In the context of the book, IIRC, the sentence is very unambiguous. She pulled back her fingers and they were indeed sliced off a second later. This is science fiction and part of this series contains a character called the The Shrike (capitals intentional). The following text is taken from the wikipedia entry about the Hyperion Cantos

SPOILER ALERT

The region of the Tombs is also the home of the Shrike, a menacing half-mechanical, half-organic four armed creature that features prominently in the series ... It is portrayed as composed of razorwire, thorns, blades, and cutting edges, having fingers like scalpels and long, curved toe blades. It has the ability to control the flow of time, and may thus appear to travel infinitely fast. The Shrike may kill victims in a flash or it may transport them to an eternity of impalement

You may not have gotten to the point yet in the book or series where this explained in more detail. It is part of the mystery.

In the context of the book, IIRC, the sentence is very unambiguous. She pulled back her fingers and they were indeed sliced off a second later. This is science fiction and part of this series contains a character called the The Shrike (capitals intentional). The following text is taken from the wikipedia entry about the Hyperion Cantos

SPOILER ALERT

The region of the Tombs is also the home of the Shrike, a menacing half-mechanical, half-organic four armed creature that features prominently in the series ... It is portrayed as composed of razorwire, thorns, blades, and cutting edges, having fingers like scalpels and long, curved toe blades. It has the ability to control the flow of time, and may thus appear to travel infinitely fast. The Shrike may kill victims in a flash or it may transport them to an eternity of impalement

You may not have gotten to the point yet in the book or series where this explained in more detail. It is part of the mystery.

In the context of the book, IIRC, the sentence is very unambiguous. She pulled back her fingers and they were indeed sliced off a second later. This is science fiction and part of this series contains a character called the The Shrike (capitals intentional). The following text is taken from the wikipedia entry about the Hyperion Cantos

SPOILER ALERT

The region of the Tombs is also the home of the Shrike, a menacing half-mechanical, half-organic four armed creature that features prominently in the series ... It is portrayed as composed of razorwire, thorns, blades, and cutting edges, having fingers like scalpels and long, curved toe blades. It has the ability to control the flow of time, and may thus appear to travel infinitely fast. The Shrike may kill victims in a flash or it may transport them to an eternity of impalement

In the context of the book, IIRC, the sentence is very unambiguous. She pulled back her fingers and they were indeed sliced off a second later. This is science fiction and part of this series contains a character called the The Shrike (capitals intentional). The following text is taken from the wikipedia entry about the Hyperion Cantos

SPOILER ALERT

The region of the Tombs is also the home of the Shrike, a menacing half-mechanical, half-organic four armed creature that features prominently in the series ... It is portrayed as composed of razorwire, thorns, blades, and cutting edges, having fingers like scalpels and long, curved toe blades. It has the ability to control the flow of time, and may thus appear to travel infinitely fast. The Shrike may kill victims in a flash or it may transport them to an eternity of impalement

You may not have gotten to the point yet in the book or series where this explained in more detail. It is part of the mystery.