Vesper flipped the paper over—not that she expected to see additional information. They were often this sparse and withholding. When she held it up to the light, she could see the faint watermark of the Embunuh logo inlaid.
“I don’t trust this,” she hedged, handing the paper back to Bellamy. She hated the magickless district to begin with, but now… Being sent there right after such a big failure—sent to the one place rumored to house Dampeners—this wasn’t good.
“Yeah no shit,” Bellamy snapped. “It’s a setup, right? I mean, we failed,” she whispered, darting her gaze around the fairly empty lobby.
“You think they found out that fast?”
“I think they don’t want us to run. I think they have a fucking Dampener on their payroll and they’re luring us to them,” Bellamy grumbled, rolling the paper up and shoving it in her pocket. “What’re you thinking?”
“You really think a Dampener would survive long enough for the Embunuh to find use for them?” Vesper asked tentatively.
Bellamy shrugged. She’d always been more willing to believe their employers harbored Dampeners than Vesper had been. It wasn’timpossiblefor them to survive into adulthood, but… She shook her head, focusing on the real, tangible threat.
“They only gave us the paper?” Vesper asked, trying to force more confidence into her voice and looking suspiciously at Bellamy. She rolled her eyes and pulled out a small stack of notesand handed it over.
“Should’ve thrown this to Mazz while we were in there,” Vesper said, counting the money. It was enough to get them a trolley to the district and that’s it. So, that must mean their employers expected them to stay in the area… “They gave us more shit they can track.”
CHAPTER FORTY
Vesper
By nightfall, Bellamy and Vesper had made it to the Magickless district. They’d spent much too long for Vesper’s liking arguing about where to go and how to switch out the new notes. Vesper thought her plan was solid—scout out the location and get a lead on the Embunuh. Eventually, Bellamy gave up the fight.
A part of Vesper wondered if she’d only given in because of how guilty she felt about the past several years, but a win was a win.
They climbed over the fallen, charred crossbeams from the building Bel had burnt down mere weeks ago—thankfully everything took longer to fix here given the overall lack of magic. They picked through the fallen remnants until they came across a room that was still somewhat intact. Vesper pushed their bags into a corner, shoving the debris out of the way.
She stood up, wiped her hands on her pants, and looked at Bellamy. She stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. “Good?”
Bellamy peeked over her shoulder and saw the bags, nodding before turning to stare back through the remaining foundation of the building to the street. They’d been careful to make sure noone had followed them, that no one had seen them entering the district or the building, but clearly Bel was still paranoid.
“Would love somewhere with a bed. And walls,” Bellamy muttered, toeing a bit of unidentifiably burnt crisp with her boot.
“Too risky. They can’t trap us here. We have too many escape routes.”
Bellamy groaned. “And if they bring in Dampeners, we’re fucked.”
“I don’t think they employ any. Dampeners don’t survive to adulthood…” Vesper replied anxiously. She knew that wasn’t entirely true—there were rare cases in which Dampeners managed to tame their magic long enough to reach their early twenties. Those Dampeners were often sheltered in the Magickless district,notby their shit employers. She still had a hard time believing they’d expend the resources for that.
“Why couldn’t we have stayed home? You ward the place to shit, they couldn’t get in there,” Bellamy whined, taking a different approach for no reason.
“Oh yeah, and then we what? Wait them out while our supplies dwindle and we starve to death? Great plan.”
Bellamy kicked another part of the building. “Could’ve had your whores bring us supplies,” Bellamy grumbled.
Vesper rolled her eyes. Fighting would get them nowhere, but she also couldn’t help it. Some habits were hard to break.“Could’ve had your sister bring supplies.” Vesper said under her breath. She might have been a bit bitter that Bellamy had never mentioned that detail of her life.
“Fuck you,” Bellamy snapped, stomping through the building.
Fuck. She couldn’t leave. They couldn’t split up.
“Bel!’ Vesper called in a loud whisper. “You can’t fucking leave.”
Bellamy grumbled and stomped back, plopping onto the ground, her body tense and curled in on herself. She faced away from Vesper.
Vesper knelt and shuffled through her bag, finding a towel for Bel to lay on—a meager peace offering. But theyreallycouldn’t afford to be fighting right now. She handed it to Bellamy, who took it without comment.
Vesper would give Bellamy first shift sleeping. She didn’t think they should sleep together; one of them had to stay up to watch.
