Page 101 of Siege of Shadows

The man rested it against the ground while his hands fumbled in his bag, searching for something. He took out a metal stick that, when he tugged at it, stretched out in new sections. “We need to set up protection or we’ll get eaten out here. Put your gun down. This isn’t over.”

He was right. I could feel the rumbling beneath my feet.

“They’re coming!”

The kid. He’d pulled his scarf down long enough for me to see his olive-skinned face before he turned around again and aimed his weapon at the mountain peaks. Several phantoms, as black, rotted, and smoking as the rest, crawled over the hills on thin, towering spider legs. They were moving too rapidly toward us, even despite the weight of their giant, cicada-like torsos.

I batted Abril’s gun away with my hand, and though her face was covered with a red scarf and a thick hood, I could see her eyes rounding in fear at the sight of the phantoms. Shoving her gun back into her holster, she dove for her Sect weapon on the ground.

As big as the phantoms were, they were fast enough to dodge the blasts, scuttling back and forth. The kid jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the sharp edge of a phantom’s leg as they came for us.

One leapt out from behind us so quickly, Lake and James didn’t have time to react. Lake screamed as the phantom smashed its leg into James hard and he flew back, landing on the ground with a heavythud, out cold. I couldn’t see if he was breathing or not.

Belle ran, ducking to avoid Abril’s hectic blast, and slid, cutting off two legs in one go. Chae Rin created another sinkhole in the mountain, which took a phantom down, but she had to be careful—the Scottish boy had to run and duck out of the way to avoid being taken with it.

It was chaos. With a great yell, Lake managed to push one of the phantoms back, but there were two more coming around the corner. Rushing forward, I summoned every bit of strength I had to set them on fire. I managed to burn off some legs, though there were so many trees nearby, I had to be careful not to start a wildfire.

Off to the side somewhere, the Scottish boy was busy fiddling with that stick he’d pulled out of his bag while his partners shot blue electricity from their Sect weapons. But one phantom slipped through the perimeter just as I heard a weapon jam with a series of frustratedclicks. Spinning around, I saw the boy a few feet away eyeing his weapon in terror, desperately trying to shake it awake. As a phantom lurched toward him, I was already running for him.

“Derrek!” Abril yelled, but she was too busy fighting off her own phantom to go to him.

Derrek screamed and dropped his weapon, falling back and covering his head with his arm. I threw a wave of flame at it, but it brushed it off with a shake of its shelled head. It raised its needle-sharp leg and brought it down on Derrek’s head so fast I barely had time to think. On instinct alone, I slipped underneath it, blocking its attack with my arm and crying out in pain as the thin point pierced through my flesh.

My blood dripped down the needle onto the forehead of a terrified Derrek, who lay flat on his back looking up with wide, blue eyes at the two of us monsters, Effigy and phantom, struggling over the fate of his life. Grabbing the leg with my other arm, I sent a tunnel of fire scorching up its length until the torso was aflame. Then, with a heave, I pushed it over and hit the ground even before it did, grasping my bloodied arm.

“Are you okay?” Derrek sounded Eastern European somehow. He had that harsh lilt to his voice, but it felt mixed with many things, as if he’d been moved around too much before his voice could settle anywhere. When he pulled down his scarf, I could see his thick pink lips and his rounded cheeks. He took his cap off, revealing the pincer-straight black hair covering his ears. “You... you saved me.” He looked at me in utter awe.

“I need a bandage,” I told him, but there wouldn’t be any time for first aid, not when there were more phantoms coming.

“It’s done!”

The Scottish man. He was finished setting up his trinket: a tripod that glowed from the metal feet to the glowing tip that reached just above his head. A few swiftclicks and it was operational.

“Take this, you little fuckers,” he swore. The moment he turned it on, a wave of blue light flashed out in a circle, evaporating the phantoms in the area as far as I could see.

We were safe, but it didn’t seem like there’d be any time to rest. The Scottish man pulled down his scarf and pushed off his hood with a flick of his head. His brown eyes matched the dark chestnut hair curling over his forehead in ringlets. His jaw was square and straight, his jawline defined as he surveyed the mountains.

“All right, everyone move your arses. This isn’t going to hold forever.” He looked at me and grinned. “That is, unless you Effigies come with APD systems built into those indestructible little bodies.”

“Not indestructible,” I said, holding up my bloodied arm.

“And not little.” Chae Rin approached him slowly, looking him up and down. He didn’t seem to mind. Seeing a disheveled Chae Rin approach him menacingly only made his grin turn wicked. “Who are you?”

“Traffickers.” It was Belle who’d answered, though her gaze was on the weapons they held. “Sect grade. You’ve stolen these.” She looked at the three of them. “Is this what you trade in?”

“Sharp eyes,” said the Scottish boy.

Traffickers. They usually weren’t any of the Sect’s business—we battled monsters, not humans, as sick as those humans may be. But they were criminals nonetheless, setting up hubs for their networks through Dead Zones, smuggling and transporting anything from drugs to people—but I didn’t see either.

“We’re not bad guys, you know,” the man said, putting up his hands as a sign of peace.

“You shot at us,” Chae Rin said.

“By accident!” he insisted. “We were shooting at the phantoms. Come on, seriously, we’re not bad people. Believe me, we’re not your run-of-the-mill group of villains and criminals, and we’re not out here hurting anyone. Never would. Our wares—”

“Sect wares,” Belle interrupted.

“—thisantiphantom technology,” he tried again, “is going to places and people that need it. And we’re not a threat to you, obviously. I didn’t get in this to fight any damn Effigies.” He straightened his back. “But since we did just save one another’s lives, let’s all of us calm down and clear things up on the way, yeah? Derrek, Abril. You okay?”

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