Vampire's Forbidden Territory (Sídhí Summer Camp Series #2) (16 page)

Katie held back a tumble of calming words. She – even with Jared’s help – would never be able to stop Beth if the girl attacked Mitch. The shifter might regret hurting Mitch later, but the girl was angry enough right now to do him serious damage.

At Beth’s appearance, Mitch jumped back. Tripping over a small bush, he fell backward slamming into a tree.

Katie cringed as the back of Mitch’s hard head smacked against the blue tree trunk.

The large khatt snarled at Mitch. Her tail twitched a rapid beat.

For once in his life, her twin actually appeared startled at the appearance of such a fierce opponent. His pale green eyes, with their overly large pupil – the same elfin eyes Katie sported – widened at the scary, deep-throated growl Beth threw his way.

Mitch inhaled sharply, muttering a curse about roses and his screwed-up sense of smell. He shoved away from the tree.

Beth’s lip curled above her sharp teeth as she mentally snapped at Mitch,
“Serves you right, you stupid, pig-headed oaf!”

Beth moved stiffly across the open area. Body language shouting her anger to everyone present as she stalked toward the forgotten pile of mint balls. Leaning down, she slit one of the larger leafs with a single sharp claw. She curled her paw-hand around the muddy ball.

She paused, shaking her head. The tip of her tail twitched ever faster.

Judging the actions of a khatt was difficult, but Beth seemed to be arguing with herself.

Katie couldn’t figure-out what Beth was up to.

Mitch must have wondered the same thing. “Get your stinking hide out of here. You stink worse than anything I’ve ever smelled.” His nose curled in distaste, but oddly enough he seemed to inhale as deep as humanly possible, which completely contradicted his words.

Beth snarled. Her eyes turned into glowing bronze slits as they narrowed in anger. Moving whip-cord fast, she whirled toward Mitch and began pelting him with globs of mud.

The first mud ball smacked him dead center, right in the middle of his forehead. He yelled and threw up his hands, but not before she splattered mud into his open mouth.

Hacking and coughing, Mitch ran out of the glen, and into the forest. Mint balls painted his backside muddy brown. In his haste, he tripped over a large root, but finally managed to dodge behind a larger tree. The coughing and hacking soon intermingled with threats of how he planned to rip her apart, piece by piece.

Katie began coughing, trying her best to cover-up her laughter. She had never seen Mitch turn tail and run from a fight. Not that she blamed him.

Jared wasn’t so careful with her brother’s ego. Deep rumbles of laughter boomed from behind her.

Beth stopped throwing mud balls and shook. Like a dog, her entire body shivered from head to tail. She glared at the tree, but Mitch remained safely on the other side.

“Filthy, stinking shifter! You smell like molded tea leaves fermented in mice droppings.” The utterly weird insult appeared to be Mitch’s last one as the sound of spitting increased.

One paw lifted, like a simple house cat, Beth sniffed disdainfully. Turning away from Mitch’s hiding place, she shifted into her human form. Sparks of anger flickered through her eyes, but she stopped growling.

As if nothing in the world had happened, she picked up the few remaining mint balls. “See you at the tree line?” Beth asked. Head held high, she glanced toward Katie.

Katie noticed the girl’s eyes held unshed tears.

She didn’t know what to say, so Katie simply nodded her agreement.

Beth left the clearing in a ground eating trot.

“She’s gone,” Katie said to her brother. Anger made her voice snappish. Her brother was a certified twit.

Mitch clutched the tree, slowly moving around its trunk. Never looking up, he stumbled into the clearing. His legs seemed to give out and he sank to the ground. His mud covered body began trembling. She assumed his reaction was the after effect of the poison. There was no way he was that upset over Beth’s attack.

He lowered his head between spread legs, not looking up as he gruffly chewed her out. “I can’t believe you’d trust a shifter. The mutt is worse than that red-eyed vampire you hang around. Dang it, Sis, you’re just too trusting.”

“And me?” Jared asked in a deadly soft rumble. “You think I’d let my mate come to harm? I wouldn’t let her anywhere near either of them, if I didn’t trust them.”

Mitch rubbed his head like the thing was about to explode. “They’ve got you both suckered,” Mitch said, glancing up, he held Jared’s gaze. “You’re too wrapped up in Katie to see anything but her.”

