“What about Nick?” Beth questioned her, nodding to the inert figure Sarah protectively stood over.
“I’ll stay,” Brianna offered. “You can’t do it by yourself. You’ll still need help.”
“I was hoping Nick would wake-up by the time I found Clarisse,” Sarah said. She gave Brianna a questioning look and tried talking the girl out of it. “You have a chance to get out of here, take it while you can.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Brianna said with grin. She glanced quickly at Beth, obviously seeking her friend's approval, before going any farther.
Jared's eyes narrowed at the exchange. He wasn't worried about leaving Sarah alone. Literally, she could blow the top off the whole mountain much less fight a few hundred mites.
The shifters bothered him. Brianna hadn't left Beth's side, not once. He knew the two of them were up to something, but from the calculating look Sarah gave the two shifters, she was aware of it.
Sarah glanced up, briefly smiling at him. It wasn't a pleasant look. Her cool blue eyes glinted with a deadly emotion, reminding him of a hungry mega-griz that had been roused from hibernation a month too soon.
He shuddered at the look. Sarah could give the oldest warrior a bloody nightmare.
“If you hear or see anything, leave Clarisse and get out,” Jared said, avoiding eye contact with the exile. One minute she was laughing in his head, the next moment, her eyes glittered dangerously, hoping for a confrontation. Knowing Sarah's unpredictable moods, he felt that not arguing with her was in his best interest.
He was so very blessed with Katie. No doubt, they'd have their share of disagreements or out-right misunderstandings like earlier, but he didn't need to worry that she would get angry and chop his head off. He so did not envy Nick, not one bit.
He didn’t wait for an answer. He turned and started toward the ramp. “Come on, let’s hurry,” he said, continuing the life-and-death game Sarah had plunged them into days before. Whether he liked the game or not he was now a player in Trellick Valley’s charade.
Katie’s thoughts murmured through her brain. She believed keeping Sarah's secret was critical in keeping Trellick Valley out of the Dhark Lords grasp. That was their top priority, no matter the consequences. Hearing Katie's soft surface thoughts, he relaxed into a slow walk.
He didn't know if he completely agreed with Katie or not. Putting other concerns before his mate went against everything he believed in, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. Without Trellick Valley acting as a buffer between the world and the Dhark Empire, the entire world - including the innocent mundane world - would be enslaved or worse.
“There's no way they can carry Nick and Clarisse,” Katie said, interrupting his internal debate.
He had a feeling she interrupted his internal debate on purpose. At the thought, he felt a glimmer of humor slide through him as he realized she was concerned about him.
Answering her, his lips curled in amusement. “Agreed, we need to hurry and get these two topside. Then I’ll head back down and help them.”
Mite Spray
Katie kept her eyes on her feet, forcing herself to move one more step. She knew if she was tired of dragging Emily then Beth must be exhausted. She gave the shifter high points for not complaining. The girl was half-a-head shorter than Katie, but she didn't seem to lack strength.
They remained right behind Jared, as he led them to the surface. She fretted she might be hurting Emily. She never dreamed how heavy a limp body could be.
The weight wasn't too bad in the beginning, but Emily's dead weight had grown over time. Now Katie really had to clench her hands tightly around Emily’s arm to keep her from slipping.
The image of Emily’s head, bouncing like a basketball on the stone floor, kept popping into Katie’s head.
Jared’s firm stride continued to move steadily through the tunnel. He never seemed to tire, but his constant worry for her nibbled at her brain.
“Katie, are you doing okay?” Jared asked for the umpteenth time. His concerned voice filled Katie's head with warmth and she flushed with pleasure, not over his worry but over the intense yearning she felt flowing from him. “It's been a crazy few hours and I'd love to stop and just hold you.”
“Me too,” she agreed, mentally caressing him with her love.
Her stomach grumbled and she heard him chuckle aloud. From his flitting surface thoughts, he was just as hungry as she was.
The blue glow disappeared and they became enveloped in pitch-blackness. Not long after, she recognized the low thunder of the waterfalls in the distance.
