Siege of Shadows (Effigies #2)(55)

The Surgeon. That would explain the navy-blue mask covering half his face, the same-colored cap tied around his small head, and the sharp, silver scalpel in his hands. Though judging from the jagged, bloody marks on Vasily’s bare legs, it was obvious he wasn’t trained.

“I suggested it, yes. But the Council voted,” sputtered Brendan.

“Is that your excuse for everything?” Rhys looked livid. “Someone else said it was okay? This man’s supposed to be in prison. I can’t believe the Council released him! How long ago was it? How long ago did they sneak him out and put him back on the payroll?”

“He was a Sect agent. On an elite interrogation team with the North American Division.”

“Yeah,” Rhys said with a disgusted snarl. “Until he went rogue and started kidnapping and carving up the very civilians he was supposed to protect.”

What? My blood chilled as I stared back at a man who’d used the skills the Sect had given him to mutilate innocents. We weren’t that far away. He must have heard us speaking. But the Surgeon was more interested in carving the inside of Vasily’s thigh, stopping just short of where his boxers began.

Cringing, I turned, stifling a gag behind my palm. Vasily wasn’t anyone to cry about, but this was too much.

“The Council is desperate. We need someone with the interrogation skills—”

“Torture skills,” Rhys spat.

“—to get Vasily to talk!” Brendan had had enough. With a burst of strength, he used both arms to push Rhys off of him. “Another city was just attacked by Saul,” he hissed. “You saw them screaming, didn’t you? And members of the Sect might be involved. You were almost killed last night because of it.” His eyes snapped with fire. “So yes. I called in the Surgeon. He doesn’t just use the physical. He’s known for getting inside people’s heads. Playing with their emotions. But with Vasily . . .”

As if on cue, Vasily started coughing, spitting out blood—or was it coughing? Those haggard breaths might have been laughter. Quiet laughter buried in pain. He might have been insane by now. I wouldn’t have even blamed him.

“You should have known Vasily wouldn’t crack,” Rhys said. “You’re so worried about leaks from the Sect, but you brought in someone we once jailed for going rogue.”

“We don’t have to worry about that with Agent Brighton. He’s only ever wanted one thing.”

Brendan let his grim words hang between us as he walked toward the gruesome scene. “Brighton. Give us a minute.”

The Surgeon didn’t speak, though he was clearly reluctant to tear himself away from his patient. I could see it in his tiny, deep black eyes, too close together—the only part of his face he’d left uncovered. Slowly, he stepped back as if the hump of his back made it difficult for him to move. Then Brendan waved me over.

I would rather have been anywhere but here. The sight of Vasily turned my stomach. Between the blood and torn flesh, it was all I could do to keep from throwing up. But Vasily would only talk to me. I didn’t know why, but I intended to find out.

The moment I moved, Rhys grabbed my wrist and pulled me around. I was looking up at him, the hard lines on his strong face melted by a sudden rush of something delicate. The worry was clear in his eyes even as he held me resolutely in place.

“Maia, this is ridiculous. You shouldn’t have to see this. You shouldn’t have to be here.”

The way he reeled me nearer to him made my heart contract for a painful second. He was scared for me. He wanted to protect me. Me.

“Please,” he continued. “I don’t want you to get hurt by this.”

He loosened his grip, and his hand slid down my wrist until I could feel his fingers grazing my palm. “Come on. You don’t have to do this. Let me take you out of here.” His hand closed around mine as he silently pleaded with me.

This was the Rhys I’d come to know. Even with all the questions and mysteries, even with the ever-present fear of what he could be, this was the Rhys that made my pulse quicken. And I—the girl who barely had friends or family, the girl who’d never known how it felt to have someone like him, beautiful and strong, look at her with his deep gaze—had no idea how to resolve the warring impulses in me. Should I fear him or not? Should I believe Natalya or not?

“He’s tied up,” I told him quietly in lieu of an answer. “I’ll be fine.”

“It’s Vasily,” Rhys whispered. “That won’t matter.”

That was when I realized that I was close enough to hear his whisper. Willing myself calm, I pulled out of his grip.

“It’s okay,” I assured him.

Vasily seemed to stir as I approached. When I called his name, and only when I called his name, he pried open his bloodied eyes and grinned wide as if nothing had changed—as if he weren’t strapped to an operating table with blood oozing out of his shallow wounds.

“You came.” Vasily’s light chuckles were overtaken by a coughing fit. “Let me have a look at you.”

“Excuse me?” I scowled, my skin crawling as he lifted his head as much as pain would allow, his eyes sliding down my face before settling on my neck. “What are you doing?”

My neck. Something came alive in his eyes as he hungrily devoured the sight of it. In the next moment, he laid his head back down and closed his eyes, satisfied.