Exile: Sídhí Summer Camp #3 (20 page)

“Kill her,” the male ordered.

“No!” Eve shrieked. “Don’t you understand
what this means? Her synth was primed to sing for her true mate and
I forced it to sing for Nick. That is a huge break through. If I
can learn to cut the bond between two mates, I can control anyone,”
Eve said excitedly.

“Not anyone,” the male said. His ominous
chuckle echoed against the walls. “You answer to us, and we are
beyond your control. Now, kill the girl. Clara, write a note for
Chi’Kehra. Tell her our demands.”

A snarl filled the hallway. “And how am I
supposed to deliver the note without getting killed. It’s obvious
she still has feelings for the boy.”

“If she is anything like her predecessor,
she’ll be able to track her missing guard. Kill the phoenix. Leave
the note on his body,” he paused. A dull thump of something hitting
flesh sounded an instant before Eve’s body slammed into the bars of
the cell. “Do not ever look at me with insolence in your eyes or
I’ll dig them from your skull while you scream for mercy.”

“Yes, sire,” Eve said with a touch of sullen
fear.

“I’ll take the boy to a more secure
location,” the man said.

As footsteps approached softly, Eve scuttled
away from the cell’s entrance.

Nick’s skin prickled in warning.

A midnight colored hand opened the door.
Nick’s gaze snapped up, taking in a creature that should never have
existed. Fine, black fur, like that of an otter, covered the man
from head-to-toe. Hands, tipped with sharp, poisonous claws, curled
around the dull bar of silver.

“Umbra,” Nick hissed. A harsh growl of
warning ripped from his throat.

The umbra, a creature believed to be extinct,
turned to the woman with big boobs. “Clara, when you’re finished
here go home and stay there. You and your bumbling attempts to
bring down the dragon council have endangered our ultimate
goal.”

Clara’s face distorted in fury; showing flat,
human teeth, she growled. “Respectfully, sire, I am the one whose
original thinking brought all of this about.”

The umbra snorted. “Original thinking? You’re
a delusional egomaniac. I remember the day we captured you. Screams
of your terror live in my memory. As does the disbelief, you
showed, when we told you our plan to return the valleys to Sídhí.
Your memory is faulty.”

“I helped,” she insisted, fire burning in the
pit of her eyes. “I filled the ancient ruins of the first valley
with synth crystal.”

“Yes, but only after you were told how,” he
agreed. A flash of devious intelligence flashed through the umbra’s
solid black eyes. “You have the brains of a flea. It is good you
were not privileged to know what the true outcome of your years of
service provided.”

“True? What do you mean true?” she
squawked.

Lightning fast, the umbra backhanded the
woman. Ignoring her wail, the umbra’s sharp, bat-like ears swiveled
toward Nick. The man, born of a race of sadistic creatures - a race
created to destroy and conquer all adversaries - smiled, baring
white, razor-sharp teeth.

“Having a Chi’Kehra suddenly appear on Earth
has put a certain kink in our plans,” the creature said, snapping
the two long chains that secured Nick to the wall in half. Wrapping
one end of the chain around its fist, the umbra tugged Nick forward
like a dog on a leash.

The colors in the room disappeared, turning
soft gray and washed-out. As if passing through water, he heard
Shelby’s muffled cry of alarm.

“Welcome to In Between,” the umbra said
sarcastically. He dropped the heavy chain and walked straight
through Eve and Clara as they argued with each other. Neither woman
reacted to the umbra’s presence. “Follow.”

Nick watched the creature leave, and turned
to Shelby as she struggled against the restraining silver.
“Shelby.”

His ex-girlfriend didn’t respond, not even
when he walked closer. He touched her shoulder. At least, he tried.
His gray-tinged fingers slid through the girl’s body.

A growl, not his, filled the chamber. “I said
to follow me.”

Nick glared at the creature. “What have you
done to me?”

The umbra’s smile flickered with delight.
“I’ve brought you In Between. It is the barrier between Earth and
the Sídhí valleys, where there is no escape. The bickering dragons
are like shadows you can see and walk through, but they cannot see
or hear you.” He chuckled evilly. “I am your only way out, follow
or die.”

Unease raced through him, not for his life,
but the lives of everyone else.

