Siege of Shadows (Effigies #2)(41)

“Duly noted,” I mumbled, my toes curling in embarrassment as Chae Rin sauntered back to us, gunless.

“We’re four minutes out from the start of the mission,” Sibyl’s voice came from the overhead. “Everyone get to your stations.” She didn’t have to be physically present to order us around. Communications was too public for a mission that was only supposed to involve part of her fighting force; she’d set up her own operations base from her office instead.

“Oh dear. I’m getting a bit nervous.” For a few seconds, as Lake shifted uncomfortably on her feet, I could see the erratic rhythm of the rise and fall of her chest. Then suddenly, like a switch had been flipped, she snapped her head up. “Oh, by the way, Maia, speaking of Rhys—”

“We weren’t,” I said flatly.

“Since you two are in a bit of a rough spot, do you want me to help by getting him an invite to the TVCAs? I can ask my agent for tickets!”

Chae Rin laughed. “Of course you’d be worrying about some celebrity wankfest instead of the actual mission at hand. Why am I not surprised?”

“What?” Lake said as I distinctly heard Chae Rin mutter the word “airhead.” “I’m just trying to lighten the mood a bit, sorry. I know you’re all about blood, death, and destruction, but some of us aren’t.” Lake tried to keep her voice measured, but I knew it wouldn’t last. “Besides, this stuff is important too. We have other kinds of Sect duties, you know.”

“Other kinds of Sect duties! I’m dying!”

“Yes, other kinds of Sect duties!” Lake’s voice rose rapidly over the harsh dissonance of Chae Rin’s laughter. “Going to this awards show is our duty. Cheryl and Sibyl okayed it—hell, they want us putting ourselves out there.”

“Right, and this has nothing to do with your old girl group snagging their first number one. You really are completely, decidedly full of shit, Lake. I seriously—”

“I’m what? Say that again?”

It was never going to stop. It didn’t stop even as the two stalked off to their vans.

Just as they left my sight, Belle turned around the corner of a van, her hair plaited down her head in a French braid. “There you are. You’re with me,” she said. “Come, it’s time.”

Sucking in a breath, I followed.

? ? ?

One o’clock. In the dead of night, the delivery vans drove out of the underground hangars through a network that took us up to the surface. Only when we were clear of the facility’s reach did our silent procession break up as each van traveled down its prescribed route.

To the regular civilian passerby on the highway, our van would have looked almost too deceptively simple. But our boring, white moving cubicle skillfully hid from view the weapon cases strapped to the wall, the handheld blades and electromagnetic phantom-dispelling bombs tucked in the compartments beneath the black-cushioned benches.

And one of Saul’s rings. It was in a black safe specially fitted against the division separating the driver and passenger seats from the cargo unit we were sitting in. Another van followed a few car lengths behind. The only way inside our compartment was sealed shut with an electronically locked door that could only be opened with a code.

With sweaty palms, I sat rigidly on my bench next to Belle, who laid her head against the wall, eyes closed. On the opposite bench, Rhys stayed alert, watching the several blinking red lights on the center screen of the monitor as the vans separated down different paths. The van floor rocked beneath my boots while I listened to the sound of cars rushing by.

The left and right screens of the monitor acted like a surveillance system showing us different angles outside the van. But they didn’t show us every angle.

“Eveline, what do you see out there?” Rhys held a finger to his earpiece as the communication device picked up his voice.

“All clear so far.”

I could only hear her; she was on the other side of the division in the passenger seat with another agent, Lock, who drove us along the highway.

“All units check in,” came Sibyl’s voice over the comm.

“Unit Seven, all clear,” said Rhys.

“Unit Six, all clear.”

“Unit Five, all clear.”

And it continued like that.

“You don’t think Saul would just ambush us out here, do you?” I asked quietly, shifting uncomfortably in my seat.

“Yes. That’s why there are bombs in the bench, Maia.”

It wasn’t a tone I was used to from Rhys. He sounded annoyed. I heard the sting in his voice, but he kept his eyes away from mine as he continued to keep in contact with the other units. Not that I had a right to complain. But my throat still labored as I swallowed hard.

“Maia,” came Belle’s voice from beside me, and when I looked up, my lips almost parted in surprise. Her eyes weren’t fully open as they looked at me, but the encouragement of her small smile, as fleeting as it was, had enough of an impact. “This is all just a precaution—you know that. Don’t worry.”

She wasn’t as confident being warm. Her voice was softer, more fragile. It didn’t come naturally to her. But she gave it a shot sometimes, as if she’d suddenly remembered during those odd moments that I wasn’t just the girl whose destiny used to belong to her mentor. I was the girl struggling under the weight of it.