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These clubs would require us to get much closer than I wanted. It would be like trying to fight a bear shifter with a baseball bat, but it was better than nothing. I smiled brightly as the witch handed mine to me.

“Now, our cameras have already made their way to the location, and when our contestants are ready, our team will teleport them to Dark Swamp.” Von looked at our group expectantly. “Anyone have any objections?”

“No!” Nathaniel shouted. “Let’s get this show on the road. I’m ready to kick some ghost ass!”

“Very well,” Von said, nodding to the team of spellcasters.

The witch who’d given me my weapon placed a hand on my shoulder. In the blink of an eye, I was no longer at Reject Mansion. The bright sun that had been overhead was gone, replaced by steely gray clouds that made it look like late afternoon rather than late morning. I could sense that the guys were fairly close to me but still spread out.

The humidity made it hard to breathe, almost like we were underwater. I was already drenched in sweat, my skin clammy beneath my clothes. Faint wisps of steam or fog obscured the ground, making it difficult to see where it was safe to step. The place gave me the creeps.

No one looked like they wanted to make the first move, so I took it upon myself to get us started. Keeping my eye out for that glowing gem, I moved forward, careful to make each step calculated and safe. Wyatt was right by my side, because of course he’d find a way to be near me. If I had to guess, he was hoping he could save the day. Along with him, Mika, Leif, and Abel were closest, and they fell in line behind me, following my lead. The other alphas moved in, flanking us.

Not fifteen steps in, I froze and squatted, trying to hide in the fog. The others crouched when they saw what I’d seen. Up ahead, a group of ghosts floated across the misty ground of the swamp directly in front of us. I grimaced in disgust as I took in their horrifying appearance. One was a man who looked like he’d died by being ripped nearly in half—his transparent form didn’t do much to obscure the awful wounds. Behind him was a woman with large swaths of charred flesh and melted skin, as though she’d been burnt alive. Finally, the third was the ghost of some creature I’d never seen before. It had six long insectile arms hanging limply at its sides. A huge jaw full of razor-sharp teeth hung open, mist drifting between its knife-like fangs. Even with us only a dozen yards away, none of the three figures looked in our direction, which told me they were probably blind.

They drifted by us, and I had to suppress a shiver as the temperature dropped. My skin crawled. I’d seen my fair share of ghosts, but these were far more terrifying than any I’d come upon before.

Once the three specters were gone, I moved forward again. Inching along the swamp, I swept my eyes across the ground in search of the mysterious gem. As I scanned the ground for the stone, Wyatt moved even closer to me. His hovering annoyed the hell out of me, but now wasn’t the time to get into it. Maybe later, I’d get him alone and tell him to give me some room—not that it would do much good.

The group spread out, but Wyatt stayed close to me. I was being overly cautious, but I definitely didn’t want to set off one of those magical barriers. Fighting a ghost was bad enough, but fighting one in close quarters sounded like a living hell. But my caution was obviously getting on some of the other alphas’ nerves.

“Holy shit,” Nathaniel whispered to Omar. “If we go any slower, we’ll be fucking going backwards.”

I glanced over my shoulder at the men and saw Omar nodding to Nathaniel. “For real. I want to get the hell out of here as fast as possible.”

“Hey,” I hissed at them.

Omar and Nathaniel’s heads snapped toward me, their faces red with shame.

“Calm down. I’m trying to get us out of here alive.”

I glared at them as I said it. From the corner of my eye, I saw Wyatt trying to hide a grin. I ignored it and turned around to find a safe passage through the swamp’s sticky mud, shallow pools, and twisted vines. Mangrove trees dotted the entire expanse, and it was from behind one of those that the next ghost appeared.

It slid alongside J.D., who gave a pathetic little squeal of terror as he flopped onto his ass and gaped at the ghost passing above him. The entire group froze as we waited for the ghost to attack. My gaze locked on J.D., wondering if the spirit would lunge at him and try to kill the man.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the creature paused for a moment and then slid past. J.D. looked like he’d been seconds from pissing himself, and he slapped his hand to his chest.

Leif crouch-walked over to him. “Are you all right?

J.D. nodded at Leif. “Yeah, man. I think I’m good.”

“Oh my gods,” Nathaniel said, rising out of his crouch. “We’re going to be here until fucking nightfall.”

The big man took a few steps forward, obviously trying to take the lead and get us out of the swamp faster. I watched in horror as the giant, clumsy man caught his foot on a mangrove root and stumbled forward. He fell face-first into the swamp, grunting hard. There was a weird sound like a breaking lightbulb, and the next thing I knew, Wyatt was tackling me to the ground as massive magical walls shot up out of the mud and trapped us in.

A banshee wail almost burst my eardrums as half a dozen ghosts appeared out of thin air and rushed toward us. Had Wyatt not tackled me, one of them would have crashed right into me. I was thrust onto my back into the mud, sinking deeper into it under Wyatt’s body. Around me, all hell broke loose.