He lunged with the knife raised high, all technique and training abandoned in favor of raw emotion and overwhelming grief. Liora's body moved before conscious thought could interfere with her survival instincts. She rolled left as the blade came down where her head had been a moment before, her hand closing around the laptop as she moved. She swung it upward and across in one fluid motion born of desperation rather than any formal training.
The corner of the laptop caught him in the temple with a sickening crack that echoed through the cage and seemed to reverberate in the quiet penthouse. His head snapped sideways with the impact, his eyes going unfocused. The knife fell from his suddenly nerveless fingers, clattering on the floor with a metallic sound that seemed unnaturally loud in the aftermath of violence.
