Chapter 52
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Vesper
Waiting sucked. Vesper was positive she’d perish at any moment if they had to continue waiting for news without actually being able to do anything.
Despite her promise, Cedar had hardly been present the last few days.
She’d popped in, mostly to visit Cypress.
When Vesper asked for updates, Cedar told her to “fuck off.”
She really couldn’t complain too much though. The situation wasn’t entirely horrible. Being stuck here with Bel certainly had its perks. As long as she stayed with Vesper instead of wandering…
They’d managed to mostly avoid Wisp, except for one run-in after Bellamy stormed out of the room when Vesper said the wrong thing during a fight. It hadn’t come to anything—Meila had found Vesper and made her go fetch Bellamy before she attacked Wisp.
Cypress was spending as much of her time with Vesper as possible. Bel was pretending to hate it, but Vesper suspected the kid was growing on her. Bel had even spent an afternoon teaching Cypress how to play Illusori.
Despite that, it hadn’t been peaceful the whole time.
She and Bel fought. Bel sniped at Cedar.
Poor Cypress even got caught in the crosshairs occasionally.
That was when Vesper discovered Cypress had learned how to be passive aggressive.
There were times when Cypress would flat out ignore Cedar in favor of being overly affectionate towards Vesper.
And of course, that led to Bel poking at Cypress more to get a reaction when she was bored.
All in all, Vesper was quite ready to get the fuck out of there and be able to actually live their lives. She was dying for news, for any information that would get them closer to getting out. She was close to losing it by the time Cedar finally came back with information on the fourth night.
“Where’s Cy?” Cedar demanded, barging into their room and looking from Vesper, who lay reclined on the low bed with her book open, to Bellamy, curled into a plush red chair with her charcoal and sketchbook.
They both shrugged, and Vesper tried to tamp down the immediate and illogical anxiety crawling up her spine.
“Did you check her room?” Bellamy asked, annoyed and unbothered.
Cedar huffed. “Figured she’d be attached to her precious Vessie this whole time,” she grumbled, leaving the door wide open as she stomped next door to Cypress’s room.
Vesper let out a sigh of relief when she heard Cedar order Cypress to come over to the other room. The kid darted immediately over to the empty spot next to Vesper, lying her head on Vesper’s chest. Bellamy made a gagging sound from her spot in the corner.
“I assume this means you’ve found something?” Vesper asked Cedar hopefully.
“Yes,” Cedar took a deep breath, perching on the edge of the bed and looking at Cypress.
She smoothed out her lap. The movement drew Vesper’s attention.
Cedar had brought a folder with her. A thick, light blue folder.
When Vesper squinted, she could just make out the Embunuh emblem in the top corner.
“Is that—?” she started, but Cedar cut her off, pretending not to have heard her at all.
“Cypress. Our parents are alive. I’ve confirmed it. I’m sorry. And they’re also the head of the Delnian district’s branch of the Embunuh.”
Vesper’s jaw dropped, that would mean…
“This folder,” Cedar continued, “has everything about that assignment. The one that was supposed to kill you.” Her voice was a mere whisper.
Vesper had never gotten that close. And that folder was fucking huge.
“That’s not all.” Cedar hesitated, her attention finally shifting to Vesper. “We can get to them.”
“Finally, some good fucking news!” Bellamy said, throwing her hands up and uncrossing her legs, dramatically flopping back into the chair with an exaggerated sigh of relief.
“Okay,” Vesper nodded. This was great. They could kill them like they should’ve. They’d all be free. “So, how do we get to them?” She watched Cedar expectantly.
Cedar fidgeted with the edges of the folder and looked down at her lap, shifting on the edge of the bed where she’d perched.
“Well,” Cedar started, and Bellamy rolled her eyes.
“Oh great,” Bellamy mumbled under her breath. Vesper shot her a look and waved for Cedar to continue.
“We couldn’t find them exactly. No one knows where they’re hiding out. But we did learn they have come out of hiding for important matters before, which means we can draw them out again. They’re not recluses.”
“That’s not—” Bellamy started complaining, but Vesper cut her off, sitting up urgently. Arguing was going to get them nowhere right now.
“How do we draw them out, then?”
“We’re working on it. I’ve got some contacts in place. They might be able to find something important enough—big meetings coming up that we can intercept. Stuff like that.”
“So, you don’t actually have anything?” Bellamy rolled her eyes.
“Excuse me for thinking you’d appreciate the news. We can draw them out instead of having to fucking find them!” Cedar snapped back, her voice raised.
“But you don’t know how, so it's useless news!”
“Me?” Cypress asked in a small voice. The room fell into an awkward silence. Cedar looked like she was warring with what to say.
“No offense,” Vesper murmured, “but I don’t think that’d be enough.”
“Why not? I’ve had to hide for years because they want me dead, and now you don’t think I’m important enough? That they don’t think I’m worth it?” Cypress’s voice got higher with each word, cracking with a sob she tried to hold back.
Vesper rubbed the back of her head. She immediately felt like an ass for saying it like that. She knew how much Cypress struggled with the frustration of not understanding why she’d been abandoned. Struggled with feelings of inadequacy and guilt, like what happened was her fault.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I know that they already have contracts out on you.
They won’t think that you’re, um,” Vesper hesitated, looking at Cedar for help.
But she was all too willing to let Vesper flounder alone.
“I just meant that they’ll send regular assassins. They won’t come themselves.”
“But I’m a—”
“Cy,” Cedar cut her off harshly, and Vesper glared at her, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Let’s look through the folder. I’ve got the assignment details, you know, maybe that can help us.” Cedar gently reached over and took her sister's hand. “We can go to your room, yeah?”
Cypress flinched and looked down at their hands, frowning, her brows furrowed. “Fine,” she snapped, yanking her hand away and shoving off the bed. Cedar followed her without another word, letting the door slam behind her.
“She’s a what?” Bellamy asked as soon as they’d gone.
Vesper shook her head. “She thinks she’s a high-value target.”
Bellamy huffed, not believing for a second that was what Cypress had been about to say.
She wished they hadn’t left. Vesper had been dying to find out what was in that file. And she also needed to figure out a good way to apologize to Cypress. To make her feel like she was appreciated and shit.