“Illusion magic,” Vesper whispered. Her gaze snapped to Cedar with more caution. “But you’re an herbalist.”
She reached for the door behind her. Cedar remained motionless, letting Vesper piece everything together. Watching.
Vesper’s hand found a solid body instead of the door. Her arm was twisted behind her back before she registered what the fuck had just happened.
The guard who had grabbed her was one of the first people she’d killed. At least, she thought she’d killed him. The evidence of his dead body had vanished, no blood was left. Her gaze darted around the room. Everything was untouched, reset, like she’d never been there.
“What is this?” Vesper asked, addressing Cedar. She wasn’t worried about the capture, she was confident about her odds. Besides, Bel was still waiting outside. If they tried to take Vesper, they wouldn’t get far. But also… why hadn’t Bel broken in yet? She was usually so quick with a lock….
“I have a proposition for you,” Cedar’s low voice reverberated through the room. “A work contract, if you will.”
“I already have a contract…” Come to think of it, Vesper hadn’t heard a thing from Bellamy since she’d yelled for her.
“I’ll buy you out of that one.”
Vesper’s face scrunched. “Why?”
She couldn’t hear anything outside the room. Bellamy was never this quiet.
Cedar huffed, crossing her arms. “Because youcan be of use to my employers. They’ve been watching you. They’re a competitor of your little organization, and you’re one of the best.”
“Why go through all this, then? Why not just talk to me about it literally any other time?”
“We’re talking now.” Cedar shrugged. She smiled brightly and tilted her head to the side. This was not the person Vesper thought she knew. She resisted another glance behind her to the door. “I needed to make sure you had enough incentive to accept my offer.”
Vesper did not stop herself from looking to the door now, from straining to hear, listening for any clue as to what might be happening on the other side. Why the fuck hadn’t Bellamy picked the lock yet?
“What does that mean?” She narrowed her eyes, glaring at Cedar as she let her magic pulse forward, keeping it just under skin, burning her blood but ready at a moment's notice.
Cedar sighed like Vesper was being intentionally obtuse. “It means,” she huffed, “that I couldn’t just talk to you. I mentioned my employer is a competitor—it’s too risky. I couldn’t have you saying no and fucking me over. Then you would have become a liability, and that would have been so… disappointing.”
“And Bel?”
Cedar laughed. “She’s already a liability. This offer is for you and you alone.”
“Where the fuck is she?” Vesper lunged away from the guard, but his grip held steady. She elbowed him in the gut and reached for the doorknob when he winced.
“I wouldn’t do that.” Cedar’s voice cut through her like a steel, the warning clear. “Look, V.” Cedar softened when Vesper froze. Her tone was sympathetic, and it made Vesper sick. “Just come with me.Forget about her.”
Vesper scoffed. “You think just because we fuck sometimes you can come in and pull me away from my job?”
“No.” Cedar frowned. “I did hope that would make it easierthough. I think that given the right incentive, you’ll choose the best path for survival.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means you're running out of time before your precious employers learn that you’ve failed the assignment.”
Oh fuck.Vesper’s eyes widened, and Cedar watched her with a twisted smile.
“How?” Vesper breathed. She’d assumed that Cedar’s people had somehow faked it, but if what Cedar said was true, and the job was real… Vesper and Bellamy were dead.
“Do you see the incentive now?” Cedar smirked, not answering the question. Every single red flag about the assignment ran back through Vesper’s mind in a flash. The fire that had delayed them, the client not showing up, the stillness of the building, the ease of the kills… She’d been too wrapped up in her twisted emotions to take them for the warnings they were.
“So you’re offering to, what? Hide me now that you’ve put a target on my head?”
“Pretty much.”
“And Bel?”
