Her body was giving her warnings, too. A sharp thrill of adrenaline beginning in her stomach, her heartbeat starting to race. She wouldn’t listen, though, just as she knew he wouldn’t. Even before she’d stepped out here, she’d expected they’d hit an impasse; a man undeterred by death wouldn’t let a warning from a stranger put him off. Just as she wouldn’t be put off by his size, his strength, his history. Some small part of her thought to herself it’s been a long time since I was kidnapped but she didn’t think that’s where her story was heading, not tonight.
In the same moment that he stepped forward, she slid her foot back, and lightning fast she whipped her hand up from her thigh. The knife sliced across his face, a thin line in the dark, and she stepped backward even as she wanted to step closer to watch.
“Maybe I lied a bit,” she said as he reeled. “Maybe I am here to deliver a threat.”