Vampire's Forbidden Territory (Sídhí Summer Camp Series #2) (15 page)

Katie cocked her head to one side. “That doesn’t sound too good.”

Beth snorted. “No, it wasn’t. Duke Mith’DeBurn ignored the problem. He’s young and way too immature. He’s actually Brianna’s older brother by a few years. Their parents died in the same freak airplane explosion that killed my grandmother. He’s a lot more gullible than Brianna is. He let a few fairies sway his judgment on gene manipulation.”

Jared hissed through clenched teeth, a look of dread appeared on his face. “Gene? As in human DNA?”

Beth grimaced, slightly shaking her head, not in denial, but in apparent embarrassment. “There’s a very small sect of people that think mundane humans should be wiped from the face of the Earth. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they were working with the Dhark Valley. Anyway,” she continued, with a weak wave of her hand, “they experimented on animals first. They altered a specific gene sequence within a group of bees and smuggled the altered bees onto Earth. We still haven’t figure out how they snuck around Haven’s security net and onto Earth without sounding the alarms.”

“That’s what happened to all the honey bees?” Katie asked horrified.

Mundane scientists across North America had been working for years, trying to figure out why hundreds of bee colonies suddenly disappeared or outright died by the thousands.

“Yeah,” Beth said. Her face tinged red and softly growled.

At first, Katie thought the girl was embarrassed. Then she heard the dangerous growl.

Beth’s hands lay tightly fisted at her sides. “We didn’t find the connection until they started playing around with mosquitoes. The West Nile Virus, as the mundane world nicknamed the sickness, was developed to mutate over a ten year period jumping from insects to mundane humans. If we hadn’t caught that virus in time, the outcome would have killed the entire population, not a few thousand.”

Katie’s eyes flashed with anger. Her protective instincts for the weaker human population roared to the forefront of her brain. “I hope you caught the ones who did it.”

“Several escaped our net, but the ringleader, a very persuasive fairy, an enchanter by the name of Belinda Goreshycken, lost her head by my hand,” Beth said in a satisfied tone of voice. Her eyes, hard embers of flickering amber, reflected her blood thirsty satisfaction.

Katie looked up. The surrounding trees had a few scraggly pocket vines curled around lower limbs. Like snake vines, pocket vines loved the sun and grew much higher so they could soak up beams of sunshine. Peeking through the branches, Katie saw lots of healthy pocket vines ranging in all sizes from the size of her thumb to a foot wide.

No way did she want to climb that high up, not with silver restricting her strength and claws.

Jared headed to the nearest tree. She snorted, quickly following him. She didn’t want to climb a hundred foot tree, but she didn’t want her mate to either.

Before either of them started climbing, Beth interrupted.

“If neither of you mind, I can gather the vines a lot faster,” Beth said with a slight smile tugging on her lips. “Tree climbing is second nature for me.”

“Go for it,” Jared said. “Tree climbing is fun with a working set of claws, but I feel maimed with this bracelet on.”

Without any fuss, the petite girl’s body instantly shifted into a khatt.

Katie watched in fascination as Beth stretched her hind leg, curling hand-like toes into a fist and then relaxed. The shifter’s muscles tightened and Beth jumped toward the largest trunk, a massive blue furble tree some three feet wide. Claws dug into the spongy surface and she raced upward. Near the top, she slowed her forward momentum and carefully stepped onto a limb. A front paw-hand whipped outward, slashing a pocket vine.

Within minutes, Beth had sliced dozens of vines. Once cut, they slithered through the tree limbs and fell toward the ground. She finished slicing vines and started back down, occasionally stopping to grab a vine that got stuck on a lower limb as it fell.

Ten minutes later, the three of them finished filling the last few leafy pockets with minty balls of mud.

The filled t-shirts proved to be bulky and way too heavy. The seams started ripping.

“We might as well get really messy and just carry them,” Katie said with a huff.

Jared grinned and started loading up his arms.

They carried several loads of mud balls to the base of the trees bordering the meadow, before making a detour to check on the invalids.

Mitch and Emily remained unconscious.

Beth dropped her arm load of mint balls and knelt at Mitch’s head.

A low growl sounded from the bushes.

Katie and Jared crouched in defense.

