Round 225

Halie stepped between Silra and Jeane again, raising both hands in a placating gesture. Her voice was firm despite the tremor in her own body from the building's insistent demands. "No. We don't solve this by hurting her." She turned to face Silra directly. "Your hands are needed for fixing walls, not restraining friends who aren't thinking clearly. Stand down before you do something we all regret."

She felt Jeane's eyes on her back and didn't turn around. "And you—" Halie said over her shoulder without facing the succubus-possessed woman. The building's demands intensified, a low thrumming vibration that seemed to originate from everywhere at once. It was getting harder to think clearly, harder to resist the urge to simply give in and fuck something—anything—as the structure groaned around them.

But Halie stood her ground, blue-grey eyes locked on Silra's face. "We're not giving up on her," she said, voice barely carrying over the building's insistent hum. "There has to be another way."