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The Naiad recovered herself quickly, throwing Ray to the side like a limp doll as she came at me. We have to get to him, I told my wolf. Air was already becoming an issue once again. We need to get angry or we’re not going to make it. As the Naiad came at me, raging, my claws elongated and adrenaline shot through my system. Everything enlarged in an instant, including my arms. As she swam into my space, I brought my forearm up and sliced my claws cleanly across her face. I knew my actions were fast, but underwater they felt too slow.
My nails went through her flesh like razors slicing pudding.
It hardly felt like I’d connected, but her face broke open and deep lines of green slime oozed out. She arched back away from me, grabbing her face, her shrieks echoing through the water like a dog whistle. I didn’t hesitate; I dove down to Ray, who was floating a few yards below. I gripped him around the waist and kicked for the surface. I’d gained only a few feet when something latched on to my ankle again. One beat later sharp pain zinged up my leg. Did she just bite us? I asked my wolf. She’d either bitten me or pulled some kind of knife out of her seaweed dress. Blood started to flow from the wound in earnest. It would be just our luck if she had killer venom. My wolf snarled as the adrenaline we both channeled through our system spiked with a rush of power.
The Naiad had me around the leg and tried to tug me down again. With all the force I could muster, I tossed Ray upward. I had no idea if he would make it to the surface, and if he did, if they could grab him or not. I didn’t even know if he was still alive.
His body rose right as splashes came from above and three figures arrowed down into the water around us. Naomi took hold of Ray and bolted upward like a shot. Danny and Tyler moved toward us quickly, taking big strokes.
They can’t swim very well, I told my wolf. We have to get out of here before the Naiad takes an interest in them too. I twisted my body around in the water and grabbed the Naiad’s hair. It looked blond and normal, but when I touched it, it had the texture of kelp. Her head was full of nasty, slimy seaweed. I wrapped it up in my fists and wrenched her off my leg, where she’d been gnawing. “Get off of me,” I yelled into the water.
Tyler and Danny reached us, and without hesitation, each of them grabbed on to one of her arms and pulled. She shrieked and turned, trying to escape.
Danny twisted his body to the side hard, yanking off one of her arms in the process. He made a face as he tossed the arm away.
Her insides were green and putrid as they oozed out of the gaping wound.
Tyler and Danny both stopped, letting go of the underwater ghoul simultaneously. She floated unmoving, appearing dazed. I kicked toward her, grabbed her good arm, and tugged her behind me as I started swimming. I motioned up and we all kicked toward the surface, me with the Naiad in tow.
I couldn’t leave her down here to regenerate, no matter what Naomi said about Selene’s powers. This could be the Naiad’s natural habitat and that’s why Selene chose to have her hidey-hole in this location. I, for one, did not want to worry about getting back in the water.
We were almost to the surface.
I could see the stars blinking through the last of the water when Danny punched my arm frantically. I turned and followed his gaze.
“Holy shit,” I mouthed. There, coming up from the depths, were a swarm of Naiads, looking like a united underwater Barbie doll army. “Go! Go!” I yelled, a mass of bubbles erupting out of my mouth, releasing the Naiad I held. She immediately sank toward the oncoming troops. I hoped she warranted needing help. And lots of it. There was no reason to keep her now.
Tyler and Danny were ahead of me.
I saw the rocky shelf and kicked toward it frantically. If we didn’t get out in the next thirty seconds, we’d be Naiad dinner. Tyler and Danny climbed out, and right as I braced my hands on the shelf, two sets of strong arms yanked me out of the water in one quick motion. They tossed me onto the embankment with enough gusto to leave me reeling. Tyler turned, still standing ankle deep in the water on the shallow shelf. “What the fuck were you thinking? Huh? You could’ve die—”
He crashed down, sliding across the stone, his nails digging in hard to slow himself.
“Tyler!” I lunged toward him. Danny beat me to it, taking hold of his wrists. Tyler was almost completely underwater. Danny kept him just above the surface, straining against the pull of the Naiads. I joined Danny and grabbed his other hand. “Kick your legs!” I shouted. “They aren’t as strong as we are. ” I scrambled into a good position, using the shore to brace myself.
Tyler thrashed in earnest and all around us the water started bubbling and moving. Green kelp strands, as thick as Christmas ribbons, broke the surface, betraying the monsters beneath.
