Chapter 61
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
Vesper
Vesper hadn’t let go of Cypress. Three more men had entered.
They were outnumbered, especially since the girls and Cypress couldn’t hold their own in a fight—it’d be too risky.
Someone might take an accidental hit. It didn’t mean she’d just give up and let them take Cypress.
Now, she could only hope they were taking them to Bellamy.
Even more fucking frustrating was that they were being transported under cover of Illusion.
She couldn’t tell where they’d gone. Everywhere she looked was just a shimmery white mist, swirling around her and covering her eyes.
The air was thick with the watery scent of the magic, fogging up her nose, clouding her senses.
Only sound made it through—the rush of trollies on tracks, the low murmur of hushed voices surrounding them, doors slamming, and footsteps echoing off concrete.
Vesper remembered Cypress telling her years ago that her dad was an Illusionist. Given the opacity of the cloud surrounding them now, it was clear he was fucking powerful.
It would explain how he got to be such a big deal.
The Embunuh Organization was known to collect powerful people—everyone suspected it’s how they had such a chokehold on this world.
When the illusion finally dropped, Cypress and Vesper were standing in front of Thoai and a woman who looked shockingly like Cedar.
Her red hair was pinned behind her head in a tight bun, her petite form accentuated with a perfectly tailored dark-mauve suit.
The incredibly stern look on her face would put anyone to shame.
Cypress was practically shaking, trying to hide herself behind Vesper.
“Where’s Bellamy?” Vesper asked, breaking the tense silence that settled while they sized each other up.
She gripped Cypress’s hand tighter—in encouragement and to make sure she wouldn’t be ripped away.
The hairs on the back of her neck pricked like she was being watched from behind.
The concrete room they’d been brought to held little hope for escape—aside from the tall, steel door behind Cypress’s parents—and she didn’t see any furniture she could spark up with her magic.
No furniture at all actually. They were in a concrete fucking box.
The woman’s dark gaze bore into Vesper with intensity, her eyes narrowing and assessing.
“So,” she said slowly, her deep voice reverberating through the room. “You’re the person who hid my child from me for all these years.” She looked Vesper up and down, and the corner of her lip curled up and she scoffed.
Vesper frowned, what the fuck was that supposed to mean? Did they really not know who they employed? Or was she just trying to insult Vesper into attacking? As if Vesper hadn’t had years practicing self-control when riled.
“Where. Is. Bellamy?” Vesper asked again, enunciating each word carefully.
The woman rolled her eyes and nodded at Thoai who waved his hand with a dramatic—and entirely unnecessary—flourish.
Part of the wall shimmered white, rippling as the concrete surface fell away to reveal Bellamy and Cedar, both chained to metal chairs.
Cypress gasped behind her, and it took everything in Vesper not to rush over to Bellamy.
She was breathing, but that was about the only sign of life Vesper could see. There wasn’t any blood, no black in her veins, her chest rose and fell in slow movements. They’d just knocked her unconscious, that was all.
“Let her go,” Vesper demanded, not taking her eyes off Bellamy.
“Give me my daughter,” Cypress’s mom countered evenly. In response to her cold tone, Cypress took a half step behind Vesper.
“Mom, don’t do this!” Cedar cried from her chair. Bellamy startled and tried to lift her head and look around.
“Bel,” Vesper whispered. “What did you do to her?” she yelled, whipping her head around to glare at Cypress’s parents.
“She’s fine,” Cypress’s mom waved a hand, dismissing Vesper’s worries. “Cypress, come here. Now.”
“What’re you gonna do to me?” Cypress asked in a small, choked voice.
“Nothing, sweetie,” Thoai said sweetly, taking a half step forward before Vesper’s sparking fingertips warned him back. He glared at her, clearing his throat. “We’ve been looking for you. We wanted you back, to be a family again. Like we used to be.”
“That’s bullshit!” Cedar yelled.
“Cedar,” their mom started, still eerily calm, “did this. She was behind the whole thing. It was her idea. We only wanted to make sure we could all be a family.”
“That’s not true,” Cypress whispered. Her wide eyes were focused on the floor. She tightened her grip on Vesper.
“Of course it is, love,” her mom continued. “You know why we sent her away, off planet, for schooling? We worried about her. We worried about you.”
“Don’t listen to her!”
“We thought she could help us,” their mom said, ignoring Cedar entirely now.
“She made the poison that was supposed to be given to you. The one that your dad and I took. It was her special project at school, a poison that could mimic all the real symptoms of death without the final result. It was a great breakthrough. We were going to bring her back. We just had to disappear first. That’s why we did everything.
Your father and I, well, we were in trouble.
We had to disappear, all of us. Then Vesper stole you.
We’ve been beside ourselves with worry. Imagine our surprise when we finally find you all and your minds have been poisoned by lies.
You’ve turned against us. Even our sweet Cedar. ”
She turned to finally address Cedar, who was looking at her with a gobsmacked expression. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you our plan sooner. We knew you’d be upset with us for losing Cypress. We thought you’d be safer if you didn’t know we were alive. Not until the right moment.”
Vesper barely held in her scoff. Seriously? What a load of shit. She knew it was a lie. Cypress had told her, all those years ago when it went to shit, that her mother wanted her dead.
A lot of details from that night were fuzzy, distorted by time and adrenaline, the rush of the moment.
But Vesper remembered that there was a specific difference in the poison they’d had for Cypress and the parents.
She remembered with distinct clarity how serious their assignment had been: Cypress would get one, while her parents got the other.
They were a different color from normal poisons—she remembered that too.
Then, with a start, Vesper realized she still had that poison. She hadn’t known what to do with it after not using it, but she couldn’t risk getting caught, so she’d shoved it into a hiding spot in her room. They could get it tested. Proof.
“If,” Vesper said, putting heavy emphasis on the word, “you’re not lying, then you wouldn’t mind letting us go back and get the poison you claim wouldn’t have killed her.”
“What are you talking about?” The mom snapped, finally losing some of her composure in her irritation with Vesper’s interference. Her hand clenched into a fist around something that glinted in the light overhead. Vesper squinted. It looked like a needle, but she couldn’t tell for sure. Weird.
“I still have it. The poison that was meant for Cypress.”