Vesper hadn’t wanted to tell Cedar, but it wasn’t like she could just kick Cedar out to only tell Cypress and Bellamy. Not that she didn’t try, but Cypress wanted Cedar there. Regardless of how Cypress might’ve felt about her sister, they were still family, and Cedar deserved to know what Vesper had found.
Bellamy sat in a leather chair in the corner, furthest away from everyone. She hugged her knees to her chest while listening. Vesper wished she knew what Bel was thinking, how she was going to react to everything when they were alone.
“But…” Bellamy frowned, finally looking up at Vesper. “I saw them die. They took the poison. I mean, they can’t be alive.”
Vesper shook her head. “According to the report I found, it was some kind of a mock poison. Designed to mimic the effects of the real thing but without the final ending. I don’t know any other details, I was lucky to get that much. The document was redacted to shit.”
“Why us?” Bellamy asked, voicing the same exact question that Vesper had been debating for years. She didn’t have a satisfying answer.
“I don’t know, Bel. The most plausible thing I can think of is that we just happened to be the newest contract they had. We’d never had an assignment, so we didn’t know how unusual the whole thing was. Others might have questioned it. We didn’t.”
“So,” Cedar interjected harshly before Bellamy could respond, “who ordered the kill?”
Vesper shifted uncomfortably in her seat, but before she could answer, Cypress whispered, “It was our parents.”
Cedar’s jaw dropped. “No, they would never?—”
“You weren’t there,” Cypress murmured, her voice low as she addressed her hands instead of the people in the room. “You left and—and everything got worse. You wouldn’t know.”
Vesper cleared her throat. She and Bellamy didn’t need to be here for this. This was a family issue. But first, they needed to figure out what they were going to do next. Then, they could leave Cedar and Cypress to do all the catching up they needed.
“Yeah, it was your parents,” Vesper confirmed. Cypress had known all those years ago. She’d told Vesper it was her mom, Vesper had just refused to believe a parent could be so cruel. Not until she found the evidence.
“No,” Cedar said blankly. “They wouldn’t. It’s a mistake, it has to be. Maybe they wanted to go into hiding, and the poison for Cypress was false too. They wouldn’t…”
“Come on, Cedar,” Vesper darted a look to Cypress, who was looking dismayed but not the least bit surprised. Did Cedar seriously not know what their parents had put the poor kid through? Had Cedar not received the same treatment?
“Show me,” Cedar argued, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes.
“The documents?”
“Yes.”
Vesper sighed and rolled her eyes. “You know I don’t have them. They’re at Embunuh headquarters. I couldn’t just fucking take them.”
“How convenient.”
“She’s not lying!” Cypress snapped. “They were horrible, awful people, and they should be dead but they’re fucking not, and I’m never gonna be safe again!”
Cypress’s voice cracked on the last word, and Cedar immediately tried to comfort her, but she shrank away from Cedar’s touch. Everyone was momentarily speechless. Vesper didn’t think she’d ever heard Cypress swear before. The kid had never shown much anger. She was used to the tears, though. Cypress crying always made her wish Bellamy had just sliced her parents' throats.
“I’m not gonna stop trying to get you out of here,” Vesper promised. “I was close. I was really close.”
“What happened?” Cedar snapped, directing her concern and Cypress’s rejection into anger at Vesper.
“You.”
“Bullshit.”
Vesper huffed a laugh. “Nope. You blocked me from everything when you started blackmailing Bel into fucking up our assignments. I’ve been trying to build our way back up, gain trust back, but it’s been nearly impossible when something goes wrong every fucking assignment. That’s on you, Cedar."
“Do you have any brilliant ideas on how to get us out of this, since it’s all your fault?” Bellamy shot at Cedar snidely. “Or maybe even an apology for fucking up all of our lives.”
Cedar shot Vesper a look as if Vesper could do literally anything to control Bellamy’s temper. In this case, however, Vesper was on Bel’s side all the way. She leaned back in her chair and raised an eyebrow in response, silently backing Bellamy. Cedar rolled her eyes.
“Or do you have enough dirty money to get us all off-planet?” Bellamy continued, emboldened by Vesper’s support.
Cedar huffed. “No.”
