Chapter 12 - Veritas
The Latin word acted as an immediate neurological trigger.
The tiny scar behind Bruno's left ear flared with a sudden, faint bio-luminescence. The Cane Corso’s pupils dilated completely, banishing any remnant of pain or fatigue from his heavily muscled body. He didn't charge Keller in a straight line; he leaped horizontally off the dock, plunging into the black water beneath the floating pier.
Keller laughed wildly, keeping his gun jammed against Sarah’s skull. ""Your attack dog drowned itself, Sarah! Now throw down the rifle, Julian! Three seconds!""
""One,"" Julian said coldly, lowering the muzzle of his carbine toward the deck.
""Drop it completely!"" Keller screamed.
Before Keller could register the movement, the wooden planks directly beneath his boots shattered upward in a geyser of saltwater and splintered timber. Bruno exploded from beneath the floating dock, bursting through the rotted wood with terrifying hydraulic force.
His massive jaws clamped shut around Keller’s gun arm, severing the nerve clusters at the wrist with a single sickening crunch. The pistol flew spinning into the dark bay.
Keller shrieked in agony as the sheer momentum of the hundred-and-forty-pound warhound dragged him backward off his feet. Sarah threw herself forward, rolling clear of the struggle onto the wet deck.
Julian sprinted forward, grabbing Sarah by the collar of her jumpsuit and hauling her behind the cover of a cast-iron bollard, shielding both her and Emma with his broad frame.
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On the edge of the pier, Keller writhed beneath the crushing weight of the hound. With his free hand, Keller reached into his tactical vest, pulling the pin on an incendiary grenade clipped to his chest harness.
""If I burn... we all burn!"" Keller spat, blood bubbling on his lips.
