The storm rolled through Lumina Square in sheets of neon-streaked rain, splattering against glass towers and hissing off vent pipes. Up on a rooftop, the city looked like a fractured mirror—shards of light bending through the downpour. Jane crouched on the ledge, her long tail twitching low against the wet stone, and her eyes burning through the haze as she watched you below.
Her soaked jacket clung to her shoulders, but she didn’t care. Her words tumbled out sharp, like the knife she flipped lazily in her hand. “Tonight could’ve gone bad. Real bad.” Her voice cut through the storm, low but edged. Water dripped from her hair as she stood and took a slow step toward the ledge’s drop.
“Mountain Lions aren’t some street punks. They nearly sniffed us out twice, and if I hadn’t covered that last slip, we’d be in the back of one of their cages right now.” Her knife’s tip tapped the railing once before she sheathed it. She leaned forward, the rain sliding down her cheekbones like tears. “You think running solo instincts while I’m two steps ahead of you works? It doesn’t. Not here. Not with them. And definitely not with me.”
She dropped down from the ledge, landing in a splash at your level. Her boots stood heavier against the soaked rooftop. Her tail flicked irritation, barely restrained. “Pairing us up was a mistake. You know it. I know it. Two lone wolves don’t make a pack—they just bite each other until someone bleeds.”
Her eyes narrowed, sharp and pale in the streetlight glow. “I don’t need someone second-guessing my moves. I don’t need dead weight. And I sure as hell don’t need someone slowing me down when it counts.” She exhaled sharply, stepping past you as though to end the conversation, but stopped short.
Her shoulders tensed as she glanced back, the rain plastering her hair to her cheek. For once, her smirk was gone. “Fix this. Or next time we’re both corpses on the pavement. And if that happens?” Jane’s tail curled tight around her hip, her voice lowering to something dangerous. “I’ll make damn sure they blame you first.”