Yes. Aidan. He’d come to the museum on the same day with friends I’d never seen before. He hadn’t seen what I’d done and didn’t ask questions, and I was grateful for it. Now that we were back in the lobby, he’d left his friends by the long, winding staircase to talk to me.
“Hey, Natalya, I’m so sorry I startled you before,” Aidan said. He’d come dressed in a black striped T-shirt and jeans, wearing that cute grin I’d come to know over the years. “It’s just that I saw you sneaking around the museum and couldn’t help but be curious. I was surprised to see you here in the first place.”
“I didn’t even notice you, Aidan,” I said.
He laughed. “Well, I’m pretty good at sneaking around too.”
It was strange that he’d be here on the day I’d decided to carry out Baldric and Naomi’s mission to find the secret volume. So strange. But then again, his laughter had a way of making you think otherwise.
“Aidan, about what I was doing—”
“Honestly? Don’t even worry about it. If you’ve got something to do, then do it. It’s got nothing to do with me.” He smiled at me reassuringly.
It was the nice smile of a nice boy. I’d known him since we’d worked together on a mission near his post in rural New York three years ago. Only fifteen, but still so capable. He’d been a good friend to me ever since, fighting with me, standing by my side as a comrade. I had no reason to doubt him, but I had to maintain my guard nonetheless.
“By the way, are you interested in coming to see the dinosaur exhibit, by any chance? It’s why I’m here. I even dragged a few of my friends along.”
His friends were waving him over. He always did have a bizarre love for large creatures, even knowing the damage they could do. On more than one occasion, he’d tried to get me to go to some circus with him in Canada. Monsters as entertainment. It was beyond me.
“Why don’t you come with us?” he offered. “Life isn’t all about blood and glory. Have a little fun for once in your life, Natalya.”
But you weren’t there for a little fun, were you, Aidan?
Natalya’s voice, violent and murderous, jolted me out of her body and into a dark abyss through the pure force of her fury and pain.
He was spying on me. He followed me. Then he killed me.
“No . . .” I hadn’t wanted to believe it when she’d shown me the first time in France. I didn’t want to believe it now. “No, you’re just saying that to take my body from me.”
He killed me!
“He wouldn’t!”
You don’t believe me . . . because of your crush?
Natalya was laughing. It felt as if I were drowning. Her consciousness was swallowing me whole.
Pitiful. This body. This life. You don’t deserve it.
Without mercy, her consciousness buried mine deeper and deeper. “No . . . Get away from me!” Deeper . . . deeper . . .
“No . . . no!”
I was screaming.
“Maia? Maia!”
“No!” I screamed, waking with a terrible shudder. Chae Rin pinned me to the table, hissing at me to calm down. I stopped thrashing and surveyed the room, now silent but for the beeping monitors. Dr. Rachadi gaped at me. I could see the sweat lining his forehead.
Director Chafik and the other two girls were hovering over me.
“Well?” I heard Lake say. “Did you get what you wanted?”
My limbs ached, and my head throbbed. Tears were welling up behind my eyelids.
“The frequency’s instability during the process of scrying matched Saul’s,” Dr. Rachadi said, wiping his forehead. “For a few minutes, Natalya’s consciousness surfaced. But the frequency didn’t stabilize the way Saul’s had once Alice’s consciousness resurfaced during his interrogation. We can hypothesize up to this point that Saul’s ability to mask his own frequency may not be something we can see in the other Effigies. Also—”
“Did you see her?” Belle. The naked desperation in her eyes was almost too much to take. Did she see me at all? Did she even care?
“Yes, I did. Natalya . . . She won’t stop.” My body shook as I lay back against the table, tears dripping down my cheeks. “She won’t stop . . . until I’m gone for good.”
My flesh was weak and tired, my muscles worn, my mind wounded. I passed out, praying I wouldn’t see Natalya again.
? ? ?
I awoke to the sound of curtains rippling with the gentle breeze that fluttered in with the moonlight through the open window. It was dark. Were we still at the facility? Most facilities had rooms for agents and trainees, and this hard bed was about what I expected for the kind of dreary accommodations the Sect usually had available for them. Pushing off the gray covers, I turned my weary body onto its side. They must have brought me here after I passed out. When I picked up my phone by the side of my flat, white pillow, the text message Lake had sent me an hour ago said as much.
Sibyl called after you conked out. Said we were to come back right away for a debriefing and continue your training. I KNOW IT NEVER ENDS!!! But don’t worry! We’ll leave first thing in the morning! Lots of love <3 <3
I let my phone slip from my fingers and lay back against the pillow, resting my wrist on my forehead. What never ended was the lingering feeling of danger that came with the knowledge that Natalya was deep inside my mind, waiting for her chance. At least I hadn’t dreamed about her again, not yet. But traces of the last one still haunted me.
I’d dreamed about Natalya skulking around the National Museum in Prague two months ago. Or more specifically, I’d scried into one of Natalya’s memories in my sleep. There, she’d left a message for Belle in a secret room, but the dream had abruptly ended the minute she’d heard someone behind her. I could still remember her fear and shock. I thought perhaps it was an Informer, one of the specialized agents that shadow Effigies and bring information back to the Sect. And now I knew that it was Rhys who’d followed her.
Rhys . . . I thought of the blood dripping from his mouth and the light dying from his dark eyes. It wasn’t real, just Natalya’s memories and my dreams blending too seamlessly together while Dr. Rachadi messed around in my head.
Or maybe Natalya’s consciousness was becoming too strong.
You don’t believe me . . . because of your crush?
I squeezed my eyes shut. Two months ago, when I’d brought up Natalya’s trip to the museum with Rhys, he’d been uncomfortable with my even pursuing the subject. And that was before the night I’d faced Saul in France, when Natalya had finally shown me the scene of her death in full: her poisoning at Rhys’s hand.
A dull pain began throbbing in my chest as I considered it. I couldn’t recall every detail of the dream, but I did remember Natalya’s heart calming upon seeing his boyish smile because that’s how I’d always felt. His honey sweetness underlined by the dark charm of a warrior raised from youth for battle. I hadn’t seen him since he’d gone back home some weeks ago. In the short time I’d known him, I’d attached myself to his kindness, caving in to my own attraction. But like Natalya, I hadn’t realized just how little I knew about him.