I flipped over and pulled back to a crouch. Sam rushed to my side.
Where was Jaxson?
Where was the moonstone?
Panic surged within me, and I jumped to my feet. The shadow ribbon was still attached, but it was struggling to stay above the water. I pushed more magic into it, and it steadied. I sighed audibly, my nerves twitching like jumping beans. Just a few more feet.
As the ribbon carried the moonstone upward, a damp hand clutched my throat and yanked me to the ground.
It all happened so fast.
The wind burst from my lungs as my back slammed into the mud. I blinked my eyes open, and my vision focused on the face above me. Pale green skin, dark green eyes, and long, flowing hair with flowers strung in it.
The woman’s lips curled in a growl, revealing a set of pointy teeth, and her grip on my throat tightened.
I didn’t dare release my concentration to shock her with my magic. Everything I had was maintaining the ribbon, and I knew I couldn’t do both at once.
So I did the next best thing: I ejected my claws and whacked her in the side of the face.
Loosening her grip slightly in shock, she reeled back and slapped her free hand to the bloody claw marks I’d left. Her eyes flashed with anger.
That’s right, I’ve got thorns.
A flash streaked through my vision and pulled the forest lady monster off me. Her hand reached for my throat, but then she was gone. I sat up, gasping, but quickly pivoted back to the lake, just in time to see my ribbon dissipate into vanishing wisps of shadow.
The moonstone plunked into the pond just below the turret. No!
Horror hit me like a freight train, and I screamed in frustration, though it came out more like a screech. My throat was dry and bruised after the forest bitch had strangled me.
Heart pounding, I spun around. Where was she?
Fuck—where were Jaxson and Sam?
I was alone, and the situation was bad, bad, bad, and I had to decide what to do quickly. I couldn’t worry about the others; they were probably chasing the tree lady. We needed every moonstone we had, so getting that one back was on me.
Time for a swim, Wolfie.