Jared bared lengthened fangs, growling deep in his chest. He took a single step forward before jerking to a halt. His head swiveled toward Katie, his piercing blue eyes searched her face.

Never taking his eyes off of her, Jared snarled at Mitch. “Be very glad Katie loves you. If I rip you to pieces then I hurt her.” He bent and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Thank you,” Katie said, rubbing her hand across his vibrating chest. She felt his anger boiling inside her and knew how hard it had been for him to stop. He wanted to crack a few of her brother’s bones.

“Mia Cara, I would do anything to keep from hurting you, but I may not always be able to stop from thumping some sense into him,” he said. Frustration darkened their bond.

With a lingering look of love, he brushed a wisp of hair out of her face. “Don’t be long.” With those parting words, he turned toward the tree line where Beth waited for them.

The silence within the small clearing was broken by Emily’s soft voice. “What happened at the pool?”

Katie pulled her eyes from her twin’s angry gaze and winced.

Emily was still curled on her side. Dark bruises covered most of her bare flesh. Limp, midnight hair surrounded a heart-shaped face grimacing in pain.

“Long story made short – we were attacked by cave mites,” Katie said. She quickly gave them a run-down on what had happened, emphasizing Beth’s part in helping them.

Mitch waited for Katie to finish before rudely snorting his disbelief. “What’s the first thing a con artist does?” he demanded, immediately answering his own question. “A con-artist does something to make you trust him. That shifter is worse than the best con-artist you’ll ever meet. At least a con-artist won’t eat you.”

“Eew, yuck,” Emily cried in disgust. Her whole face contorted in pain as she moved too fast. “That’s just an awful thought. Why would you think that?”

Mitch growled, deep and harsh. His gentle effort to help Emily sit up was completely opposite of the animalistic sound. “Shifters are creatures of the Dhark Empire. I’ve always had a warped fascination over why an entire Sídhí race would be so utterly loyal to those evil over lords. I’ve read a dozen books on the shifters. Trust me on this one. Some of the stories would curl the hair on your head.”

Katie huffed. “Mitch, most of those stories had to be fiction.” She plowed ahead as he tried interrupting. “Even if every single story was true, the information is over four thousand years old. Hello, bird brain! People can change overnight, much less over a few thousand years.”

Katie’s glare was met by his obstinately clenched jaw. She might as well be arguing with the wind, trying to convince the force of nature to stop blowing.

“Em, you okay?” Katie asked, turning her attention to her whimpering friend.

“Sure, no problem, I just feel as weak as a three hour old kitten, a kitten that was thrown from a moving car, and then run over. I hurt everywhere!”

Katie didn’t know whether to hug Emily or apologize over the girl’s aches and pains. Or better yet, thump her hair-brained twin on the cement stump he called a head.

The thought of Jared headed toward danger made up her mind. It would be just like her over-protective mate to try and kill the sand crabs without her help.

“Sorry, Em,” Katie said, turning on her heels she heading out of the clearing.

“Sis, don’t trust that shifter. Stay away from it,” Mitch yelled after her. His growl, rumbling around the clearing, followed her into the forest.

Katie knew Mitch wanted to stop her from leaving, but he didn’t have the strength to follow her, not yet.

She felt Jared’s emotions bristle. Her mate must’ve been close enough to hear Mitch’s warning. Smelling his delicious spicy scent, she picked up her pace. Giving a patch of red markles a wide berth, she followed his scent trail around a big furble tree and past a thicket of tightly intertwined saplings and bushes.

Suddenly, she felt his joy pour into her, rubbing across her heart and into her very soul. She looked up and saw him watching her. A matching grin of pleasure crossed her face. For a heartbeat (or ten), she stood motionless, absorbing the love she felt pouring from him.

She didn’t understand how her brother could treat his mate so hideously. Oh, she knew he didn’t understand Beth was his mate. But honestly, how could her twin be so pigheaded blind? She had explained to him how Beth had saved their lives.

“He’ll figure it out, but from his reaction it might take a while,” Jared said, commenting on her surface thoughts.

“Beth is a wonderful person and SHE is about to help us kill the rest of the blasted crabs,” Katie said, anger at her obstinate brother stiffened her spine as she stomped toward the meadow with Jared at her side.

