Chapter 1 - The Name of the Beast
Silas Vance stood paralyzed on the terrace, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. The little girl stopped three feet away from the colossal Presa Canario. Bane’s roar had escalated into a terrifying crescendo, spit flying from his jowls as he prepared to lunge. The guards raised their rifles, fingers trembling on the triggers, knowing they were already too late.
Then, the impossible happened.
The little girl didn’t run. She didn’t scream. She simply reached into her oversized, broken coat, pulled out a small, silver whistle on a frayed cord, and blew into it. No sound came out—at least, nothing human ears could detect. But Bane stopped dead. The dog’s massive front paws slammed into the frosty grass, tearing up chunks of earth as he arrested his own momentum.
The child took one more step forward, her tiny hand reaching out toward the monster that had hospitalized hardened killers. She looked directly into the dog's pale gold eyes and breathed a single, distinct word.
"Kaelen."
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It was a name no one in the underworld had ever heard associated with the dog. Silas had bought him as "Bane." But at the sound of that word, the hundred-and-forty-five-pound beast let out a pathetic, high-pitched whine. His ears flattened against his massive skull. Slowly, defying every instinct he had been trained to possess, the lethal hound lowered his front half to the ground, bowing his massive head until his snout rested gently on the child’s mismatched shoes.
The silence that followed was deafening. Silas slowly lowered his hand from his weapon. He signaled the guards to stand down. He stepped cautiously into the pavilion, his eyes locked on the little girl who was now burying her freezing hands into the thick, charcoal-grey fur of the deadliest creature in the state.
