Vampire's Forbidden Territory (Sídhí Summer Camp Series #2) (7 page)

She stumbled backward, shrinking away from the sight. If she lived through this day, she would definitely have nightmares.

The monster finally flipped itself over and darted toward the pool.

Stepping forward, Katie sucked up her nerve. Keeping a tight hold on her biggest bunch of mint, she pitched the smaller bunch of ragged leaves on top of the last attacker’s body. Its shell bubbled into a carpet of blisters, appearing one on top of another.

The monster screamed and swerved away from Katie, running in a circle trying to get the pungent smelling bundle off its back. The creature jerked to a stop and the leaves slid, sticking between its tall jointed legs. With a full body shudder, the creature gave up trying to get the poisonous plant off its back and raced toward the waterfall at a dead run.

Katie looked beyond the last monster as it raced across the meadow, her eyes drawn toward the waterfall. She gave a sigh of relief. They were not climbing the cliff. A long straggling line of monsters ran along the rocky edge of the pool, disappearing one by one.

Vampires, dragons and some fairies had the ability to teleport from one location to another, but Sídhí animals could not port. Since the monsters couldn't port, she knew there must be a cave behind the cascading water or maybe under the water.

She needed to find the entrance and quickly. She hated the thought of entering the monster's home turf, but she knew Mitch was alive. Absolutely nothing would keep her from her twin.

Katie mentally reached for Mitch and grunted. Her knees buckled as pain shot through her head.

Before she hit the ground, Jared wrapped his arms around her. She cringed into his chest, ignoring the rumbling growl shaking her cheek.

She tried choking back a whimper, but couldn't as she felt mind-numbing pain radiating from her twin’s mind. That wasn't normal. She didn't have the skill necessary to create a link to feel his physical pain. She shook off her rattled thoughts; random details didn't matter.

Thank God, Mitch was still alive, but he was also unconscious and swiftly moving away from her, deeper into the base of the massive rock cliff.

The monsters were carrying their freshly caught prey deeper into their nest.

“Katie?” Jared questioned her. His voice thickened with worry as he carefully tilted her chin up.

“I’m okay. I reached for Mitch, but his mind was full of pain,” Katie said, grinding her molars together. She felt so helpless. She wanted to scream at the injustice of it, but that wouldn't help matters.

“I can’t contact Emily or Nick,” Jared said, his voice growing dark with frustration. “With these stupid bracelets I don’t know if they are simply beyond my range or dead.”

Jared’s body shook. Katie felt his frustration and anger continue to grow and build as he tightened his hold on her, hugging her to his chest. He rubbed his cheek against the top of her head, no doubt in an effort to calm his fear and reassure her.

When Jared's despair increased, she knew he feared his little sister and cousin might be dead.

She dropped her remaining mint and wrapped her arms around him, shivering with the need to feel his warm body next to hers.

“My twin bond with Mitch is really strong so maybe that's why I can feel him and you can't feel Emily,” Katie said, trying to reassure him that his little sister and cousin might still be alive.

Jared kissed the top of her head and they turned away from the now calm waterfall. If they had been close enough, they would've been hard pressed to see any indication of an attack. The rushing water, cascading across the boulders, quickly removed the bloody stains splotching the rocks.

Their rescuers seemed to be as glad the fight was over as Katie. So when Beth hurried toward the pool the fast move surprised her.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Brianna asked, trotting to catch up with Beth's rapid strides. Not getting a response, the sleek blonde grabbed her friend's arm, tugging her to a stop. “Beth?”

“We've got to get them out of there,” Beth said, impatiently pulling out of the girl's hold.

Katie and Jared caught up to the girls.

He thanked the shifters several times for their timely rescue.

For a moment, Katie was struck speechless. She literally could not talk as the tremendous pressure of Jared's gratitude, mixed with his fury, blasted into her. She stifled a growl as the emotions pounded around her, shoving their way through the lifeBond whether she wanted them or not.

“Yes, thank you,” Katie added as soon as she could speak. She uneasily rubbed her chest, wondering if her bond with Jared was somehow malfunctioning. The burning emotions certainly seemed to point toward the bond growing at an abnormally rapid rate.

