The dark shapes with pale faces and eyes that glitter silver glide out of the forest together, meeting on the trail their keepers created for the hunt. The first one snarls a welcome to his brother and sister.

"It's true, then?" The female hisses in guttural English. "The testing is almost over?"

Their leader's shark teeth glint in the moonlight, lips pulled wide.

"The doctor told me as much." His wide shoulders twitch. "The last of the children arrive ...