The streetlamp at the entrance of the cul-de-sac dimmed. Hairs on Reese’s arms stood following the electric rush crawling over his skin.
A shadow ripped free of the darkness and lunged.
Reese raised his arms and jumped back just as the picture window exploded in a hail of transparent daggers. Crimson trails chased the burning lines crisscrossing his flesh.
The clink of raining glass silenced, leaving Reese with his heartbeat in his ears.
He turned.
A massive black dog stood where his coffee table had been.
Only dogs didn’t have prehensile toes or green-yellow eyes void of empathy. And they were never so black they cut swatches in the darkness.
The Anubis roared and leapt.
Reese dove behind his couch. A black blur flew overhead, plowing into the aquarium. The side shattered and three hundred gallons of saltwater spit coral, fish, and rock all over the floor.
Glass shifted under Reese’s house shoes as he shot into a stumbling run.
Behind him, heavy claws raked over hardwood with enough force to shake the walls.
He would never outrun this thing…
A burst of instinct threw Reese into the kitchen. The black mass of the Anubis slammed into the wall right where he would have been if he hadn’t changed direction. Sheetrock disintegrated and two-by-fours buckled. Another silent warning had him rolling to the left. The Anubis slammed into the refrigerator. Metal creaked as it pitched forward and slammed into the ground. Pieces of stone tile scattered.
Reese got his feet under him.
The fridge lay right where he’d fallen. Just like the Anubis hit the wall right where he would have been if he hadn’t dived.
And there’d been no logical reason to do it, yet Reese had.
A growl snatched Reese’s attention.
The Anubis stood in the doorway. Dust from the sheetrock left clouds of blistering white in the endless darkness of its fur.
It took a step and lowered its head.
Reese inched back.
The Anubis took another step.
The kitchen counter stopped Reese’s slow retreat. Cups hanging under the cabinet clinked together.
“Fuck…”
Reese followed the edge of the counter, scraping his fingers over granite to the paper towel he’d laid his coffee spoon on and back to the granite. The sink would be next, then the corner, then death.
Sweat stung his eyes.
He continued to retreat and his hand brushed the wooden block holding the kitchen knives.
Reese grabbed the cleaver.
The Anubis squinted its eyes and rolled up its lips. Even on a wolf-type head, it was an all too human expression.
“Let’s see how funny you think it is when I plant this between your eyes.” Reese’s hand shook. He tightened his grip.
Did he really think he stood a chance at fighting off an Anubis with a fucking meat cleaver? Because the only way to kill one was to sever the head from the body.