Echoes of that night
Nina didn't retreat—she lunged forward, sliding under the swing and slamming her shoulder into his hip to throw him off balance.
He stumbled, and Nina seized her opening. Her hands shot out, locking onto the wooden bat.
She twisted his wrist savagely until it snapped. The man howled, dropping the weapon.
Nina snatched the bat into her own hands, planted her good leg, and cracked the wooden barrel hard into the side of his knee. A sickening crunch echoed through the alley, and the leader collapsed to the ground, curling up in pain.
The last standing man took one look at her—bleeding from her head, eyes burning with rage, holding the bloody bat—and froze in terror.