She shivered.

In response, Jared roughly rubbed his hands up and down her arms.

She wasn’t cold.

It'd be just her luck to go into shock or something when they still needed to save Mitch and the others.

“How did you manage to get back so quick?” Katie asked Beth, trying to ignore Jared’s burning anger.

“After we left, we stopped to eat lunch, so we weren’t very far away,” Beth said with a small smile. The curl of her lips appeared strained. “We had just finished when we heard all the screaming. Honestly, you don’t know how much I wish we could have been sooner. But if we want to save the others, we’ll have to hurry because I think those creatures are cave mites.”

Beth raised a brow, questioning her friend. “Bree?”

Once Beth had stopped walking toward the waterfall Brianna never once looked at them. Her entire attention focused on the pool. Her cool demeanor matched the smooth bob of golden hair. It dawned on Katie that Brianna considered herself Beth's protector.

Katie's curiosity sparked and she looked Beth over. Maybe she was a princess or something. It wasn't an impossible idea. Every teenager at summer camp was somehow related to their home valley's elite.

The petite girl couldn't be taller than five foot four, but she held herself with an air of confidence most adults never came close to achieving.

“Yeah, I agree. And when there are cave mites around, olitiau, trolls, or some other nasty creature won't be far away,” Brianna said, maintaining her position between the pool and Beth. “Hopefully, whatever it is, it isn't a sentient race.”

“You're calling those three foot monsters mites? A mite is so tiny it's nearly microscopic. Those things are way beyond that,” Katie said in a snort of disbelief.

Beth looked surprised at Katie's outburst. “That's a very mundane thing to say.”

Jared growled softly. With menace marring his features, he leaned towards Beth and said, “Katie and her brother weren't raised inside a valley.” He gently squeezed Katie's arm, looking down at her. “You know that many of Earth's mythological creatures are really Sídhí creatures. Well, many Earth-born and Sídhí animals share similar names like ‘cat’ and ‘khatt’.”

“I can understand that, but how can a three foot monster and microscopic mite be related?”

“The eggs of cave mites grow to term embedded in the skin or fur of larger cave dwellers like trolls, chimera or olitiau. That’s Sídhí’s version of a bat. Anyway, they remain in the tiny mite stage for years, even reproducing at that tiny size. But I've never heard of the small gray mites – that we have back home – turning black and getting larger than a foot high,” Jared said, his eyes rested on Beth, waiting for some kind of explanation.

Beth snorted, waving her hand toward the waterfall. “There are hundreds of mite species. These particular mites are used as scavengers for larger cave dwellers. They have a stinger they stab into their prey and as long as the stinger stays in the victim it releases a chemical which produces pain and paralysis,” Beth said, glancing toward the pool. She seemed impatient with the conversation as if she wanted to rush after the others.

Brianna watched Beth’s odd behavior and frowned before adding her own two cents to the conversation. “The area isn’t covered in piles of dung, so it probably isn’t trolls. Gnomes are possible, but not likely. My best guess would be a hive of chimera.”

“Thank God. Chimera won’t kill them yet. They prefer living prey, because the queen eats the heart and other organs before allowing her attendants to eat the flesh.” Beth paused and shook her head in disgust. “I’ve tried calling for help, but with these stupid silver bracelets, no one can hear me. Can either of you reach anyone?”

“No one except Mitch and he is that way,” Katie said, pointing toward the face of the tall cliff near the falls and slightly to the left.

“He's okay?” Beth asked quickly, her face twisting in what looked like fear. Her words of concern didn't make a bit of sense. She'd made it clear she thought Mitch was beneath her, garnering the same amount of attention as a pesky mosquito.

Katie nodded. “He's in a lot of pain, but at least he's alive.”

Beth hissed, flashing her teeth. Sharp points on her upper and lower canines appeared. Her amber eyes glowed and a deep growl rumbled from her chest.

Jared stood stiffly next to Katie. “It'll take the three of you at least two days to reach the rafts. I just hope you find a dragon once you get there,” he stated calmly. His face was a carved mask of stone, but his emotions rolled and heaved.

“You aren’t going into those caves without me,” Katie said, poking him in the chest to get his attention.

