Chapter 60
CHAPTER SIXTY
Bellamy
Bellamy didn’t want to be near anyone. She needed to get away.
To fucking breathe. Sure, maybe she was overreacting, but she remembered that day so clearly.
The day she’d tried to kill Mazz. She hadn’t known they were together in that sense.
It had been months since Vesper touched her.
She hadn’t understood why, and in that moment, she had been willing to do anything to get her attention again.
She’d have tried to kill anyone Vesper was with—it just happened to be Mazz.
Then the fucking blindfold. She’d known it was too soon to put that on Vesper, to demand the trust they’d once had after she spent years destroying it. That didn’t stop it from hurting.
Business hours had already started. She could tell as much as she stormed through the lobby past the girls in their skimpy little outfits waiting for clients. She didn’t want to look at any of them. To wonder which one Ves would have picked that day.
No one had come banging on their door yet, so she figured it was safe to leave the Downstairs. They’d done it already without the veils—fuck it.
She was debating between ransacking Cedar’s room to make herself feel better, or seeking comfort in Vesper’s.
But maybe that would hurt too much. Her own stuff wasn’t there after all.
It would just serve as a reminder that Vesper still didn’t love her.
She didn’t hate her anymore though. So, that was something.
“Bellamy,” a surprised voice called from behind her as she turned to go up the stairs. “Where are you going? Did something happen?”
Bellamy wiped her cheeks with her hands before turning around. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this. “Nothing happened,” she groaned, rolling her eyes when she saw it was Cedar who’d stopped her.
“Where are you going?” Cedar asked. Her voice sounded raspier than normal.
“None of your fucking business,” Bellamy snapped, squinting at Cedar and cocking her head.
Something about her looked… off. Bellamy couldn’t decide if her hair was just a little too red, too short, or if it was that she was out of her normal clothes—but that could be explained by her working today.
Whatever. It didn’t matter. Bellamy was done talking to her.
“Bellamy!” Cedar called again when Bellamy turned to continue on her way. She was exasperated and clearly closer this time. “Where is my sister?”
“Right where you left her! Don’t worry,” Bellamy said over her shoulder. She wished Cedar would leave her the fuck alone. A hand grasped her wrist and she automatically yanked away. “Fuck off,” she hissed.
“Are you going to see her now?” Cedar asked, face inches away.
“What?”
Up close, she could see Cedar’s face rippling under illusion like waves.
The eyes shifted and changed—narrow and green in one second, wide and blue the next.
Bellamy tried to pull away again, harder this time, bringing her magic surging forward, rushing through her veins.
Like a fire lighting up and prickling her blood from inside.
Then, something pinched her neck and the fire dimmed. The world began to spin around her, vision blurring. Bellamy reached out for purchase, anywhere she could find. A hand grabbed hers, slowly lowering her to the ground.
“Shh,” Cedar’s distant voice cut through the ringing in her ears. “You’ll be asleep soon. You’re not dying. Don’t fight it.” The words were surprisingly soothing. Bellamy’s body relaxed but she fought to keep her eyes open.
“You’ve got her from here?” A man asked, dropping what looked like a syringe on the hard floor next to Bellamy.
Her vision was dark. She heard shuffling, and then strong hands hauled her off the floor.
When the man spoke again, it was further away, distorted.
Her ears felt stuffed with cotton. “Good, I’ll get the other one. We’ll find the girl soon.”
When Bellamy woke up, she could barely see anything. A faint light from above was the only visual. Her head was pounding, her throat dry and scratchy. Blinking rapidly, she tried to clear her still-blurred vision. What the fuck happened? And where the fuck was she?
An acute pain pulled her attention away from the ceiling when she tried to move.
Her shoulder burned. She hadn’t been stabbed again, had she?
Fucking Cedar. Heavy iron chains prevented her from moving, and her back ached from the metal chair underneath.
Whoever had taken her was clearly going through some precautions to keep her there.
She couldn’t easily burn through any of the material in her vicinity.
She had to get out. Vesper would be worried. She’d come for her. She would. This was Cedar’s doing. What if Cedar had gotten to Ves? Told her lies, sunk her claws in, made Vesper doubt Bellamy again. It wouldn’t be hard—she already didn’t fucking trust her.
Bellamy’s lungs constricted and her eyes burned. No, she couldn’t think about it now. She had to focus. Get the fuck out. Kill Cedar.
“Bellamy?” A gravelly voice to her right broke her out of her single-minded thoughts. She squinted against the dark but couldn’t see anyone. How the fuck had they seen her?
“Who are you?” she rasped, her throat dry and scratchy. Everything hurt.
“Shit,” the person hissed under their breath. “Where’s Cy?”
Of course Cedar was here.
“Fuck you,” Bellamy spat, struggling uselessly against the iron holding her in place until the effort made her short on breath and she stopped.
“Don’t be such a fucking bitch. What happened? Is she safe?”
Bellamy tried to laugh but it came out weak and shaky.
Like Cedar didn’t fucking know what she’d done.
“What the fuck did you give me?” She groaned, rolling her neck and bringing the pounding headache back with a vengeance.
“Should have known you were working against us. Told Ves we didn’t need you,” she mumbled, the world swirling in and out of focus.
“What are you talking about?” Cedar’s voice was distant now, almost twinged with worry, but that couldn’t be right. “Bellamy! Is Cy okay?”
Bellamy groaned. She might have gotten something out that sounded like “urhmmf” but she could barely hear anything anymore, quickly losing consciousness again.