Page 126 of Siege of Shadows

“I’m okay,” she said, though she was still wincing in pain. “I’m starting... to heal.”

Her eyes didn’t show it. They were off focus, their blue pupils dulled. Shutting them, she shook her head and took in a deep breath. “It’s okay.”

Our feet finally touched the pavement of the basement floor. Running out the second exit, we searched for our accomplices. Section B-2, Uncle Nathan told us. And there they were, two agents standing by our getaway car, waving us forward.

Shots rang out. The elevator several feet away had just spat out two security guards, who started firing the moment they saw us. The agents flung open the car door and hid behind it for cover.

“Get in!” they yelled.

We made a run for it. Chae Rin had just enough power to cause a sinkhole underneath the security guards, but even when we hopped into the van and the agents drove out into the night, more security streamed out of another exit in the parking lot.

“Sirens,” I said as they began to ring out over the entire facility. They knew we’d escaped. “Sibyl, we need to get out of here. Why the hell are you guys taking us toCommunications?”

“Because according to my sources there, Brendan Prince can’t stop his father with words, and he’s too cowardly to do it through action,” Sibyl answered. “But Arthur Prince is between a rock and a hard place. Oslo is a war zone. Saul promised death and he’s delivering. With the phantoms around the perimeter of the city, nobody can go in or out. It’ll become another Seattle Siege.”

Chae Rin pounded her fist against the back of a seat. “Then we should be there,” she said. “If we can get to Oslo before—”

“Soon there won’tbean Oslo.”

The van fell silent as it cut across the grounds.

“What...?” My breath struggled in my throat. “What... do you mean?”

“It’s something I found on the flash drive not too long ago,” Uncle Nathan said. I could hear the fear creeping up in his voice. “Not about those soldiers. But about the weapon the Sect has been building for years without anyone knowing. Not even Sibyl. It’s about Minerva.”

Minerva. The third phase of Project X19.

Chae Rin narrowed her eyes. “Minerva? What about it?”

“It’s the name of a secret Sect satellite that can fire a particle beam at any target in the world,” Sibyl said. “And if we don’t stop him, Arthur will use it to kill Saul. Even if it destroys the city—and everyone inside it.”

31

“SO THE SECT JUST HASa death weapon lying around?” I yelled so loudly the agent driving squirmed a little in his seat. I didn’t care. My fingernails were practically ripping the leather of his headrest, but I didn’t even notice.

“Apparently,” Uncle Nathan said. “According to the file I read, the Sect built it a decade ago, a last resort in case of a cataclysmic phantom attack. But it was never used. Only certain members of the Council know about its existence. If Director Prince is using it, then either he knew about it all along or one of those Council members told him the big company secret and gave him the controls. Either way, looks like we’re about to see Phase III.”

“Phase III is to nuke a city?” I pounded the headrest with a fist. It was too much to believe.“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Sibyl said. “I don’t know whether Director Prince is aware of Project X19. But if he does this, it’s only going to make things worse. Even if he succeeds in taking Saul out, he will sacrifice lives. And he will start something I’m not sure any of us will be able to finish. You have to stop him, Maia. Even if that means killing him.”

Chae Rin’s and Lake’s expressions said it all. We were battered, starved, and exhausted. I didn’t know how much any of us had left. And I didn’t know if I could stomach taking another parent away from Rhys....

Rhys.

“Rhys is in Oslo!” I sat back against the seat, my hands shaking. “He was deployed there... by his father.”

Chae Rin looked horrified. “God, that’s messed up. Either he sent him there knowing from the beginning, or he’s willing to sacrifice his own son.”

“He couldn’t. He wouldn’t!” I turned to Belle, waiting for some kind of affirmation. But she was lying against the side of the door, staring at nothing through lidded eyes. “Belle!” I shook her. “Are you okay?”

She jerked her arm away at my touch and dragged herself up. “I’m fine,” she said, a little sluggishly. “I’m okay. Just leave me alone.”

“But, Belle—”

“Stop,” she snapped, and laid her head in her hands. “My body’s... healing.”

But was her mind? This was the wrong time for Belle to be incapacitated, though I couldn’t even imagine what she’d just been through. I could still see the scars along her neck, the burn marks scorching her left temple, searing off a bit of the hair there. She caught me staring and let her hair out of its binds to cover it.

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