They made good time and Jared ducked under the frigid falling water. Both girls gasped as the water drenched them again.
They hurried around the edge of the pool, taking the easier route along the foot of the cliff. The farther they walked from the falls, the calmer the water grew. The pool changed from ripples to glassy smooth, clearing of bubbles until Katie could see the sandy bottom.
They were nearly to the end of the pool when the path became increasingly difficult to manage. Katie concluded the glistening trail was easy enough to maneuver when walking single file, but a bit more difficult when dragging a limp body.
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than Beth slipped and caught herself before falling. Katie wasn't so lucky. Her butt plopped to the rocky path. Emily hung sideways with one shoulder grazing the ground.
Katie struggled to her feet and not ten seconds later, she slipped, falling a second time. Around the end of pool they went, slipping and sliding.
Jared seemed to be having a hard time as well.
Katie grimaced. Poor Emily was going to be black and blue. They had dropped her so many times she lost count. The path looked like someone had layered the rocks with slime.
Beth smacked to her knees. She bared her fangs – not as long as a vampire's, more like a wolf – and growled. “Stupid mites and their blasted spray.”
“Spray? You mean the rocks really have been coated with slippery stuff?” Katie asked. She rubbed her hand across one of the rocks and raised her palm up to her face. One sniff and she realized the potent odor she had smelled was the slick stuff covering her hand and butt, among other places.
Beth smiled without humor. “Yeah, but I wouldn't lick that if I were you. It's mite pee.”
“Eew! That's gross!” Katie said disgustedly. Treating her hand like an offensive body part that had grown green warts, she leaned toward the pool and swished her fingers in the water.
“No!” Beth snapped, lunging forward to stop her.
Jared's growl sounded just above them. “Don't snap at her.”
Beth sat back and sighed, shaking her head. “Sorry, but if the pool has sand crabs the mite pee will...”
The ground trembled beneath Katie. The clear water began shimmering with movement.
“Oh, crap! Run!” Beth cried, pointing toward the distant tree line.
Katie jumped up and slammed straight back down, cracking both knees. Blood splattered the rocky surface, but she struggled to her feet trying to ignore the sharp pain. She clenched her teeth to keep from crying out. No way was she stopping here, not when the water had started doing the shimmy all by itself.
Beth hissed, but the sound was laced with concern, not anger. She quickly offered Katie a hand up, struggling not to drop Emily.
The water began to gurgle.
“Katie?” Ahead of them, Jared had stopped and was turning around to help her. Under the brilliant sun, his black eyes grew huge as saucers. “Run!”
They dashed across the final few feet of the rocky trail, hitting the grass of the meadow at a dead run. She never looked back; she didn't even try. From Jared's expression, whatever was behind them wasn't something she wanted to see.
Jared dropped behind them, placing himself between her and whatever made the water rumble. She assumed the disturbance in the water must be the sand crabs, but she couldn't image crabs being any worse than the mites.
Halfwa
y across the meadow they heard the water change from a gurgle to something worse. The sound seemed to hiss across the meadow in an amplified tone. Fear raced through Katie, and she forgot the throb in her knees.
Jared surged closer. She could feel his desperation to keep her safe. His surface thoughts raced, trying to figure out a way to guard her back. Twit. He wasn't worried about his back, just hers. How could she have ever distrusted him?
They weren't far from the mint surrounding the tree line when the boiling hiss stopped. She assumed they had gone far enough, but they continued running.
A huge gushing sound erupted from behind them.
Jared’s alarm boiled through her as his rumbling growl sounded immediately behind her. Stark fear shot through their bond.
“Faster!” Jared shouted.
He raced up beside Katie and wrapped his free hand around her arm. Both supporting and pulling her forward. He mentally sent both girls an instant replay of what he witnessed when he glanced behind them.
The pool filled with erupting geysers, shooting water and mud thirty feet in the air. Gigantic red crabs surged out of the water.
She didn't need Jared's fear smashing through her. The image of monster crabs filled her with terror just fine on its own.