“You will not be going with me,” he said, a deep rumbling growl fought to be heard over his words. He stepped backward, increasing the space between them. He raked a hand roughly through his dark hair.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Beth said snappishly. “We're going to need all the help we can get.”

“Beth, you aren’t going.” Brianna didn’t turn as she bluntly stated her mind. “Since Katie is the only one of us who can feel any of them we need her to guide us, because once we get into the tunnels, it might be like a warren of twists and turns. That leaves you. We need someone to go for help and you are the fastest, so you’re it.”

“I will not leave him!” Beth exploded at the cool blonde. Her eyes glowed bright with burning sparks of amber flames.

Brianna finally turned to her petite and very angry companion. “Haven Valley will not miss me, but it cannot survive without you,” Brianna said calmly, staring into Beth’s flaming eyes. “Stop feeling guilty for wanting to gut that tall moron. You couldn't have stopped any of them from trotting into their pretty little valley, an area that is obviously dangerous. The minute we saw the valley, I knew those warning signs had to have been intentionally switched.”

Katie glared at Brianna, biting her tongue to keep from arguing with the taller girl. She turned to Jared, seeking his comfort when his vile emotions hit her like an immovable cement wall.

She stared at her lifeMate in stupefied shock. Since fighting off the cave mites, his fury had pulsed at the back of her brain. A wave of despair arched through her as she realized his anger wasn't pulsing at the situation.

His hateful emotions were aimed directly at her.

He stood slightly away from her with his hands curled into tight fists. The fire of his anger boomed in a harsh rhythm slamming into her mind, shattering her soul with grief.

She cringed, realizing what it felt like to be hated from the inside out. She blinked back tears, knowing his love was forever lost to her. Truly, she had known from the beginning. It was only a matter of time before Jared realized his mistake in bonding with a halfling, an abomination in the eyes of his family and friends.

She’d been living in a dream state and only just now woke up.

Katie didn't know why reality had to happen today of all times, but her brief time with a lifeMate – one that appeared to love her – ended. No doubt, after they rescued Mitch and after they left the summer camp, her lifeMate would try sending her to a Sídhí Safe House, a place where full bloods sent unwanted halfling mates.

She shuddered at the thought. In blazing clarity, she remembered how Jared swore he'd never do anything like that to her, but she wasn't stupid. The anger – his fury – pounding into her wasn’t part of a small disagreement between mates.

She sank deeper into a black pit of despair. She supposed it was better to find out his true feelings a few days after bonding with him than months down the road. At least she hadn’t had sex with him. Having sex with someone who blatantly hated her would have been more horrid than any other memory.

Katie wrapped her arms around herself, holding her broken chest together. She sucked in a ragged burst of air and shoved her destroyed heart into the deepest chasm she could find. She couldn't deal with a broken heart at the moment. Right now, she needed to save her twin.

She glanced at Beth and wondered for a second time just who the girl was. It was a shallow observation, but she was grasping at anything that might take her mind off her crushing grief.

Beth's chest heaved as the girl took a deep breath. She looked – actually, she glared – at Brianna for several minutes as the two girls quietly argued. Beth’s hand remained clenched around the blonde’s arm, shaking her as if to emphasize a mentally spoken point.

Air hissed through Brianna’s teeth. Her eyes narrowed and she slowly moved her head in jerky denial as she disgustedly said, “Of all the wretched people… all right, Beth stop shouting in my head, enough already. We all go. No, don’t you dare try to order me to go for help. You'll make me disobey a direct order, because I won't let you go down there by yourself. Period.” Brianna jutted her chin out and glared at her angry friend. Her eyes flashed pure silver.

Through the entire verbal and mental argument, Jared’s body stayed stiff and unyielding. Fury continued rolling off him in harsh waves.

Jared’s unyielding gaze drilled into Katie. “Even with the bracelets, I've got a keen sense of smell so I’ll be able to follow their scent. Katie, you will go for help.”

Katie felt a sliver of fear whip through his anger. He hated her, but he didn't want her in danger, he didn't want her dead. She sadly realized her actions, when she tried saving him from the cave mites had destroyed what little time they had together.