Peril and Promise

Within a minute after the final shot, the beast had transformed into Kronin, lying there naked, leaking blood from multiple wounds.

Sam waited for some feeling of guilt or pity to come over her but none came. There was simply a sense of… finality. Not quite closure, but a recognition of a circle that was now closed…

Or was it?

Sam ripped a strip of fabric from her shirt and wrapped her bleeding arm. It tingled below the elbow and she could not yet flex that hand. What concerned her most was that she'd been bitten. Lifting her right hand, she turned it over and looked at the palm; at the scar that existed there from the bullet Kronin had fired through her hand and into Elias's chest.

That scar looked a bit like the mark of the beast.

Then, once again that voice came to her – You're gonna be just fine, baby girl. No matter what, you're gonna be fine. I'm proud of you, every day.