BLOOD AND BONE | rewritten

8

Delphinium decided what she feared most about their stay in the Bereyski House was sleeping. Or in her case, the lack of it.

It was as if the situation was engineered to be Delphinium's personal nightmare. Every night as they were transported back to their quarters after a full day's work, the same sickening terror filled her chest and made it difficult to breathe. Her legs turned to stone. It was a struggle to keep the unreadable mask on her face, but a struggle she was well-versed in. It was an isolating agony. Her body was her cage, but only she could see the bars holding her captive.

The team was patted down each time before being permitted into their quarters again. Delphinium knew they shared her dread for the moment one of them turned on the others while the lights were dimmed. Rainey followed her to their bunk. She was all too aware of the shorter girl standing behind her. If Delphinium could have chosen anyone to share a bunk with, she likely would have chosen Finn, as he seemed the least likely to hang her with her own innards. But she had no say in the matter, so now she had to be even more vigilant with Rainey, who seemed to gain great satisfaction from being terrible.

Across the empty space to the left was Gigi's bunk. She slept nearly as little as Delphinium did, and when she did it was so restless and shallow Delphinium got the feeling she might wake up and grab her at any moment. Several times Delphinium had to check if her chest still rose with breath. It was unsettling, to say the least.

But not as unsettling as Jake, who had the lower bunk opposite Delphinium's. As if having to rest vulnerably in front of him was not harrowing enough, he always sat on the edge of his bed simply monitoring the rest of them for the entirety of the night. Even in the low light, Delphinium caught glimpses of his eyes. She could never put her back to him.

As the bunk above creaked under Rainey's sudden weight, Delphinium sat on the bed's corner and prayed she could make it through the night without giving in to the sleep she craved.

Someone watched from the side. Delphinium turned to face Arlo staring directly at her. Masking the shiver that froze her insides, she refused to balk even a centimeter.

"What did you do," he asked, though it wasn't a question.

"I've done a great many things." God, it was hard to remain calm when his mystic expression gave her the impression of those sidewalk seers her mother would clutch her close around.

"I mean," he said, "what did you do? Your charges. You reek of blood as much as them." He gestured vaguely at Jaxon and Jake.

What answer could she give that was threatening enough to intimidate them but not so much as to make her a danger to be eliminated? She decided on a simple, "Murder."

Arlo quirked an eyebrow. Delphinium decided catching his attention was not a good thing. "How many?"

"A few." A few thousand.