“He hurt his leg pretty badly a few weeks ago, but even with a limp he’s still more than a match for the three of us.”

“Juniper, can you get us some food and some warm clothing for yourself?”

“This is my room, so the clothing part is easy. I don’t know about the food.”

“Try. We’ll only get one shot at this. I also need you to find out where they put my bow.”

Juniper nodded.

“Now.”

When the door shut behind her, I turned to Aspen.

“Are you going to kill Tom?” she asked me.

“No.” I held a hand to my head to try to stop the ache. “Does he trust you, Aspen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Would he come if you called for help?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then do exactly as I tell you. And trust me.”

Aspen’s shriek would have sent me running if I’d heard it, and it worked on Big Tom. The door crashed in with a groan and a spray of splinters, followed by one of the largest men I had seen in my entire life. My hand spasmed on the knife I held to Aspen’s throat, and she gave a very real whimper as it nicked her exposed skin.

“Stop right there, or she dies,” I said in the best snarl I could manage, given that the sight of Big Tom’s thick neck and bulging muscles had turned my legs to water.

“You wouldn’t hurt your sister,” Tom said, taking an impossibly long stride toward us.

I jerked the knife, forcing Aspen’s head back.

“Stop,” Aspen said in a croaking voice. “Please, Tom.”

Tom paused, eyes darting back and forth between us.

“You’re right, Tom,” I said, trying to sound unbalanced. It wasn’t as difficult as it should have been. “I won’t kill her. But I’ll hurt her. Badly. And then I’ll call for my mistress, and whisper your name into the snow.” He blanched. “Unless you let me go.” I watched his face as he processed this, and felt a twinge of empathy. Tom looked like the sort of man who feared very little, thanks to his size, but magic was something else entirely.

“I can’t,” he said, steeling himself. “I can’t let you go.” There was a heaviness to his voice.

“Please, Tom,” said Aspen.

“I can’t let her send a warning.”

“You idiot,” I said, shoving Aspen away from me as roughly as I dared. Tom caught her, and in the moment of space that bought me I reached for him. The vines were ready. Tom screamed as they wrapped around his throat, and I ducked out of the room before anyone else came running.