Burnin' Up | J. Saltzman - Legacies [1]

F O R T Y - O N E

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Hope paces the length of the cell as the Hale witch and the blonde siphoner sit beside the wounded Josie. Stella runs her hand up and down Josie's arm to soothe her as Lizzie frets. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"With me?" Josie snaps. "You practically begged him to shoot you."

Lizzie glances at Stella before she scoffs. "Because if I'm destined to die in my prime, it may as well be in a blaze of hero glory saving Stella."

"You are so unbelievably selfish."

Narrowing her eyes, Lizzie says, "Who took it upon herself to dive in front of my bullet? I thought that your codependent days were over."

Josie glances down. "A regrettable relapse."

Lizzie's hand jerks forward, poking Josie in her wound. Stella hisses through her teeth as Josie yelps. The Hale witch bats Lizzie's hand away as a guard by the cell door yells, "Hey! Keep it quiet in there."

"We're not in the prison yard, asshat!" Lizzie snaps.

Stella stands from her seat and approaches the cell door. "If I had my magic, you would all be dead," she snarls. 

Hope gently grabs her arm and tugs her away from the trigger happy soldier by the door. "Calm down," Hope whispers.

"They shot Josie," Stella replies. "She could die—"

"But right now, we have to stay focused. Maybe Teddy can hear us? I've been whispering, trying to tell him what's going on."

Stella shakes her head with a wince. She brings her arms around herself as Hope kneels before the twins. The Hale witch runs her hand over her right shoulder, grunting in pain; when she brings her fingers away, blood stains her hand. She quickly wipes it away, muttering, "Good thing I wore black today."

"I'm so sorry, you guys," Hope says as Stella takes her spot beside Josie. "I mean, I dragged you all into this, and I have absolutely no idea how to get us out of it."

Lizzie shakes her head. "Well, that is just not good enough, Hope. My sister is clearly dying, and we did not wait over a decade to become friends with you for you to not come through with your annoyingly perfect Hope Mikaelson heroics when we need you the most." The blonde grips Hope's hand.

After a moment of thought, Josie takes Stella's and Lizzie's hands. "She's right, for a change. It's hero time, Hope."

As Stella reaches for Hope's hand, pain shoots through her arm. Josie winces as Stella subdues a shout. As Josie stares at Stella, the guard hits his gun against the cell door. "I said keep it down in there!"

He cuts himself off as he falls to the ground. Stella and Hope jump to their feet as MG reveals himself with a dart gun in the doorway. "Did someone say 'hero time?'"

It doesn't take long for Stella to tie up the guard and stash him in a closet. Hope helps her move a cabinet in front of it before they return to MG who explains the situation.

"A blood fountain?" Hope scrunches her face up in disgust. "Gross."

"It's even grosser in person, trust me," MG replies. "I was looking for a way to shut it off, but I couldn't figure out how."

With a sigh, Hope crosses her arms over her chest. "All right, I'll go find the secret tunnel, I guess."

"We get our magic back, and we get the upper hand," Stella says. "I get to roast these sons of bitches."

"And then I can siphon the sludge out of Josie," Lizzie says, gripping her sister's hand tighter. "Not that she'll appreciate it."

"Great, then I'll just be shot," Josie says weakly. Her skin had turned just as pale as Stella's.