“AGENT LANGLEY, AS ACTING DIRECTOR of the European Division of the Sect and head of the London headquarters facility, don’t you feel even the slightest bit of responsibility for the escape of the international terrorist known as ‘Saul’?”

“Considering it’s the Sect’s responsibility to deal with issues of international security as it pertains to the phantoms, do you believe that more coordination and cooperation with the world’s leading governments would have led to a different result?”

“What do you say to the growing number of detractors who claim now, more than ever, that the Greenwich Accords should be repealed?”

Sibyl had nerves of steel. I didn’t know how she did it. Despite the vitriol spewed at her from the venomous fangs of the press, she stood at the podium with the hardened, almost defiant confidence of a woman who’d seen and handled much worse.

Back at London HQ, Lake, Chae Rin, and I watched the press conference on TV from inside Cheryl’s office. We only just got back to London earlier this morning, and considering I’d had my body snatched, my mind broken, and my life almost snuffed out countless times, I was hoping Cheryl would have at least given us the day off before summoning us. Nope.

As we watched Sibyl respond to questions without giving any legitimate answers, Chae Rin shook her head. “It is cold as ice in there.”

“Well, unfortunately, letting Saul escape is kind of a huge deal.” Cheryl set the controller on the TV and sat at her desk. “Colossal, if you haven’t noticed.”

“I dunno, Maia got him pretty good,” said Lake. “He’s probably dead.”

“He still got away. And Effigies heal. And we have no idea what he’s going to do next.” Taking off her glasses, Cheryl rubbed her eyes. “It’s literally the mother of all disasters. How did this happen?”

Back at the press conference, a short, bald reporter raised his pen. “Do you even know the whereabouts of Saul now? Do you have any leads?”

That may have been the first time Sibyl showed any signs of annoyance. She sighed. “I’ve answered this, Richard, and yes, it’s still classified.”

“Actually, I believe I can provide some insight into these matters.”

The murmurs and flashing lights from the crowd intensified as Bartholomäus Blackwell joined Sibyl on the podium.

Cheryl shoved her glasses back onto her face, too shocked to notice when they slid back down her nose. “Blackwell? What . . . ?”

“What’s wrong?” Chae Rin shrugged. “He’s the representative of the Council, isn’t he?”

“The bloody Duchess of York doesn’t answer questions concerning matters of British national security, does she?” Apparently, Cheryl’s cockney accent slipped through only when she wanted to hit someone. With a shaky exhale, she placed it back in its cage and continued. “He’s more of a diplomat than anything else. He’s just the face of the Council.”

His face, right now, seemed almost gleeful as he motioned for Sibyl to step aside. It was only too obvious that the woman was trying very hard to maintain her poker face, clenching her jaw, probably so she didn’t say anything fit for a scandalous sound bite. Blackwell may have been somewhat ceremonial, but as the official representative of the Council he outranked her; he must have, because Sibyl stepped aside, just as he asked.

“All your questions are understandable, of course. The matter of the international terrorist known as ‘Saul’ has not been handled to the best of the Sect’s ability. This I admit.”

Blackwell’s red lips and pale skin made him look almost vampiric standing on the podium. Though his suit was professional, I could see why Sibyl didn’t want him to take over. While Sibyl had kept her expression neutral, he wore an almost mocking grin, just as he had when he’d assessed me in the Cathedral.

“As for how Saul escaped, we already have the culprit in custody.”

“And who is that culprit?” a woman asked him from the crowd.

Blackwell smiled. “His name is Agent Vasily Volkov, though he was aided by members of the London facility’s Research and Development department.”

As Lake gasped, I sat up in my chair. “Vasily?”

“Dear god.” Cheryl buried her face in her hands.

As the crowd erupted, Sibyl shot for the podium. I could tell she was hissing something, but Blackwell put up a hand to stop her.

“Well, this whole press conference just went down the pan real quick,” said Lake.

“He’s insane.” Cheryl shook his head. “Telling the crowd that it was Sect personnel who let him go? Is he trying to turn everyone against us?”

Vasily. I thought of his fox grin and shuddered. But then Vasily only followed orders. He’d said so himself. If Vasily was willing to cut off a ringmaster’s finger for the ring, if he was willing to kill me to keep me from discovering Alice and Nick’s secrets, and if he was willing to set Saul free, it was only because someone had ordered him to.

I narrowed my eyes as I watched Blackwell slide his hands into his pockets.

Once the press conference ended, the television news pundits began their discussion. The three of us were, needless to say, a little worried by Cheryl’s bloodshot eyes, so Lake granted her the mercy of changing the channel.

BREAKING: LONDON REACTS TO THE PHANTOM TRAIN ATTACK

“The . . . phantom train?” Chae Rin raised an eyebrow. “Is this about us?”