Beth swiftly changed her shape. Placing one paw on either side of Mitch’s body, she lowered her head and gave a deep warning growl.

The leaves rustled, but no other sound emerged from the bush.

Beth roared.

A high pitched cry of fear squeaked within the shrubs. A small olitiau shot out of the bush. Pitch black, the bat’s fur was matted with bits of mud and twigs. Flapping madly, the youngster tried to get air born, but only succeeding in tumbling into the open area landing between the bushes and a very angry Beth.

Stopping, the creature lay panting on its belly. With wide-eyed fear, the Pomeranian-sized bat looked up at the growling khatt.

Big, brown eyes hungrily glanced at Mitch. Its small mouth opened, issuing a rattling growl of challenge. The young bat bared sharp little teeth, which it used for ripping prey into small bits. The poor thing was skin and bones. The olitiau had to be desperate to challenge a khatt. Even in a bat’s prime, a single adult olitiau was no match for an angry khatt.

“Oh, poor baby, it’s starved,” Katie said, sympathy lacing her voice.

Beth issued a warning growl as the juvenile bat darted forward, mouth wide-open, hoping for a snatched bite.
“That poor baby would’ve started eating on Mitch,”
Beth said. Her mental voice, sounding exactly like her normal husky brogue, burned with anger.

With a roar, Beth snapped at the small bat.

The little thing shrieked in fear, darting toward the underbrush on the opposite side of the clearing. The devious little meat-eater continued squealing as it ran away.

Katie pulled her eyes from the swaying bush and watched Beth.

Beth’s upper shoulders were slightly hunched like a grizzly bear. The sun-streaked fur along the arch of her back stood on end, warning potential enemies she was angry and on the verge of attacking anything that moved. Her long, white claws clenched and re-clenched, digging deep trenches in the dark soil.

Leaning down, Beth touched her muzzle to Mitch’s face. Her gentle touch spoke volumes.

_____________

Mitch struggled to wake-up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t push through the haze. The black cloud surrounding his head refused to part.

Words and growls, he heard them both, but neither made much sense to his mucked-up brain.

Roses, he smelled wild roses on a hot summer’s eve. The dark, rich aroma intensified until he noticed the intoxicating aroma also had a subtle trace of morning rain. He inhaled. The scent swirled through him and he caught the slightest hint of Sídhí wilderness, the kind of wild that flourished in the deepest part of his granddad’s vast mountain estate.

His thoughts drifted, but the mouth-watering smells tugged at him, demanding his undivided attention. He wanted to curl around the scent, protect it from harm.

The soft buzzing of a bee zoomed around the roses. It sounded in his head, making him yearn for… he didn’t know what he yearned for. He needed whatever it was. Desperately, he tried reaching for it, but he couldn’t move.

The buzzing stopped.

His soul shattered. He felt lost, completely empty.

The scent of roses tickled his nose.

Something cool and damp touched his cheek.

His eyes snapped open and he came face-to-face with a khatt, one of Sídhí’s most vicious predators. For a split-instant, neither of them moved. They simply stared at each other.

An angry khatt had been known to kill even an adult Sídhí. The animal ran swifter than a cheetah and had the personality of a wounded grizzly bear, a deadly combination to be sure. Only after a khatt adopted a human was the animal somewhat safe to walk near.

Eyes the color of burnt amber blinked at Mitch. Dark brown fur, touched with light blonde speckles surrounded the khatt’s intelligent eyes. Teeth, sharp and white, were inches from his throat.

All of this flickered through his brain in a split second.

“Argh!” Mitch roared. The bloodcurdling bellow echoed through the trees. A surge of adrenaline burst through his veins. He scrambled backward, smacking into a furble tree. The impact knocked the wind out of him, snapping him out of his muddled thoughts.

The khatt reacted in much the same way. The big animal jumped back, hissing in shock. The similarity ended there.

In mid tumble, the khatt’s body changed. Its feline shape shifted into the form of a beautiful young woman. Stumbling backward, his new cabin mate dropped to her shapely rump with a hard thump. Beth looked at him with wide, startled eyes. Several emotions flashed across her face.

