Siege of Shadows (Effigies #2)(58)

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.

The morning sun filtered through the high windows of the training gym. We’d been training for hours; it was already a little past breakfast time, and yet I felt as if I were barely awake and functioning. I usually performed better than this during training. Once, I’d even earned an approving nod from Belle, who usually doled out her compliments with all the generosity of a miser.

Today, I was sluggish, falling to easy attacks. I was also careless, though having to block both Belle and Chae Rin at the same time wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

Harder still if your mind was elsewhere.

“You need to concentrate.” Chae Rin stuck out a hand to help me up, but the moment I touched her fingers and began to pull myself off the ground, she snapped hers away, letting me fall back down. “And stop letting your guard down,” she added, using her staff to hit my leg.

Belle nudged my head with her staff and flicked her chin up. “On your feet.”

I got up, my bones burning as I picked my staff off the ground. The white bandages around my left arm, the ones I tied there to sop up the blood after one of Chae Rin’s attacks, were starting to come unfurled. Lake probably wasn’t having an easier time, having to climb the thick rope set up a few feet away from us all the way to the very high ceiling. She was halfway up, but I could hear her whimpering from down here as she climbed, inch by painful inch.

“What’s wrong?” Chae Rin tapped her staff against the floor, forcing a flinch out of me. “You’re distracted. What’s going on in there?”

“Is it Natalya?” Belle suddenly launched an attack, twisting around to sweep me off my feet again. I jumped, dodging it this time, turning quickly to block Chae Rin’s staff. The loud crack of wood against wood reverberated against the ceiling.

“No,” I grunted, blocking Belle’s next attack while leaning back to dodge Chae Rin. “This steel thingy is keeping the voices under control in there.”

The neck-band was still around my neck like a dog collar. The back of my neck kept chafing from Mellie’s stupid injection, and it was all I could do to keep my fingers from scratching the itch at the base of my neck, but it was doing its job.

“If that’s the case, then maybe we should try scrying again.” Belle lowered her staff. “We don’t know when Saul will attack next. We have to get ahead of him. But with the existence of those soldiers and more rogues potentially within the Sect, the issue’s getting more complicated. Last night, I tried searching the flash drive Philip gave us, but it’s encrypted. Natalya might have an idea of what Saul’s plan is.”