Asmo shakes his head. “I’m nearly positive it requires venom. That was always my mother’s favorite trick for activating dark magic.”
Holly stares at Asmo with disgust, and I feel too hot and too cold, and like I might burst out of my chest if I don’t get up. I stand andhead to the kitchen, the only place I can get space without leaving the room. I grab a glass and fill it with water from the pitcher.
“Anything else?” Luca demands.
Asmo twists to face me, his chiseled jaw looking even sharper than usual. “The wedding guests…They’re all in the prison.”
It’s a small relief that they’re still alive, but if they’re in the same condition as Cally, they may not be for long. “Are they okay?” I ask.
He rubs the back of his neck. “They’re alive. They’re being fed. But it’s not an existence.”That evil bastard.“They stared at you—Elle—with resentment. They think you’re the one doing this.”
My teeth grind together. Well played, Marik.
“Elle’s alive, though,” Holly says with the first bit of optimism from any of us in days.
Asmo nods. “I don’t know why, or what it means, but she seemed to be really interested in me. There were other prisoners down there with me, but she only askedmequestions.”
I grab an apple and head back into the living room. Asmo’s gaze drifts to it. I toss it to him, and he snatches it from the air before giving me a thankful nod.
“What kinds of questions?” Ivan asks.
“She asked me my name and occupation mostly,” Asmo answers before taking a huge bite from the apple with a satisfying crunch. He closes his eyes as he chews.
“She knew you were lying,” I say as I plop back onto the couch beside Holly.
His eyes fly open mid-chew.
“Elle and I are able to detect lies,” I explain. “No clue why, but that’s one of the powers we hold. I don’t know how, but Marik got around it with me. Elle would have known you were lying the moment you said your name. Did she ask these questions in front of Marik?”
He shakes his head.
“Good. That’s good,” Ivan says.
“Asmo,” I say, holding my chin high and bracing myself for what I’m about to ask him. “Did you give anybody any information about us?”
Holly shifts nervously on the couch beside me.
Asmo’s gaze is unflinching. “No. I would never.” Truth.
“Okay,” I say calmly, even though my body threatens to collapse from the intensity of his gaze and the sheer relief that comes with his answer.
“Did you get any other helpful information? What’s going on in the castle? What’s their security like?” Luca asks.
Asmo swallows a bite of the apple he was chewing. “It’s…somber there. They’ve gotten rid of anybody that was there before and replaced them with Serpent guards. They keep at least two guards on Elle at all times. The castle is locked down, and they’re not letting anybody inside. That’s all I was able to get. They kept me locked in the dungeon the whole time.”
“Did you see Cora? Or any witches?” I ask.
Asmo shakes his head.
Holly puts her head in her hands and groans. “How are we going to get Elle out of there?”
“I don’t know,” I say, feeling utterly doomed. Asmo getting Cally out was one thing, but sneaking into the castle and getting Elle out will be an entirely different mission.
“We have to get her, Mae,” Holly says.
“I know,” I whisper.
But I have no idea how to do it.