If there was one of the sadistic creatures,
there could be hundreds more, perhaps thousands. Umbra could attack
any valley, at any time, and no one would be able to retaliate.
Knowing the location of the creature’s hidden lair would be
critical in stopping them.

Unwilling to let the umbra out of his sight,
Nick stalked forward. With every step, the snarl twisting his face
turned darker. Over his shoulder, his glance slid from Shelby to
the unconscious phoenix crumpled in the corner.

Clara disappeared, no doubt porting to
retrieve a pen and paper to write Sarah’s note. The remaining
dragon shifter stalked down the middle of the cell, muttering about
lost chances.

___________

Sarah didn’t waste any more time. Focusing on
the chip of crystal embedded at the base of Mac’s skull, she ported
into a sterile-looking cell.

A single glance told her everything she
needed to know.

Her friend was spread eagle on the floor.
Chains crisscrossed over his sooty-black wings, crushing the vivid
burgundy edges under the tight links.

On the left side of the room, Shelby hung by
her wrists in a dead faint.

Nick was nowhere to be seen. She assumed he
had been held captive on the wall opposite of Shelby. She didn’t
know. All that remained of the restraints were broken bits of stone
scattered across the pristine floor.

“Filthy vampire! You’ve ruined everything!”
Eve screamed at the girl, slapping the girl’s swollen face.

Right, as if additional pain would wake her
up.

Moving silently, she called her sword to hand
and sliced the thick silver links binding Mac’s wings.

The dragon shifter remained focused on
Shelby. If she hadn’t been so self-absorbed, she would’ve heard the
chain hitting the floor.

Sheathing her hand in crystal, Sarah squatted
next to the phoenix and placed a single finger on her friend’s
forehead. She hated to do it, but she needed him up and moving. She
pushed a teeny-tiny drop of pure power into Mac’s unconscious
body.

Eve hadn’t heard Sarah arrive, but there
could be no overlooking Mac’s roar as a jolt of pure energy rushed
through his body. Surging to his feet, his wings snapped open.
White-fire enveloped him, turning the wine and gold of his wings
into multi-hued lightning.

Turning, she flung a silver throwing star at
Eve. The carefully thrown star, flung with just the right amount of
Sídhí strength, hit the woman’s stomach. Slicing through flesh, it
lodged in the woman’s body, effectively keeping the dragon from
teleporting to safety.

Eve barely had time to scream in pain before
Sarah tossed a small chain-like device at the dragon. The crystal
links wrapped around the woman’s raised arm, creating the perfect
way to track the woman down if she escaped.

The thought had barely flickered through her
mind when the woman screeched like a banshee and ran out of the
cell.

Mac turned, ready to race after the fleeing
dragon.

Sarah grabbed his glowing arm. As the sharp
sting of lightning pricked her palm, she thickened the crystal
around her hand, cushioning the deadly surge of white-fire.

Fangs flashing, Mac snarled at her.

“Are you insane?” he demanded, trying to
shake her hand off his arm. “Don’t touch me!”

Shoving her face into his, she ignored his
panicked words. “Where is Nick?”

The phoenix paused. Glancing around the room,
he snarled. “There was an umbra.”

“What?” she demanded. The single word emerged
in a deadly hiss of fury.

“I was In Between, keeping tabs on your
boyfriend, when a dart struck me. As I went down, I smelled
one.”

“You’re certain?” she asked, adding quickly,
“Haven Valley has phoenix. One of them could have shot you with a
tranquilizer.”

It was Mac’s turn to demand an explanation.
“They have a group phoenix? How could our spies have missed
that?”

“There isn’t time to explain, but the girl
with Beth isn’t a shifter, she’s phoenix. She smells very unusual
so she might be a halfling of some sort.”

Mac cursed. “It wasn’t a phoenix that knocked
me out. The sharp smell of brine hit me as the umbra slapped a
silver collar on me.”

And everyone knew, an umbra’s chameleon
ability wasn’t simply a visual attribute, it covered all of the
senses. They had very little odor, mostly a faint smell of salt or
more aptly, the sea, except when the creature was In Between, then
the wet, brackish smell intensified.

Sarah slashed Mac’s necklet with her sword.
The thick chunk of silver slipped off his neck, hitting the floor
with a dull thump.

Shelby groaned. The girl looked up just as
Sarah turned toward her.

