Chapter 16: The Core Room

"Bring it," I said. "Brand, bring the crate. But get the crystal first."

"Getting it."

I heard his boots on a ladder. Then the hum of the housing, louder.

"It's in a cradle," he said. "Four clamps. Your kind of thing."

"Turn them left. Quarter turns. All four before you lift, or it shorts."

"Left. Quarter. All four." A grunt. "Done."

"Now lift."

A long silence.

"Ember. It's glowing. It's the size of my fist and it's glowing."

"I know. Wrap it in your jacket. Don't drop it."

"I wasn't going to drop it."

One of the crew said something on his radio. I didn't catch it.

Then I heard the growling.

Low, from three directions at once, like an engine idling in the dark.

"Brand," I said.

"I see them."

On the Registry channel, the handler started laughing inside his net.

"Hunt mode," he said. "Set it before you came in, beast. They can't stop. Every time they back off, the collar bites."

"Sable," Brand said, very calm. "Is that true?"

"Hold on." Sable's voice, fast. "I've got his wrist unit. It's true. They're locked on your tag. I can't break the code."

"Then don't," Brand said.

I heard cloth tear.

I heard the sound he made when he shifted. It came through the radio.

Then the radio hit the floor and I heard everything else.

Snarling. Claws on steel. Something heavy slamming into the housing.

A wolf yelping. Then the crackle of a collar firing, and the yelp going high and terrible.

I gripped the truck's hood so hard the paint cracked under my nails.

The old man put his hand on my back and kept it there.

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