She might be someone's trained animal. It was worth the chance, at least, that she might listen and not have to be dealt with so severely as it now appears is required.

He steps further in, drawing himself up to his full height (which is regrettably not so very large even for a human male), and allows flames to spurt from his palms and lick up his forearms. "I told you to stop that," he repeats, mostly trying to intimidate the animal so he can herd it out of the room. He will destroy it if necessary, but it would be preferable not to end a life needlessly.