Vampire's Forbidden Territory (Sídhí Summer Camp Series #2) Read Online Free Page A

glanced at her fellow hikers, Jared’s little sister Emily and his cousin Nick were in the very front. Sarah was third in line and glaring a hole in Nick’s back.
    Katie didn’t know what had happened, but Nick and Sarah were giving each other killer looks. The last time she’d seen them together, Nick acted like a love-sick puppy, like he desperately wanted Sarah as his mate. Katie couldn’t imagine what had happened between the two, but it must’ve been a major fight.
    As if that wasn’t enough drama, Katie was surprised to meet two new cabin mates. The girls seemed nice enough, but Katie knew looks could be deceiving. During the Great War, shapeshifters had been part of the Dhark Empire. Rabidly loyal foot soldiers that attacked anyone their dhark overlord commanded them to kill.
    Brianna, the taller of the two girls had golden blonde hair cut in a chin length bob. She was as distant and brooding as a mountain top. The sullen shifter rarely talked, but when she did speak, it was always to her companion, Beth.
    Beth was Brianna’s total opposite. More than a few inches shorter than Katie, Beth reminded Katie of a kitten, all claws and spit fire. She also had a much curvier frame with honey and chocolate streaked hair that fell to her hips in curls and waves.
    Mitch made his dislike of shifters blaringly obvious. Rarely a minute passed without him snarling at the shorter girl. His remarks grew sharper and increasingly antagonistic as the morning went by.
    Beth gave, as good as she got. Her snarky remarks about Mitch’s stupid humor had Katie struggling not to laugh.
    The day moved ahead and the two bickered back and forth.
    Katie was a few steps in front of Jared, who was last in line, as the group made their way toward Blue Bertha, their overnight destination.
    According to the brochure Emily dug out of her backpack, Blue Bertha was an odd twist of nature. The hot spring itself wasn't unusual since the entire mountain area was dotted with caverns and hot springs. No, the weird part was the odd colored water.
    The natural hot spring, sat way below the surrounding mountains in a deep valley. The water bubbled up through layers of earth, finally pooling in a rocky crevice near the Basilisk Nature Preserve. The unique spring lay within the largest known concentration of naturally growing blue furble trees. Perhaps its location was what made Bertha so unique.
    Hikers and scientists alike continued scratching their heads in confusion over Bertha and the weird blue water she produced. Not blue like normal water, but neon blue, a vivid turquoise that glowed in the dark.
    The brochure warned campers not to drink the water, but that's all it said.
    Leave it to the dragons not to provide a straight answer and shout dire warnings at the same time. She should be familiar with the dragon’s behavior by now. The Scaled Arrogant Ones never explained anything, but expected everyone to jump and obey.
    Katie glanced around. The trail looked no different than a dozen others with its familiar mint bushes, sky-reaching furble trees, and tall markles with their odd, red finger-like growths wiggling out the top of each bamboo-like chute. The hike was very peaceful, rather boring after the excitement of the last week.
    Much later, she regretted her complaint about being bored.
    The hillside quickly lost its thick vegetation, and the hot sun beat down on them. The path became very steep, nearly unmanageable. Jared stayed behind her, giving her the occasional helping hand whenever she needed it. It was mid-morning by the time they reached a split in the trail. Drenched in sweat and breathing hard she was ready for a break.
    Someone needed to remind her why she agreed to rejoin her fellow cabin mates. The answer was totally beyond her understanding. She started to ask Jared that exact question, when she felt his humor tickling the edge of her mind.
    Out of pure stubbornness, she remained quiet, trying to slow her gasps down to manageable deep