The red crabs had to be ten feet wide and just as tall, if not taller. Their skin looked like thick sheets of dull red steel. They stood on six legs with two huge razor sharp pincers. A lump appeared on the front curve of the shell, revealing white eyeballs.
The crabs lurched out of the water. Standing on hind legs, they bared dark black underbellies. The front edge of the shell, just under their eyeballs, dropped open in a massive hinged jaw. Hundreds of razor sharp teeth sparkled in the sun. Three black tongues wiggled in the opening. One longer than the other two as it flickered outward.
The mental memory stopped.
The teens finally reached the ring of mint, but her gut demanded they keep running. She didn't slow down.
Jared and Beth kept pace with her so they must've agreed.
They dashed through the twisting plants of mint, running deeper into the woods. Within seconds, she heard the crabs as they crashed through the ring of mint and into the trees.
The monsters were fast!
She shuddered. Mint was not going to stop them. The trail grew narrow and Jared had to release his hold on her arm. The girls continued running, dragging Emily’s legs behind her.
The crabs crushed smaller trees to the ground all around them. The entire forest seemed to be shaking. One of the crabs screamed, sounding like a hundred nails scratching across a chalkboard.
Katie glanced back.
A pincher, the width of a lawn chair, swung toward them, missing Jared by inches. The crab used the sharp-edged claw like a massive club, trying to bash them into the ground.
Jared’s bulk slammed into Katie, tackling her with his weight. He wrapped his arms around her and shoved them into Beth, pulling Emily and Mitch with them.
She didn't know how he managed the maneuver, but they all crashed into a small area between several huge pine trees. They tumbled into a pile of tangled legs and arms.
The moment they landed a three-foot pincer slammed onto the path, missing them by mere inches. Katie struggled to stand, but tripped on Mitch’s legs, falling face first into a small bush.
Jared jumped up, shoving her closer to the trees. He snatched Emily's arm and shoved the limp thing at her, while he grabbed Mitch by a leg, yanking him across the ground. Along with Beth, they frantically tried to reach the thicker growth of trees.
A pincher slammed down, destroying a patch of markles. Red spray burst from the broken plant, covering the crab's claw in dripping red goo. Missing its intended target, the creature shrieked in frustration.
Katie struggled to go faster, but every time the three of them managed to gain a few feet between them and the aggressive crab, another claw slammed to the ground upsetting their backward momentum.
A pincher slammed into the ground, barely missing one of Mitch's outstretched arms.
A furious growl erupted near Katie's head, rumbling like a runaway freight train. The scary sound fought to be heard over the smashing attack and the crab’s shrieks.
“Jared, I’m going to distract them. Get everyone to safety,” Beth said, her normal husky voice turned deep and guttural as the words fought past her harsh growl.
Beth didn’t wait for an answer. Stepping over Mitch's sprawled body, she ran in front of the crab. Darting toward the trail, she easily gained the crab's attention. Pausing, her small body arched in defiance; she appeared calm, watching the giant pincer swing toward her.
Her lips curled back in a snarl, her light amber eyes began glowing. In the blink of an eye, a snarling Sídhí khatt stood in her place.
The multi-colored khatt stood at least three feet at the shoulder, much broader than the Earth-born mountain cougar she vaguely resembled. Like a lynx, she had pointed tuffs of fur on the bottom of her chin and sharply pointed ears. Short fur, dark brown with golden streaks, twitched as she crouched low, waiting for the descending pincer.
She dashed forward, under the crab's outstretched forearm. The hinged claw hit the ground with a resounding thud. Beth dashed around the crab, sliding in the loose pebbles before leaping toward the creature's flat red back some ten feet above the ground.
Beth's wickedly sharp claws ripped into the thick shell.
The crab shrieked. Bucking in a desperate dance as the creature tried flinging Beth off. It whirled around in a circle, smacking its partner with a chunky claw.
The second crab, which had been trying to get past the first one, so it could reach Katie and Jared, screeched. Turning, the larger of the two crabs attacked the first crab, utilizing both claws in a one-two attack. The first punch hit a tall, knobby leg. The second sledge-hammer punch grazed the front edge of the crab's shell, flipping the beast head over heels.
