Several things happened within the next few seconds: a stone-faced Mrs. Robinson aiming at Greg and pulling the trigger to discharge the oleander bullet, Sush yelling at everyone to take cover while she herself attempted to pull Greg off Hazel, and Greg using Hazel as a human shield as the bullet scraped across her shoulder while he angled away before he saw Mr. Robinson aimed at Sush at the same time his claws scratched across Hazel’s chest, tearing through her shirt and bulletproof vest underneath.

The initial plan was to kill the orange-headed nuisance as painfully as time allowed him to, and the smell of her blood had been a...