The air in the rundown tavern was thick with the scent of stale ale and smoke, but Serpha stood unflinching as Kain pressed the strange, metallic tube against her temple. Its cold surface sent a shiver down her spine, but she didn't blink. Her green eyes locked onto his, defiant and unyielding.
"You think I'm one of them?" Serpha asked, her voice steady but laced with irritation. "After all we've been through, Kain?"
Kain's scarred face remained unreadable, his eyes glinting like a predator's in the dim light. "Succubi are clever, Serpha. They wear faces you trust. This little toy," he tapped the tube, "sniffs out their essence. If you're clean, you've got nothing to worry about."
"And if I'm not?" she challenged, her lips curling into a faint smirk.
"Then I pull the trigger, and your head's a memory," Kain replied, his tone flat but deadly serious.
