Such a Daring Endeavor Read Online Free PDF

from the sidewalk.
    Unwittingly, my fist pounds the window as the whip hits its mark once more. A man in a red shirt this time.
    The man winces and falls to the ground, and like the woman in white, he picks himself back up again without a hint of fury or any threat of a backlash, his face flaccid and expressionless. They’ve already lost their emotions; now they don’t even have their magic.
    “I know,” says Ren. “It’s bad. It was bad when I was down there.”
    “What are they doing with them all? Why not let these people go, like before?” My voice rises. I know I should be quieter, but anger simmers in my chest. And besides, it might be good to draw some attention in here. We need to get out already.
    “What do you mean?” Ren asks, joining me at the window.
    “When Talon and I came into the city, people were meandering around like vagabonds. They had their magic taken and had been evicted from the city. But now the Arcs aren’t letting these guys go. How come?”
    “Because you destroyed their Station. The Arcs don’t want to rebuild it themselves, I’m guessing. Not after all they went through to build it in the first place. Why not use their new slaves?”
    My mouth lowers in disgust.
    “I’m not kidding, Ambry,” he goes on. “When an Arc takes your magic, you literally have no choices any more. If they want you to do something, you have to do it.”
    Have they taken Talon’s magic? Are they subjecting him to terrible things as we speak?
    “I can’t stay here, Ren. Especially if what you say is true, I have to get Talon out of there.”
    “I know.” My brother’s voice is low, and far too understanding.
    I jet a streak of magic toward the canteen in the door. It fills instantly, spearing up to ignite the electric light above our heads with several pops and flickers. The teardrop beneath my chest heats with use, and I grip it tightly.
    A muffled voice comes from behind the door, and Ren grasps my biceps, drawing me to the room’s center.
    “Come on,” he says, jabbing a fist at my shoulder.
    I hurry to fake-spar him once more, knowing he’s right.
    The man who’s been bringing us our food steps in. His bulky shoulders threaten to topple him over, along with the muscles bulging along his torso and arms. The first time I saw him, I recognized him as the bouncer from that first night at Black Vault when I went with Gwynn weeks ago. Dark-skinned, he wears a thick metal bracelet, and rings spear along his eyebrow.
    “Micro,” says Ren, pausing, breathing hard.
    Micro folds his arms, making his large muscles lump from within his tank top. “Dircey’s here,” he says. “She wants to talk to you.”

A woman walks in. She’s short and slim, her face sharp and angled as though its edges have been honed with a barber’s knife. She wears a baggy t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up and skin-tight jeans tucked into floppy ankle-boots. Beneath a knit cap, her jet black hair is streaked with white and braided down one shoulder so the two colors swirl together. Magitats color down her left arm.
    Micro stands stiffly by the door like he never takes his bodyguard suit off, and Dircey strolls in and sinks down on Ren’s cot.
    “I’d say it’s good to see you again, Ren, but I’m not so sure that would be true,” she says.
    Ren and I swap another look. He obviously knows these people, but he says nothing in reply. Instead, we sit across from her on my cot.
    “So.” She leans forward and rests her elbows across her knees. Her voice is scratchy and low. If sandpaper could speak, it would sound like Dircey. “Little sister. Let me get this straight. Tyrus had control of my keeper. He got Ren to spill the location of our base in Jienke. And you just waltzed in there and…
undid
everything?”
    Her eyes level into me, hammering down my gaze. I meet her stare for stare.
    “Yeah. That’s about right.”
    Her tongue rolls against the inside of her cheek, jutting it out for a moment. She glances