Cypress flinched, and Vesper didn’t make any moves to comfort her, but she also didn’t seem upset with her. Vesper’s eyes were soft with understanding, her face awash with relief.
“It’s okay, Bel,” she whispered, the corners of her lips ticking up ever so carefully. “She didn’t mean it.”
“Didn’t mean it?” Bellamy scoffed, shakily pushing herself up to her knees. “She’s a fucking Dampener. Did you know?”
Cypress seemed to fold in on herself even further, squeezingherself tighter.“No, I didn’t,” Vesper said calmly. Bellamy couldn’t fucking believe she wasn’t angry.
“I’m sorry,” Cypress whimpered, taking a small step back.
“Look,” Vesper said, cutting Bellamy off as she opened her mouth to snap back. “We need to get out of here. It’s not safe. I don’t know what’s waiting for us outside, though, and we’re not going to be much use with how weak we are right now.”
“Why don’t you message your precious Mazz,” Bellamy spat, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. Everything hurt. Even Bellamy’s ass on the hard floor was pained. None of it hurt enough to dull the ache in her heart.
“They took my communications bracelets,” Vesper replied evenly, not rising to Bellamy’s bait. It was good that they’d taken them. Why the fuck did she even need to be able to reach herexanymore anyway? Aside from it maybe being helpful right now…
The Dampener stayed silent, cowering behind Vesper like she would protect Cypress from anything. Even Bellamy. The thought that she might stung.
“What are we gonna do with her?” Bellamy asked, tipping her chin in Cypress’s direction. She didn’t dislike the girl, per se, but there was no fucking chance Bellamy would keep a Dampener around, especially an emotionally unstable one. If she got upset, if they argued at all, she could explode on them. It wasn’t worth the risk.
“I think we need to worry about escape first,” Vesper replied. She’d lowered her voice, eyes narrowed. Of fucking course she was defending the Dampener.
Bellamy huffed, disbelievingly and shook her head. “What do you have in mind?” she asked sardonically, looking around the cement room they were stuck in. She frowned, brows furrowing when she saw it was no longer an empty space but a room filled with shit. Crates lined one wall, shelves with jars lined another. There were an additional two bodies in the room, dropped at the door, presumably guards.
There still weren't any windows though. Sure, they could getoutside. The door would, in theory, be able to open from the inside, but then what? Unless they broke into the crates and found something. Bellamy couldn’t think of what might be useful though. Not in this situation.
She was certain at least some contracts from the Embunuh would be waiting outside. Cypress’s parents would have taken precautions because they knew all along what Cypress was. It made sense now why they’d put out a hit on the kid.
So, no. It wouldn’t be easy for them to get out. They would have planned for everything. They’d want to make sure they were the only two to walk out of that place alive.
“How are we awake?” Bellamy asked suspiciously.
Vesper gave her a half smile. “Cypress. She… returned the Energy she took.”
“Shewhat?” Bellamy stared at Cypress, who still refused to make eye contact. Typical. She focused on the familiar heat pulsing through her blood, tried to bring it forward until it pricked her fingertips and sparked against the air. “She’s a Dampener. She doesn’t just,” Bellamy floundered, waving her sparking hand around, “give it back?”
“I know as much as you, Bel.” Vesper sighed. She clearly hated not knowing. She was chewing on her lip, eyes darting from the Energy at the ceiling to the sparks on Bellamy’s hand. Her thoughts were whirring. Bellamy knew that look well—the distant expression. She wasn’t even seeing Bellamy anymore.
“I—” Cypress paused. “I want Cedar,” she whispered. “Can you—” Cypress pointed to Bellamy’s hands. To the chains she’d burned through.
Bellamy rolled her eyes. “Cedar is how we fucking got here in the first place. She sold us out.”
“Bel,” Vesper chastised quietly. She rubbed her throat and winced, gearing up to speak again. Bellamy could only imagine how shitty she was feeling after taking that blast from Cypress. “You know that’s not true. She wouldn’t be chained up if it was.”
“Fine,” Bellamy grumbled, slowly pushing herself up. Herwhole body was shaking with the effort. Vesper offered her hand, and Bellamy’s heart swelled. At least she didn’t hate her.
She stalked over to Cedar and let her magic prick at her fingertips again. Bending down, she examined the chain connecting Cedar’s hand to the chair leg beneath her and concentrated on the heat trickling through her, trying to form the same little ball of pure Energy as before. It was harder this time. Her Energy had been sapped and then returned in a weakened state. She focused the Energy on the weak point in the chain.
She needed food. Needed to replenish her magic. She glanced over at Ves, who looked even weaker than she was. Vesper had helped her up, but her magic barely sparked. She was pale, swaying on her feet with her eyes drifting shut for longer than they should. But she had taken most of the blast.
Lucky Ves wasn’t dead.
When Bellamy’s little Energy ball finally snapped the cuff she was breathing heavily and sweating. No way she was in any condition to fight their way out. She stood up too fast, and her vision blacked out. When she steadied, she lightly tapped Cedar’s cheek with just a tiny bit of spark on her finger.
“Ow!” Cedar yelped, shooting straight up in the chair. She glared at Bellamy, who was laughing, albeit weakly. “You’re such a fucking cunt. How are you alive?” Cedar reached up to rub her head, staring incredulously when the broken chain hit her face.
“You’re welcome,” Bellamy said, then grumbled “bitch” under her breath, stepping back to subtly let Vesper lean on her for support.
“Okay, so, how do we—” Vesper started, but then the door slammed open and bodies filled the room, voices shouting. The pungent scent of Energy magic soured the air, covered by a white fog that shimmered around their ankles and slowly filling the room.
