Page 20 of Bonds of Magic
“You’re talking about torture,” Isaac said flatly.
“Torture? Hardly. Neglect, at worst. A cell, some bread and water, a friendly chat…”
“Noah.”
“If that’s what it takes to find out which of them is in league with Argus, that’s what it takes.”
“The Council uses torture,” Isaac said, his lips twisting. “You know how I feel about that.”
“So use a truth trance, then. Problem solved.”
“A truth trance doesn’t work unless it’s entered into voluntarily,” Isaac said mildly. “You know that.”
“So whoever refuses to enter one is our man. Or woman. Whatever.”
“It’s a witch’s right to refuse a truth trance for any reason,” Isaac said. “It’s a very invasive procedure, putting the witch undergoing it in a vulnerable position.”
He didn’t need to explain that to me either. I could barely stand the dream-like trances Isaac put me into once a week. A truth trance would be way more intimate.
“I know. But I’m pretty sure once you explain to somebody that we’re concerned they’re working with an incubus to enslave humankind, they’ll be willing to go along with it. Assuming they’re innocent, that is.”
“Assuming they’re innocent,” Isaac repeated. “And if they’re not? If the one we look for isn’t the very first person we question? Word of our investigation will spread, alerting the culprit before we ever reach them. Noah, we need answers, not a professor running off in the night. We need to destroy Argus, not mildly inconvenience him. The element of surprise is one of our main advantages.”
“So make the professors we question swear an oath not to spread word of what we asked them.”
“On what authority?” Isaac asked. “Undertaking an oath is a sacred process. We use oaths to preserve institutions, to serve powers greater than ourselves. I won’t subvert that process by forcing anyone to swear to me personally.”
“It’s like you’re determined not to use any of the tools we have,” I grumbled.
“I’m determined to keep this school running,” he retorted. “And I will not become a dictator, however convenient you might find it. We need to investigate further before accusing anyone. We need proof.”
“We have proof. Why else would Sheridan have that coin?”
Argus typically left those coins as his calling card when he killed people. But they were also useful tokens that helped him find people’s dreams more easily. Sheridan wasn’t dead, so I had to assume he wasn’t a target. It stood to reason, then, that he kept the coin to strengthen his connection to Argus.
“He was probably planning on working with Jude,” I said. “To help him get access to the student body. Now that he knows that Jude is dead, he’ll be working overtime to figure out who the incubus hidden among the students is. And you can bet he’ll be looking into Erika’s death. People already know Cory was the one who found her. How long do you think it’ll take Sheridan to put two and two together?”
“All the more reason to ensure Cory gains control of his powers. As for the coin, it’s possible Sheridan found it in someone else’s quarters. He may not know what it means. He may be researching it himself. He may not even know he has the coin.”
“You think someone else put it there? To help Argus to spy on his dreams?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“Teresa, then.” I didn’t really think she was behind this. But she was a wardkeeper, and it had to be one of them who’d let the moraghin in. “She has years’ worth of student files. Most of them for students who ended up in Hex. What if she’s putting multiple students in trances, forcing them to apply to Hex? Bringing them under her control?”
“To what end?” Isaac asked.
“I don’t know! That’s what we need to find out. If she’s working with Argus, who knows how far back her plans stretch. Maybe she’s got an army of Erikas ready to do her bidding.”
“That would take an enormous amount of strength and control,” Isaac said mildly. “Teresa is a powerful witch, but that’s well beyond her faculties.”
“As far as you know. But if you refuse to even investigate—”
“I’m not refusing to investigate. I’m merely saying we need to be cautious. We don’t want this person dead, or on the run, before we learn the details of Argus’s plan.”
“His plan? His plan is what it’s always been. To find every half-human incubus he can and bend them to his will. To break out of the dream world and begin killing again. To enslave humanity, and any witch who stands against him.”
“Perhaps,” Isaac said, but he didn’t sound convinced. Which was insane, because Isaac had been fighting Argus even longer than I had. Heknewwhat Argus wanted.
