BLOOD AND BONE | rewritten

22

"Are you sure this is the way?" Finn asked Jaxon as the latter led them down a straight passage. He respectfully averted his eyes when they passed a busy brothel. "This place feels...wrong."

"You think everything interesting we do feels wrong," Rainey said over her shoulder. "One of the many downsides of being as much of a wet blanket as you are." Finn tossed up his hands at the unprompted insult as Arlo laughed his wild laugh.

Jaxon delivered them both a dirty look. "Keep your voices down, idiots. You'd think self-proclaimed criminals would be better at sneaking up on an enemy."

Rainey gave a queenly shake of her head, making the curled up ends of her hair skim her shoulders. "Being so painstakingly cautious is for people who aren't powerful enough to take a threat."

"You are not more powerful than Droghal's biggest crime lord," Finn reminded her flatly. "Remember: without any soldiers here, we'll only be able to take him down together."

He was quoting Hunt. But the Director had said much more than that. Even after Finn coaxed him into the idea, he'd been extremely reluctant to allow them to break into the Needles' lair alone. The only thing that convinced him was the knowledge that any IMC soldiers would be killed on sight while the team would be left alive. Besides, they each wore a tracker. And though they were venturing in first, Hunt was gathering a battalion of men to storm in after them if the deed was not finished within the hour.

Delphinium seemed to be the only one skeptical of this arrangement. Corinthian wanted them, whether it was to exterminate them himself, or worse. The idea of giving themselves up to him was a dangerous line to walk, even if they were using it to their advantage.

He doesn't know we're coming, she reminded herself. And only Corinthian is necessary. None of his men have to be kept alive.

Delphinium had prepared herself to shed blood today, not wanting to think about the political consequences of slaughtering men from a dangerous gang as a notorious killer herself. But the idea weighed on her anyway.

At the front of the pack, Jaxon came to an abrupt halt. "That's it."

The place was huge, and its eerie emptiness was not helped by the red light it cast over the area. How odd that no one roamed these normally-bustling passageways; they must have known better. They must have known Corinthian had something terrible planned for tonight.

"Get back in the dark," Jaxon snapped. "They've probably already got eyes on us."

The area to the left of the complex was cut off by a railing, which protected against a gaping cavity in the city's infrastructure. It was so wide Delphinium guessed if she stood at the railing she could see at least three Levels high and the one below. Countless stories. There was nothing like the realization of how horribly small she was to fuel the flames of her anxiety.