Azura's POV
My hand was on the knife, and my feet were planted, and I looked at the man standing in front of me with his smile that had nothing behind it, and I gave him the one thing I had left to give before this stopped being a conversation.
"Last chance," I said slowly. "Walk away."
He tilted his head like I had said something genuinely amusing. "Or what? You are going to fight the three of us?"
Behind me, I felt Liona shift closer. Not running. Not freezing. Just moving to stand beside me the way she always moved when things got serious, like her body made that decision before her brain had finished processing the situation.
The second man looked at his companion. "They are not worth the trouble," he said. Something in his voice was less certain than his friend's.
"I disagree," the first one said. Not looking at him. Looking at me.
He took another step forward.
"Do not," I said with my teeth together.
He kept coming.
