Forbidden Valley: Sídhí Summer Camp #2 will be released this fall. (Note: This snippet has not been edited and is subject to change.) Enjoy!
Several days later,
Katie was on her very first – and probably last – dragon ride. A rush of
excitement streaked through her as the dragon surged through the morning sky.
Deepest black
dragon scales glinted in the silvery rays of sunshine that streaked through the
thin cloud cover. The midnight wings swept upward, looking deceptively soft as
calfskin.
Two weeks ago,
before camp started, Katie would never have dreamed she'd be riding a dragon,
especially not with her very own lifeMate sitting snug behind her. She threw
her arms wide and laughed for the sheer joy of having her deepest dream come
true, a lifeMate who loved her.
“Enjoying
yourself, Mia Cara?” Jared mentally asked.
Sighing in
pleasure, she arched against his chest, rubbing her back against the solid bulk
of his muscle. She would never get used to Jared calling her ‘his beloved’ in
the old tongue. If she could put her joy in words, she would shout them to the
world. As it was, her lifeBonded mate felt her bubbling emotions.
Jared pulled her
closer. His joy flowed into her body through their lifeBond. His deep laughter
echoed through her mind a split instant before his warm breath tickled her
pointed ear, her overly sensitive ear, making her laugh all the harder. There
were times her elf half of her heritage was more enjoyable than the vampire
half.
“I love it!” Her words included not only her first ride
on a dragon, but the new road her life was taking. “We can see for miles up
here.”
Guardian Alexander
was flying them across miles of rugged mountains located within Dragon Valley,
a second dimensional bubble with the exact physical terrain as Earth. Hundreds
of Valleys dotted Earth, some small, some huge. Very few Sídhí Elders agreed
upon how many dimensional bubbles actually existed or even how they had been
created.
The black dragon,
whose life Katie and Jared had saved several days earlier, insisted they needed
to rejoin their cabin mates, a group of teens who were currently hiking through
the Sídhí forest surrounding the Peace Camp.
Katie snorted.
‘Peace’ was the official reason for gathering the warring Sídhí races together,
but it wasn't why the children of the most influential politicians from several
dozen of the most powerful Valleys had been invited. Invited being a
very loose term to what really happened, because when The Dragon Council sent
out invitations to attend summer camp they expected immediate agreement. If any
invitation went unanswered the dragons simply coerced the other Valley into
participating.
The concept of
creating a Peace Camp sounded honorable. The reality of camp was not honorable
nor peace inducing. Katie and her cabin mates found that out the hard way.
Peace between the Sídhí races had nothing to do with the four-month camp.
Finding dead bodies and becoming a walking target had that odd ‘wake-up and
smell the roses’ effect.
After the Khr'Vurr
attacked Katie and her cabin mates, Alexander had been placed in charge of
keeping Katie's group safe.
Protection duty was
his official job. Unofficially, the black dragon was more concerned with
finding the people who tried to kill them.
Katie hoped he
hurried. She was not a lover of cold stream baths and bugs. But until the
guardians caught the guilty parties, the teens were safer away from the main
campgrounds. At least, she hoped they would be safer. She had doubts that
anywhere was very safe. Truth be told, she felt like bait.
Jared’s cheek
rubbed against her hair. “I agree,” he
said, letting her know he had following her train of thought.
Since they had
bonded, several days earlier, they had maintained a feather-light mental touch
on each other. Nothing intrusive, but glimpsing your beloved’s thoughts or
having him answer an unspoken thought made her feel special.
He chuckled,
kissing her neck. A firm feeling of pleasure pulsed from him as he agreed with
her unspoken view on sharing their thoughts. “As long as you keep your pert little nose out of my head at Christmas
time.”
“My nose is not pert,” she said,
unsuccessfully trying to keep the laughter out of her voice, but knew it didn’t
work. He felt her humor as clear as she felt his.
“Hmmm, your lovely nose felt pert last night
when you...” he grunted to a stop as her elbow caught him between two ribs.
Her face turned
beet red as she snuggled deeper in his embrace. “Wretch,” she grumbled. “We
agreed the nose episode was not to be spoken about, not ever.”
“Mia Cara, having your nose, covering in
whipped cream…”
“Enough,” she groaned, covering her face
with both hands.
He snuggled against
her neck, gently kissing her. “I love the
taste of Mia Cara flavored whipped cream.”
She snorted,
knowing she’d never be able to drink another cream covered strawberry shake
without glancing to see where he was at. “Next
time you ‘accidently’ bump my elbow when I’m drinking a shake, I’ll pay you
back triple time. Got me, handsome?”
“Might be worth it. Kissing the cream off
your nose made it the best tasting shake I’ve ever had,” he said. His
laughter and sincerity swirled inside her.
He was hopeless.
“Glad you thought so. Unfortunately, Council
Woman Cornelia thought we were both insane.” Shaking her head, she abruptly
changed the subject. “I don’t think the
council is going to give Sarah the info she needs to protect Trellick Valley.
Do you?” she asked, worry over their failure to gain protection for Sarah’s
home valley colored her thoughts.
Katie knew she had
to help Sarah keep Trellick Valley safe, but she didn’t have a clue how to
manage it. The head of the dragon council certainly had not sounded very
encouraging. The woman hadn’t believed a word they said, even when Alexander –
the council woman’s own grandson – told her about testing Sarah’s story.
The woman insisted
they were exaggerating the truth, because no valley could be a portal hub.
After four thousand years – in the council woman’s words – someone would have
slipped-up trying to keep such a huge secret.
The council woman
had argued that there was no way a valley could maintain hundreds of permanent
portals into all the other valleys, especially Trellick Valley. The Dhark Lords
would have jumped at the opportunity to invade all the other valleys. And it
was common knowledge that Trellick Valley was a steadfast and very loyal member
of the Dhark Empire.
Katie’s back
vibrated as Jared growled deep in his chest. “I pray she doesn’t find out the hard way that Sarah is telling the
truth.” All his previous teasing left his voice, leaving his words flat
with anger. “If that spike-covered dragon
actually saw Sarah form javelins from the synth in her blood then it won’t take
long for her to make the only possible connection.”
“That Sarah is Chi’Kehra,” Katie said.
Dread filled her at the very thought of the dragon ‘freedom’ fighters finding
out about a weapon more deadly than dragonfire. “Sarah would never willingly help the self-proclaimed freedom
fighters.” The Khr'Vurr, as they called themselves, were a group of dragons
who were infamous for kidnapping and torturing innocent people in a warped
attempt to seize control of the dragon council.
“I think that’s the real reason why Alex is
using us as bait,” Jared said. His emotions flickered between sour
acceptance and frustration. “He knows as
well as we do that the Khr'Vurr or the Dhark Lords would be unstoppable with Sarah
on their side.”
“She’d never help them,” Katie repeated
forcefully. Without question, she trusted Sarah. Her gut instinct demanded that
trust. And one thing she had learned long ago was to trust her gut. Her gut
instinct had saved her family’s life more than once when they lived in the
mundane world.
“And if they kidnapped Nick? Threatened to
kill him?” Jared asked softly, completely knocking the wind out of her
argument.
She shivered at the
thought. The same instinct that demanded she trust Sarah twisted in a fleeting
glimpse of the possible future. Without a single doubt, Sarah would destroy
anything or anyone who stood between her and her mate.
I hope you enjoyed this small snippet!
Until next time,
Jodie
www.jodiebcooper.com
