Liev sensed the presence near him before he saw its movement. A flash of steel—a knife blade—reached from behind him and slashed through his coat and vest, opening up the right side of his lower midsection. He never saw the Boy, only his hand, his long, thin fingers, wrapped around the knife handle. He tried to turn, to get a shot off, but as he did the wound opened, and his flesh burned, and blood spilled warmly over his waist and down into his pants. Pain exploded in his eyes, and Liev went down, first to his knees, then face forward onto the stone floor.
