This Wicked Fate (This Poison Heart #2)(47)

I went to the kitchen and took three eggs from the fridge and a fresh bulb of garlic from a mesh sack sitting on the counter and slipped down the hall into the apothecary.

Passing under the newly sprouted black locust tree, I let my fingers dance over the hidden lever to the secret door at the rear of the room. It bounced open and I ducked inside.

I flipped on my phone’s flashlight. It pitifully sputtered to life, flashing on and off. Circe and Persephone must have already found time to tend to the altar because it was completely free from dust; the triple-faced statue of the goddess herself glinted in the dark. The offering bowls had been cleaned out and the dusty pillar candle had been replaced by a taller, newer one. I set the eggs and garlic down. Circe had said something about small tea cakes, and I wondered if it’d be disrespectful to add some of the chocolate chip cookies Mo had brought home to the spread. I lit the candle and sat in the dark room for a long time before looking up at the family tree painted on the wall, the family crest emblazoned in gold paint at the very top.

It still felt surreal to see my name nestled under Selene’s protective leaf right at the bottom. I wondered if she ever thought I’d be sitting here in this place that was so much a part of who she was. I couldn’t find a single part of me that resented her even though a counselor had once told me that was a normal thing to feel. After everything I’d learned about her and about why she made the choices she did, all I felt was appreciation. What were the odds that she’d choose adoption and that my parents would turn out to be the most amazing people I’d ever known? Mo with all her funny tenderness, her honesty, concern, and terrible breakfasts. Mom with all her worrying, wonder, her take-no-shit attitude, and love of scented candles and old-school music. Two imperfect people finding each other, then finding me, both of them loving me like it was what they were born to do. I took off my glasses and wiped my eyes with my T-shirt.

As I gazed at the altar I saw that the flowers hadn’t been replaced yet. I quickly got up and went down the hall to the entryway where I listened for any sign of Persephone. She’d asked for some time alone in the garden, but she hadn’t said exactly when. It was late, but I wanted to ask her if she was done so I could grab some flowers from the garden to add to Hecate’s shrine.

I slipped on my shoes and slowly pulled open the front door, trying to keep the hinges from waking up the entire house. I pushed through the knee-high grass in the rear yard and stepped onto the hidden path.

The darkness in the woods was complete, and my phone’s flashlight was on its last leg. The way ahead would be free from obstacles, the foliage surrounding the path always made the way clear for me, but as I struggled with the light on my phone the underbrush on either side of the trail began to glow. I switched off the flashlight as the intensity of the soft green light grew brighter.

Tufts of Omphalotus nidiformis, commonly known as ghost fungus, lit up the dark. They’d made homes of fallen logs and numbered in the dozens among the rotted wood. They seemed to wake up as I pushed forward, sensing my need for a lit path.

As I emerged into the glade of black bat flowers I reached for the lanyard around my neck and realized too late that I didn’t have it. I’d left it on the table in the hallway so that Persephone and Circe could have access to it if they needed it.

“Great,” I said aloud. “All the way out here with no key.” The flowers tilted toward me. “Don’t judge me, y’all.” I turned to leave when a noise caught my attention. Just a hint of a familiar voice. Persephone was speaking somewhere close by.

I slowly approached the gate and found the lock open. Persephone was still there. I hesitated but only for a second before slipping through the gate and standing still against the inner wall. I inched along until I had no choice but to step into the open square in the middle of the garden.

“I’m sorry,” I said as I went around the corner. “I thought you might be done and I—”

I stopped short. A cloud of sweet-smelling smoke rolled gently out of the moon gate and covered everything in a gauzy haze. The flickering of firelight cast dancing shadows in the smoke.

I crept to the wall, peering through the opening into the Poison Garden. Persephone stood with her back to me, two blazing torches stuck in the ground on either side of a makeshift altar of black hellebore, Blacknight hollyhock, and Devil’s Pet all tangled together, on top of which sat black candles whose flames held back some of the dark. Smoke from some kind of incense billowed over the rim of a large bowl and spilled down in ghostly sheets. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of black blooms had sprung up at Persephone’s feet—more black hellebore, black velvet petunias, calla lilies, more hollyhock, black bat flowers, and dozens of others. New blooms burst to life all around as Persephone swayed side to side.

“It is all I ask,” Persephone said, her voice wavering. “Let it be me.”

A hand clamped down on my shoulder, and as I opened my mouth to scream another set of fingers pressed against my lips. I spun around to find myself caught in Circe’s arms, her eyes wide. She motioned for me to keep quiet, and I swallowed my terrified scream. She moved her hand away from my mouth and peered into the Poison Garden. A look of confusion twisted her features.

I stepped back as she continued to watch Persephone. I wanted to grab the flowers I’d come for and get out when Circe stepped into the Poison Garden.

“What the hell are you doing?” Circe said, anger coloring her every word.