Siege of Shadows (Effigies #2)(98)

“Stop!” We all ran to Belle, but I got there first. My hand hooked her elbow, though it did nothing to deter the girl’s murderous gaze. Naomi’s bodyguards, who’d heard the commotion, were rushing through the narrow hallway, but before they could reach the living room, Belle covered the entrance with a barricade of ice to keep them out.

“Yes, I did it.” Naomi pressed her head back against the blinds, her lips trembling. “I sent her to Prague. I put her in danger. She died because of me.”

“Did you or did you not kill her?” Belle pressed her sword against Naomi’s neck just hard enough for a line of blood to form. It dripped down the edge of her blade. “Tell me. You either killed her or you know who did.”

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” Lake was bobbing up and down on her feet, freaking out. “Is Belle going to kill her? Please don’t kill anyone!”

“Belle, please stop!” I cried. “Natalya’s killer—”

“Doesn’t matter.” Naomi was looking at me now. “I killed her. My actions set her death in motion. It didn’t begin with Prague. It began years ago.” She was shaking. Tears started to dribble down her cheeks, mingling with the blood slipping down Belle’s sword. “Everything that happened . . . It’s because of my weakness. Because I can’t protect anyone. I never could. Not then. And not now.”

Did she mean Rhys? I frowned, my grip on Belle’s elbow failing. I tried to speak again, to fill in the blanks Naomi kept hidden. But as much as Naomi could against Belle’s blade, she shook her head.

“Please. Please don’t,” she said. She was talking to me. “It’s my fault. The sin is mine from beginning to end.”

“That’s not good enough,” Belle hissed.

“Stop.” Chae Rin stepped forward and grabbed the edge of Belle’s blade with barely a wince. “Stop, Belle. Enough with this crap.”

But despite her warning glare, Belle wouldn’t back down. “I promised myself that I would find Natalya’s killer. And murder them. No matter the cost. I will murder them.”

I took a stumbling step back, my feet heavy. So I was right.

“Well, that wouldn’t be productive, would it?” Chae Rin said. But they were at a stalemate. Neither would budge to the other. “Lady,” she said without looking at Naomi. “You said you sent Natalya to Prague. That’s where the secret volume is, right? What if we get it?”

Naomi spoke very carefully. “Baldric told me that the information in it could help us fight whatever is coming. And that we couldn’t allow the Council to get their hands on it. Baldric is gone. Off the grid. I can’t just ask him. We need the volume or—”

Chae Rin kept a firm grip on the blade. “Or?”

“Marian. Baldric mentioned it, that Marian knows the secrets that even he does not. I would have asked Natalya, but—” Her breath hitched as Belle’s grip tightened around her sword. “Maia . . . Maia could scry right here.”

“That would take too long!” Lake said. “You said Marian was the first fire Effigy, right?”

Belle had told me once during training that I would have to go through each Effigy. But I couldn’t even get past Natalya, not when she was still plotting to take me over. I held my head in my hands.

“Belle, let’s get the special volume,” Chae Rin said.

“No.”

“Damn it!” In one quick movement, Chae Rin pushed Naomi out of the way with her elbow and with her great strength broke the sword’s blade. It dissipated—cold frost into the air. She’d pushed Naomi so hard, the woman had tripped and fallen to the floor, her hand grasping the window ledge as she tried to reorient herself, but Belle was already stalking toward her.

“I said stop.” With her bloody hand, Chae Rin grabbed Belle’s collar and pushed her against the window, but Belle’s fingers were already curled around her shirt. The tension was palpable, as chilling as the air around us. My feet wouldn’t move. I was too scared to even tell them to.

“Oh, come on!” Lake gripped the straps of her knapsack, her voice trembling with fear.

“You know what, Belle? I’m getting real tired of your crap,” Chae Rin spat. “You want to kill a woman because she blames herself for someone’s death. Clearly she didn’t murder anyone, but you still want to cut her open. What the hell is wrong with you? It’s not like you—”

“To be this cold?” Belle’s lips curved into a small smile. Not a nice one. “Surely you of all people know better than that.”

“Yeah, you’re a bitch,” Chae Rin said. “And that’s usually fine. But you’re not a murderer. You’ve been acting freaking bizarre since we got back from France—no, since Natalya’s death. Like what you did in that desert hideout? And that wasn’t the only mission where you jumped the gun. You’ve been good at hiding it so far, but you’re slipping, Belle. I know it. They know it too.”

She flicked her head toward us. It was true. Belle had been off since Natalya’s death—especially once she found out her mentor’s suicide was a murder.

I thought back to that night in France by the river. Belle had taught me to scry, but it wasn’t to reach Marian. The way she’d shaken me, pleaded with me. The desperation.