Page 98 of Break Out the Girl

Hearing my command, Tally tears his jaws away from his opponent, leaving a massive gash across the hound's muzzle. He throws the monster off, pivoting in the mud, and launches his massive wolf-frame straight towards the crater. His claws become a blur of motion, flinging massive clods over his shoulders as he and London dive back into moving earth.

But the hound he abandoned isn't dead. It lets out a wet, enraged snarl, its yellow eyes locking onto Tally’s exposed spine as it prepares to spring.

“Fuck you,” I hiss.

Before the beast can launch itself, I shift into a shaft of concentrated high-pressure air, striking the dog in its side. Bones snap, and my force pushes harder, as the creature swipes through my non-existent body.

Nope.

I channel the full weight of the tempest, pinning the thrashing monster down beneath a suffocating column of wind.

To my right, François has finally gotten the upper hand, his black coils now crushing the second hound until it goes entirely still. He shifts back to human and runs to help dig.

Two dog-monsters down. Now we can finally concentrate on Sky.

But before I can even turn to check the countdown clock, a sudden, catastrophic change hits the clearing.

An unnatural dread sweeps through me. Something tells me to look up.

Down from the stormy canopy, a creature comes diving into the clearing.

It has the face of a beautiful woman—immaculate, dark hair and striking features—but her humanity ends there. The creature’s body is a nightmare of massive, dark-feathered wings and cruel, curved talons.

The storybooks would call her a Harpy.

Her eyes narrow as she looks at François, London, Tally and the stranger digging deep in the hole. “François de Vaux. I knew you were trouble. A spy.” She glares from him, to the dead hounds. “Now you’ll pay,” she hisses through her teeth.

I don’t know what she’s talking about and don’t care. As long as she leaves my guys alone to do their job.

But the bitch obviously has no chill.

The Harpy lets out a deafening shriek and dives, her razor-sharp talons aimed straight for my gravediggers.

Nope.

“HEY, CUNT!” I scream, as a fierce, white-hot spark ignites in my core. “YOU HAVE TO GET THROUGH ME FIRST!” I step directly between her and the grave, still mostly human, but with the winds roiling under my fingers.

Hurry, guys.

I trust them. They can save her. I need to concentrate on this awful creature.

She leaps towards me. I send a wild wave of storm her way seconds before she tears my throat out. The harpy tumbles over, smacking hard into a tree. It only takes a second for her to gather herself and strike again. This time I meet her in the middle of the glade, my body turning into a zephyr that is almost out of my control.

CRASH.

I whip her around and around, she claws and screeches.

And it fucking hurts. How that can be I don’t know.

I do know I need her out of here.

Or dead.

The whirlwind that is our fight rises higher and higher above the ground, above the tree canopy and into the full might of the storm. But that’s not a problem for me. It’s as if the elements are cheering me on.

Razor sharp talons slash at my ethereal core.

Fucking bitch.