Free Vampire's Forbidden Territory (Sídhí Summer Camp Series #2) by Jodie B. Cooper

ever try to get me to leave you behind again. In my eyes, deserting my mate is forbidden territory. Don’t ever try that again!”
    He abruptly released her arms as if the simple act of touching her disgusted him.
    Katie stumbled, trying to regain her footing. By the time she stretched her hand toward him, he had stormed away, ducking into his tent.
    A few seconds later, he emerged from the tent wearing a dry t-shirt. He tossed several empty backpacks to the ground. He scowled at her and didn't speak.
    She firmed her resolve, refusing to let his anger budge her. If that was the way he wanted it, so be it. What a fool she'd been. Katie knew right then and there she should have never agreed to mate with a full blood vampire. A lifeBond between a full blood and a halfling was only asking for trouble.
    The four teenagers worked silently, quickly emptying the other backpacks and filling them as full as possible with mint. Each of them found a sturdy blue furble branch and wrapped a bunch of mint vines around the end. If she really used her imagination it looked like a round blue sword with a green basketball stuck on its tip.
    Yeah, it looked downright silly.
    Gathering her homemade weapon, backpack, and an armload of mint, she headed toward the pool of water at a trot. She looked totally ridiculous. But if it worked, who cared.
    They avoided the easier path to the left of the pool. Instead, they circled the far outer edge of the pool, throwing a few sprigs of mint around the rocks as they went.
    The waterfall was actually several individual streams of water scattered across the face of the rock wall, some trickled while others gushed, hitting boulders and filling the pool. Earlier the pouring water looked like a window covering for a mystical wonderland. Now, the falling water created a barrier shielding the nest of monstrous cave mites.
    Beth found the cave opening, completely hidden behind an outcropping of rock and falling water. The boulders created a mirage that looked like a solid wall. The sheet of water wasn’t the largest waterfall, but it was very cold.
    Katie quickly ducked under the pounding water. The cold water drenched her. The cool cave air hit her dripping body, going straight through her with icy precision. She shivered and clenched her teeth together so they wouldn't chatter.
    The walls of the cave were rough and at least ten feet high and six feet wide. It made her wonder exactly how big cave mites grew. Maybe chimera and mites weren't the only things down here.
    She shivered, really hoping they didn't find out. Smacking a cave mite with a leafy stick was one thing, but fighting a group of chimera or even a lone troll with a flimsy branch was not on her list of things to do.
    She threw several stalks of mint around the cave opening. Any kind of movement was better than just standing around, especially when Jared continued ignoring her. He refused even to look at her. As the reality of his rejection hit home, her stomach started cramping.
    Jared took the lead, following the single tunnel as it slowly angled into the depths of the cliff toward the mite’s nest.
    Katie hurried to keep up with him, thoroughly disgusting herself as she scampered after someone who didn't want her. A tear slipped down her face and she roughly scrubbed the offensive blotch off her cheek.
    He might not want to keep her as a mate, but she loved him more than she ever imaged possible and didn't want to see him injured. If he stumbled upon the nest of mites, she wanted to be there and fight alongside him. Talk about stupidity.
    In less than a minute, the area was pitch-black, but with her night vision everything appeared in shades of gray like a dimly lit room might appear to a mundane.
    Beth and Brianna silently brought up the rear.
    The two girls were so quiet that Katie couldn't stop her imagination. In her mind, she kept seeing an oily, black tentacle drop from the ceiling, quietly jerking each of the teenagers into the darkness