It was clear he meant because he was a demigod. He had a point.
“The keys are calling to us. As long as I brew the potion, my magic should be strong enough to locate where they are. Do you have any idea what might be a good substitute for liverwort?” Marcus asked.
Hell if I knew.
I shrugged. “Garlic?”
“You think?” Marcus sounded intrigued. “I actually have some of that.”
“No, ancestors. I’m not an alchemist. How would I know? Ava’s the one who knows about potions.”
“Oh, well. I just thought…” Marcus flustered.
I knew exactly what he thought. He thought Ava and I couldn’t work together, so he didn’t bother asking both of us to be here. Hell, maybe we couldn’t, but we had to at leasttry. We were out of options.
“Ava and I are going to have to learn how to be in the same room together without killing each other,” I said, even though it was hard to admit.
“Mm…” Marcus mused. “Maybe she can suggest an alternative for liverwort. Goddess knows I’m not going to figure out this locator spell without decent ingredients.”
“You’re not going to locate a damn thing with liverwort,” a male voice piped up from across the room.
I stilled. I hadn’t known anyone else was in here. How much had they overheard?
Marcus must’ve been shocked, too, because he leaned over to me and whispered. “I thought we were alone.”
“No shit,” I growled, before turning to the stranger. “Hey, if you’re so good at locator spells, why don’tyoushow us how to do it?”
“Is that a dare?” he growled. A chair squeaked near the crackling fireplace as he jumped out of it and landed on the floor. A cat meowed and padded beside the stranger. Something clicked against the floor as he crossed the room toward us. I didn’t realize what it was until a hard, long stick smacked my leg. “What, you think just because I’m a blind, gay dwarf that I can’t perform a simple spell? I may be new around here, but I know my way around an alchemy room. You want a locator spell? I’ll show you a damn locator—”
“Alistair?” Marcus squeaked.
“Yeah, what’s it to ya?” he snapped. “Gonna make fun of myname, too? This cane makes a damn good weapon if I want it to. I’ll smack you good, I will.”
I was stunned silent, still shocked to learn I wasn’t the only blind guy at this prison. What were the odds?
Marcus laughed. “Alistair, it’s me! Marcus!”
Alistair sounded about ready to fight, but his tone softened. “Marcus? By the Goddess, how the hell are you, man?”
“Surviving,” Marcus said simply. “What are youdoinghere? I thought you were back in Octavia Falls.”
“Iwas,” Alistair replied. “But you know me and my big mouth.”
“What did youdo?” Marcus asked.
“I didn’t kill anyone, if that’s what you’re asking,” Alistair cracked, like it was supposed to be some big joke— though neither Marcus nor I found it funny, considering Marcuswashere for unintentional manslaughter.
Alistair didn’t seem to notice— or perhaps didn’t care— that his joke had fallen flat. “It wasn’t a big deal, really. The college brought in a visiting professor, an Astromancer who’s supposed to teach one of the astrology classes. She cut in front of me in line at the Cozy Cat Cafe, so I drizzled a little farting potion on top of her cupcake. How was I supposed to know it was the visiting professor and not some rando witch? Can you expect me to know she’d have a bad reaction to the magic and be stuck with the shits for a week and end up in the hospital? Yeah, I understand dehydration and all that, and she almostdied— yada, yada— but it’s not like I did itintentionally.”
“You, uh,didgive her the potion,” I pointed out.
“I basically gave her a whoopie cushion and her ass blew up,” Alistair said nonchalantly.
Holy shit, this kid was intense.
I shifted uncomfortably. “So, uh, how do you two know each other?”
Alistair gasped dramatically. “Marcus, you haven’t mentioned me? Of all the stories we share.”
