Page 106 of Havoc's Fox

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Tempest took her time walking casually through the tree covered landscape until she was almost right on top of Marie-Claire. “Well, what do we have here?” Tempest asked, intentionally throwing a little insanity and threat into her tone.

“Who is that? Who are you? I can’t see you!” Marie-Claire said, rolling over on the ground to look up at Tempest.

Tempest misted from her spot behind Marie-Claire where she’d just managed to get eyes on her, to a squatting position right in front of her.

Marie-Claire’s face went white when the woman misted into place before her.

“Can you see me now?” Tempest drawled, winking at her.

“Who are you? Get away from me!” Marie-Claire exclaimed. “Get away from me!”

Marie-Claire held up her hands in front of her, crossing two of her fingers in the sign of the cross to try to ward off Tempest.

Tempest laughed as she reached out and wrapped her hand around Marie-Claire’s crossed fingers, squeezing until the bones in both fingers popped and snapped.

Marie-Claire screamed, trying to yank her hands out of Tempest’s grasp.

“What are you?” she finally sobbed, her hands trembling.

“Well, you see, that’s kind of a complicated question. I’m a little bit Dragon, but I’m also a little bit Gargoyle, and a whole lot of ancient elemental. There is a little tiny bit of human thrown in, but unfortunately for you, not enough to make me give a damn about any suffering you might happen to endure.”

“I don’t deserve this,” Marie-Claire whimpered, looking around herself quickly for any kind of relief, anything at all that might shift attention from this horrid creature away from herself.

Heavy footsteps had both women looking in the same direction as Havoc stomped into the clearing.

“Havoc! Havoc, help me! This demon attacked me! Help me!” Marie-Claire begged, her screaming a high-pitched whine that had both Havoc and Tempest wincing ever-so-slightly.

“Tempest,” Havoc said, inclining his head.

“Havoc. How are you this fine day?” Tempest asked.

“I have a feeling I’m about to be a whole lot better,” Havoc said.

“Funny. I was thinking the same thing.”

“You know this creature?!” Marie-Claire asked, horrified.

“Oh, yeah. She’s Brandt’s mate. My new Alpha.”

Tempest beamed a perfectly terrifying smile at Marie-Claire. “Nice to meet you.”

“She’s a demon! She just disappeared right in front of me! I saw it!”

“Was that before or after you chased my child into the woods scaring her so badly she’s still crying?”

“She’s my child! She’s horrible! She’s a terrible, horrible child! If I could have caught her, I’d have beaten her until there was nothing left to beat!”

“Is that what you told her? Is that why she’s so upset?”

Tempest reached out and slapped a hand across Marie-Claire’s forehead, squeezing uncomfortably. “Hang on, I’ll tell you,” Tempest said, pulling the memories from Marie-Claire's mind. Tempest was quiet only for a few moments before she shoved Marie-Claire’s head away from her grasp, resulting in Marie-Claire whimpering and crying out.

“She told her she’s her mother, and that she hates her and she was going to beat her when she caught her. And just so you know, her plan was to take Harley, hide her away and make you pay her for access to Harley, which she never planned to give because she doesn’t want Analise around her.”

“She’s lying! She’s lying!” Marie-Claire exclaimed, cradling her broken fingers against her chest as she looked up at Havoc.

Havoc’s features seemed to grow sharper, his eyes began to glow an eerie gold, his shoulders widened and a low rumble began deep in his chest. “I’m going to enjoy killing you. I should have done it the moment you gave birth.”