As soon as Beth jumped free of the crashing crab, Katie stopped splitting her attention between watching the fight and scrambling backward. She wrenched Emily's arm backward, silently apologizing to her friend as she attempted to pull the girl across the rough forest floor.
The crab's focus remained on Beth, giving Jared time to grab Mitch and roughly toss him across his wide shoulder. Without pausing, Jared reached down and grabbed one of Emily’s arms. With the extra help, Katie made headway pushing past thick bushes and larger trees. Thankfully, the tall pines gave way to furble trees, which began growing closer together. The thicker growth of trees stopped the crab’s ability to chase them.
After several minutes of struggling through a thick patch of bushes, they reached a small clearing. The area lay way beyond the crab's reach. With a small cry of relief, she dropped to her knees, letting Emily slide to the ground.
Several feet away, Jared hastily dropped Mitch near the base of a furble tree. Swiftly, he reached Katie’s side and dropped to his knees. Pulling her close, he cradled her against the rumbling sound of his chest.
At hearing the odd mix of a purr and a growl, Katie smiled. She lovingly rubbed her palm against the sweaty surface, caressing his tense muscles.
His purr intensified. Brushing his cheek against the top of her head, he briefly squeezed her waist. With a feeling of Jared’s intense relief pounding through her, he stood.
Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted toward the sound of splintering trees and fighting, “Beth!”
A few seconds later, Beth’s khatt form came rapidly running through the trees. Moving like dark liquid honey, she jumped over bushes and skimmed past trees, leaving them undisturbed by her passage.
In a smooth bound, Beth leapt into the clearing and Katie was able to see the shifter up close for the first time. Hard to believe something that big was so graceful. Not only graceful, Beth barely made any noise at all. The shifter appeared much larger than Katie first thought. If the khatt stood still long enough, she bet the top of the shifter’s head would be a good five
feet above the ground. Including her long, swishing tail she must measure a good ten to twelve feet long. All in all, with the slight hunch on Beth’s upper shoulders, the girl had the physical characteristics of a grizzly, mountain lion, and lynx all mixed-up in one body.
Beth’s short, thick fur ranged from light honey to bitter chocolate. Her lynx-like face included a short muzzle, but Katie had seen the wicked long teeth. As in her human form, her eyes were a beautiful warm golden color with spikes of red and brown dotting their depths.
Katie knew shifters - normally - had superior strength just like other Sídhí, but she wondered if Beth was still super strong. The fairy-enhanced silver didn't keep Beth from shifting, but Katie didn’t know if the bracelet would restrict her other Sídhí born abilities.
Katie didn't know the answers, but she was very aware of how dangerous Beth was.
The girl’s khatt form was built to kill. Considering Beth appeared so tiny in her human form, the whole changing shape into a lethal Sídhí creature seemed rather ironic.
Beth didn't glance at Katie or Jared, but went immediately to Mitch’s slumped form. Shifting from khatt to human form, she dropped to her knees beside him. She gently touched his face with tips of her fingers. Her tense shoulders appeared to relax. Sighing, she cupped her hand around his cheek.
“Thank you,” Beth said fervently, glancing toward Jared then Katie.
Before either of them could respond, Beth had Mitch's head in her lap. Her head bowed, gripping her necklace in one hand, while curling her other hand around Mitch's neck. She shuddered and her lips moved rapidly.
Katie had noticed the delicate, little cross the shifter wore, but hadn't commented on the jewelry. Some Sídhí were really funny about talking religion. But from her actions, the girl obviously prayed to God. So much for the stupid rumors saying shapeshifters were spawns of the Dhark Lords, evil to the core.
The ground continued shaking as the crabs slammed their pinchers against the trees, fruitlessly trying to reach the teens. Katie hated the fact that mint didn't stop them. The little invasive plant was their best weapon. Perhaps the brisk smelling plant didn’t hurt the crabs, because they towered above the ground. The mint barely brushed their jointed legs.
Vampire's Forbidden Territory (Sídhí Summer Camp Series #2) Page 10
