Carly was wide-eyed and in full deer-in-headlights mode when Tzich got behind her and took her hand. Without blinking, she looked frantically between his subtle grasp and the raging beast bounding toward them. Her breath became uneven. Then, as he brought her hand out and forward, and the Hell-dog was flying towards them, things slowed.

She blinked. She felt an undeniable heat burst between her and Tzich’s hand, and an unbeatable force churned in her chest like a great whirlwind. Her teeth clenched and she felt lethal. At the ends of her fingers, her nails, it began to itch, and intense warmth radiated throughout.

Things returned to current motion. Her pupils had engulfed the amber of her eyes and more, breeching to the whites. A savage sneer curled onto her lips, and her hand, suddenly much heavier, came down on the animal.

It yelped in pain. She was so engulfed that she disregarded the thick, black claw that had replaced her once innocent flesh-toned nails. Blood rippled up and out from its meat, an oozing black with a clear sheen. It recuperated quickly and came back to strike.

A growl started in the heart of her throat, then ripped out completely when she brought her foot up and into the dog’s chest, pelting it against the dumpster where it had once foraged.