“Angels’ Dream,” I lie.

Jag tilts his head, reading me, and it’s obvious by the way Logan smirks that they both know I’m lying.

I drop the vial and blowpipe, but to my dismay the small vial stays intact. Ash follows my lead and drops his blowpipe and his knife. And in a last act of defiance, I stamp on the glass, smashing the poison and grinding it into the damp floor.

Jag looks me in the eye, and for just a moment his calm expression turns threatening. Then he sighs, like he’s thought better of it. “I’m surprised your father never taught you that an undisciplined mind only leads to suffering.”

“I hope he burns you alive,” Logan murmurs, clearly still bitter about the fire I started in his smithy.

Before I can open my mouth to respond, there is a sharp pain near my temple and the world goes black.

Chapter Twenty-six

MY EYES FLUTTER, and before I can bring my surroundings into focus, the rank smell of the dungeon sends me into a coughing fit. I attempt to put my hand to my mouth, but my arm is met with the resistance of cold metal. I follow the line of my arm above my head and find that my wrists are spread in a wide V and shackled to the wall. Shackles, dungeon…Dad. The events of the past twenty-four hours flood my thoughts and my eyes widen with a jolt. Shackled on my left are Ines and Aarya. Ines is still passed out, but Aarya is alert. To my right Ash is frowning in concentration. But my dad is nowhere to be seen.

“Ash?” I say, and my voice cracks. “Where is he? Where’s my dad?”

Ash shakes his head, but before he can answer, Aarya starts talking.

“Lower your voice,” she scolds, and I can tell she’s in a particularly foul mood. “Do what Ash and I have been doing—seethe in silence.”

Ash snaps back at her. “We’re shackled to a wall in a dungeon, Aarya. Sneaking around is a moot point.”

“Which I’m sure you blame me for,” she says, her tone increasingly acerbic.

Ash doesn’t answer right away, and I can’t tell if it’s because he’s angry or concentrating. Aarya scowls.

“No, actually I don’t,” he finally replies, and we both turn to him in surprise. Ash doesn’t think Aarya betrayed us—how is that possible?

“However suspicious I find your behavior, and however foolish it was to make a deal with Logan,” Ash says, “I can’t ignore the fact that Jag was lying. He doesn’t give off normal tells; in fact he displays the opposite of normal indicators. He shows pleasure every time he lies. But a lie is a lie.”