Tila froze, her sharp features twisting with rage, cornered.
Lila's voice trembled, her eyes wide with feigned betrayal.
"Kael, why are you doing this? I thought we were friends!" Her words were desperate, designed to sell the act, to push Tila toward surrender.
Rhea flanked Tila on one side, her fists wreathed in flickering flames, her amber eyes locked on her target.
Kael and Freya held the other side, Lila their leverage, the room crackling with tension.
Kael pulled a power-suppressing collar from his pocket, unlocking it with a quick press of his thumb's fingerprint.
He tossed it to the floor in front of Tila, the metal skidding to a stop at her feet.
"Put it on," he said, his voice calm but unyielding. "Do it, and no one gets hurt."
Freya pressed the icicle closer to Lila's neck, the cold biting into her skin. Lila gulped, her eyes glistening with tears, her vulnerability almost too real.
"Tila, please," she whispered, her voice breaking, urging her sister to comply.