“You’re preaching to the choir. I completely agree, but Beth is going to have a hard time getting Mitch to believe her,” Jared said with a shake of his head.

He slid his hand in hers, gently squeezing.

The unassuming move was all the sympathy she needed. The anger she felt at her twin began dissolving under the warm emotions of her mate.

 “At least we were instantly attracted to each other. Beth will be lucky if Mitch doesn’t try to strangle her in her sleep,” Jared said with a grimace.

Katie nodded her agreement. What else could she say?

When they caught up with Beth, she stood in her human form near the edge of the silent tree line. She stared blindly into the deceptive beauty of the meadow. The closer Katie walked toward Beth, the more she realized the girl wasn’t as calm as she appeared. The petite beauty was breathing hard and trembling.

“Beth?” Katie questioned softly.

Beth turned huge, tear filled eyes in Katie’s direction. She blinked. Roughly wiping wet eyes, she scrubbed her cheeks dry.

Katie opened her mouth.

Beth shook her head. Her eyes turned hard as gemstones. “There’s work to do and my best friend is still down there. We’ve got to get them out,” she said, in a determined voice. “I’ll get the crabs’ attention.”

Beth didn’t wait for an answer. She turned away from the peaceful meadow, and changed her form. The sleek khatt darted through the trees, toward the sand crabs. The location was easy to find since the creatures continued pounding against the thick trees.

Katie should’ve been getting ready for the crabs arrival, but she couldn’t stop her curiosity. She wondered how Beth’s clothes simply disappeared when she shifted. Changing shape should’ve destroyed the girl’s clothes. Why weren’t they ripped to shreds?

Jared’s worry tugged at Katie.

She glanced up at him, silently questioning him with her eyes.

His worry increased, hammering at her. “Katie, please love, be careful. I’m not trying to order you about, but if they get too close, back up into the trees.”

Katie snorted. “Well, I am ordering you about. You better be careful as well. You do understand that I can’t live without you?” She asked, reaching up, she gently touched his cheek. She sent him an extra burst of love.

Now she understood why her mom and dad said fighting side-by-side was hard for lifeMates. She was terrified Jared would do something stupid like trying to protect her and get hurt in the process. She felt his reassurance flow into her.

Beth’s unearthly yowl filled the air.

Katie shivered. She didn’t think she’d ever heard such a sound. The yowl of a khatt was more like the bugling roar of a lion-bear-moose cross or something along that line.

Katie grimaced, hoping Sarah and Beth would soon settle whatever hostility the two of them felt toward each other. Honestly, she didn’t know which was worse, Beth's roar or Sarah’s growl. They both scared the wits out of her.

Jared gave her a quick hug.

Standing next to the mounds of mint balls, they both armed themselves with several of the muddy weapons.

They prepared not a moment too soon. The ground began shaking, leaves on the nearby trees trembled.

Beth raced into the meadow with a crab right behind her. The khatt ducked into the wooded area immediately in front of their position.

The crab swerved toward the tree line and shrieked at Beth’s retreating form.

The screaming monstrosity spotted Katie. A sharp claw crashed through the tree limbs, slamming to the ground. Falling a good ten feet short of her, the pincher crushed bushes and smaller trees. The crab shoved its wide body deeper in the woods, smaller trees bent and finally snapped under the brutal assault.

Beth circled the crab, leaping onto its exposed back. Slashing at the thick shell with her razor-tipped claws, she bared her teeth in what suspiciously looked like a grin.

The creature reared up trying to dislodge the source of its pain. The moment the crab reared backward, its mouth flopped open, becoming a three-foot target.

The first crab was joined by several more.

Katie and Jared pelted the open mouths with mint balls. Several minutes and a dozen mud balls later, Katie wondered if the idea was such a good plan after all. Nothing happened. The crabs were not slowing down. If anything, the attack increased with the additional crabs.

As the crabs continued pulverizing everything within reach, the area around the tree line started looking like a war zone.

Katie and Jared continued throwing mint balls into every gaping mouth.

A few minutes later, they were out of mint balls. The crabs continued screaming at them, still very much alive. The mint theory just didn’t work.

Jared rubbed Katie’s back in sympathy. “It was a good idea. It would have worked on the smaller mites. Crabs are just really tough critters.”