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Holy Christ
Clearing his mind, he held his position Hebranches, the roots at its base, the leaves, even the wind that h it It had picked up, become chilly As he’d explained to Danny back in the caves, it was a technique that had worked very well for the aborigines,it damn hard to find them when they didn’t want to be found
He didn’t knoould fare against supernatural beings, but he was going to give it a go and see how things panned out
Another spear was on the ground next to the neighboring tree, half covered in dirt and leaves so it appeared just another fallen branch
They’d found the rabbit He heard the chilling growls and snarls, a yelp and howls Sharp shouts, the cracking of whips as whoever Ruskin was using as his handlers tried to get theround rustled beneath him, and he realized two of the children had split off and andering around the vicinity of the tree next to hih the leaves It was a girl, hissing with a sinister yet oddlyApparently the other was encouraging her to go check out the hunch Bloody hell He saw aeye with traces of red, which he noted showed up well in darkness
When the child started scraile as athe spear, he saw the flick of the child’s eyes as she registered his movement He’d expected her to take several seconds to assess
He’d forgotten he was dealing with anier Instead, she launched herself out into the air, twenty feet across, straight for him
He threw hard, sheer reaction, and discovered the privilege of his new strength at the sath made up for his delay in reaction Just While he knew the spear tip wouldn’t kill her, the wooden haft did The spear went through her chest when she was less than several yards fro shriek
Dev was already dropping out of the tree, landing on top of the other one, his knife clutched in his hand
Because it was his hunting knife, it was sharp enough to cut through h he’d never tried hu but what needed to be done The i match made it easier, for the creature that looked like an unketh of a bloody bear Dev knew if he rounded on hione
The child’s head whipped right, the fangs sinking into his ar outward, wrenching his shoulder out of its socket as easily as he round
Dev plunged the knife into the wild-eyed va howl, but he pulled free and then slashed across, deep, severing neck tendons As the boy tried to get away, Dev held hieyser of blood struck his face, but he went back to the neck hacking, until he’d taken the boy’s head half off He finished the job with his bare hands A bloody mess Literally As he’d intended
A tool for demonsDamn it, keep the ed his hands into the warm liquid He painted another syainst his ene the hidden spear, he padded at a silent run through the woods, slapping the rag here and there, leaving the blood trail everywhere before dropping it and cutting across a creek,swiftly upstream
Slipping away, he heard the pack closing in A fewscreams of fury No silence now They wanted him to hear Wanted him to know that, if they found him, it wouldn’t be quick Unlike hounds, these were conscious of the concept of vengeance Odd, since the handler had indicated they illing enough to turn on one another But Dev understood it In a way, the children were there still, soery And they were a pack
Dev ignored the nauseating pain of his dislocated shoulder as he kept working his way upward, thanking God again they’d been blessed with recent rain He cut out of the creek through an area scattered ildflowers,hio he’d held Danny in his ar outside He’d smiled at her, wondered at her
He went in circles, double-backed over hi new speed, his lungs were laboring
Bloody hell, the shoulder hurt, but he didn’t dare take the time Plus, he didn’t know if it was pure adrenaline or this thirdhi down only when he kneas near the gorge he’d scoped during daylight, he located the e He’d worked out a shallow gully here, which he hoped wouldn’t beco the clumps of rass straw for air He’d finished the arrangement, had no more than a half hour or so to settle and listen, before he heard the approach of the handlers and the vampires Bloody oath, they were fast
Soht of him He could make out the muffled conversation, since they were almost on top of him “Fan out over this area Barnes, come over here”
By the shift in pressure near his calf, Dev determined one man had squatted He’d rolled himself one, because he also detected the faint odor of smoke, heard the strike of the wax s in twenty different directions, and he’s splashing blood everywhere The littlehalf mad”