The major didn’t even react. Instead, like a blur he rushed my master and me. I barked and lunged as my master fired again, but then stopped myself. I was trained not to jump in when my master was shooting.
The bullet hit the major sideways, passing through his elbow and sinking into his hip. He seemed to lose footing then, falling to the side and screaming.
“Hit!” my master ordered.
I was on the major like lightning, as fast as I could, tearing at his flesh, as the Red Knight’s screams rose in pitch and desperation. I smelled garlic and gunpowder mixed with his warm, dead blood as it soaked into my fur, and I tore out his throat, then ripped his arm to shreds as he tried to deflect me. Nothing entered my mind but kill. End him as fast as I could.
And it was over quickly.
As my master turned, contemplating his next move, I caught the scent of more death, more Red Knights — they were coming closer. I growled and barked in warning, staring down the hallway in the direction of the scent.
My master turned and spun his gun up as we saw movement in the shadows. Thirty or forty this time — indistinct forms in the darkness, so many forms.
One of them stepped forward as the others parted. His skin was white as snow, his eyes redder than blood, and he seemed taller and more muscular than the rest. Over his black clothes, a necklace with a silver teardrop glinted through the shadows.
My master aimed his gun at him, but then there were footsteps behind and around us. I turned quickly, taking in the targets. More knights. We were surrounded.
“White dog…,” they whispered, and it spread through their numbers. “White dog!” Then they all touched their chests and drew lines over their eyes. Were they afraid of me? It was hard to sense it over my own terror.
The leader half turned and growled, silencing them, then turned back to my master. “I know who you are. You are Captain Ledger.” His voice was icy as winter wind, and I shivered hearing it.
“Oh shit,” my master mumbled beside me, shifting with uncertainty.
“You are a traitor to your own people,” the lead knight continued, “and an enemy of mine.”
Damn right. Kill you all.
But instead my master said, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
The lead knight smiled. “Our friend told us.” His teeth shone. They were sharp, sharper than mine, menacing. My heart thumped harder as I felt the fear again.
“He said that you conspired with Rasouli and the Red Order to keep us in chains,” the leader continued.
My master’s face didn’t change as he replied, “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, pal. I’m here to keep this bomb from going boom. When I’m done with that, we can sit down with a latte and talk about it.”
I sniffed the air, listening for Echo Team, but got no hint of them. We were still alone. Trapped.
“Do you know who we are?” the lead knight taunted as the others moved in, surrounding us.
I whimpered beside my master, shivering. We were in trouble. I trusted my master, but what could he possibly do? We’d waited too long. We should have run at the first sign of them.
“At a guess?” my master replied. “Grigor, chief bloodsucker of the Upierczi.”
The leader only nodded with approval, his face frozen in that terrifying smile. He told my master it would be an honor to die by his hand, as if the Red Knight knew it with certainty. I didn’t doubt him at the moment, but my master just stared.
“That’s actually not on my day planner,” he said.
The lead knight’s eyes cut left and right as the others moved closer. “Bring him to me!” he ordered.
“Ghost — hit!” my master yelled.
But I couldn’t move. I was trembling too much, drool dripping from my mouth. I wanted to respond. I always obeyed my master, but then my bladder released again and warm fluid ran down my legs onto the floor.
The knights stared at us a moment, then burst out laughing.
“Oh shit,” my master breathed again.
I looked to him, ashamed, but then the nearest Red Knight was on me, kicking my side. Pain swelled and filled my entire body as I rose into the air and flew against the side of the metal case that held the bomb. I yelped as I slid down, my feet scrambling for purchase, then landed in a heap, whimpering and wincing from the pain.
The knights laughed and laughed, red eyes staring at my master.
He pivoted suddenly and shot the knight who’d kicked me. The bullet sliced clean through him and into a companion behind him, slicing into his thigh. Both emitted high-pitched screams as they fell, smiles disappearing from the others’ faces. And then my master let loose with his pistol, firing again and again. My mind clouded over with pain as I tried to recover, calm myself, rise and go to his aid.
What was wrong with me? I’d give my life for him, and I had no doubt he would for me. My master needed me. Right now. If I could just catch my breath.
Instead, my thoughts wandered again to when I’d been hurt before. Before Zan found me. At the puppy mill. I hated Red Knights as much as I feared them. I hated anyone who would abuse the innocent.…
The sun beat down — Arizona in the throes of midsummer. Joe and I had been working since dawn, out in this miserable weather, closing in on the last link in a chain of domestic terror strikes. I’d learned over the short time we’d worked together it was impossible to follow the names. There were too many, and in some cases, there was only one threat known by multiple names. Names didn’t matter anyway. Just the “solution,” as the humans around me often called it.
We carefully navigated around a thick tree line that bordered a sprawling estate: several small adobe cottages spread out around a large, central manor, all with red tile roofs baking in the heat. We’d run out of shade soon and be back in that miserable sunshine. Joe looked as worn out as I was. Sweat trickled down his temples and his shirt was plastered to his back. Air-conditioning would be our reward, if this guy hadn’t ditched us again.
Joe pushed aside a branch on a small sapling and ducked under. I followed on his heels, ears pricked to catch any hint of voices or other unnatural sounds. Like, maybe, the click of a gun’s hammer. Only I heard nothing. Nothing at all. Which only made me more uneasy. Silence was never a good thing, I’d come to discover. It usually preceded total chaos, or, as Joe liked to say, all hell breaking loose.
Before us stood an imposing iron fence. A few feet to Joe’s left, an old gate hung cockeyed on its hinges, evidently unused for some time. A gate only those who knew to look for would ever find amid these thick trees. Forgotten, maybe, though I doubted it. That would be too easy.
A breeze stirred, rustling the overhead leaves. I put my nose to the sky, aching for just a bit of relief, a tickle of the fur, anything to cool the heat.
Then I smelled it.
A scent I’d thought never to encounter again. A stink of cruelty and evil that went beyond torture. Beyond even death. Feces. Urine.
And dog.
Not the kind of dog that prowled the ground, a vigilant sentry to all within. Not the kind of dog I’d become — a warrior and protector that could kill a man in seconds flat for the right reason.
Multiple dogs. Washed in misery.
My puppyhood slammed into my memories, and I couldn’t stop a growl. Joe glanced down at me, his face full of concern. I spared him only a glance, then stared at that rusty gate. I didn’t want to go in there; I knew what we’d find. Would Joe care? Or would the human threat be more important?