They had made this personal again.
I lunged forward, surprising the operative, and drove my knee into his gut. He doubled over, gasping for air. Before he could recover, I grabbed him by the tactical vest, lifted him, and slammed him against the side of the armoured SUV. The vehicle thunked with the impact.
I didn't let up. My training kicked in, the brutal efficiency Elias himself had drilled into me. Elbow strikes, knee strikes, designed to incapacitate, to break. The operative slumped, unconscious, against the SUV.
The first operative, his nose still bleeding, rushed me with renewed ferocity, his blade carving arcs in the air. I dodged and wove, narrowly avoiding his attacks, but I was tiring. My body screamed in protest, my side a constant, burning reminder of my vulnerability.
Sud
