Siege of Shadows (Effigies #2)(4)

“Lake, grab my hands!” I yelled, reaching for her.

She took them without a second thought and we fell, twisting in the wind. My combat boots landed on the ground hard, the shock waves shooting up my legs, but I was sturdy—

—until a phantom burst out from the ground at my feet.

I had just enough control over my wits to leap out of its way, dodging its attack when it bulleted toward me, but soon I felt the sting of bone pounding into my boots from beneath the sand, lifting me up. Another phantom emerging out of the ground.

Phantoms came in different shapes and sizes, often mimicking the forms of beasts that, unlike them, were naturally of this world. Like so many of the phantoms in the sky, like so many others I’d faced before, this phantom beneath me took the form of a giant serpent—its long, slithering midnight-black hide erupted through the sand as if it’d been lying in wait the whole time. Parts of its rib cage jutted out of its body through layers of flesh and smoke.

I jumped off as two more followed it, launching themselves into the air. I was good at dodging them, but Lake was even better, using the wind to twist herself midair, avoiding the phantoms’ attacks.

“You’re about thirty meters off-site,” said a Communications agent as I dove onto the sand.

“What?” I heard Chae Rin exclaim through the comm. “What happened? Jesus, how did I know you two would be the ones to screw up?”

“You’ll have to find your way back,” said Sibyl.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself up. “How do we do that?”

The moment I turned around, a phantom’s face snarled at me from behind.

Trap and release.

Digging my feet into the ground, I slammed the palms of my hands into its large, pointed teeth. The force of the phantom’s charge sent me deeper into the sand, but I didn’t budge.

God, the smell. It was the saliva. Thick and foul, it came down from its mouth and slipped between my fingers until I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I rolled to the side, letting the phantom launch itself into the air. But it wasn’t done. Arching its long back, it made a beeline for me, jaws gaping.

I could do this.

I used the few seconds I had before impact to shut my eyes and concentrate. I could do this. I’d done it before. I could do it.

I could do it.

I felt the heat swallow up my body first, then the smooth pole, obsidian black, materializing in my hands. The sight of the tiny flames flickering at my feet made my heart speed up in panic, like always, but I couldn’t indulge it. The phantom shot at me, but I managed to flip out of the way just before it made contact, landing awkwardly on my feet. I was no gymnast. My head was still spinning when I swiped the blade of my scythe at the phantom’s neck, chopping its head off with one swing.

Effigies could summon weapons unique to each girl. Not many did in their time, but enough had for the Sect to realize we were capable of it. Maybe that’s why they called us the Four Swords. And this was my sword.

“Watch out!” Lake cried.

Another phantom screamed at me from behind, but Lake dealt with it before I could lift my weapon. It was as if an invisible battering ram had slammed into it. I could see the rotting black flesh of its belly as it flew back with the wind.

Which gave me an idea.

“Where exactly do we need to go?” My body was still on alert as Lake fought behind me.

“Sending you two the locations right now,” said a Communications tech. “Tap the tiny switch on the right arm of your goggles.”

Switch? I hadn’t even noticed it was there, but once I felt around, I found a little raised nub in the right corner and pressed it.

“No way.” Tiny red lights appeared on the inside of my goggles’ transparent screen as if I were playing a VR game. Awesome.

“It’s got camera function too!” Tech Guy said before collecting himself. This wasn’t really the time to be geeking out, but it’s not like I could blame him. It was really goddamn cool.

I could see our position lighting up as a flashing red dot. And at the top left-hand corner was the drop site where we needed to triangulate our antiphantom device with Chae Rin and Belle’s.

This could work.

“Lake.” I twisted around. “We’re hitching a ride. On a phantom.”

The pop star looked back at me as if I were insane. “What?”

“We’ll get killed out here. But we can ride a phantom to get to the drop site, Chae Rin–style.”

“Good idea,” said Chae Rin through the comm. “A little dangerous, but it’s doable.” An ex–circus performer would know, especially one who had once dabbled in phantom riding. “It’s like riding one of those mechanical bulls. Just make sure to dig your fingers in there and grab the bone or you’ll get flung off real quick.”

“Lake can use her power to keep us going in the right direction,” I said, my hands sweating against the pole of my scythe.

Lake panted heavily. “Really kind of you to make me do the heavy lifting, mate.”

We didn’t have time to argue. Three more phantoms barreled at us from a distance.

Closer. Closer.

“I’ll make it up to you later.” Closer. “Now stop whining . . .” Closer. “. . . and get us a phantom!”

Lake pulled a phantom into her vortex with a tortured yell. After letting my scythe dissipate back into nothingness, I ran for the phantom at full speed and jumped onto its back, Lake following quickly behind me.