I wondered if maybe Ihaddied. Perhaps the Warden had followed through on his threat in Forevermore. Maybe he’d killed me, and I hadn’t known, and I’d just woken up to this new reality thatwashell. I was, after all, stuck in a prison. I didn’t know how much worse things could get.
But on the off chance that I was still alive, I couldn’t let everyone else perish. I had to dosomethingto save them… even when I couldn’t save myself.
Ava could pretend she didn’t care all she wanted, but I knew the truth. She’d felt the agony in our reunion, too.
It was obvious in the way her shoulders felt under my hands. She was nothing but skin and bones. But hell, she had to eatsomething.She was killing herself like this. I was really worried that she was willingly marching herself to a slow death.
If she didn’t start eating soon, she was going to hear about it. I wouldn’t stand by while she starved herself.
“Charlie, you with us?” Marcus asked, nudging my shoulder.
I swayed a little in my seat, then snapped back to attention. “I’m here.”
Barely.
“I asked what you think of the spell,” he said.
“Right. The spell…” I trailed off. Marcus had some sort of tracking magic he wanted to show me. He’d said it might help us find the keys.
We sat in an alchemy room at the top of a tower near the chapel. All sorts of scents wafted from the potions ingredients lined along the shelves. Marcus had accidentally knocked a couple over while gathering ingredients.
This was one of the specialty rooms on campus, designed for witches and warlocks to study in. It was stocked with potions ingredients— though only for the simplest of spells, like the ones taught in the Institute’s alchemy classes. Books infused with magic fluttered around the room above our heads like birds, flying from one bookcase to another. I could feel the air coming off the pages.
We were the only ones in here, along with Rishi and Oberi, who were chasing a rat skeleton some necromancer had left running around earlier. There’d been two groups here when we arrived, including some witches who were playing with their cats in the corner and gossiping about their crystal ball and tarot readings. A couple of warlocks used their telekinetic powers to fly on brooms around the room, until one of them knocked over a cauldron onto a girl’s cat. The two groups fought for a while before leaving. I was glad to finally have some peace and quiet, but I hadn’t heard a word Marcus had said.
“I read the whole locator spell to you,” Marcus groaned. “Did you hear anything I said?”
“Sorry.” I sighed. “I was just thinking.”
A heavythudsounded as Marcus set his spellbook on the table in front of me. “Look, I know things are tough right now with the Villain’s Club, but we agreed to work together.”
I frowned. “Don’t call us that. We’re notthe Villain’s Clubanymore.”
“That’s a problem if we want to work together again.” Marcus huffed. “I thought you wanted my help.”
“I do,” I insisted. “Can you repeat what you said?”
He drew a deep breath. “Basically, I found a locator spell in one of my textbooks over the summer.”
My eyebrows pressed together in skepticism. “What were you doing reading over the summer?”
Marcus sounded offended. “I readsometimes, you know. I’ve actually been working on my magic all summer, so I don’t fail all my classes. The last thing I need is to get sent to the adult penitentiary because I didn’t graduate.”
It sounded like Marcus was making excuses… like there was something else he wasn’t telling me. I couldn’t figure out what it was.
“I’ve actually gotten better with my magic,” he remarked proudly. “I can reanimate small creatures whenever I want now.”
“As opposed to fifteen minutes every Tuesday?” I teased.
Marcus grunted. “Like I said, I’m getting better. Anyway, we don’t learn locator spells at the Institute. I don’t know why— probably because the Warden doesn’t want anyone finding demigods before he does.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. “Could heusemagic to find demigods?”
“Unlikely,” Marcus stated. “Demigods are too strong to be tracked.ButI came across a spell in one of my books, and I tried it a couple of times just to see if I could do it, but the Institute doesn't have enough of the right ingredients.”
“Is a locator spell even going to work? I don’t think it would be powerful enough to find the keys, since they’re so strong,” I stated.
“If I make it, I think so.”
