The door swung inward, and Lewin was through the opening before it had fully cleared.
The lamp caught him from the left, from the low table, and he mapped the room before anything else moved. The half-risen man was the immediate problem.
Lewin aimed low and fired.
The bolt struck the upper thigh, and the man's rise turned into a different motion entirely. The sound when he hit the floorboards was heavy and involuntary, not something he chose to make.
Cul came through a beat behind, already aimed at the man on the right side of the table, whose hand was closing on a weapon.
The blade was leaving the sheath, the arm already moving through its arc, and Cul's bolt hit the forearm. It did not stop the motion. The arm had too much momentum.
The blade still came across and caught Cul on the shoulder before the arm dropped.
Cul pulled in a short, hard breath but stayed on his feet. He stepped forward into the man's reach and drove his elbow into the jaw.
