“And you’re not the only Sect member,” Brendan added. “Why? What’s the end goal? What are you getting out of this?”
“What am I getting out of it?” Vasily’s laughter had a bitter tinge, almost incredulous, as if the answer should have been obvious. “If you want to know that, you’ll have to ask me another question. What happened in the Devil’s Hole?” It was the question I didn’t dare speak aloud. Rhys flinched at the name. “Come on, Maia. I know you want to know.”
I could see Rhys’s Adam’s apple bob up and down his throat as he finally pulled away and stared down at the floor.
“Eyes here.” With a quick snap, Brendan straightened his back. “I asked you a question.”
“What happened?” Vasily’s eyes were wild. “Ask me, Maia.”
“Stop it. Stop it.” I darted to Vasily’s side, pushing away the table full of bloody tools, one of them a common industrial drill. The Surgeon didn’t seem to mind. He stood at the side of room, quietly waiting his turn. I could see Rhys shaking. “Leave Rhys alone! Just answer our questions, damn it. Why are you working with Saul? Who else is involved in the Sect? What are you planning?”
“Whatever sins Saul has committed, it’s nothing compared to those of the Sect.” Vasily sounded calm, but his bloody hands had clenched into fists. “You remember, don’t you, Aidan? All the people there with us. The staff, the doctors. Dr. Gladstone? You remember, right, Aidan?”
“That’s enough.” Rhys lowered his head, but I could see his unfocused eyes widen. Even as he caught his trembling left hand with the other, he didn’t move from his spot. The name had frozen him to it.
Vasily let his head dangle awkwardly at one side, his lips creeping into a crooked grin when he added, almost wistfully, “Let’s go, Aidan. One day, let’s go back together.”
“Enough!” Rhys charged past Brendan, nearly pushing him out of the way to grab Vasily’s neck.
“If we ever did go back . . . I bet you we’d still find Gladstone’s body down there.” Vasily’s raspy voice scraped up his throat as Rhys squeezed it. “But we both know she didn’t die in that fire. A shame. She liked you too.”
“Stop lying.” And Rhys turned to me, frantic, pleading. “He’s lying. Don’t believe him. Don’t believe anything he says.”
“Aidan! Let him go,” Brendan warned, lifting his arms as if to stay a wild beast.
“Rhys,” I said, more gently. “It’s okay.”
That’s all I had to do. The sound of my voice was what snapped him back to reality. Rhys stared at me as if he’d woken from a dream, searching my worried eyes for answers. Then, finally noticing his own hand around Vasily’s neck, he let out a gravelly breath and stumbled back in shock.
“I’m sorry,” he said. Whether it was to Vasily, to his brother, or to me, I didn’t know. Maybe it was to all three of us. Regardless, it didn’t matter. Without raising his head, he strode out of the room.
“Now that you’re here, I have something to tell you, Maia.” Vasily swallowed painfully, as it seemed he’d overtaxed himself. He shifted uncomfortably beneath the straps as the blood started to ooze from his right wrist, adding to the dried stains on his shirt. “That day in France, I was wrong to try to kill you. I acted on my own, but I was wrong, and I apologize.”
He wasn’t the first person to say that to me. But I wasn’t buying it.
“So now you’re sorry for trying to kill me, but you didn’t have a problem setting Saul free and sending him right after me,” I said.
“Saul doesn’t want to kill you.” He twitched beneath his straps. “We’re not your enemies, Maia. The Sect . . .” His expression turned cold with a violent twitch. “It’s the Sect that’s wrong. Not me. Not Saul. Not Jessie. Yes, Jessie . . . Maia, when the time comes . . . make sure you listen to her. Listen well.”
Listen? What did he mean? Was he reaching out to me? He sounded painfully sincere, reasoning with me to side with his team of psychopaths and murderers. No way. He was crazy.
“You think I’m just going to do what you people say?” My jaw was stiff as I said it, my teeth nearly grinding together. “Anyway, if Saul wants me, he can just pop in and take me whenever he wants, right?”
The thought chilled my blood as I suddenly realized it. I wasn’t safe anywhere.
“He won’t, no. That isn’t the plan. There’s timing to everything. When the time comes, you’ll go with us yourself.” Vasily rubbed the blood trickling down his hand between his fingers. “Maia, would it really be that bad if you left the Sect?” He shook his head. “Or have you gotten used to your prison? If so . . .” His eyes narrowed. “Then I truly pity you.”
He was dead serious.
“That’s enough. We’re not getting anywhere.” Brendan had finally realized it. “Maia, we’re leaving. And you.” He glared at Vasily. “We’ll see if you’re ready to tell us more in a few hours. Brighton.”
The Surgeon began to stir from his place by the back wall. That was my cue. Life sprang to my legs, and I followed Brendan out of the room. The door shut against the sound of a drill whirring, but it was the crash of bone and flesh against concrete that stole my attention.
Rhys had just thrown Brendan to the floor.
“What were you thinking, Bren?” Bending over him, Rhys picked him up by the collar. “Was that an interrogation? Was that your plan? Are you satisfied with that?”
“Rhys!” I grabbed his arm from behind. “Stop!”
But Brendan wasn’t even struggling. His glasses were askew on his nose as he looked at his little brother. All the pompous pretense and pride crumbled to pieces as his bottom lip began to tremble. “Aidan . . . don’t . . .”
Cry. I could hear it before I saw the tears streaming down Rhys’s cheeks. He turned from me quickly, but I didn’t need to see his face. His whole body shook as he muffled his whimpering voice behind his one good hand.
I moved closer to him, pressing my hand gingerly against his face and pulling his head toward mine so he could see me, but he shook me off with a jerk of his head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry, Maia. I can’t.”
And he turned to me, his beautiful features streaked wet. He trembled helplessly. “They weren’t lies. I’m sorry. I . . . I wish you’d never met me.”
15
I WISH YOU’D NEVER MET me.
“Stop hesitating!” Chae Rin barked as her bō staff came for my head.
I hadn’t even realized that I’d stopped moving. It was for a split second, but apparently that was enough for a hit to land. It wasn’t Chae Rin’s staff, though, but Belle’s that swept me off my feet from behind. My own staff slipped out of my hands as my back hit the mat hard.