Opal scoffed. “Please. Have I mentioned I was trained by one of the best potion masters in the kingdoms?”
Daisy’s tail wagged just a little bit. Truth.
My eyelids fluttered as I tried not to roll them. Maybe once or twice.
“Well, our formulations are top-notch, but we have never claimed that they could cure diseases or illnesses or ailments or curses.” Opal scoffed again, a “how ridiculous” expression on her face. “We simply advertise that our Potent Potions promote a general sense of health and well-being.”
Wow. So vague.
She rolled her wrist. “If some of our consultants decide to embellish and make outlandish claims, that’s on them. They’ve not been trained or pressured to do so.” She looked smug, but her eyes darted to Daisy and stayed there until the dog wagged her tail. Partial truth.
Sure, but I’d bet it was just technically true. I had no doubt that the company let their consultants make all kinds of claims about what Potent Potions could do. Why wouldn’t they? As long as they got more sales, who cared what lies their consultants were spreading? Besides, if an errant potion turned somebody into a lizard, they could just bury it with a payout and a court order not to talk about it.
My shoulders hiked into my ears as the lawyer in me wanted to take this scam of a company down.
Peter leaned to one side and stared Opal down. “So you’re saying you’re not a powerful enough potion maker to concoct the kind of potion that could cure real diseases and curses?”
Opal leveled him a flat look. “Nice try. I think everyone knows that would be incredibly unrealistic to expect from our highly affordable potions.” She scoffed. “I mean, something with that kind of power would require a highly skilled potions master and would be extremely expensive.”
I perked up. Curses, you say? I scooted forward to the edge of the couch. “Wait a minute, you’re saying certain potions could actually cure curses?” I caught Peter staring and swallowed. “Just hypothetically speaking… how would someone go about doing that?” I stroked my chin super nonchalantly.
Opal took a deep breath through her nose and let out a heavy sigh. “Listen, if you’re trying to trap me, you’re out of luck. That court case closed ages ago, and besides, it was determined that we hadn’t made any false claims at the corporate level.” She crossed her arms and huffed. “I know my limits as a potion maker.” She rolled her eyes. “In fact, that was the whole premise behind Potent Potions. Really, it was Pearl’s genius to take such a boutique industry that requires tons of money and one-on-one knowledge, and instead make it highly accessible to the masses in a much more affordable way. It’s true the potions certainly aren’t as powerful in certain cases, but for most common wants and needs, they work wonders.”
I slumped back in my seat, arms folded. So it was possible for a potion master, if highly skilled, to cure a curse. I thought of Ludolf’s promise to have his hex makers look into a cure for me. Could he have been serious?
Then again, I doubted that offer still stood, even if it had been made in earnest, given the way I’d recently busted a shifter working one of his illegal money lending joints. I frowned—just how many of those did he have? And why hadn’t I heard anything from him in over a month? I shrugged. It made me uneasy.
I bit my lip as I thought of finding my own potion master to work on my curse. Not that I had tons of money or knew any potion masters, but hey, it was something. If there was a chance I could get my magic back and break this curse, I’d do just about anything. My gaze slid to Opal, and I frowned.
Now I knew how Maria Wu would’ve probably felt, along with tons of other people who’d been suckered into the Potent Potions scam. They preyed on vulnerable, suffering, down on their luck people, willing to believe just about anything and follow any lead no matter how desperate if it promised a chance at better health or a better life for them and their families.
I looked around at her luxurious townhome and scowled at the woman. This had all been bought on the backs of those less fortunate.
Opal prattled on. “Besides, it’d be foolish and completely ill-advised to try and cure a curse, or any illness really, without truly understanding how it came to be in the first place. It’s easy to do more harm than good if you don’t approach it correctly—could even result in death.”
I raised my brows. “More harm? Like turning someone into a lizard?”
She shot me a flat look. “No comment.”
I smirked. Yeah—I’d bet she was thinking a few choice ones, though.
“Could you tell us a little more about your relationship with Pearl?” Peter shifted tactics, and I watched Opal closely. I still hadn’t ruled out the motive of sibling rivalry in my own head.
She glanced toward the stairs, no doubt not wanting to be overheard throwing sand at her deceased sister, then lowered her voice. “Pearl and I were sisters.” She splayed her palms. “We didn’t always see eye to eye, and yes—” She pressed her eyes shut. “I often felt my talents were being exploited, but… we were still sisters.”
Daisy whined. True.
Peter and I exchanged looks. I felt like we’d gotten all we could from Opal and shrugged. Peter nodded, then turned to Opal. “Thank you very much for your time.” We rose, and she showed us to the door.
“By the way, I heard you arrested Ralph.” She raised her brows. “Does that mean you’re wrapping the case up?”
Peter paused on the stoop and licked his lips. “We’re still tying up some loose ends, but yes… looks like we’ve caught your sister’s killer.”
She brightened before closing the door. “Good.”
24
ALL IN
Heidi opened the door to
