“Tell us, and we’ll send you off to your trial as a well-treated prisoner,” added Maude. “Otherwise, we’ll put you back in that inert state.”
“It’ll take more than threats or parlor tricks to get me to tell you where she’s at.” Alicia shot me a malicious grin. “You might have caught me, but that’s one battle Sydney won’t win. You’ll never see that Moroi brat again.”
If she hurts Jill . . . Aunt Tatiana didn’t finish her threat, and she didn’t need to. Anger—fueled by my raging aunt—welled up in me, and I forcibly pushed it down, needing a cool head. “Enough games,” I said. I released her arms and redirected my spirit into compulsion. “Tell us where Jill is.”
Alicia’s eyes started to glaze over, her jaw going slack . . . then, amazingly, she shook it off. Her features hardened again. “I’m not that easy to control,” she said.
“She may have bolstered herself with potions,” Maude told me. Jackie had hinted at this as well, that Alicia might very well have given herself all sorts of magical protection, including against compulsion. “It won’t last forever. A few more days, and it should all be gone.”
I gritted my teeth and upped my spirit use. “No. We’re getting answers today.” With renewed magic, I focused on Alicia again. “Tell us where Jill is.”
Again, Alicia looked defiant, but this time she had more difficulty standing against me. “With . . . with the Warriors.”
“We know that,” I said. “Where? Where are they holding her?”
Trying to compel her was like trying to open a door that someone was pushing back against on the other side. Both of us were throwing all we had into it. Her will and whatever potion she’d taken were strong, but I believed my powers were stronger. Again, I increased the amount of spirit channeling through me, knowing that an average-willed person would have been bent to my will by now. Sydney’s warnings echoed back to me, about not going crazy with spirit use, but I pushed on anyway. We needed answers.
“Where are the Warriors holding her?” I demanded.
Alicia was visibly sweating now, fighting hard against my power. “In . . . in Utah,” she blurted out at last. “St. George. A compound there. But you’ll never get to her! You’ll never get through to her!”
“Why?” I asked, pushing hard with the compulsion. “Why?”
“Too . . . many . . . obstacles,” she said, pale and trembling.
“Tell me everything,” I ordered.
She remained obstinate, and I was ready to compel her even more. One tidal wave of spirit, and I was certain I could have her on her hands and knees, begging to tell me all she knew.
Do it! ordered Aunt Tatiana. Make her pay! Make her your slave!
I was ready to . . . but then, unexpectedly, an image of last night’s dream meeting with Sonya came back to me. Or, more specifically, an image of Nina in her cell came back to me. I recalled Sonya’s words about the scars of spirit use and remembered my promise to Sydney to keep things in check.
Sydney couldn’t have foreseen this, Aunt Tatiana argued. You’re stronger than Nina. You won’t end up like her.
No, I told that phantom voice. I won’t risk it. I’ll keep my word to Sydney.
With great reluctance, I released the compulsion and spirit directed against Alicia. She slumped, this time simply from mental exhaustion.
“That’s enough for us to go on,” I said. “We can find this place in St. George.” Whether it would be through Sydney’s sleuthing, the Alchemists giving in and helping, or even Sabrina’s insight, it couldn’t be that difficult now that we had a city. I would’ve liked to know more about the “obstacles” in place, but I wasn’t going to burn myself out when she probably just meant crazy Warriors and their weapons. The guardians could handle that. They had before.
“Do you need anything else from her before we freeze her up again?” asked Maude.
Alicia’s eyes went wide. “You said I wouldn’t be frozen if I cooperated!”
“That wasn’t exactly cooperating,” replied Maude coolly.
I shook my head. “That should be enough. If we need more, I’ll let you know.”
“No!” shouted Alicia. Fireballs formed in her hands, and she began futilely hurling them at the invisible barrier. “I won’t go into that state again! I won’t! You can’t—”
But Maude was casting beside me, and a minute later, Alicia was frozen in place again, her fireball-hurling stance even more ridiculous than her last one. The witches disbanded the circle, and Jackie came over to speak to me.
“Are you sure you got everything you needed from her? I felt you wanted to ask her more.”
“I did,” I admitted. “But her defenses were strong. I’ll pass the St. George information to my contacts and see what they can find out.”
Jackie nodded. “Very well then. I also spoke to Maude. If you’d like, you’re welcome to stay here at her house until the next move in this plan. It’ll put you a little closer to the action, and from what I hear, she has a lot more room than the last place you were staying.”
“Hopefully more produce too,” I added. I glanced at Neil. “You’re the security expert. Is it safe?”
“I believe so,” he said after a moment’s thought. “No one followed any of us. And if it’s fine with her, I’ll stay on too to look after you.”
We thanked Maude for her hospitality and stayed out of the way as the witches wrapped things up. Apparently, Alicia would eventually be transported to a magical trial and prison, but for now, she’d remain in the wine cellar/dungeon. Neil and I, thankfully, had guest rooms upstairs. I sent the St. George info to Marcus and then finally decided it was time to break some hard news, since it looked like Neil and I would be waiting around together for a while.
“Neil . . .” I began, when we were alone in his room. “We need to talk.”
“Sure,” he said easily. “Is it about Jill?”
“Nothing at all to do with her, actually.” I gestured to the bed. “Maybe you should sit down.”
Neil frowned, alerted by my tone. “I’ll stand, thanks. Just tell me what’s happening.”
I crossed my arms, as though I could protect myself from all the anguish I was about to dredge up. Until then, I didn’t realize how I’d been fighting to keep it from crushing me.