“You gonna help?”
Vesper ran a hand through her hair, envious of Bellamy’s high ponytail. Which she could only do because no one cut her fucking hair off. “There’s gonna be eight bodies, Bel. I’m not just gonna fuckin’ wait around all day and risk us getting caught!” She was already sick of Bellamy, and their day had yet to begin.
Vesper shook her head, pushing past Bellamy to the door and throwing it open. “Whatever. Just tell me how to help after I do all the real work,” she grumbled, stomping out.
Bellamy was silent but close behind. Vesper knew she hadn’t figured out cleanup.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Vesper
They hadn’t said a word to each other the entire way to the building and up the stairs. Vesper was getting more pissed with every passing second as Bellamy refused to admit she didn’t have a fucking plan.
Meanwhile, she was warming up to her own shoddy disposal idea for when Bellamy inevitably fucked it up. Again. This was a big job, she was not going to let anything go wrong.
Vesper tried to calm herself. She needed her kills to be calculated, precise—the less blood spatter they’d need to clean up the better. She tried to picture what the room layout would look like. Of the copious blueprints the client had given them, the room layout was not one.
Presumably there would be a table with everyone gathered around, so it shouldn’t be too challenging. She could easily hold her magic long enough to form two or three corporeal twisting dagger-like shards at once, and her aim was fucking good. One of the best in the Embunuh Organization, something she prided herself on.
But once she took out the first three, there could be a mad scramble for the door. How quickly would she need to act after that? Would they run or freeze? They’re Designers, so she didn’tthink they’d fight, but she’d been wrong about that before. Couldn’t eliminate that possibility entirely.
There was too much uncertainty surrounding this operation. It made Vesper uneasy. She only hoped they were all Designers like she assumed. If even one of them held a different magic, or if one of them knew how to fight, she’d definitely need Bellamy’s back up.
Especially if the targets had solid weapons on them. If it did come to a physical fight, Vesper was fairly confident she could overpower most of them. If not, well, the hardest part of this would be trusting Bel to do her damn job. Maybe she should make Bel lock the door behind them.
Vesper shook her head, now was not the time to overthink her entire plan.
When they exited the stairwell to the empty tenth floor, her senses prickled like they were being watched. The hallway was silent aside from their heavy breathing, though. No conversation, no music, no footsteps.
“Keep alert,” Vesper muttered. Bel’s eyes darted back and forth along the hallway and her hands balled into fists, magic sparking every step. It didn’t take long to find their door.
Vesper took a steadying breath, rolling her neck and shoulders and sparked up her magic, lighting a fire in her veins and falling out of her hands, twisting like vines until it held solid. With her training, it only took a few seconds to form the corporeal blade-like shape she preferred, but a few seconds could be the difference between life and death. She wasn’t about to take any risks today.
With a final breath, and her weapons sparking in her hand, she opened the door. Six faces turned in unison as she stepped into the dim room. Most of the light came from the full floor-to-ceiling windows on one side of the room; the rising sun reflected off the table in the room's center.
The board members were gathered around, staring at her. Freeze response, then. Much easier.
Before Vesper could act, movement in her peripheral alertedher to the two missing people. A guard on each side rushed toward her. The door slammed, locking automatically.
Kind of perfect—no escape now. But she’d have preferred Bellamy make it inside first, just in case. Oh well. Not like she was going to help with this part anyway. Vesper flung her magic out, slicing through the guards necks with ease. A slow trickle of blood dripped from the cuts, and they fell to the ground. Vesper crinkled her brows, but she didn’t have time to waste.
Two down, six to go.
They were easy, all frozen. Not a single one tried to flee. Best to act quickly before they moved, but honestly, it was almost too easy. Her skin pricked and sparked as she gathered more magic, flinging the sparking shards like glass and striking the first two. She fully expected that to jerk everyone else from their shock. The door handle rattled behind her, but she paid it no mind. Bellamy would either pick the lock right as she was finishing up, or Vesper would just let her in after.
No one ran, no one moved. It was like the whole room collectively held their breath. Vesper had never had to kill this many people at once before, but still… One of them should have run, at the very least. But she was not one to question an easy job, and she was rather grateful to not have to rely on Bel for back up.
When the last of her magic dissolved from the final body, the door handle rattled again and Bellamy’s muffled cry came from the other side. Vesper rolled her eyes. Bel really did have a flair for the dramatic. If she kept making so much damn noise they’d get caught.
Honestly, Bel would be thanking her when she saw how little clean up there was. Vesper surveyed the room one last time—there was hardly any blood. She hadn’t even needed to get close to them with how they’d frozen. Each stab of her magic was quick and clean. Really clean. She didn’t even have any spray on herself.
Bellamy would hardly have to put forth any effort for cleanup. Probably. As long as she had clean up figured out. Fuck, shedidn’t, did she?
Vesper barely suppressed a groan as she turned to let Bellamy in. It wouldn’t feel like gloating if Bel hadn’t bothered doing any part of her job. Movement snagged her attention. She whipped around, magic crackling in her palms, ready to strike.
“Cedar?” Vesper’s jaw dropped, the sparks dissipating back into her body. She quickly snapped her mouth shut and took a step back “What…”
The bodies around her vaporized and disappeared in a bright, smoky haze.
