48
Savannah
I sprinted through the forest, no longer taking time to move with caution. Grunts and snarls and the sounds of battle raged behind me. Fear for Jax and Sam tore at me, but I gritted my teeth and kept going even as my instinct urged me to turn back.
Everything depended on me getting the moonstone to the final orb. Failure wasn’t an option.
I darted through the widely spaced oaks, the leaf litter soft under my boots. Though it was easy going, I had virtually no cover.
The glow up ahead grew stronger as I neared. It couldn’t have been more than a quarter mile from Jax and Sam.
I jumped over a fallen trunk and slowed as the orb came into view. Like the one in the middle of the pond, this one was floating above a stone turret, but in a small clearing. Lichen covered the stones, and bluebonnets colored the grass around it.
“Thank God,” I whispered, counting my blessings. I really didn’t want a repeat of Lady in the Water.
My breathing sped up, but I steadied it as I crept forward, moving cautiously. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but then the hair on my arms rose, and a chill worked down my dampened back. The forest was dead quiet, the light mist blanketing any sound, but someone, or something, was out there.
Stalking me.
What do you think, Wolfie?Shadows pooled around my fingertips.
In the trees. Forty feet to our right.
I felt it then. A signature, or rather, the lack of one. It was like whatever was moving toward us was blocking its magic, and in its place was a hole. A big one.
A shudder worked through me. Fuck this.
I touched the moonstone tucked in my bra for good luck. The Moon’s magic seeped into me, and I delighted in the surge of euphoria and energy, as if my batteries had instantly been filled.
Go time. I sprinted toward the tower with its floating orb.
Before I could cross the distance, a shape shot out of the other side of the clearing in between me and the tower. I jerked to a stop, my heels digging into the grass as I spun.
It was a man. He was masking his signature, but the way my instincts were blaring told me he was freaking powerful…whatever he was.
He cocked his head as his piercing light eyes took me in. Dangerous was written all over this guy. He stood over six feet tall, his face chiseled, and his body lean and taut. He didn’t look over thirty years old, but I sensed he was far older.
Bad news, Wolfie growled.
No shit.
Delight flashed in his gorgeous eyes, and his lips pulled up in a devilish smile. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’m looking for a new toy, and I happen to bite.”
Who the hell was this guy?
A howl cut through the forest, drawing the man’s attention. A signal, but not from Jaxson or Sam. One of Dark God’s wolves was calling for backup.
We were running out of time.
I summoned my magic, and icy shadows streamed down my arm. I collected them in my free hand and hurled them at the man. Like a net, they fell over him, shrouding him in darkness.
Then I took off, my boots tearing up the damp grass. I made it to the stone turret in seconds and leapt onto the side. It was a good two to three feet taller than the one that was submerged in the pond, but my claws dug into the stone, and I pulled myself up to the top of the tower in three heaves.