BLOOD AND BONE | rewritten

29

Delphinium was as helpless as a blindfolded runner through a field of land mines.

Lying in wait for the Needles, she and Jake hid on the rooftop of another high-rise with a view of Fenon's dilapidated body. There was no sign of them yet, but she kept an eye on all the entrances to the crime scene so far below.

There was a creak in the spiral staircase behind them. Delphinium peered down it, just to be sure. No one there.

"Are you aware of how paranoid you are or are you content to live in fear?" She whipped her head around to look at Jake, but he didn't face her.

"I am careful to make up for the risks you take."

"Do I strike you as someone who does not think before I act?"

"No," Delphinium answered, honest for once. "But as long as we're outnumbered and overpowered, I think it would be best that you put aside whatever bloodthirsty vendetta you have against Corinthian. I don't want to be dragged down with you." I don't want to be Jaxon.

"I won't be dragged anywhere. Your paranoia is showing again."

Delphinium's lips tightened. "Being paranoid has kept me alive and at the top of my game all these years."

"Constantly outthinking your enemies is what kept you alive. Paranoia is for people who doubt themselves and their abilities," he said. "That weakness rules you."

The desire to protect herself was overbearing. "It's one of the reasons I have not had Droghal's largest crime boss seeking revenge against me until now." Making it personal was not the most diplomatic move, but how else could she prove she was not the weakling he thought she was?

Because of it, she feared his response. But all he said was, "It's also one of the reasons you can't exist anywhere without cowering in the corner like someone's kicked pet."

Knowing better than to further taunt a loose cannon, Delphinium left the conversation there and turned back to the crime scene. She did not want to unpack the truth to his cruelty.

Across the way arrived a group of people. Three male figures and a female. Delphinium marveled at how rapidly they tracked its exact location. She couldn't make out many details, but she did recognize a red-haired man from their escape. The others were unknown even as they neared the roof's edge and their faces were painted in the red glow.

Jake murmured, "The woman is Leora Shaw. Corinthian's third."

Having inspected the body long enough, the group disappeared as they descended. Mirroring them, Jake turned back to the stairwell, but Delphinium hesitated. He meant to follow them. It was bold. It was also a surefire means to get them spotted.