Why steal a potion when you can steal a potioneer?

Grumpy potioneer Ambrose Beake has only one social event marked on his the country’s three-day Potion Convention. Alchemists from all over the world pour in to discuss their life’s work, and Ambrose eagerly dives into the excitement. Greeting old friends, speaking on panels, hopping into heated debates…

And getting kidnapped by an underground crime syndicate.

The criminals demand that Ambrose brew an impossible illusion potion—but the Guild’s protocol for such kidnappings is clear. He must agree to do the work, then delay the project as much as possible, while above ground, his boyfriend Eli and best friend Dawn plot to save him. They’re not alone in this venture, either—a beautiful journalist arrives to cover the rescue, just as eager as they are to investigate, infiltrate…and ignite a few sparks in Dawn’s heart along the way.

But while Dawn struggles to ignore those sparks and Eli struggles to save his beloved, Ambrose delves into the syndicate’s secrets—and finds something far more impossible hidden within its depths.

Kidnapping, drugging (recounted), captivity, indentured servitude, abuse of minors (off-page)