“Change them back!” I yelled, but Lake’s shaking, sweaty hand couldn’t grasp the shards of stone before the phantoms roared, their unpetrified wings crashing into the machine guns, breaking them to pieces. A hunk of metal flew at our heads. Lake and I left the shards behind to dive out of the way before the debris could crush us. The guns were out of commission, but we’d only replaced one weapon with another. The phantoms hadn’t fully shed their crystal skin when they spotted us and began rushing forward.
“Run!” Lake screeched. Leaving her bag behind, she took off, pulling me along with her. Chae Rin was on her feet too, and Rhys. Jessie, Belle, Vasily—friend and enemy alike made for the gates as the phantoms charged after us, destroying everything in their path. I could hear their cries echoing behind us, too close for comfort as we ran through the corridor that led back out of the hall. It was mayhem behind us. Bricks crashing, walls crumbling as the half-petrified phantoms stampeded after us. I was the last one up the stairs, and I could feel half of it bursting into pieces below me as the monsters smashed it. I managed to just barely squeeze past the open bookshelf and back into the Little Room, but the phantoms held no such courtesy. They crashed through the bookshelf itself, sending spines and covers and wood flying into the air. I stumbled over a globe rolling across the floor, but before I could recover my footing, a phantom’s wing slammed into my side, sending me flying back. I felt my left ribs crack against the door from the impact.
“Maia!” Rhys cried, but he paused and turned, staring at the phantom. Wincing in pain, I looked long enough to catch it too. The phantoms—their bodies were starting to dissolve. Maybe they already had been from the beginning, but it was more noticeable now. The parts of their bodies that had unpetrified disappeared first, but I was sure the rest of them would follow eventually. I could see the black mist sizzling off their bodies, their bones wafting off into black mists.
“It’s the effects of the city’s APD,” said Rhys.
The phantoms slowed down, but with parts of them still petrified, they wouldn’t be stopped that easily. With a roar, they smashed what was left of their wings into the wall and stomped forward menacingly.
“Yeah, time to go,” Chae Rin said.
I couldn’t move. The pain from my cracked ribs was nearly debilitating. Rhys scooped me up into his arms and, punching in the code he must have glimpsed from Vasily, carried me out of the room. Rhys and I ran across the museum with the other Effigies following close behind. But Vasily still had his gun—I could see one dart fly past Rhys’s ear as we neared the entrance. The phantoms did whatever damage they could before they disappeared, the floor rumbling beneath their feet. It didn’t take long. The last of the phantoms finally disappeared, their faint cries echoing into the air, but we were far from free. I knew it the moment we crossed the doors of the National Museum and into the open air.
We saw them lined up along both staircases leading down from the front entrance. The national police force. Sect agents. Some were on the ground, hiding behind the doors of their police cars. Some were standing in front of the Wenceslas statue.
And all had their guns pointed at us.
“Effigies! You are under arrest!” one agent said. I couldn’t tell who. But I was sure I’d hear all the juicy details on the news later on, if the helicopters above were any indication. “Put your hands up and surrender yourselves into Sect custody!”
I peeked back over Rhys’s shoulders. Vasily held Jessie back, both of them concealed behind the doors. Wordlessly, he parted his jacket, and what he showed me made my heart stop. The thirteenth volume. I’d been so concerned with running for my life from the phantoms and guns, I hadn’t kept track of my human enemies; I hadn’t noticed Vasily snake the book for himself. He smiled. But I couldn’t do anything. They knew it too. The pain in my sides was so horrible, I couldn’t even speak.
Jessie stuck out her tongue at me as they disappeared back inside the museum, leaving us to be captured.
29
WE ARRIVED BACK IN LONDON in chains. Well, at least they’d given us a bit of hospital time in Prague first. I heard they’d kept me sedated for about twenty-four hours, letting my cylithium levels rise to heal me enough for transportation before inoculating me again. They’d inoculated all of us, so they had nothing to fear while they hauled us through the front gates of the London facility in the back of a transportation van. They gave us the strong stuff. Top-grade.
What could we have done anyway, in front of the crowd of horrified protestors and fans alike begging us for an explanation or else just calling us murderers? The agents kept burlap sacks over our heads so that the news couldn’t capture our faces, but if the Sect truly wanted secrecy, they could have taken us back through one of the secret paths.
Rhys wasn’t with us. Since he was technically an agent of the North American Division, Director Prince had stepped in to negotiate his “freedom” in Prague. The son was to be released into the father’s custody. For Rhys, that was probably worse. But as for us, we were going in the Hole.
Brendan himself led our grim procession through the same path he’d taken me before. Director Prince had apparently flown to London to advise him as they coordinated the Sect’s next steps. I tried to get Brendan’s attention without words, to signal to him that I hadn’t been responsible for the current state of his mother, but there was a wall of agents between us. I saw only a glimpse of his face before they threw me into my cell. I don’t think he meant to show me his confusion, his hurt. But when I grabbed hold of his pants cuff with my hands and spoke Rhys’s name, his expression turned cold.
“The Sect—maybe the people here—they’re responsible for what happened to your mother, not me,” I blurted out. I didn’t care how many agents were glaring down at me with narrowed eyes.
“Yeah,” said Chae Rin, who was fighting with her own group of agents as they tried to shove her into a separate cell. “The Sect’s corrupt, and yet we’re the ones being thrown into jail? What bullshit!”
“Stop,” Belle hissed at us.
We shouldn’t reveal our hand; we shouldn’t let on what we knew. I figured as much, but I needed to get through to someone. Saul’s clock was ticking down and time was almost out. Less than a day left. We couldn’t be locked up in here.
“You’ll be readied for interrogation soon,” Brendan said, his back still facing me. “Save your conspiracy theories for them.”
“Please. You saw Saul’s video, the message he sent all of us. Whatever he has planned is going to happen soon. We need to fight him.” When Brendan didn’t answer, I let out a frustrated cry. “Please! I’m not lying! Ask Rhys. He’ll tell you!”
Brendan jerked his foot out of my grasp. “Rhys,” he said, his voice hoarse and deep. “Rhys is my mother’s maiden name.”