There wasn't time for anything else, and I was in no mood to get raped tonight. I reached to the back of my jeans, where two short knives were sitting in leather sheathes at the small of my back. I pulled one out with each hand, then did the last thing they expected me to do.

I attacked.

When in a fight, you always go after the leader first, because if he goes down, the rest might run. His eyes picked up the glint of steel, but it was too late. My left hand plunged the blade into his stomach, then the right sliced across his neck just below the...