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Hovering between then and now, he felt the pinpricks of lights out in the darkness Stars in the night sky If he stared long enough, they would grow brighter, falling toward hiht sky had always scared him So he shied away, back to the er filled hi to hi Pyotr’s feeble beat Strange odors swelled through his senses: wet grass, the whispers of hot blood in the air, the feel of gravel underfoot A breath drew heavily, er than his own sh him

Then another musk came with it

A new scent

Another hunter in their ent odor

Me, fury burned away hunger

As Pyotr huddled tighter, that large heart stalked forward, padding toward his and headed toward the lower half of the street His back and chest burned, scratched and impaled by splinters from the narrow squeeze between the two clapboard shops He had secured Pyotr in the truck, safe froer for the moment--but not from the sniper His first priority was to lure the soldier away fro after Monk into thethe soldier would have to follow that

Monk ran low He stuck close to the buildings and avoided piles of dry leaves and foundation gravel He moved silently until he reached where the loitchback cut doard Rounding the last building, he edged back to thehis breath, he peeked around the corner and scanned up the street He spotted the brickwork of the general store, the rusted truck, and the roadway of weeds and high grass Nothing moved A breeze flowed down the rass blades

But there was no sign of the sniper

He had to be out there, possibly sneaking up on the children Monk could not risk a hostage situation if the sniper grabbed one of the kids Monk bunched his legs under him He had to dash across the street and down to the lower level of the raravel wouldto draw off the soldier

Taking a deep breath, Monk burst out of hiding and pounded across the gravel "Run!" he yelled and waved an ar!"

Let the sniper think that all the children ith--

--crack--

Fire i went out from under him

He landed hard, his arms out to protect him Gravel tore skin from his palm and stumped wrist He let momentum roll hih the grass over his head with a sharp whistle

Monk dropped flat, but he spied through the grass and saw the soldier rise He had been hiding farther up the street, about halfway toward the brick store Rifle on his shoulder, he sidled straight at Monk

The soldier had anticipated his adversary circling to the rear He had hidden in wait, ready to a

Fifty yards up the street, a parted V of grass swept straight toward the soldier, like a torpedo through water

Borsakov kept his face stoic, but a dark satisfaction rang through him He had the man down, immobile, defenseless He would end this here, make the American pay for the deaths of his coh the kneecap, perhaps another through his shoulder

As Borsakov took another step, a shift of gravel sounded behind hi like the wind

Not the wind

He knew

Borsakov twisted around He started firing before he’d even secured his stance He squeezed hard, rifle chugging with autoe ripped through the blasts as Zakhar burst out of the grass and leaped straight at his wide, black claws bared, s

Borsakov fired and fired Blood burst in sprays fro the er, lust and determination

In the face of such horror, a screauttural and raw, a prier landed and pounded hier savage the soldier’s body It re into the massive wolves yesterday Monk heard the moist crack of bone, and thedoll, gripped by the neck, blood fountaining

Monk had seen enough and bounded straight at the tiger, his left leg on fire, dripping with blood

The soldier’s weapon had been flung froht hundred pounds of feral er and Monk They would not survive this rowl spat toward hiard, Monk knew the cat recognized hier crouched atop the broken Russian’s body, ht out in all directions Blood flowed across the tiger’s chest and flanks, blurring stripes The cat survived on pure fury

Reaching the weapon, Monk slid on his knees and scooped up the rifle One-handed, Monk struggled with the weapon, tangling with its strap and fuer

He would never s bunched for the kill--

--when a second feline screa out in a perfect yowl of fury and grief Monk recognized it, having heard it just hours ago

The death cry of Arkady, brother of Zakhar