Their eyes met. The instant the young vampire
saw the synth sword she uttered a heartfelt screech of terror, one
much louder than the dragon’s cry had been. “Chi’Kehra!”

Crossing the cell, Sarah stopped immediately
in front of the struggling girl. Blood dripped from several cuts
and her face was turning colors from where the dragon had hit her.
Her wrists, discolored and swollen from her struggle, jerked
against the thick restraints.

“Where’s Nick?” Sarah asked in a calm voice
laced with menace.

The girl’s wild-eyed struggle increased.

Sarah grabbed her hair, pinning her in place.
“I am not Eve, I won’t settle for love taps. You will answer me or
you’ll wish you’d never been born.”

She watched the internal struggle going on
behind the girl’s eyes. She hated torture, but she didn’t have time
to be gentle, not with Nick’s life hanging in the balance.
Clenching her teeth, she reached a single finger toward the girl’s
forehead.

The girl bared her teeth and hissed, before
asking in a defiant tone, “Are you really his mate?”

“Yes,” Sarah said emphatically.

Shelby uttered a harsh sound, something
between a growl and a hoarse cry of pain. Tears filled her eyes.
“The dragon made my synth sing for him. My lifeBud was blooming for
another when she forced it to sing for Nick.”

Sarah didn’t know how something like that was
possible, but she didn’t want to interrupt the girl. Holding her
words behind clenched teeth, she silently promised to destroy the
dragon, possibly the entire Dyrst’Lye clan. No one should have that
kind of ability.

“The umbra told Eve and Clara to kill me,”
she paused, nodded toward Mac. “They were going to kill him and
leave a note, a ransom or warning or something. Clara left hours
ago to get pen and paper. Eve stayed behind to question me.”

“Nick?” Sarah urged.

“The umbra took him. They just disappeared,
chains and all. How could he port silver chains?”

“Umbra slide between dimensions. It’s not the
same,” Sarah said softly. Her mind was not on her words, but
working on a plan to find Nick.

“Sarah,” Mac said amid a growl. Glancing
toward the doorway, he swayed forward in eager anticipation. “She’s
getting away.”

Sarah nodded her agreement. “Yes, I know, but
don’t go after her. Wait for me,” she said to Mac.

Not waiting for an agreement, Sarah sliced
the restraining manacles off the girl’s damaged wrists. Clamping
her hand around Shelby’s arm, she ported the girl to Trellick
Valley, directly into her cousin’s bedchamber at Hot Springs
Castle.

It was the middle of the night so she hoped
Aaron would be in bed and not on night watch, or have company, she
added to herself with a soft snort.

The vast castle, that was Aaron’s home,
guarded one of the primary gates between Trellick Valley and the
Dhark Empire. In an attempt to keep unknown vampires from
teleporting into the stronghold, fairy-made wards layered the
ancient walls. The wards hummed around Sarah, but couldn’t keep her
out. Rather impossible to stop someone filled with synth energy
when using synth as the barrier.

At Shelby’s startled cry, Aaron jumped from
the bed, sword in hand. Next time she saw him, she needed to
remember to acknowledge his quick reaction. “Aaron.”

“Sarah?” he demanded. “What in the blue
blazes are you doing here?”

“That’s a long story, and I don’t have time
to tell it. This is Shelby. Unfortunately, she found out who I am.
She hasn’t done anything wrong, but as of this minute, she is under
secluded
house arrest. If she tries to escape, send her to
Phoenix Valley.”

“Okay, but…”

She ported away, appearing beside an
aggravated fairy. Her winged friend glared at her.

“She’s getting away,” he said in a frustrated
grumble. His eyes flashed silver, reflecting his high emotions.

“Yes, she is, but Nick is In Between with an
umbra,” she said coldly.

Clara picked that instant to appear. The
dragon yanked a long knife from her belt and swung the deadly edge
as Sarah.

Sarah had to admit, the dragon’s reflexes
were fast.

Sarah ducked under the attack and felt the
slight breeze the sharp steel made as it passed above her head.

Mac bellowed and surged forward, putting
himself between the dragon and Sarah.

Sarah knew how the game would play out. The
dragon would fight until cornered then she would port to safety. It
had already happened twice, Sarah wasn’t letting the dragon get
away with a third time.

She threw a crystal chain at Clara. The chain
wrapped around the woman’s upraised wrist. Tracker ID attached.