Still howling softly through the mask, the wolfman took another unsteady step forward.
The knife looked like it had been painted red and white.
“You can’t have him,” Tean said.His tongue was too big for his mouth.He caught himself about to drool and forced himself to swallow.“I won’t let you.”
The wolfman took another shuffling step.
The creature—theman—had no weapons.His hands were empty.All Tean had to do was pick up the knife.He’d spent enough time with Jem, been in enough bad situations with Jem, to know how to use it.And anyway, it was part of his job.Veins and arteries.The soft parts of bodies unprotected by bone.Where predators made their kills.He knew how to put a mad dog down.
In that moment, the knife would be weightless.Just like the gun.
And then he’d carry it for the rest of his life.
Tean shook his head.He meant to shout, but his voice came out tired.“You can’t have him.”
The howling got louder.The wolfman’s next, shuffling step carried him closer.One more of those steps, and he’d be close enough to lunge.
Tean could feel his pulse in his throat.His head was tight.Something was pounding against the backs of his eyes.
The wolfman cocked his head, studying him.He howled again, but this time, it started loud and got louder.
In a blur, the wolfman shot forward.
Tean’s hand dipped to the pocket of his cargo pants.He grabbed the canister, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
A chemical cocktail jetted out of the can and hit the wolfman in the face.His charge faltered.He shook his head, trying to get clear of the spray.He made a strange, huffing noise, like he’d breathed in wrong.Or like he was about to sneeze.
And then he screamed.
A moment later, the blowback from the spray hit Tean, and he started to cough.His eyes teared up.His chest burned.As bad as it was, though, it was nothing compared to a direct hit, even through the mask.The wolfman stopped screaming and started to choke.He flailed blindly for a moment, as though trying to grab Tean in a fit of rage.Then he spun toward the stairs.He couldn’t run, but he dragged himself in a lurching shamble toward the steps.His screams had changed to hacking coughs interspersed with high-pitched noises of distress.
Tean coughed and sagged against the kennel, legs shaking.A moment later, behind him, Daniel made a choking noise and started to hack.
“It’s okay,” Tean said.Tried to say.“It’s just bear spray.”
“Tean?”Jem’s shout came from the top of the steps.“Tean!”
“Down here!We’re okay!”
Jem hammered down the steps.He had his jacket wrapped around one arm, and the denim was soaked with blood, but otherwise, he looked fine.
“One of them just ran up the stairs,” Tean said.“I don’t know if there are any still in the house.”
Jem didn’t answer at first.He slumped against the stair rail.For a moment, he let his head rest, and his chest rose and fell with heavy breaths.
“Are you hurt?”Tean asked, wiping his eyes and fighting another wave of coughs.
Jem shook out a no.But then a violent shudder rippled through him.
“They’re gone,” Jem finally said.“The three of them.They got away.”
And it took a moment for Tean to recognize the frustration under the rage.
“It’s okay,” Tean said.“You did what you could, Jem.You saved our lives.”
Jem nodded, head still back against the rail.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
