"Now." Bran hugged Roma to his side. From my angle, I could see she’d loosened his shirt from his waistband and was stroking his back. "Tell her she's angry but remember. Believe it."
Cassie still looked confused, but she looked at Roma and said, "You are so angry," in a forceful voice.
Roma stiffened, yanking herself away from Bran, fists clenched. "Why am I so furious?" she yelled, nearly screaming. "I want to punch someone in the face!"
She took a step forward, her dark eyes hot as coals with anger.
"Tell her she's happy again," Bran said in an urgent tone. "I don't want to be punched in the face."
"You're happy," Cassie said. "Happy, no. You're calm. You're calm and kind of pleased."
Roma took a deep breath and shook her head ever so slightly, then sighed. "Okay. Yeah." She blinked a few times, then went from looking calm to bewildered. "What the heck was that?"
"I think Cassie has the ability to force someone to feel what she wants them to. If it's true, this could be incredibly helpful to us. Especially dealing with the three prisoners."
Cassie looked as if someone had run over her foot. Stunned wasn't a strong enough word. "Hold on," she said. "Do you think I could get them to talk?"
Bran’s slow smile held a suggestion of malice. "I certainly hope so. Let's start with Eldora."
We traipsed into the room with the wicked witch and sat at the table. Me, Reynard, Bran, and Roma sat across from her while Cassie plopped down beside her. "Hey," Cassie said. "Look at me please."
Eldora slowly turned her head around to glare at Cassie. Her chin was elevated with pride, though her eyes held a hint of fear. "What?"
"You desperately want to tell the truth. You want to speak the truth so badly it's like an itch under your skin."
Eldora gasped and jerked her head away. "What?"
Bran leaned forward. "How many alchemists are there?"
After a pregnant pause, Eldora squirmed, rubbing her arm against the chair as if she were trying to scratch it. "A couple dozen, maybe."
"Where do they live?" Rey asked. He leaned forward, almost like he was ready to pounce. It made him look incredibly hot, focused like that.
"Here and there. There's a database." Eldora bit her lips shut.
"Where is the database?" Roma asked.
Eldora shifted in her seat, mouth clamped shut. After a moment or two, she was almost writhing, trying to scratch. Her mouth popped open. “The laptop was stolen from the office upstairs."
The words were a strangled scream.
Rey snorted. "It's the one I took. We didn't see it on there. Tell me, woman, the sooner you speak the sooner she’ll take the compulsion off you."
"It's listed as the Lasagna recipe under the personal folder," she said after another moment. A drop of blood ran from her mouth, she’d bitten her lip through.
Cassie looked ill. “Can I stop it?”
“For now,” Bran said.
Eldora hung forward, gasping. “You are all monsters. Loathsome.”
Roma huffed and stood. "I'll go get the laptop."
Rey and Bran continued staring at Eldora, like two cats at a bird just out of reach. Rissa walked in and sat beside me. "What's going on?"
"She's given us information."
Rissa grinned. "Good."
