Fury and Flame | 3

Postlimimaries | Extras

[ Q U E S T I O N S ]

Below are several questions I get frequently asked or things that weren't directly addressed in the story. Feel free to skip past them to the second part of this chapter if you're not interested, as I did get way more questions than I was expecting.

What are the crew's zodiac signs?

Disclaimer: I don't really know that much about zodiac signs, so I just matched them with whatever sign I felt like their personalities coincided with lol. Also the necessary dates of particular zodiac signs might be more than nine months apart from each other, but whatever. Tell me if I'm horribly wrong.

      Delphinium—Gemini (nOt just because I'm one)
      Gigi—Aquarius
      Kane—Capricorn
      Jake—Virgo or Scorpio
      Finn—Sagittarius
      Arlo—Cancer or Aries
      Jaxon—Scorpio or Taurus
      Riley—Aries
Benton—Scorpio

How old are Benny and Neve?

      Benton is only a year older than Kane, so 20. Same for Neve, but Benton is a few months older.

Does Jake even care for / love Delphi?

It really shouldn't bring me so much joy that people still have to ask this after three books, but I just think it's hilarious. He's so deep in denial that he's got even some of you convinced he doesn't even care about her like that.

Here's the thing: Jake can be an extremely unreliable narrator when it comes to how he thinks about certain things. When it appears as if he's lying about his feelings, he's telling the truth, and occasionally when it seems like he's being truthful for once, it's a ruse. So I understand how it's hard to piece together what he truly feels and why he thinks the way he does.

But the boy literally treated Delphinium as more than an object for her first time in years, he was there for her (whether he knew it or not), he went insane when she was dragged away from him, he stood silently by her side as she struggled to find herself again, he abandoned the Club to rescue her, he broke all his rules for her and let her get closer than anyone else—even being the first one to initiate physical intimacy though he has a lot of fear/trauma surrounding it and afterward listened quietly even when what she was saying to him terrified him more than anything. I mean, need I go on?

Just because he doesn't know, admit, or act on his feelings does not mean that he doesn't love her.

If Jake does care for Delphinium then why does he keep it hidden and deny his feelings so much? / Why was he so terrified during the infirmary scene?

Buckle up ladies, this one's going to be long as hell. But everyone asks so much I figured I should give a clear explanation. Feel free to skip to the bottom if you're tired of my ranting.

Jake might seem cold and untouchable, but he's much more (excuse my sailor's mouth) fucked up than he lets on, especially in the third book. His father might have physically hurt him occasionally, but the real scarring lasted mentally. Jake is thoroughly ruined emotionally and is trapped in a very toxic masculinity-type mindset that will not let him address his own issues even in his thoughts.

Before Delphinium, Jake was in his own little murderous world. He was shown no physical affection, no care, no emotional comfort of any type. And he didn't even give two shits because it was what kept him safe in the very dangerous life he lives. He even said it himself: he had to pay the price of that life. And it was his humanity. You can't be a stone-cold emotionally unavailable killer and be able to just turn it off at will.