It was. BBC reporters had gone throughout London to interview surviving passengers from last night’s attack, along with their families, and really anyone they could snag off the street. I still wasn’t used to it: being talked about, having people know who, and what, I was. Squirming in my seat, I prepared for the worst.

“It was terrifying, man, but those girls, they saved us. They were seriously brilliant.”

I didn’t even recognize the guy speaking. The only face stitched into my mind after the attack, cruelly, and maybe permanently, was the man whose briefcase I’d taken. I could still see the terror in his eyes as he slid down the hill.

But this guy was different, as was the teenage girl who told the story of how Lake pushed the train car back onto the tracks when it was just about topple down the hill.

“I wasn’t in that car. I was in the next one. We were fine for the most part—the phantoms didn’t attack us, but I saw some of the stuff happening outside from the monitors.”

She jittered as she spoke. She was probably still wired from the residual terror in her system, but it was clear there was something else there, beyond the fright.

“They saved us,” she said. “The Effigies saved our lives.”

It was a refrain repeated throughout the interviews. And no matter how intently I stared at the screen, it just couldn’t sink in.

“Interesting.” Cheryl swept her hair out of her face and leaned in, watching closely. “I know Sibyl hasn’t had a chance to tell you, but you guys really did do a good job out there.”

As Cheryl pulled a tablet out of her drawer and started clicking, Lake looked at us, still unsure.

“We couldn’t bring Saul back.” She wrung her hands. “And honestly, a lot of people . . .”

Died. A lot of people died. None of us could forget that.

“Battles have casualties, Victoria,” said Cheryl. “You can’t save everyone. As an Effigy, you should know that now. Lucky for us, it seems your popularity’s on the rise regardless.”

Cheryl fell silent as she read off her device, her lips widening into a grin.

“You’ve got fans,” she said, the screen reflecting in her glasses. “Lots of them. This is perfect.” Cheryl set down the tablet. “You know, maybe you were on to something with the whole PR thing, Lake.”

Lake looked as confused as the rest of us. “What do you mean?”

“You said it before, didn’t you? The Sect needs a face. And not Blackwell’s.” Cheryl spat his name. “We need friendlier faces. Ones the general public can get behind and support. Yeah.” Cheryl sat back in her seat, letting her chair rotate on its axis. “We need to reassure them that, despite any little problems here and there, the Sect is doing things right.”

Chae Rin grabbed a magazine from the table next to her, waving it. “And you’re going to, what, have us do more photo shoots?” Making a disgusted noise, she threw it back on the table. “No way. The last one was bad enough.”

“Obviously we can’t have you get too commercial,” said Cheryl. “Otherwise you’ll lose your value as soldiers. But you can’t deny that the four of you working together can boost morale and support for the Sect. You’re a package: like the Seattle Siege Dolls, but better.”

It was Cheryl’s turn to sound like a car salesman. Even Lake was disturbed.

“Lake,” Cheryl said, making her jolt. “You explained it so well last time.”

Lake raised her eyebrows. “Uh, well, yeah, but I was just trying to get you to—”

Chae Rin kicked her from her seat, silencing her.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have a choice.” Cheryl eyed the television wearily. “I’m sure Sibyl would agree.” She gave a decisive nod. “So that’s it, then. I’ll let you guys fill Belle in on the details.” She paused. “Where is Belle, anyway?”

At the sound of her name, I lifted my head.

“Actually, I dunno.” Lake turned to the door. “Last I saw her, I was about to go take a shower. She was gone by the time I got out.”

“This is so typical.” Chae Rin shook her head while tapping her fingers on the armrest. “I am sick and tired of the special treatment she gets. You want us to be some kind of four-girl super squad, you should fix that first.”

“At any rate, we should get going,” I said quietly.

Cheryl looked at us. “Get going?”

Lake nodded. “We were going to visit the hospital before you called us here. We talked about it with Belle earlier, but I’m totally not surprised she ditched us.” Lake turned to us. “You guys ready?”

No. But I couldn’t tell them why. Gathering what courage I had left, I rose to my feet and, after a quick nod to Cheryl, followed them out the door.

  •  •  •  

Rhys had been admitted to a private hospital. He was okay, the EMTs had assured us before they’d whisked him off in the ambulance. But he’d need time to heal.

I stood in front of Rhys’s hospital room, paid for not by the Sect, but by his own mysterious family. From what I could tell, none of the members were here. Nobody was here but me, Lake, and Chae Rin. The others stayed behind me, watching anxiously as I rested a hand against the closed door. Twisting a knob had never been so difficult.

“Chae, maybe we should let Maia go in first,” said Lake.

Chae Rin agreed. I wished she hadn’t.

“That might be a good idea,” Chae Rin said. “Let us know when you’re done, kid.”

