Chapter 62
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Bellamy
She heard Vesper’s voice. A distinct panic flared up, jolting her into movement.
Except the movement was stifled by the heaviness of her body.
Rolling her head to one side was really all she could manage.
Everything was weighed down. The fog in her head made it hard to keep up with what was going on around her.
The after-effects of whatever vile shit they’d given her were ridiculous. And seriously, could people stop fucking stabbing her? Or… injecting her?
The voices in the room were raised. Heated.
They were arguing, she knew that for certain.
One deep yet airy voice that she didn’t recognize was monologuing—long enough for Bellamy’s head to clear out a bit.
It was over the girl; they didn’t care about anyone but her.
She opened her eyes, lifted her head. Cedar was chained up in front of her. Fucking of course.
There was a faint memory of when she’d woken before.
Cedar had been panicked, asking about Cypress.
Bellamy hadn’t believed it. Cedar was clearly the one who’d put her there.
They had Ves now, which meant they were all about to die, or she was about to give up the girl.
Bellamy honestly didn’t know which one Vesper would choose.
Voices grew louder, angrier. The growing rage underlying Vesper’s soft tone jolted her unpleasantly into the land of full consciousness.
The world was still blurred around her, but she could clearly focus her attention now.
There was no attention on her. They were all across the room—the entirely empty room, devoid of furniture, aside from the chairs she and Cedar were tied to.
There was one exit and no good prospects for escape.
At least, as far as she could see without drawing attention to herself.
Cedar was in front of her, watching the arguments, horrified, her eyes wide and her mouth parted just a bit.
Shock, probably. Bellamy examined the room.
She’d been right earlier—they were encased in a concrete building.
There was no hint of where they’d been taken or how many people might be involved.
She had to assume that was why Ves hadn’t killed the parents and broken them out yet—she didn’t know any of that either.
The light she’d seen had come from flickering Energy attached to the ceiling via glass panes.
Vesper could probably tell her how that was possible—shit, if she’d bothered with any design training, Bellamy could have dismantled and harnessed it—but right now, Bellamy didn’t fucking care.
All she cared about was getting them the fuck out of there.
Plus, harnessing the Energy was fucking useless when she was chained to a fucking metal chair.
Bellamy eyed Cedar, trying to assess if grabbing her attention was worth it.
What could an herbalist even do in a cement box?
Nothing helpful unless there were cracks and she could access the soil. Useless.
“Cy, you know they’re lying! Don't listen to them!” Cedar yelled, finally joining the arguments and drawing attention to the two of them.
Bellamy caught Vesper’s eye and her expression immediately changed.
The relief that washed over Vesper’s face made Bellamy’s skin flush as she remembered how she’d stormed off.
“She’s poisoning your mind, Cypress,” the woman said, drawing Vesper’s attention back to the argument. Bellamy finally noticed Cypress behind Ves, clinging to her like a life preserver.
“Just give me my daughter, you bitch!” Cypress’s mom yelled. Her body was tense and her hand gripped… Bellamy squinted. That looked like the same syringe they’d stuck her with. A blue liquid swirled inside it. Voices filled the air as everyone’s overlapping arguing continued.
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Cypress yelled. Her hand left Vesper’s shirt and bunched around her ears as she yelled and cried. Dramatic, in Bellamy’s opinion, but she also hadn’t been paying attention to much of their fight.
The woman arguing with them took that as her opportunity to grab Cypress.
She started for them, and Cypress screamed.
Vesper’s fingers sparked, her magic twisting and moulding into a weapon, sparking more furiously with rage than Bellamy had ever seen before.
Cedar struggled in her chair, metal scraping against the concrete as she tried to do anything to help.
The air was suffocating with magic, the humid scents colliding viciously as everyone reached for what they had.
Then Vesper staggered. Bellamy hadn’t seen anything touch her as she watched in horror through the haze of yellow and white.
The woman was too far away, and the man only had illusion magic creating a thick fog throughout the room.
After one unstable step, Ves was down, and now it was Bellamy who was screaming, fighting with her chair.
Her magic prickled her fingertips and exploded against the metal, burning hotter than she’d ever allowed it to before.
The metal snapped, and she leapt from her chair, immediately falling to her knees as a thick black liquid rushed over her feet and legs. Her Energy seeped out slowly, pulling itself from her body and leaving her feeling empty, her movements slow and difficult.
“No!”
“Stop her!”
“Someone take her out!”
“Cy, stop! Control it!”
“You useless child!”
“Please!”
Voices overlapped, begging and degrading. Fear laced through all of them. She could barely see Vesper anymore. Darkness fell over them. She’d never experienced an illusion so consuming before, so suffocating.
Then, the lights flickered overhead, dimming, and Bellamy saw it. Saw her, as the darkness poured through like rain, emitting from a wide-eyed and terrified Cypress. It dripped around her, thick and oozing like sludge from her pores. It wasn’t an illusion. It was a fucking storm.
Oh fuck, she’s a…
Bellamy couldn’t finish the thought before she was sucked back under.