This Wicked Fate (This Poison Heart #2)(30)

Circe put her hand on Marie’s shoulder. “I’d really like to not die down here, so please just hush for right now.”

Marie shot Dr. Kent one more dagger of a glance before moving back to my side, and I could tell by the mask of absolute rage on Dr. Kent’s face that Marie had angered her. She reached into her box again, and instead of watching her pluck out the lives of the people I loved most and talk about them like they were nothing more than threads, I turned away. I couldn’t stand it.

“Persephone Colchis, Circe Colchis, Angie Greene, Briseis Greene,” Dr. Kent said. “And you, Marie—” The sound of the blades moving together echoed across the space. “Is this what you wanted to see?”

Circe gasped, and in a rush I was suddenly being pushed toward the grotto opening. Marie was at one elbow, Circe on the other, steering me toward the exit. The Fates cackled like hyenas in the dark behind us.

“Wait!” I dug my feet into the ground, but Marie lifted me up and pushed me forward. “Circe! What is happening?”

“This was a mistake,” Circe said, her eyes brimming with tears. “We shouldn’t have come here.”

“Not a mistake, dear Circe,” Dr. Kent called after us. “Only the truth. The River Styx is high and wide. Do you think you can survive the swim?” Her laugh reverberated through the cavern.

The elevator doors slid open, and we all but fell in. As they closed again, Circe let go of my arm and slid down against the wall.

“I’m sorry, Briseis,” Circe said breathlessly. “I thought she’d have something to tell us, something we could act on, but this was a waste.”

“But you saw what happened to our strings?” I asked. “Atropos—I heard the scissors—”

“She’s fucking with us,” Marie said. She grabbed Circe’s arms and pulled her to her feet. “Circe, these old bitches don’t get to determine what happens to us. You saw her—Atropos couldn’t even cut my string.”

“Because you have the power of the Absyrtus Heart running in your veins,” Circe said. “Some of us don’t have that.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Marie asked.

“Do you?” Circe said, her tone sharp. “You can’t just pop off at the mouth like that. Not when we’re dealing with people—gods—like those three. You ever stop to think about the danger you put Briseis in?”

“I’m not trying to put her in danger,” Marie snapped. “If anybody put her in danger it’s you.”

They glared at each other, and I stepped between them. “No. We’re not fighting. I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do, and I don’t care how much danger I’m in if it means getting my mom back. Please. We have other stuff to worry about. We gotta get home and tell everybody what happened.” I turned to Circe. “What did you see? What did Dr. Kent show you?”

She crossed her arms and leaned against the elevator wall. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll figure it out.”

I thought it did matter, but whatever she’d seen wasn’t changing her mind about what we were trying to do. I wondered if it was something that might have changed my mind had I seen it with my own eyes. The sound of Atropos’s scissors clanging in the dark stuck in my head, but no. Nothing would stop me from trying to get my mom back. Fates be damned.



When we pulled into the drive it was almost five in the morning. The sun was just beginning to warm the sky, and I could barely keep my eyes open, but as Marie and Circe climbed the front steps, I hung back.

“Y’all go ahead,” I said. “I need a minute.” I turned and headed toward the rear yard.

“Briseis,” Circe called.

“I’m okay, I just need a minute.”

I broke into a jog and didn’t stop until I found myself alone at the high point of the rear yard, right before it sloped away into the tree line. My heart raced, and my palms were slick with sweat. I lay down in the overgrown grass, spread my arms and legs out, and stared up at the deep purple sky. The moon still hung there, like it was waiting to be crowded out by the encroaching marigold glow of dawn. Blades of grass arched toward me, and little puddles of white sprang up in the waning moonlight. Ipomoea alba, the moonflower. The star-shaped blossoms bloomed all around me. Another beautiful, impossible gift. I touched their velvety petals as their vining stems intertwined and made for me a crown of flowers that bloomed in the dark—like the Heart but without the numbing pain. I felt like I could breathe for the first time in hours.

I lay there until Marie’s gentle steps sounded on the ground near my head. She didn’t speak. She just stood watch. I realized I must have looked like I’d completely lost it, but she didn’t smile or joke about it. She simply extended her hand, helped me up, and walked me to my room, where I curled up next to Mo and fell into a restless sleep.





CHAPTER 9

The next morning, as Mo went to chat with Circe, I got up and showered, washing bits of grass from my hair. I put on a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt, doused my hair in leave-in conditioner, and pulled it into a slicked-up puff. I didn’t have the energy to do much else, and I fully didn’t care how busted I looked. Mo was sitting on the edge of my bed when I came out, staring at her phone.