I readjusted and slid my hand down farther, dipping under the water to grasp Tyler’s biceps. I pulled with all my strength, my wolf snarling in my mind, my muscles flexing tightly. All at once Tyler soared out of the water in a rush. Danny and I staggered backward, not missing a beat, backing up onto the shore as fast as we could, dragging Tyler along with us.
As we watched, hundreds of heads broke the surface, only to duck down again in the blink of an eye.
It was only a matter of time before one streaked out to grab us.
Or more than one.
I bared my teeth at them and snarled. “We’re not going easily, you know!” I growled to the masses. “Do you hear me? Did you get a good look at Goldilocks? Do you want to end up like her?” I had no idea if they could understand me. So far none of them seemed to be coming after us. How could Selene control, or conjure—or whatever it was she did—an army of Naiads? It seemed impossible.
“Hurry,” Naomi urged from somewhere above us. I turned and saw her on a high ledge halfway up the hill. “They cannot risk their lives by coming out of the water this far. You will be safe if you can reach us. ”
Tyler gained his footing and we all started to run.
“How many supernaturals exist that we have no knowledge about?” Danny cried. “How can we best things we don’t know exist? It’s a bloody minefield around here. ”
I heartily agreed. “If this is the beginning of a war, the wolves are going to need an extensive education in all things supernatural. ”
Wolves were way too confident about their place at the top of the food chain. A Naiad who occupied a remote part of the world didn’t constitute any alarm whatsoever. But it certainly did now.
“Did you see the size of the ones that surfaced?” Danny said as we continued to climb upward. “I think the one we bested was a wee one. ”
“You mean a baby?” I craned my neck around to look back at the stream, but there was no trace of them. “No wonder all she knew how to do was bite me and scream. If that was the baby, there’s no way we’re going head-to-head with a grown-up. ”
“Come. Just a little more over this rise,” Naomi urged. “We will be safe here. ”
Naomi stood on a shallow ledge just above us, a limp Ray laid out next to her. It was the second time I’d seen him passed out at her feet. Had only one day passed? God, it felt like a lifetime. “Is he alive?”
“There is a faint heartbeat. ” Naomi nodded. “He seems to be a strong-minded human. ”
“He’s a pigheaded sonofabitch,” I said as I pulled myself onto the rocks. “But it looks like it’s working in his favor this time. ”
17
Once we were all on the ledge, I gazed down to the stream. It seemed innocuous, the water calm, nothing disrupting the smooth surface. I knelt next to Ray and ripped the front of his shirt open, putting my head to his chest. I could hear the faint beat without physical contact, but I wanted to be sure.
Tyler stood next to us, his legs covered in dried blood where the Naiads had bitten and clawed him. Since neither of us had reacted to their evil bites, they must not be too detrimental. Tyler was just short of shifting, fur sprouting along his wounds, he was so angry. “Why would
you risk your life—scratch that, all our lives—for this human?” Tyler’s jaw clenched, tension radiated outward. It rang through our new blood connection, making me edgy. “It doesn’t make any sense why you would do such a thing. If you keep taking chances like that, there’s no way any of us will make it out of here alive. ”
I glanced up at him. “Nobody asked you to join me. And this human has as much right to live as you or I, and while we’re on the topic, who made you lord and superior over the entire world? Human or supernatural? You don’t get to choose. A life is a life. ”
Tyler sputtered, “We’ve always been above humans. We’re stronger, faster, and smarter”—he searched for more—“and we can’t die like they can!”
“So what?” I snipped. “That’s like saying humans should kill all inferior species on the planet because they can’t keep up with them physically or mentally. ” I eased Ray onto his side. I had to drain the water out of his lungs. “Tyler, I suggest you go take your anger out somewhere else while I try and save this inferior human’s life. I’m not in the mood to go around and around with you on who’s a better species. ” Tyler spun away as I started rapping on Ray’s back, careful not to break any ribs. As I pounded, water jutted from Ray’s mouth like a hydrant. When Ray finally coughed and quit spitting water, I rolled him back over.
Danny crouched next to us. “I have no idea what you’re doing or what your motivations are in the long run,” he said. “But you can count me in. Ray is a bloody pain in the ass, but he seems to have one hell of a strong soul. By all rights he should’ve been dead many times over. ” Danny reached over and took Ray by the shoulders. I let go.
“I know. ” I shook my head. “I don’t get it. ” Ray was now sputtering and groaning, as well as hacking up a lung. I put my ear down to his chest again. “His heart is beating stronger, but I’m not sure how clear his lungs are. ”
“He seems to be taking care of that himself, isn’t he,” Danny said.