Maria's hand tightened around Vex's throat, her knuckles white from the strain of maintaining her grip on the unconscious woman. Victory felt hollow in her chest—too easy, too clean for someone of Vex's reputation. The phantom pain from her elaborate illusion still coursed through her nervous system, making her fingers tremble despite her apparent triumph.
'Something's wrong. She gave up too easily at the end. Someone with her skills doesn't just—'
Vex's eyes snapped open, blazing with renewed fury and something else—calculation. Her legs came up in a vicious twist, both boots connecting with Maria's ribs with bone-crushing force. The impact lifted Maria off her feet, sending her flying backward through the air before she crashed into a pile of rubble with a sickening crunch.
"Did you really think," Vex snarled, rolling smoothly to her feet despite her wounded hamstring, "that I would fall for the same deception twice?"
