"Let her go," Akane said with a flat voice.
Rika's fingers tightened around Syl's throat, veins bulging on the Succubus's bicep. The Hobgoblin's toes barely scraped the dirt; her spear lay discarded where Rita's threads had nearly diced it. The dagger she had taken from one of the dead, decrepit Followers lay on the ground.
Even strangled, Syl glared, her eyes burning. Her lips parted, but no words could be uttered.
Rita, the other Succubus, had been brought down to her knees, violet hair spilling across her cheeks. Akane's palm rested on the top of the Succubus's head, heat licking down into Rita's skull. The Succubus held very, very still, the fine lines of her silvery threads hanging inert on the ground like the fallen webs of a dead spider.
"We're at a standstill," Akane said, not taking her eyes off Rika. "Let go of Syl, or I'll burn your friend to ash."
Rika's smile made even Rita shiver. "Doesn't sound like the worst ending to this."
