"What?" Kira spun around, her eyes darting toward the windows, the doors, the dark beyond them. "How did they get in here?"
Derek turned sharply and grabbed Kira's hand. "Come with me." His voice was calm but urgent.
He crossed to a cabinet against the far wall, pulled it open, and produced a knife in a leather sheath. He drew the blade free and pressed the handle into her palm, closing her fingers around it.
He looked straight into her eyes. "Can you handle this?"
Kira's throat was dry. She looked down at the weapon in her hand, then back up at him. "I'll try."
"Aim for the heart," Derek said. "Or the spine. Nowhere else will stop them fast enough. Heart or spine. Say it back to me."
"Heart or spine," Kira repeated.
The door burst open.
Declan came through it with two gammas, ushering Nana ahead of him along with a cluster of women and frightened children, herding them all toward the centre of the room.
