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"Soe spoke, Qhuinn got out his penlight and shone the discreet beah the snoere fresh, not airbrushed with loose flakesand they went directly out into the clearing in the forest Clicking the light off, he focused on the hunting cabin up ahead that seemed to be abandoned to the cold weather: no strealow of illu

The five of the up with a wide-angle approach When there was no defensive reaction fro, they all h the single-paned s

"Nada," Rhage muttered as he went to the door

A quick test of the handle - and it was locked

With a thrust, the Brother sla flying, frag with splinters of wood

"Hi, honey, I&039;m home," Hollywood shouted as he marched inside

Qhuinn and John followed protocol and stayed on the porch as Blay and Z filed in and searched

The woods were quiet around them, but his keen eyes traced those footprintswhich, after a sojourn to the cabin, headed off in a northwesterly direction

Da the property at the same ti the latter, given all the shit in that hangar - and the fact that this whole property was remote, and relatively secure because of that

Although they were gonna want to bring Stanley Stee for a cleanup first

Blay&039;s voice drifted out the open door "I got so not to break covenant with surveying the landscape and turn to look inside - and not because he particularly cared about whatever had been found Throughout their searching, he&039;d been constantly checking on Blay, ed

If anything, it had only gotten worse

Soft voices went back and forth in the cabin, and then the three of thee announced as he unzipped his jacket and slid the long, thin ainst his chest "We&039;ll open it later Let&039;s find the owner of those boots, boys"

De at fifty- to sixty-foot clips, they fanned out through the trees, tracking the prints in the snow, following silently

They came across the lesser about a half h the snow-covered forest at a clip that only a hu could have sustained for more than a couple hundred yards Clothes were dark, a pack was on the back, and the fact that he was navigating by sight alone was another clue that it was the enemy: Most Homo sapiens would not have been able to ht without battery-powered illue orientated the group into a reverse triangle for to advance along with hith and then, all at once, they closed in, surrounded the slayer, and blocked hiun

He was a newer recruit, his dark hair and olive coloring suggesting that he was of Mexican or perhaps Italian descent, and he got points for showing no fear Even though he was looking at a hurting, he lanced over his shoulder, as if to confirm that he had in fact been ae drawled

The lesser didn&039;t bother to anshich was in contrast to what they had been seeing lately Unlike the others, this was no young punk to talk scontrolled, he was the kind of enemy that improved your job perfor

And sure enough, his hand disappeared into his coat

"Don&039;t be stupid, my man," Qhuinn barked, prepared to put a bullet in the bastard at a moment&039;s notice

The lesser didn&039;t stoptrigger and dropped the bitch

The instant the lesser hit the snow, Blay froze with his guns in place The others did the same

In the silent seconds that passed, they kept eyes locked on the downed slayer No movement No response fro, and it appeared to have been working alone

Funny, even if Blay hadn&039;t heard the shot in his left ear, he&039;d have known Qhuinn was the shooter - everyone else would have given the enee whistled in a short burst, that was the cue to close in The five of them moved like a pack of wolves over downed prey, swift and sure, crossing the snoith guns up The slayer remained utterly still - but there hadn&039;t been a death in the fah the chest for that

But this was the desirable state You wanted them to be able to talk

Or at least, in a condition to be forced to talk -

Later, when he replayed what happened nextwhen his mind churned and burned over the facts obsessivelywhen he stayed up days trying to piece together how it all rolled out in hopes of divining a change in procedure that would ensure soainBlay would dwell on the twitch

That little twitch in the arly unconnected with any conscious thought or will Nothing dangerous No signal of as to come

Just a twitch

Except then, with a un froht on the ground; the next, he was shooting in a controlled manner in a fat circle

And even before the popping sounds faded, Blay caught the horrific iht in the heart, the ih to stop the Brother&039;s forwardout to the side as he flipped off his feet

Instantly, the dynaate the bastard anyh Four bodies jumped in Four arms slashed doith cold, sharp blades Four iht after another

They were too late, however

The slayer disappeared right out fro the black-stained snow beneath where the enemy had landed, instead of an empty chest cavity

Whatever - there would be time to question the unprecedented disappearance afterward At the e all but launched hi his body in the way of anything and everything "Z? Z? Oh, ot out his phone and dialed When Manny Manello answered, there was no time to be wasted "We have a Brother down Gunshot to the chest - "

"Wait!"

Z&039;s voice was a surprise And so was the Brother&039;s aret offyou CPR - "

"I will die before kissing you, Hollywood" Z tried to sit up, his breathing heavy "Don&039;t even think about it"

"Hello?" Manello&039;s voice cah the phone "Blay?"