BLOOD AND BONE | rewritten

23

A crack sounded as pain exploded against Delphinium's ribs.

Chains rattled from her wrists tied above her head. Her body ached to sink to the floor, but the short length of the constraints forced her to stand and take the beating she earned.

There was no time to catch her breath before another fist connected with her face. Her nose broke. The taste of metal filled Delphinium's mouth. Of their own accord, her eyes watered beneath the blindfold, and she blinked away the shock. Blood coated her teeth. The warm trickle of it ran down her chin.

Delphinium gritted her teeth against another volley of strikes that peppered across her abdomen, threatening to damage tissue and organs alike. Especially when compared to Corinthian's brutes, her body was delicate from months of being a living husk of a person. And as each blow against her tired bones furthered the likelihood of them snapping, she was never more aware of how breakable she was.

One of the Needles kicked at her legs, making them give out. Delphinium's full weight fell onto her chained wrists and her skin split under the strain. Her eyes rolled back in her head to keep from screaming. The pain stung immediately. She could only be thankful her shoulders hadn't been dislocated.

Rolling her ankles back into use, Delphinium stood and prepared for the next burst of pain. A perfectly-timed strike against the center of the ribs had her choking. Slowly force the air into your lungs, she remembered from experience. If you panic, you'll faint.

With her lungs on fire, she inhaled from the bottom of her diaphragm. She solely focused on her breath, even as the Needles' fists were relentless in their punishment. It was easier to dwell on the steady rise and fall of her chest than the agony cutting through every nerve.

This was not the worst torture she had experienced.

She was not her body. It was nothing but an inconvenient exterior that she was unfortunately tied to. They might be able to hurt her and make her bleed, but they could never reach behind the bars of her mind to latch onto what she truly feared.

Delphinium shut her eyes, taking what they inflicted. Corinthian needed her for some purpose, if his comment about her tracker was what she interpreted it as. She was of no use dead. So this was not the end, just a painful bump in the road.

She was hovering in the fog before unconsciousness when she heard Corinthian's silky voice. "I think that's enough for now."

They yanked at her chains and Delphinium stumbled forward on bruised legs. She could sense nothing and she heard no sign of her teammates. There was a rustling of papers and the slight creak of a chair. An office, perhaps.

The blindfold was removed. Corinthian indeed sat behind a desk, a bloodstain marring the chest of his suit. Ignoring his men pointing guns at her skull, Delphinium followed his gaze to find Gigi standing in the back of the office. As Delphinium turned to face her, the impassiveness of her features didn't change. But there was a small twitch of her nose, a downward pull of her lip that let Delphinium know her stoicism was forced. Forced to cover what, was the question.