Most witches and warlocks left their cats in their cells, but Marcus always had Rishi with him. I wondered why.
Marcus saw me coming. He held up the phone with an eye roll as I approached.
A male voice came out of it— I was guessing it had to be his dad. “I’m sorry, kid. I know you won’t believe me when I say it, but I know how you feel. It may seem impossible now, but we can change it, if you’re willing to put in the work.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Marcus said, sounding bored. “Can I go?”
“Sure,” his dad said, though he sounded disappointed. “Talk to you later.”
Marcus hung up without a goodbye. He sank sullenly against the wall to the cold, stone floor, and muttered something under his breath. He squeezed Rishi with both arms, and the cat’s eyes bugged out a little.
“What was your dad on to you about?” I asked, and I sat beside him.
“Just the same old lecture about how I need to take my antidepressants and not skip therapy and shit. Heard it all before,” Marcus said. “What about you?”
The school must’ve notified his parents that he’d skipped out on our last therapy session since Kallie’s blow up. It’d just been the three of us with Takahashi, and without Marcus, the session had been long and tense.
“I’m just here to talk to my parents, since Ez told them the news about me and Charlie being together.”
“Smooth. Can’t trust Ez to keep a secret.”
“He means well, but you really can’t.” I paused for a moment before I stated cautiously, “What about you and Kallie?”
“What about us?” His tone was harsh.
“I mean… you two ran out of therapy the other day. I don’t even know if you guys made up.”
Kallie had been avoiding all of us since that day. I think she was embarrassed.
“We talked,” Marcus said. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
“What about?”
“I’m not gonna tell you about it.” Marcus turned his head away, and Rishi gave a mew.
“Okay, this has got to stop,” I insisted. “I’m not putting up with this bullshit that we aren’t friends. To be honest, it was pretty damn offensive the other day when you said we weren’t.”
“We aren’t friends. Just leave me alone,” Marcus mumbled, and he curled inward.
“Marcus, I am a pro at pushing people away, which means I’m not going to take your crap, because I know what you’re trying to pull,” I said flatly. “Trust me, it’s not working. You want to deny that all of us are close, when it’s so obvious that weare. What about the Villain’s Club, huh? What about what we went through together in the Darke Games?”
“That was for survival,” he argued, but his protests were quiet and meek.
“Big deal. The four of us still hang out every day,” I said. I started counting on my fingers as I listed off all the reasons. “If you’re not with Kallie or me, you’re with Charlie. You help us with our homework. We go everywhere together, even to dangerous places like the fight club. We promised to help each other figure out my prophecy, and this demigod mystery. We open up to each other in therapy. You’ve told us your darkest secrets, and we’ve told you ours. If that’s not friendship, then I don’t know what is.”
“You guys don’treallyaccept me. I’m just sticking around because I have nowhere else to go,” he said. He sounded like he really believed it.
“Ancestors, that is such BS! If we didn’t want you in our group, we would’ve kicked you out. We keep you around because we like you, dammit!”
“Really?” Marcus lifted his head.
“Yes. I wouldn’t lie to you about something like that.”
“I don’t want to hurt my friends,” Marcus said sadly. Rishi started licking his cheek.
“Marcus, I know you can’t forgive yourself for what happened with Anya. But trust me, the three of us can handle whatever you throw at us, and so much more,” I insisted. “We’re just as strong magically as you are. You don’t have to worry about hurting us, because we’re all on the same level.”
Marcus stroked Rishi’s fur as he considered my words. “I guess we are friends,” he admitted. “I care about all of you guys. Charlie, you… Kallie.”
