Page 120 of Siege of Shadows

The phantoms slowed down, but with parts of them still petrified, they wouldn’t be stopped that easily. With a roar, they smashed what was left of their wings into the wall and stomped forward menacingly.

“Yeah, time to go,” Chae Rin said.

I couldn’t move. The pain from my cracked ribs was nearly debilitating. Rhys scooped me up into his arms and, punching in the code he must have glimpsed from Vasily, carried me out of the room. Rhys and I ran across the museum with the other Effigies following close behind. But Vasily still had his gun—I could see one dart fly past Rhys’s ear as we neared the entrance. The phantoms did whatever damage they could before they disappeared, the floor rumbling beneath their feet. It didn’t take long. The last of the phantoms finally disappeared, their faint cries echoing into the air, but we were far from free. I knew it the moment we crossed the doors of the National Museum and into the open air.

We saw them lined up along both staircases leading down from the front entrance. The national police force. Sect agents. Some were on the ground, hiding behind the doors of their police cars. Some were standing in front of the Wenceslas statue.

And all had their guns pointed at us.

“Effigies! You are under arrest!” one agent said. I couldn’t tell who. But I was sure I’d hear all the juicy details on the news later on, if the helicopters above were any indication. “Put your hands up and surrender yourselves into Sect custody!”

I peeked back over Rhys’s shoulders. Vasily held Jessie back, both of them concealed behind the doors. Wordlessly, he parted his jacket, and what he showed me made my heart stop. The thirteenth volume. I’d been so concerned with running for my life from the phantoms and guns, I hadn’t kept track of myhumanenemies; I hadn’t noticed Vasily snake the book for himself. He smiled. But I couldn’t do anything. They knew it too. The pain in my sides was so horrible, I couldn’t even speak.

Jessie stuck out her tongue at me as they disappeared back inside the museum, leaving us to be captured.

29

WE ARRIVED BACK IN LONDONin chains. Well, at least they’d given us a bit of hospital time in Prague first. I heard they’d kept me sedated for about twenty-four hours, letting my cylithium levels rise to heal me enough for transportation before inoculating me again. They’d inoculated all of us, so they had nothing to fear while they hauled us through the front gates of the London facility in the back of a transportation van. They gave us the strong stuff. Top-grade.

What could we have done anyway, in front of the crowd of horrified protestors and fans alike begging us for an explanation or else just calling us murderers? The agents kept burlap sacks over our heads so that the news couldn’t capture our faces, but if the Sect truly wanted secrecy, they could have taken us back through one of the secret paths.

Rhys wasn’t with us. Since he was technically an agent of the North American Division, Director Prince had stepped in to negotiate his “freedom” in Prague. The son was to be released into the father’s custody. For Rhys, that was probably worse. But as for us, we were going in the Hole.

Brendan himself led our grim procession through the same path he’d taken me before. Director Prince had apparently flown to London to advise him as they coordinated the Sect’s next steps. I tried to get Brendan’s attention without words, to signal to him that I hadn’t been responsible for the current state of his mother, but there was a wall of agents between us. I saw only a glimpse of his face before they threw me into my cell. I don’t think he meant to show me his confusion, his hurt. But when I grabbed hold of his pants cuff with my hands and spoke Rhys’s name, his expression turned cold.

“The Sect—maybe the people here—they’re responsible for what happened to your mother, not me,” I blurted out. I didn’t care how many agents were glaring down at me with narrowed eyes.

“Yeah,” said Chae Rin, who was fighting with her own group of agents as they tried to shove her into a separate cell. “The Sect’s corrupt, and yetwe’rethe ones being thrown into jail? What bullshit!”

“Stop,” Belle hissed at us.

We shouldn’t reveal our hand; we shouldn’t let on what we knew. I figured as much, but I needed to get through to someone. Saul’s clock was ticking down and time was almost out. Less than a day left. We couldn’t be locked up in here.

“You’ll be readied for interrogation soon,” Brendan said, his back still facing me. “Save your conspiracy theories for them.”

“Please. You saw Saul’s video, the message he sent all of us. Whatever he has planned is going to happen soon. We need to fight him.” When Brendan didn’t answer, I let out a frustrated cry. “Please! I’m not lying! Ask Rhys. He’ll tell you!”

Brendan jerked his foot out of my grasp. “Rhys,” he said, his voice hoarse and deep. “Rhys is my mother’s maiden name.”

He didn’t look at me when he left. I had to move my hand out of the way to protect my fingers when the agents shut the heavy iron door in my face. Three more such slams echoed against the cold hallway. The four of us were in our cages.

Time ticked away. Minutes. Hours. I was alone and shivering in this cold, tiny room, its walls of red clay different from the deep, blinding white cell Brendan had taken me to—the cell Vasily had been tortured in. Though Brendan had called that an interrogation too. Was that what we were in for?

There was no bed, only a dirty toilet I was never going to touch no matter how many days they locked me in here. The walls were soundproof, so I couldn’t know how the other girls were doing, couldn’t even ask them as I curled up against the wall, wrapping my arms around my knees. Vasily had already promised that Saul’s plan would launch soon. We couldn’t be here.

Hours passed. I didn’t know how many. I had just begun to fall asleep when the door creaked open.

“Howard,” I said. Or tried. My voice scratched painfully against the inside of my throat. I had just enough energy to lift my head. Howard kept his eyes concealed behind a pair of shades; maybe it was better. That way I wouldn’t have to see the distrust in them. In his standard agent black suit and tie, he held a tray of food. Beans, corn, and a slab of meat—who knew what kind?

“Howard,” I whispered just as he approached. “There’s something happening inside the Sect. Howard...” When I looked past his body, I could see five other agents, fully armed, including his wife, Eveline. She was in Lake’s room, directly opposite mine, giving her a similar tray of food. From what I could see, Lake looked worse for wear, and when she wiped her face and thanked Eveline, I knew she’d been crying.

“Ask Rhys,” I tried again. “Wh-where is he? If you ask him—”

“Agent Rhys is otherwise disposed,” Howard answered coldly. He didn’t get too close, but he was near enough that I could hear him speak even as he lowered his tone. “On a mission.”

“What mission?”

He looked behind him with a slight shift of his head and knelt down a few steps away. “Director Prince Senior sent him to Oslo.” He placed the tray on the floor. “To help stop Saul.”

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