Hide behind barriers, huh? Sloan had a fix for that. She pushed herself back as a series of daggers plunged through the wall, their tips missing Sloan by centimeters as she wheeled around, planted her foot against the carpet, and launched demolition derby rounds of light into the wall.

A mass scream rose through the room as the girls scrambled over each other to get as far from the light as possible. Sloan paid no heed. She had no fucking time for hide and seek.

"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?" Ramsey screamed. "MY HOUSE, MY HOUSE!"

Hennepin quipped unheard over the roar of the gun.

For good measure, Sloan pumped some salvos into the floor. Through the obliterated remnants of the wall she could see the obliterated remnants of the next room over.

A whip lashed out and coiled around Sloan's neck. The cord hung suspended in air before Ramsey brought down her arm and cracked it, cracking Sloan too. The gun flew from her hands as she slammed to the ground.

Ramsey pulled back the whip and lashed Sloan's prone form with it over and over. The moment Sloan attempted to rise, the barbs beat her down.

"Oh Ramsey," said Hennepin. "I've been a bad girl too, punish me~"

A furious glint crept into Ramsey's eye as she brought the whip down again and again. Sloan took the brunt while she commanded her gun from afar to discretely angle in Ramsey's direction. The lashings disrupted her concentration. She lined the shot perfectly—

The ground creaked, groaned, and collapsed. Sloan rolled down the suddenly inclined carpet, flopping over the holes she had blasted with her gun, until she slapped against the concrete wall of a basement. She rubbed her head and struggled to rise until Ramsey rolled into her.

(Chapter 24)