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I half turned so my body was between him and the potion. “You already look like your mom was a pogo stick who fucked a bouncy castle.”
Moe jumped up and down as he waved his arms. His hand flew out and slapped Ram in the face.
“Ah!”
“Oh! I’m sorry.” Moe said. He stopped jumping to reach for Ram, but the witch stepped back from him. “It was an accident,” Moe said as he skipped on one foot. “When did everyone start bouncing up and down?”
I normally hated people like him, but I couldn’t even find him annoying, not even a little. Instead, I found myself smiling at his antics. I took a sip of the potion, just a mouthful. It tasted like coffee, mushrooms, and something ineffable that was often in potions, like if starlight had a flavor.
It hit my stomach and shot through my veins like being struck by lightning. Every nerve, neuron, and muscle woke up. This must be what a full night’s sleep felt like. I hadn’t had one in years, and the prison always made you get up at 7 a.m. sharp, the bastards.
I offered the jar to Elliot, who took it gingerly and sniffed it but didn’t drink. If he would rather remain sleepy, that was fine.
“I’m going to pick berries!” Moe said and ran for the forest.
“Evanora will turn you into a berry bush,” I shouted.
Moe whirled and ran in a circle around us. “I would be so pretty if I was a berry bush!”
“You’re pretty now,” I said without thinking.
“Aww.” He threw his arms around me from behind and hoisted me off my feet.
I laughed and held his arms where they wrapped around me, not for support but because I wanted to touch him.
Elliot looked up from the potion he was sniffing. “So? The portals and your people?”
The worry that had dulled with Moe’s antics crashed over me like ice water. “Right. Put me down, Moe.”
He did. I looked from Elliot to Jag, then finally, Ram, and I hated that I needed his help most of all.
“To start: do we know who or what is the source of the portals?” Ram said. “Why is it happening now?”
“The Astrosmos and some jerry-rigged spells were the only things keeping Free Jinx stable. Someone must have stolen the relic, and they’re using it to open portals around the prison and Silver Springs. I don’t know why.”
Ram clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes. I knew what was coming next and tensed, my stomach dropping.
Chapter 24
“Thisiswhypeopleshouldn’t have access to powerful relics!” Ram said. “They cause chaos! They hurt others.”
My heart dropped. He was talking like old Ram, the wannabe supervillain who had tried to amass all the world’s magical items for himself. I shouldn’t have been disappointed. I knew he hadn’t changed, but apparently, some stupid-ass part of me had hoped he had.
“Who gets to decide who owns them? You?”
He answered with the last thing I expected him to say. “I don’t know.”
My brows went up higher than I thought they could. Ram? Saying he didn’t know something?
He paced as he ranted. “I’m sure you and your people tried to keep the Astrosmos safe, but somebody always finds a way to steal and misuse relics. Every fucking time!”
“And letting one asshole hoard them all totally prevents magical abuse, right?” I said in my most scathing tone.
Jag crossed his arms. He looked very serious until you glanced down and saw his tiny shorts. “It doesn’t matter who should control relics right now. We’re trying to rescue people, not be the fucking magic police.”
“You’re right,” I said and glared at Ram.
He sighed and stopped pacing.
