Free o f31e4a444fa175b2 by deba schrott Page B

first,
    ‘Cori, get in the car. Now.”
    “But—”
    “Now!” I grabbed her. by the waist and tossed her over the chain-link fence separating us from the car, making sure, magic cushioned her lauding. “Start the car!”
    She flailed, caught her balance, and threw a mutinous look over her shoulder, but obeyed, running toward the car as fast as she could. My pulse slowed slightly
    I shifted, beating newly formed wings and using them to half jump, half fly the fifty feet separating me from the fight. The ground rose up more quickly than expected. I lost my footing, stumbling halfway to the earth before regaining my balance, Damned lucky thing, too, because a leg zoomed past, where my head had just been.
    Growling, I rushed at the man who’d kicked at me, reaching for his leg to snap it, At least, that had been the plain. But neither he nor his leg were where lit expected.
    I gaped, twisting to find he’d somehow managed to get halfway behind me. “What are you?” Stupid question— like he was going. to tell me. Nemesis and Nike responded to my call, bursting from lifeless tattoos to larger-than-life reality; I grabbed them both and tossed them straight, toward pay opponent’s unprotected neck.
    I turned to the man now grappling with Scott hand-to-hand. That just left the one on the groun—
    Pain exploded in my knee. I clutched it as I dropped and the world faded to black. I came dangerously close to passing out, but Nemesis and Nike sent tendrils of magic my way, just enough ‘so that I was able to force back the pain and open my eyes.
    The third goon, the one I assumed had been out cold, turned, his attention to Scott. He brandished a heavy aluminum bat, answering the question of what I’d been socked with. Good gods, that had, hurt.
    These sons of bitches were far stronger than they had any right to be, And that just pissed me off. No time to waste for healing, Not if I wanted to keep Scott’s mangy but alive~ I sucked in magical energy wildly, using, it to cut the rest of my body off front the agony pulsing inside my knee, g onna pay for that later, Gritting my teeth, I leapt on the groons back.
    Rage pounded, anti I let it, channeling its all-fired furor and using It to focus. I teetered onthe edge of the abyss separating Fury from Harpy, the biggest danger in allowing Rage to flow unchecked, But my current goal was more than enough to keep me on the straight and narrow.
    Talons sprouted from my hands to match the, half-furled wings along, my back. I wrapped powerful legs around the goon’s waist, raking claws up and down his arms. He screeched, an inhuman sound in the dying light he day, and their he did just what I wanted him to: focused on me, rather than the still-struggling Scott.
    “That’s it, asshole. You wanna play? I’m more than willing?1
    He spoke, the first time one of them had uttered a word during the entire attack. “Let’s see just how willing you can become, Fury.”
    His hands twisted, coming to rest on my wrists and squeezing. At first I thought he meant to break them, but he merely wanted to ensure a solid grip. I snarled, trying to shake him off, but his strength was equal to my own. My heart skittered. I’d never faced another arcane as strong as me. Bad, bad, bad.
    It got worse. A warm haze radiated outward from the man’s hands, spreading along my arms and tickling my neck. I shivered, at first repulsed, but then the warmth wrapped me from head to toe, and I was lost.
    My legs loosened and dropped to the ground. He turned, somehow managing to maintain his grip, and smiled, his entire face lighting up in the most glorious expression I’d ever seen. His face flickered, something that should have seemed odd but barely managed to penetrate my current fog. Great gods, how could I have had the audacity to attack this amazing specimen of arcane perfection? He was gorgeous, he was splendid, he was everything amazing and right in the world and I wanted only to please hi—
    What the