I couldn’t do this alone, but in some ways it would have been impossible to go in with anyone else. My shoulders slumped, as limp and heavy as the rest of me, but I sucked in a breath and walked inside anyway.

Rhys was asleep in his hospital bed. That in itself was a little miracle. Shutting the door quietly behind me, I approached him, the heels of my shoes clicking off time with the steady rhythm of his heart monitor.

Broken ribs, lacerations, concussion. I could rattle off every detail of his diagnosis because I’d memorized it all. And I could handle it all because of the reassurance the rise and fall of his chest gave me. Seeing him alive filled me with a groundswell of relief, and yet my heart was still hammering against my chest. And my hand . . . it still shook as it reached out for him. I didn’t know whether it would find his cheek or his neck first.

No. I withdrew it quickly, squeezing it into a fist. Whatever Natalya had shown me was a lie. Belle had said it herself: A dead Effigy could take the mind of the living only if the latter’s mind became greatly unsettled. And Lake had told me once that scrying could be unreliable. Natalya had simply shown me a nightmare to slip into my body. That was all there was to it.

I could still remember Natalya’s joy as she tried out her new body. Her desperation to stay. I almost couldn’t blame her. Natalya hadn’t wanted to die that day.

But it wasn’t Rhys who’d killed her.

My eyes followed the battle scars down his chest, faded on his sculpted arms. He’d spent years steadily collecting those scars. His whole life. One whole life devoted to the Sect, devoted to risking his life.

And following their orders.

His eyelashes fluttered. Shocked, I leapt to my feet and rushed to the door without a word. The moment I opened it, I nearly jumped out of my skin from the sudden fright.

“Belle?”

At first glance, Belle looked refined in her fitted jeans and wool sweater, her blond hair twisted into a perfectly plaited French braid. But it was obvious Belle hadn’t slept. Her dulled eyes were red and sunken, her icy beauty as tarnished as dirtied snow. It wasn’t just from fatigue.

Belle licked her cracked lips before speaking. “I came . . . to see if Aidan was okay.”

My heart gave a violent jerk. Without thinking, I swiftly stepped out of the room and closed the door. “He’s sleeping,” I said quickly. “You shouldn’t go in there.”

As Belle nodded, a nervous wave of heat rushed up my head. I could feel beads of sweat already starting to form at my hairline. I had to calm down. I’d already made up my mind, after all: Rhys hadn’t done anything wrong.

Like murder Belle’s hero.

Hiding my trembling hands behind my back, I leaned against the door.

“In any case . . .” Belle was unable to look at me. “I’m glad . . . glad I found you here.”

Belle’s gaze settled on the ground. It was the behavior of a girl whose confidence had been shattered. It wasn’t the Belle I knew . . . but then, if the past few days were any indication, I clearly never really knew Belle at all.

“I’m sorry.” The pain in Belle’s whisper was also etched across her face. “I was wrong about everything.”

Not even Chae Rin responded to that, though it would have been easier. Each of us stood solemn and silent in the empty hospital hallway.

“But you were right about Natalya,” she continued. Saying her name seemed to return a little strength to her. “Someone killed her. And her death is connected to Saul, to Nick, and to Alice. I have to know everything. There has to be more to this. Maia . . . you’ll help me, won’t you?”

Though I opened my mouth, I couldn’t find a sound to come with it.

“We’ll help you.” Lake hesitated before finally patting Belle’s shoulder. I could tell Lake didn’t know whether Belle would welcome the gesture or turn her into a Popsicle, but she took the risk anyway. “Especially since the Sect is clearly involved.”

“I agree,” Chae Rin said. “We should definitely stick together on this. Maia?”

They were all looking at me. It was like being in gym class, frozen to the spot while holding the basketball that had just been passed to you. My throat closed. Getting to the bottom of Natalya’s death meant opening the very doors I wanted to keep shut. But they were right. Saul was gone, and who knew how many members of the Sect were involved in his antics? Even if I was allowed to go home today, I’d still be haunted by the knowledge of it.

“Yes,” I said. “I’ll help you.”

“There they are. They’re right over there!”

I just barely saw the nurse’s sheepish expression and outstretched finger before the reporters swarmed the hallway.

We turned to run for it, but the press was already blocking the only exits.

“What the hell?” Chae Rin groaned.

“Nothing for it,” Lake said. “We’re just going to have to go through.” After nudging me, Lake offered me her elbow. “Come on! So nobody gets lost!”

This was my life now. Cameras and flashes. Blood and death. And somehow it all seemed to go hand in hand.

We didn’t have a choice. The flood hit. Reporters screeched questions at us from every angle, red-faced and desperate for the story.

“Do you know the whereabouts of the terrorist—”

“What do you think of the support you’ve been getting from—”

“How long will it be before you—”

I took a breath and nodded to the other girls. Then, linking arms, we disappeared into the crowd together.