Pain exploded across my scalp, and I hit the pavement hard when he let go once I was overbalanced.
I landed hard on my ass and pain spiked up my tailbone.
Don’t stay down.
My instructor’s warning shot through me and I tried to leap to my feet.
A solid kick in the spine sent me sideways.
“You little bitch.” The leader wheezed in pain, still clutching his balls.
He’d managed to stay upright, and he aimed a kick at my exposed ribs. “You’re gonna pay for that.”
I curled inward to protect my organs as his foot came down.
A second man kicked me from behind.
Pain radiated through my torso and up my spine. I couldn’t move until they stopped.
Endure. Embrace thepain.
A third kick sent me spinning across the pavement.
Black danced at the edges of my vision.
“Enough.” The leader’s voice cut through the haze of pain. “We need her conscious.”
I rolled onto my back and tried to sit up.
My head and chest throbbed, but I was alive.
Three faces loomed over me, their expressions ranging from amused to psychotic.
My blurry vision darkened, and I blinked hard to focus.
Movement from the leader forced me to concentrate.
He reached behind his back.
Even someone without my training knew what that meant.
Gun.
I thought it a split second before he moved his hand back in front of him.
The sleek black pistol gleamed in the streetlights with a dull sheen.
Probably stolen.
Definitely untraceable.
I held up my hands and stood.
He’d already said they wouldn’t kill me.
But they could wound me.
That made any chance of escape more difficult.
