Siege of Shadows (Effigies #2)(6)

“Oi.” As we neared the location of Saul’s hideout, Lake pointed at Chae Rin’s running figure in the distance. “How the hell does she still have any energy after all that?”

Chae Rin’s stamina and strength were incredible, even for an Effigy. But Chae Rin hadn’t gotten out of the phantom onslaught without a scratch. She had a few up her arms, her pale skin and blood exposed to the air through the tears in her sleeves. Her short black hair grazed her shoulders back and forth as she continued toward us.

“You okay?” I called out to her.

Slowing down, she lifted her slender arm. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” She looked around. “So, where’s the Warrior Princess?”

If she meant Belle, she didn’t have to wait long. Soon, she emerged out of the darkness, her body veiled only momentarily by sudden gusts of wind carrying tufts of sand into the air. As her blond ponytail fluttered behind her, she lifted up her goggles to reveal those icy blue eyes, tired but steady as they found us in the night.

My body instinctively seized when I saw her, a tinge of fear that months ago would have been unimaginable. Back then I would have been fangirling in the truest sense of the word. The coldly beautiful but aloof Effigy whose years of experience had hardened her into a badass warrior. This was the girl whose posters and collecting cards were still somewhere in my New York apartment, probably in my bedroom closet along with all the other stuff I hadn’t brought with me to London. For so many years, I wanted to be her.

It wasn’t until I actually met her that I realized I never really knew her at all.

Chae Rin rolled her eyes. “Took you long enough,” she said once Belle was near us.

Belle stopped in front of us, and I twitched. Just slightly. I didn’t even notice at first, but once I did, I berated myself. There’s nothing to be worried about, I told myself. Just stop thinking about it. I steadied my body.

“Wanted to make an entrance, eh?” Chae Rin continued to prod her, but Belle wasn’t biting.

“These devices are specially made by our R & D department for missions,” Belle said, ignoring the comment—a slight that did not go unnoticed by the visibly annoyed Chae Rin. “But their power is limited, which means this electromagnetic field is too. We’ll have to work quickly.”

“You mean, I’ll have to work quickly,” Chae Rin muttered.

“You’re both right,” Sibyl said through the comm. “You’ve got fifteen minutes before the field gives out. But once you go underground, we’ll lose contact. Make sure you keep track of the time from your visors.”

The countdown started at the top right hand of my goggles’ translucent screen.

“Roger that.” Belle lowered hers back over her eyes.

It was hard not to look at that straightforward fearlessness without feeling an awkward mix of awe and insecurity. It was almost reassuring seeing her focus back in full force, even if it was confined to the battlefield.

It always was, these days.

Chae Rin cracked her knuckles. “All right, then. Clear a path.”

Belle, Lake, and I made sure we were well behind Chae Rin as she brought her hands low. Effigies didn’t necessarily need to use their hands to manipulate elements, but it was just easier to—like our limbs were a lightning rod, the perfect conduit for such immense power. As she lifted her arms, the earth rose with her.

She did good work, moving away the sand, but I couldn’t help worrying. Saul would surely hear the sands shifting above him, wouldn’t he? And then just disappear. There were so many risks in this mission, but it couldn’t be helped. Sibyl wasn’t the only one under the world’s pressure to deliver a terrorist—we were too.

Sand slid away from us in sheets and billowed up into the night sky with the wind Lake summoned. It wasn’t long until we saw the white metal hatch, dirtied around its perfect right edges, big enough to fit only one of us at a time.

The four of us stood facing each other, exchanging steady glances. This was it. We were to work together. Beat the bad guy. That was the reason why the Sect gathered us, after all. We were an uneasy alignment created out of necessity, forged through a shared destiny.

The Effigies.

Sometimes, if I let myself, I could feel it: that unspeakable force linking one to the other. A connection. A bond. Or maybe it was just me. We’d already fought together and bled together. That may not have made us friends, but it made us something.

A team.

Yeah. And it wasn’t all that bad.

“No time to waste.” Chae Rin rolled up her sleeves. “If he’s down there, let’s go.”

“Wait—” Lake put out a hand to stop her. “Director Langley . . . are you one hundred percent sure that Saul is in that bunker?”

“We can still detect his frequency at the below location,” responded a Communications techie.

“He’s there.” Sibyl’s voice was solemn.

“We can only climb down one at a time,” I said. “He’ll definitely hear us coming. If he hasn’t heard us already.”

“I’ll go first,” said Belle. “I have more experience. I’ll neutralize Saul quickly.”

Bending down, she gripped the handle and, with care, lifted the heavy hatch.

“Belle—” I started, but she put up a finger to silence me, nodding meaningfully toward the open hatch.