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Death. Isn't that the expression? I could arrange that for you—a death that was noble and that gave some dignity to the end of your life. But you'd have to give me something in return. Tell me how to find your two friends, Linden and Mother Blessing. If you refuse, there's a more humiliating alternative ..."
    Harkness placed the carrying case in front of the bedroom doorway. There were airholes on top, covered with a thick wire mesh. Claws scratched the metal floor of the case and Boone heard a raspy breathing sound.
    He took the razor out of his pocket. "While you Harlequins were trapped in your medieval dreams, the Brethren have gained a new source of knowledge. They've overcome the challenges of genetic engineering."
    Boone cut into the skin beneath the Harlequin's eyes. The creature inside the case could smell Thorn's blood. It made an odd laughing sound, then banged against the side panel and tore at the wire mesh with its claws.
    "This animal has been genetically designed to be aggressive and fearless. It's compelled to attack without thought for its own survival. This won't be a Proud Death. You'll be eaten like a piece of meat."
    Lieutenant Loutka left the hallway and went back to the living room. The Serb looked curious and frightened. He stood a few feet behind Harkness in the doorway.
    "Last chance. Give me one fact. Acknowledge our victory."
    Thorn rolled into a new position and stared at the carrying case. Boone realized that the Harlequin would fight when the creature attacked, trying to crush it with his body.
    "Think anything you wish," he said slowly, "but this is a Proud Death."
    Boone went back to the doorway and drew his gun. He would have to kill the animal after it finished with Thorn. The laughing sound stopped and the creature assumed the silence of a hunter, waiting. Boone nodded to Harkness. The old man straddled the case and slowly pulled the panel upward.

Chapter 3
    By the time she reached the CharlesBridge, Maya realized that she was being followed. Thorn once said that eyes projected energy. If you were sensitive enough, you could feel the waves coming toward you. When Maya was growing up in London, her father occasionally hired street thieves to follow her home after school. She had to spot them and hit them with the steel ball bearings she carried in her book bag.
    It got darker after she crossed the bridge and turned left onto
Saská Street
    . She decided to go to the Church of Our Lady Beneath the Chain; there was an unlit courtyard there with different ways to escape. Just keep walking, she told herself. Don't look over your shoulder.
Saská Street
    was narrow and crooked. The occasional streetlamp glowed with a dark yellow light. Maya passed an alleyway, doubled back, and stepped into its shadows. She crouched behind a trash dumpster and waited.
    Ten seconds passed. Twenty seconds. Then the little troll taxi driver who had taken her to the hotel came down the sidewalk. Never hesitate. Always react. As he passed the mouth of the alleyway, she pulled out the stiletto and came up behind him, holding his shoulder with her left hand and pressing the knife point against the nape of his neck.
    "Don't move. Don't run away." Her voice was soft, almost seductive. "We're going to step to the right now and I don't want any trouble."
    She pulled him around, dragged him into the shadows, and pushed him up against the dumpster. Now the blade was pointed at his Adam's apple.
    "Tell me everything. No lies. And perhaps I won't kill you. Do you understand?"
    Terrified, the troll nodded his head slightly.
    "Who hired you?"
    An American."
    "What's his name?"
    "I don't know. He was a friend of Police Lieutenant Loutka." "And what were your instructions?"
    "To follow you. That's all. Pick you up with the taxi and follow you tonight."
    "Is someone waiting for me at the hotel?"
    "I don't know. I swear that's true." He started to whimper. "Please don't hurt me."
    Thorn would have stabbed him right away, but Maya