Her eyes flicked to me in the same instant. Her other hand came up in a swift signal.
Like an echo, the lights blacked out.
I lunged, then. Sidewise and down, hurling myself away from the line of Kruze's aim.
Simultaneously, almost, the paragun's pencil-shaft of purple fire lanced through the black, straight to the spot where I had stood.
I dived in low, striking blindly for Kruze's legs. Pain from the shock of impact splashed through my shoulder. Together, my quarry and I crashed to the floor.
That stone-hard floor.
Writhing, I rolled clear of Kruze, then brought up my legs and smashed my feet into him with all my might.
Breath went out of him in an anguished, incoherent gust. Hands clawed at my ankles in the darkness—jerking me close, wrenching my leg around.
I rolled fast with the twist. Groping, I flailed and pawed at the thick, heavy-muscled body.
An ear came under my fingers. Mouth. Nose. Hair.