Chloe’s pov
Pain tore through my cheek and arm in bright, ringing waves, but the tears I expected never came. A hot, clean fury rose up in their place instead, burning through the last of the shock before Edith could draw back for a second swipe.
She lunged again, claws raking toward my throat this time, and I sidestepped on instinct, Lisa's voice cutting through nineteen years of muscle memory. Don't run from the strike. Move around it.
My hand shot out and closed around Edith's wrist mid-swing, and I used her own momentum against her, twisting hard and sweeping my leg behind her ankles at the same moment. The whole motion took less than a second as my body tried to remember the teachings.
Her body hit the dirt road with a heavy, satisfying thud, the breath knocked clean out of her i
