Vesper almost groaned out loud. That even caught Mazz’s protective instinct as she barked out a warning. Bellamy’s magic flared, sparks dancing across her palms. Bel wouldn’t kill her sister… right?
“V!” Mazz snapped. Vesper did groan then.
“Bellamy,” she warned, her voice calm and low. It was a tone she hoped would lessen the ire without her actually having to get up and step in between the sisters. She’d had enough sister drama for the week.
“Wisp, why don’t you take your things and get settled. We can finish chatting later,” Mazz suggested gently. Like it wasn’t an order to get Wisp the fuck out of there before Bel did something she’d regret.
“Yeah,Wisp,” Bellamy snapped, putting a mocking emphasis on the name. “Get lost.”
Wisp sucked her teeth and glanced over at Mazz, who gave her a stern look. Then, she let a smug smile slide into place and picked up her bags. “See you later.” She winked at Bellamy, and Vesper had to reach out to tug Bellamy away.
Bellamy fell onto Vesper’s lap, glaring at the door as it slammed behind her sister.
“Why is she here?” Bellamy spat at Mazz the second the door was closed.
Mazz raised an eyebrow at Bellamy, and Vesper wrapped her arms around her, pulling her until she was pressed against her.
“Thank you for letting us stay here, even though I never really apologized for trying to kill you, Mazz,” Vesper muttered into Bel’s ear and she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She knew Bel wouldn’t say anything, didn’t think she felt any regret for her actions. Vesperhadmade her apologize, after all, way back when it all happened. Bel’s apology had been half-assed at best.
Vesper sighed and spoke louder to properly address Mazz this time. “I assume all went well last night?”
“Seems like what she’s saying is true.” Mazz shrugged. “You know I don’t like her, but Cypress does, they’ve got shit tounpack. Cedar explained some of it last night. Guess she never saw any of the abuse.”
“Can we trust her?”
“No!” Bellamy snapped immediately. Vesper had a similar sentiment, but Mazz was removed from the situation. Her only concern right now with Cedar was about Cypress’ safety, and if Mazz thought they’d be good then Vesper believed her.
“With her sister, yeah, I think so. With you two,” Mazz shook her head, frowning, “I think she’ll do whatever she can to keep Cypress safe and with her.”
Vesper nodded. That was her impression too. They didn’t have to worry about Cedar taking Cypress out, hurting her, being alone with her—it seemed like she was behaving. Well, good enough. Vesper didn’t trust for a second that Cedar wouldn’t sell them out if it meant keeping Cypress safe.
“So, you think she’ll help us or just Cypress?”
Bellamy snorted. “She won’t help anyone but herself.”
“She’ll help Cypress,” Mazz answered cautiously, ignoring Bellamy again. “If that means helping you two, well, then I think she’ll do it.” There was a brief pause while Vesper nodded, wondering how much of their situation Cedar might help with.
Then, Mazz spoke again, a bit hesitant. “You haven’t really told me the shit you’re in, V. What’s going on?”
Vesper sighed. She’d barely had a chance to talk to Mazz since it all happened. Just a few cursory messages saying they needed a place to lie low. She owed her an explanation at least. They had time before the Downstairs would open, before the girls would start filtering in.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Vesper
Waiting sucked. Vesper was positive she’d perish at any moment if they had to continue waiting for news without actually being able to do anything. Despite her promise, Cedar had hardly been present the last few days. She’d popped in, mostly to visit Cypress. When Vesper asked for updates, Cedar told her to “fuck off.”
She really couldn’t complain too much though. The situation wasn’t entirely horrible. Being stuck here with Bel certainly had its perks. As long as she stayed with Vesper instead of wandering…
They’d managed to mostly avoid Wisp, except for one run-in after Bellamy stormed out of the room when Vesper said the wrong thing during a fight. It hadn’t come to anything—Meila had found Vesper and made her go fetch Bellamy before she attacked Wisp.
Cypress was spending as much of her time with Vesper as possible. Bel was pretending to hate it, but Vesper suspected the kid was growing on her. Bel had even spent an afternoon teaching Cypress how to play Illusori.
Despite that, it hadn’t been peaceful the whole time. She andBel fought. Bel sniped at Cedar. Poor Cypress even got caught in the crosshairs occasionally. That was when Vesper discovered Cypress had learned how to be passive aggressive. There were times when Cypress would flat out ignore Cedar in favor of being overly affectionate towards Vesper. And of course, that led to Bel poking at Cypress more to get a reaction when she was bored.
All in all, Vesper was quite ready to get the fuck out of there and be able to actually live their lives. She was dying for news, for any information that would get them closer to getting out. She was close to losing it by the time Cedar finally came back with information on the fourth night.
“Where’s Cy?” Cedar demanded, barging into their room and looking from Vesper, who lay reclined on the low bed with her book open, to Bellamy, curled into a plush red chair with her charcoal and sketchbook. They both shrugged, and Vesper tried to tamp down the immediate and illogical anxiety crawling up her spine.
