“That’s why its power is unbeatable,” she replies. “All creatures are affected by old magic. Even old gods like me.”
Spinning to me, she continues. “Veda, it’s very important that you understand the rules.”
“I’m listening.”
“First rule: only two may enter and both must come out. Second, once two enter, the room will seal itself off—you cannot see out from within it and nobody out here can see inside. Third, death cannot occur within this room. It’s a mechanism for protecting the truth, since hearing the truth can sometimes induce rage.”
She gives me a cold smile. “Of course, what happens once we exit the room is an entirely different matter.”
Before I can comment on that, she hurries on. “Finally, and most importantly, this room will extract a price. It’s why I didn’t use it to force the truth from Jonah when I was trying to convince him to tell me where my brother is.”
She gives Jonah a hard stare across the distance between them. He appears unmoved by her indignation, having taken up a position leaning against the other side of the tunnel as far from her as he can get without leaving altogether.
I arch my eyebrows at her. “But you’re willing to risk a price by entering the room with me now.”
“Oh, no, I should have clarified,” she says. “Only the truth-seeker pays the price.”
My eyes narrow at her. “That’s a slightly important detail you omitted yesterday.”
She shrugs. “The price is different for everyone. Some pay in physical pain. Others pay in mental anguish. The truth is not always what we want to hear. You won’t know until you ask your first question.”
She peers at me expectantly, and I have no doubt it’s because she thinks I’ll back out now.
She probably hopes I will.
“To strip away the lies,” I say, “I’m prepared to pay any price.”
She gives me a solemn nod. “Very well. Then I should explain how the room works. You may ask as many questions as you want for as long as you want, and I must answer them. Only when you declare that you are satisfied with the truth will the room let us out again.”
“How will I know if you’ve spoken the truth?”
“The room will echo my answer back to you. If I speak the truth, the echo will match exactly what I said. If I tell a lie, theroom will speak the truth for me. No matter what it is or how much I don’t want it spoken.”
Some of the tension leaves my shoulders. After hearing that the room will exact a price from me, I was beginning to wonder if there would be other loopholes. “So the truth is inescapable.”
She nods firmly. “It can’t be concealed.” She gives me a hard stare. “You understand, don’t you, Veda, just how dangerous it is for a creature like me… A being who has walked this Earth for millennia… to step into a place like this?”
Oh, I certainly do.
Before I can say so, she moves right up to me. “Do you understand the trust it takes for me to believe that you won’t ask me anything that could get me killed?”
I consider the intensity of her expression and the hint of fear behind it.
All the memories she must have.
All the deceit that could be stripped bare in that room.
All the information I could use against her…
“I do,” I say, reaching for her arm. “Believe me, I do. Which is why…”
I try to calm the beating of my heart and the terrible, awful fears that are crowding my mind at the choice I’m about to make.
I take a deep breath and prepare to move fast. “Which is why I’m not taking you with me.”
I shove Halle away from me as hard as I can, pushing her into the corridor and away from the room.
She gives a shout, but I’m already twisting, both palms shooting out to my left, connecting with Emil’s chest.
