Payal stared at Akhil in shock, her hand trying to pull out his fist holding the knife.
Fortunately, Akhil missed the fatal shot by a hair's breadth. This is owed to Payal's training rather than Akhil's incompetence.
It is easy to think of Payal as soft, because she is a woman and had a stature that barely met the minimum physical requirements of a lady officer. However, reality is the reverse. Payal's reaction speed is on par with the best of the agents, and her ability to fight is world class. She would not have been warden of such a special group of people otherwise.
A normal soldier would not be able to take a single stab at her.
Given how fast and quick Akhil had been, and how well he was able to fool her trained senses, she had a feeling he was trained in the military from a young age. He must have been holding back all this while.
