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It was so sudden, she had no tiht in her throat as the creature leaped, its powerful haunches propelling hi as the va explosion of surprise, but before Elisa could draw breath, she was seized in hard hands that flung her painfully over a shoulder A jolting run across the ground; then she was dumped into the Jeep’s backseat Tokala slaming the rifle to his shoulder

Elisa scra in her throat The grasses were a tornado of led There was a flash as they surfaced, and she saw Mal grappling with the lion, then ducking under the swipe of a paw, avoiding wide, fang-filled jaws that could have crunched down on her skull like shellfish The lion had more than one set of claws, however, and as they rolled, the powerful back legs raked, tearing open the jeans and flesh covering Mal’s left leg A geyser of blood erupted and Elisa cried out

"Mal"

Tokala fired into the air It ht have worked if the creature didn’t have blood in his nose, but he was as gripped in bloodlust as one of the fledglings As fast as they were grappling, the Indian had no clear shot, though Elisa knew he could shoot through the vampire if needed, since a bullet wouldn’t kill Mal She wondered why he didn’t, shouted in panic at Tokala to take the shot, and then realized Mal wouldn’t want the lion harmed unless absolutely necessary

Tokala cursed and leaped forward As Elisa watched in amazement, he darted in, seized the lion’s tail and twisted it, hard At the sath to haul the lion back several feet By his tail The creature howled in pain, turned like a whipping snake

"No!" But Tokala was already backpedaling and fired directly into the ground between hi the creature It gave Mal thethe beast onto his haunches and locking his fists around the maddened creature’s neck, a wrestler’s headlock

Get her out of here Elisa heard the thundering command in her mind and Tokala was already in motion She scra the rifle in the back, Tokala slaine over, fishtailing the vehicle to get up the slope and back toward the service road She twisted around in the seat in time to see Mal release the lion, thrust hi out of the anirievous injury

Less than two minutes, and it was all over As they reached the top of the hill and the road, she looked back and saw the lion at the abandoned trailer Mal’s blood had sprayed against it, such that the beast was hitting the ht his prey had escaped in there She noted he was tra with her

Her , panicked Mal? Mal?

I’e now He’ll callanced toward Tokala, whose face was tense, lips pressed tight "It’s okay; they’re all right"

He gave her a half nod, and she realized he was listening to so hi beaten with a tire iron sitting still

This wasn’t his fault Sir? Mr Malachi?

He ignored her,her jaw clench How could Tokala have known the lion would come out of nowhere like that? The western section had miles of area, after all Even Mal hadn’t expected them to be around They’d be indifferent, he’d said When they pulled up to the ridge, though, her worried irritation over that was eclipsed Mal was sitting on the ground, that frightening tear in his jeans soaked with blood, and he was pale

As the Jeep slowed, Elisa was all set to jump out, but Tokala clamped down on her arm "Wait" He nodded, and then she sahat he did Jereet to his feet, and though he didn’t look toward Jeremiah, she could tell by the set of his shoulders he ell aware of the young vampire’s proximity Their bloodlust could be set off by violence, weakness, the smell of blood itself, and this moment was rife with all three

However, that didn’t appear to be Mal’s primary concern He was pure vampire now, the one who commanded all of theot out of the Jeep to face his eht

"You want et my stuff and leave, I will, Mal No excuse for it Just plain stupid, in so h the fact she was having to hop took sonified determination away from it "You can’t fire him The lion came out of nowhere"

"No, he didn’t" Tokala turned toward her, since Mal said nothing "I knew there were two of the my senses tuned to it They likely wouldn’t have bothered us, even if they saw us, because they’re fa that drew him Sets off a prey radar and he pretty much has to run you down The moment you twisted your ankle I should have told you to stop where you were, not ht the Jeep to you"