Control

Reese!"

The screeching of the tires made my heart freeze in my chest for a moment, but Reese just kept rushing down the busy street and even ignored the indignant honking of the surprised motorists. A car braked so close that he brushed his black leather coat. The idiot didn't even register it. His gaze was solely on the Candir, who was rushing across the street with wide leaps.

What a fool! Wasn't it he who taught me to have eyes and ears on a hunt anytime, anywhere? It almost seemed like he was going to kill himself!

Horns, squeaks. An Audi couldn't stop in time and crashed into a Mercedes that barely braked before putting the Candir on the radiator.

And what was Reese doing? He jumped at full speed on the hood, skidded over the metal, and just ran on on the other side.

Damn it, this wasn't an action movie.

I growled at something very rude, fasted my M19 harder, and sprinted down the sidewalk on this side of the street. I never let our prey out of my sight for a moment. It was almost like a slalom. Again and again I had to avoid people and then I almost ran into a shelter. There was room for a handful of people in these small buildings. If you had to get to safety from a prole, you could run in there, seal the room and call the venators from inside via an emergency column.

People screamed as the candir ran past them. The mutated giant dog, which was also often referred to as the polar bear among the proles because of its white coat color and size, let out a loud howl and ran over a man who could no longer dodge to the side in time, but he didn't become Reese like that Come on.

We'd been chasing these bastards for ten minutes. We had already executed the three other animals that belonged to his group, only this prole managed to lead us by the nose the whole time.

He was still young and inexperienced, which was probably the only reason he just couldn't hang out. But even if he had not yet reached his full size, he was already a serious opponent.

The muscles in my legs burned from all the running. Even with the stamina that I had acquired in recent years, I would not be able to keep up for much longer. I already felt myself running out of breath. If I couldn't think of anything, we'd lose him. But I couldn't shoot here, there were just too many passers-by on the street and I wouldn't risk a ricochet.

Reese yelled something, but whether he was just trying to vent his anger or trying to tell me something, I couldn't understand.

And then it happened. The Candir ran right along the wall of the house. At that moment, a middle-aged man unsuspectingly opened his front door. The proles couldn't stop, crashed into the door and rolled over once. He pulled the surprised man with him to the ground, plowed his nose across the ground and yelped in pain.

I saw my chance. It was vanishingly small, but I didn't hesitate, stopped, raised my gun, and took aim.

Breathe in.

Exhale.

My finger pulled the trigger.

The bang had become a familiar sound in my life, as had the slight recoil.

Time seemed to slow down.

I saw the prole jump back to his feet and growl at the man with bared teeth. Reese came running down the street with long strides. His fingers were tightly wrapped around his weapon.

The bullet flew across the street and ... struck uselessly next to the prole in the house wall.

Crap!

The candir whirled around, saw me across the street, and raised its lips even higher.

A second shot rang off. The Canis prole's head twitched. Then he just collapsed. Two new holes adorned the skull. A small one where the bullet had entered and a large one where it had shot out again along with part of the brain mass.

The man who had stumbled into the whole drama as a bystander sat whimpering on the sidewalk and couldn't take his eyes off the bloody mass next to him.

I didn't have this problem, on the contrary. While the cattle twitched one last time, I looked across the street at my suicidal partner.

He stood with his legs apart and lowered his weapon. His chest rose and fell quickly under his breath. The pockmarked face was slightly red and a few strands of his brown hair stuck to his forehead in the sweaty sweat.

He took a deep breath, gave me a quick look, and then put his weapon safely back in the holster under his coat. And then he did what he always did when a hunt was successful. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. He was out of breath, but he could smoke in almost any situation. That was so typical again.

And me? I stood there and would have loved to throw a stone at the head of the fool.

Furious, I slipped my M19 into my holster and stomped across the street. Due to the rear-end collision above, the entire lane was empty and I didn't even have to pay attention to cars. "Are you actually deserted by all good spirits ?!" I hurled at his head before I even reached the sidewalk.

He paid no attention to me, just tucked a stick between his lips and then exchanged the package for a lighter.

“Reese!” I circled a parked car and stood right in front of him. "Are you tired of life recently, or why are you jumping right in front of a moving car ?!"

Calmly he let the lighter click, sucked hard on his cigarette and then expelled the smoke from the side of his mouth. At least he had gotten used to blowing the smoke in my face. His almost black eyes looked at me a little arrogantly. "It was a calculated risk," he said and put the lighter back in his coat pocket.

“Calculated ?!” I would be hit in a moment. "You just ran into the street!"

If he were the type for it, he would have rolled his eyes by now. Instead, he just pulled out his cell phone like I hadn't said anything. "Take care of your husband, I'll call Judd."

Oh, this ... this ... ahrrr! I jerked my back to him before I got the idea to kick him hard on the shin. In fact, the idea wasn't new. I had come across it quite a few times in the past three years, but so far I had always been able to control myself - even if it had been pretty close at times.