Page 56 of Midnight Sanctuary
She snorts. “Not helping.”
I suppress a smile and step on the gas. I already know that the long wait will piss Nikolai off. I’m hoping it does. I’m not in a charitable mood.
The moment we get back home, I escort Alyssa to her bed to get some rest. She goes without a fuss, which is a surefire sign that her little outing has tired her out. Once she’s tucked away, I leave the house again and cross the garden towards the shed.
Nikolai’s already in there, looking blotchy-faced with anger. “There you are!” he snaps, bouncing to his feet. “Fucking finally.”
“What the hell is your problem today?”
I really don’t need to be at odds with Nikolai right now. But he’s making it difficult not to want to wring his neck.
“We have work to do. An enemypakhanto crack and you’re out there, supervising teatime with the ladies.”
I snatch him up by the collar and pull him towards me so that he can see the fire in my eyes. “You may be my brother, Niko—but that doesn’t mean I won’t kick the shit out of you if I have to.” I push him back hard so that he stumbles a bit. “Now, check your attitude or I’ll check it for you.”
Nikolai straightens up, his jaw set in a tight square. “Can I go downstairs now,sir?”
“Be my guest.”
Scowling, he trots downstairs and I follow close behind. Alan is huddled up on his side of the cell with a pillow placed over his head. He stirs and groans dramatically when we turn the lights on. Boris, on the other hand, looks alert and wide awake as Nikolai opens the cell door and struts in.
I have to hand it to him—the man is a workhorse. He’s been through two solid weeks of torture. He’s had parts of his body flayed, been deprived of food and water for days on end. He’s got a broken leg and probably a few broken ribs now, too. Even waterboarding him for endless hours did nothing.
Through it all, he’d stayed silent. If he hadn’t sold my sister into sex slavery, he might have earned my respect.
As it is, he’ll only earn more violence.
“Back to beat a dead horse?” Boris drawls. His voice gets raspier with each passing day. I like to think it’s the will leaving his body.
“Tsk, tsk. You’re not dead yet, Boris. Nor are you going to enjoy the sweet relief of death until my sister is back under my protection.”
He manages a bloody, toothless smirk. “Pain is all in the head.”
“We’re here to disabuse you of that notion. Nikolai?”
I move to the side to give him free rein. My brother steps in front of Boris and glares down at him. “Who did you sell her to?”
Boris simply spits at Nikolai’s shoes. Nikolai punches him in the face so hard, the man loses consciousness instantly. I roll my eyes. “You know the point is to keep him conscious, right?” I ask. “He can’t give us answers if he’s not awake.”
Grinding his teeth, Nikolai walks over to the tap outside the cell to fill the basin up with water. I stand back and let Nikolai do his thing. I give him fifteen minutes and by the end of it, Boris is unconscious again and bleeding from half a dozen new places. The open gash on his stomach looks sickeningly bad.
“I’m gonna have to get Grigory in here to see to that now.” I sigh, grabbing Nikolai’s wrist and pulling off the brass knuckles he slipped on ten minutes ago.
“Let him suffer,” Nikolai hisses as he pushes past me and storms upstairs, fuming.
I throw Alan a piece of stale bread before I follow Nikolai back to ground level. “Letting him suffer is one thing. Letting him die is another. If he dies, that’s it. The trail ends with him.”
“What does it matter?” Nikolai yells. “He’s not talking!”
I narrow my eyes. “Believe me now, do you?”
“What’s your problem?” Nikolai twists around. The brass knuckles have kept his fists clean but there’s a small bruise forming along the bridge.
I step right up in his face, jabbing him in the chest with a finger. “Did you really think I was half-assing the job? That I just go down there every day to sing him lullabies and feed him grapes by hand?”
“Who’s to say? It’s not like you haven’t been distracted lately.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”