Mitch growled, low and deep, furious with himself. He would not feel sorry for frightening her. She was not even human and she was not, repeat – not – beautiful. He absolutely refused to fall into the filthy shifter’s trap. He didn’t even know if the creature really was female. For all he knew it could be a boy or some weird combination of the two sexes.

Mitch’s growl reverberated around the trees. He pulled his feet under him, slowly forcing his aching body to obey him. He stayed crouched, ready to defend against her attack.

He feared he might actually faint if he tried standing up too soon.

His body swayed, but he remained upright, never taking his eyes off his deadly opponent. He tried extending his claws. The silver bracelet caused a steady pulse of pain through his fingers. Pain didn’t matter. He fought to use his claws. With a stubborn grunt, he pushed past the pain, partially extending the tips of his claws.

Half-inch claws appeared on a single hand. The other hand, where the wretched silver snuggly wrapped around his wrist, refused. Not even the tips of his nails grew sharp.

He swayed for a moment, but his fierce growl grew stronger.

He watched Beth through narrowed eyes. No, he watched the mutt. He refused to give the creature any type of respect that a name suggested.

The shifter swallowed and slowly held up its hands in a peaceful gesture. Her calculated move had to be a trick. She acted as if she didn’t want to fight him, but he knew better. Shifters were servants of the Dhark lords, evil to the core.

She was much smaller than he was. As long as she stayed in human form, he could easily kill her.

“Mitch,” Katie shouted at him, “don’t you dare hurt her! Beth has saved our lives twice now.”

Mitch didn’t move. He glared at the mutt, furiously wondering how the filthy creature had ensnared his sister. His growl deepened. His tongue seemed extra thick, so chunky he couldn’t form words.

He bared his fangs and snarled. Let his actions convince his sister of the danger.

He didn’t doubt, not for a single moment, the shifter was an evil spawn. The mutt was a creature straight out of the Dhark Empire. He’d kill it before he let it harm his twin.

The violent urge burned through his brain. He could rip its throat out before it had time to shift.

Briefly, a loud ringing-like buzz burst through his brain. The sound overwhelmed every rational thought and emotion. He felt pulled toward the shifter, like the creature was trying to suck his soul dry.

He shuddered in horror. The creature was more devious than he could ever have dreamed possible. He had to warn Katie.

“Katie, don’t trust it,”
he said. Urgency filled his mental voice.

When Katie didn’t answer, he realized something was keeping his telepathy from working. That something was probably the creature standing in front of him. He wanted it dead.

He forced venom into his fangs. Sucking on them, he pulled a thin stream of liquid across his tongue. The bitter moisture swirled around his mouth, and down his throat.

“Filthy shifter,” Mitch rasped past his swollen tongue. “Don’t trust it!”

“It!” Beth shrieked. Jumping up in a huff, she propped her hands on her very feminine hips. Her glorious multi-hued hair shimmered down her back, curling around her tiny waist. “Do I look like an ‘it’ to you?”

His gut clenched at the sight of the shifters very feminine body.

He groaned, hating his very male response to her sexy body. He resisted the urge to reach for her. He would not fall into her web of deceit. He repeated what he knew about her race, wishing those facts would sink into his brain. She was a shifter, a born manipulator, a creature of the Dhark Empire, nothing more.

“You can obviously shift into whatever form you prefer,” Mitch snarled at her. Words grew easier to speak. He hoped no one could hear how much his heartbeat increased as his eyes roved over her curvy, petite figure. She was a gorgeous little thing, full of fire.

At his words, she gasped in outrage. Her face turned a mottled shade of red. For a moment, he thought she was going to shift and rip into him. He’d fight her, but as weak as he was she’d probably claw him into very little pieces.

“You insufferable, wretched, filthy minded… oh!” she screamed furiously. Rage dripped from her voice and blared through her body language. She turned and stormed out of the clearing, hands curled into tight fists, clenched at her sides.

_____________

Katie glared at her twin. She couldn’t believe Mitch was acting this way. He wasn’t even using common sense!

From the scowl he threw her way, she didn’t doubt he wondered the same thing about her mental stability.

He struggled to his feet, slightly swaying as the last of the poison burned from his system.

Suddenly, Beth – in khatt form – bounded back into the clearing. Her back slightly arched, her long tail flickered back and forth.