This Wicked Fate (This Poison Heart #2)(13)

“And we’re supposed to find it in twenty-eight days when nobody has been able to find it all this time?” The little bit of hope I’d been holding on to fell away from me like leaves from the boughs of a tree in autumn.

“We need to go back over the best potential candidates for Aeaea that we haven’t already checked off,” Circe said. “But I’d like to touch base with Alec first.” She turned to Marie. “Is he up for a visit?”

Marie nodded, shaking herself out of her own thoughts. “He’s always up for showing off. You should’ve seen him after Bri showed him that parchment. Did y’all know he came up here when he thought the place was empty? He tried to get into the garden.”

Circe’s eyes grew wide. “Excuse me?” Her tone was sharp. “Why would he do that?”

“He needed the comfrey,” I said.

“He pulled a machete on Briseis,” Marie added.

Persephone shifted where she stood, and an entire length of Devil’s Pet as thick around as my arm pressed itself against the living room window and to my utter shock, sprouted three appendage-like protrusions and lifted the unlocked window. It slithered in and coiled at Persephone’s feet. I had the feeling that if Alec had been anywhere nearby, the vines would have had him in a choke hold.

“The plants almost killed him,” I said quickly. “I saw it.”

Persephone huffed. “Serves him right.”

Marie nodded in agreement. “When I found out what he did I seriously considered killing him and burying him in the yard.”

“Marie!” Nyx said, her eyes wide. “Why are you talking about him like that? He’s old, and he’s your—what?—your sixth great-grandnephew?”

“He was about to be six feet under the ground,” Marie said. “Have you seen my house? It looks like several angry ghosts live there. Bri was scared when she came over. He put up suits of armor in the library. Why? What’s the reason?”

Circe looked horrified but was also fighting back a smile. “You can’t kill him because he’s bad at decorating, Marie. Goodness.”

Marie huffed. “Why not?”

“Please don’t kill anybody, baby,” Mo mumbled from the chair. “I’m trying real hard not to lose it here, just so y’all know.”

Circe quickly went over and put her hand on Mo’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. This is not how I wanted to do this, and there’s so much to understand. All of this has to sound ridiculous to you.”

Mo patted her hand and took a deep breath. “I don’t really need to understand. I don’t even know if I want to. Y’all are talking about immortals and potions and gods. I—I can’t get my head around any of that right now.” She sighed. “But we have the same goal, right? We all agree that we gotta get Thandie back, so if y’all are vampires, or gods, or witches, or something else, that’s not my business. Let’s just do what we need to do to get Bri’s mama back, because I don’t know what I’ll do if— if—” She clapped her hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut to try and stem the tears.

The grief washed over me again like a wave. The room was quiet for a long time before Circe returned to the table.

“We’re all on the same page,” she said. “Listen, Alec is a history buff. I’m good at the ins and outs of our own family stories, but he’s good at everything else—the wider mythology, the stories that came before. So let’s go talk to him. He might be able to give us some insight.”

“And I can get you Dr. Kent’s contact info,” Mo said quietly.

I had a thought and opened my mouth to ask the question but stopped. It sounded completely ridiculous.

“What is it?” Marie asked.

I shook my head. “Nothing. It’s stupid.”

“Don’t say that,” Circe and Mo said in unison.

Mo gave Circe a quick nod. “If you got something on your mind,” Circe said gently, “don’t ever be afraid to come right out with it. I’ll answer whatever I can.”

It still felt like a stupid question. “Can we ask—the gods?” I didn’t know how else to put it. “Hecate? Or one of the other ones?”

Persephone smiled. “It’s a reasonable question. But I think you’re the only person in living memory who has seen Hecate in the flesh. My memory is long, and all I have are stories of her. I’ll never be over the fact that she revealed herself to you. I wish I could’ve been here to see her.”

“I don’t know.” I thought of the overwhelming feeling I’d had of being in the presence of something otherworldly. “It scared the shit out of me.”

“Language,” Mo said.

Persephone grinned, again letting a little of her gruff exterior slip.

“Sorry,” I said. Avoiding Mo’s eyes.

“You were so lucky to have seen her,” Circe said. “But I don’t even know how or why she showed herself. I don’t think calling on her would do much good.”

“If Hecate can’t help us what about the others?” I said. “Is there someone else who can help us?”

“There are no others,” Circe said. She stared off. “Not that we know of anyway.”