning forward,
ready to fight the arrogant shifter.

“Ah, I wondered how a phoenix came to be in
Dragon Valley,” Lizzie murmured, tilting her head of brown hair,
studying him as if he were a zoo specimen.

“Nothing about that girl surprises me,”
Alexander snorted. “Eve is a suspected member of the Khr'Vurr. When
she went missing last night, we went hunting.”

“You were following the boy, hoping to catch
Eve?” Mac questioned. A sudden thought curled his lips in anger. He
felt his eyes silver with growing fury. “What color dragon is
he?”

“Beige with dark brown wing tips,” Alexander
said. “Why?”

Mac cursed. “Did you send him to burn out
Sarah’s lifeBud?” Mac said, taking a menacing step toward the
muscular guardian.

“No,” Lizzie snapped. “We haven’t sent a
Dyrst’Lye to her in hopes she’d change her mind.”

“Well, then who did you tell about Sarah’s
demand for a Dyrst’Lye?” Mac asked snappishly.

“No one,” the guardian snarled back at him.
The confusion in his eyes cleared. “Did Lawrence approach
Sarah?”

“Yes, the little rat destroyed her chance to
bond with her mate. He is mine,” Mac said, emphasizing the last few
words with deadly intensity.

“No!” Lawrence shrieked from his place on the
ground. “I’m dragon. I demand protection!”