Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Trapped in the mill cellar with Greys reinforcements approaching from the southeast, Thorne and Shadow lose their exterior anchor when Cole engages the incoming soldiers alone. Thorne breaches the cellar trapdoor into the mill's ground floor and kills both guards in close quarters, but Masovich escapes through a hidden passage behind a bookcase. The colonel's carved chess pieces confirm he knows shifters exist by scent. Above, the dog goes silent. Outside, Cole's bear roar cuts through the gunfire. Thorne finds the passage exits through the coal chute into the yard amid the reinforcement firefight. Cole stands among four dead Greys soldiers, wounded and barely upright, blocking the mill's front door. Masovich's truck is gone. The colonel escaped on foot through the northern tree line toward Derkach.
Thorne pressed himself against the cold, damp cellar wall. The earth vibrated, a more reliable messenger than sound in this confined space. He felt the thrum of approaching boots through the soles of his worn boots, a distinct cadence of multiple entities, moving with an unnerving speed and lack of caution that spoke of familiarity with the terrain. They knew where they were going.
Shadow’s hackles rose, her muzzle tilting instinctively toward the surface. She’d caught the scent, a primal recognition of an encroaching threat. Thorne counted the seconds between the seismic pulses. Four, five, six. At least a dozen, maybe more, advancing from the southeast, following the very path Thorne and Cole had taken to reach this isolated mill. The chilling realization settled: Cole was now the sole buffer between these unknown assailants and their objective.
His radio lay shattered, a casualty of their hasty descent. Hand signals were utterly useless through the thick stone and packed earth. A knot of dread tightened in Thorne’s gut. He had no way to warn his gunny. Shadow whined, a soft, almost inaudible sound, her intelligent eyes mirroring Thorne’s grim assessment of the unfolding situation. She understood the grim mathematics as well as he did.
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