“Ray, you have no choice.” I pushed him outward. “If one of these suckers stings you, there’s no waking up again. That can’t be your choice. Not after all this.”
Before Ray could answer, Naomi locked on to him. His scream rent the air as she bolted upward. I chuckled, thinking about how pissed he was going to be when we picked him up. Then I turned my focus on Eamon, who had become a blur of movement as he swept the Scorpers closest to us off the ledge in big arcs toward the riverbed, kicking them with his legs. I heard one of them plunk into the water. Scorpers and Naiads? You couldn’t pay me to go swimming again. There was no guarantee Eamon wouldn’t get stung, which was why we weren’t joining him, but his persnickety demeanor was likely helping him—either that, or he was familiar with these, another of Selene’s pets, and he wasn’t letting on how much he knew.
That would be a better guess.
“They keep oozing out of the cracks,” Danny muttered next to me. “It doesn’t matter how fast he can sweep them away. We’ll have to cover the openings.”
There was a loud grating noise and several rocks rained down above us. “It appears Tyler’s already on it,” I commented.
Tyler shouted from above, “Get out of the way! I’m going to plug the holes.”
We glanced up in time to see him shove a large boulder over the side. It crashed down the hill, jumping and bouncing along the wall, shifting rocks loose as it went. I pressed my back as far as I could against the mountain as rocks poured down on our heads. The boulder had triggered a small avalanche and then it slammed onto the ledge where we stood. The entire platform sheared off, tossing us forward. I spun in midair, trying in vain to dig my nails into the cliff face, my claws ripping out of my fingertips to help me latch on.
It was too late.
My wolf howled in my mind as my body fell forward, tumbling into the rock slide.
“Jessica,” Danny yelled. “Hold on!”
To what? I crashed down hard, joining the melee of rocks and boulders, tumbling head over ass. There was nothing to hold on to. The sharp stones bashed into me at every turn. I just prayed my body didn’t get jammed under the big boulder. If it crushed my neck, it would be all over. My wolf snarled and barked in my mind. Nothing we can do; just hold on. My muscles hardened together as adrenaline rushed through me, my body needing the natural protection of my Lycan form. I took it greedily, fortifying myself as best I could as I continued to tumble down the embankment. Once I leveled out, I threw my arms to the sides and clawed the earth to slow my final decent. The tumble felt like it lasted an eternity. I hadn’t realized we had climbed that high.
I slid to a stop among a heap of rocks and debris, only a few feet from the river. Fuck. I spit dust and pebbles out of my mouth. My face was bloody and my hair was matted around my shoulders and I was covered with gravel. “Jesus,” I muttered. “Great idea, Tyler. Let’s bring the mountain down on top of us. It’s the perfect way to get rid of the Scorpers.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I heard a rattling noise.
It was close.
I lifted my head slowly. Was it too much to ask that they’d all be crushed to death? I spotted four of them creeping over the mess of boulders, only ten feet from my face. They appeared to be completely unharmed. My wolf snapped her jaws at me to get up and get moving. No argument there. I jumped to my feet and took a tentative step backward. My body was bruised and dried blood caked my arms. I was regenerating, but it would take a minute.
The water splashed behind me.
I whipped my head around and there were so many Naiads disturbing the surface it looked like a breeding ground for angry eels. Their seaweed tresses danced back and forth in a jumble of mossy green. I’d already done the Naiad thing; there would be no repeat performance.
Naiads behind, Scorpers in front.
Channeling my wolf, I showed my teeth and snarled toward the stream. “Do not f**k with me. Do you hear me!” I yelled to the rippling water. “You will not like what you find.”
“Hold on,” Danny said from somewhere close. My gazed landed to my left on a group of small river birch nestled right next to the stream. Danny rolled out of a pile of rocks. He sat up and brushed himself off. “That was quite a ride, wasn’t it? Wasn’t expecting that—”
“Danny, look out!” I yelled right as a green blur darted from the water.
I leapt into the air.
The Naiad had shot out of the water quickly, but I tracked it as I moved. In my Lycan form, I was just as fast. Its long arms reached for Danny, its body already shriveling out of its environment. I screamed as we collided. Danny rolled out of the way. The Naiad’s horrid face met mine, its eyes putrid in their moldy sliminess. The thing barely weighed anything. My canines were down, my claws slid into the soft, squishy flesh of its shoulders, poking though the other side.
I had to stifle a wave of nausea as we hit the ground. It struggled beneath me, its gaping mouth snapping its rows of sharp teeth open and closed, its tongue like a giant green worm wiggling back and forth.
I snarled through my raspy throat. “If you tell your people to back off, I will let you go. We don’t mean to harm you, but I will do what is necessary.”
The thing continued to thrash beneath me. I had no idea if it understood me. We were right next to the water and waves started churning in earnest on the surface, the angry Naiads wanting their comrade back. I gazed down into its face, watching as its eyes shriveled in its sockets. This one was an adult for sure. It was twice the size as the one I’d fought in the water. Pieces of its flesh were deteriorating at an alarming rate. They were flaking off and falling to the ground. “I don’t want to kill you,” I snarled. “Give me a sign you will not attack and I will toss you back in the water! Do you hear me?”
The thing stilled.
I knew I had only moments to decide. I shifted myself off of it to see if it would fight, but it didn’t move. It was too weak. Its hideous arms resembled shriveled raisin skin. I bent down without thinking, scooped it up, and carried it to the edge of the shoreline. It was long and gangly, but it weighed nothing. “We want no war with you,” I growled, my vocal cords straining. I tossed the shriveled Naiad back into the water. I had no idea if it would live or die. Once it hit the surface it was pulled under immediately and the water calmed.
But in less than a few seconds, heads popped up again, almost like a choreographed ballet.
I backed up.