This Wicked Fate (This Poison Heart #2)(48)

Persephone huffed. “Leave me alone, Circe.”

“Why are you doing this?” Circe said, her voice tight, her hands balled at her sides.

“You know why,” Persephone said.

I suddenly felt like I was intruding on grown folks’ business and turned to leave.

“You don’t think we can do this,” Circe said.

I stopped and stood still.

“I actually think we might, and that’s an even more terrifying thought,” said Persephone. “You know what the possibilities are.”

“I don’t know anything anymore,” Circe snapped. “I didn’t think you’d be out here doing … this.” She got right up in Persephone’s face. “What are you saying to her? To Hecate?”

“I’m trying to do my part,” Persephone said. “Do you know what it’s like to feel so useless?”

“Useless?” Circe was sobbing. “I need you! Everybody else is gone!”

“Not everybody,” Persephone said. “And this is how you’ll make sure she’s safe. That’s all Selene and you and me ever wanted. Whatever it takes, Circe. That’s what we said.”

Through the moon gate I watched as Circe hung her head. I left the garden as fast as I could and made my way home in the dim light of the bioluminescent plants, the smell of incense and flames clinging to me. I didn’t have black flowers as an offering, but Persephone seemed to have it covered. Circe’s agonized response to witnessing whatever it was Persephone was doing stuck with me, burrowed its way into my head, and rooted itself there. As I climbed into bed next to Mo, Persephone’s words echoed in my head.

Let it be me.





CHAPTER 13

I sat at the end of my bed staring down at Circe’s moon clock. The golden dial had passed over the waxing crescent and was about to pass over the first quarter moon. Another seven days had gone by, and the mood in the house had plummeted from tentative hopefulness to despair.

In the early evening, I sat in the apothecary after Mo had gone upstairs without eating, without speaking other than to tell me she loved me. Circe came to join me and closed the heavy door behind her. When I looked up to meet her gaze she was smiling.

“Please tell me what there is to smile about because I really need something right now,” I said.

She stood in front of me and took my hands in hers. “It’s time.”

I stared blankly at her. “What?”

“Everything is wrapped up. Marie got the call. We leave tonight.”

I leaped from the counter and Circe wrapped me up in her arms. I hugged her tight.

“Nyx is on her way,” Circe said. “How are we going to do this, Bri? You want to come. And I really believe in my heart that we need you with us, but Mo is not gonna let you go.” She shook her head. “I hate lying to her. I hate it.”

“So do I,” I said. I meant it. We didn’t keep secrets. We didn’t need to, but this situation was impossible. There was no way around it.

“Say goodbye to us,” Circe said. “Then I’ll have Nyx pick you up in a few hours, after Mo is in bed.”

I nodded and she hugged me close, then rushed off to get her things together. A half hour later Nyx was helping her load her bag into the car. Circe asked one more time if it would be possible for me to go along with them, and Mo said no in a way that made me a little worried for Circe’s safety. Circe let it go, said goodbye to me, and as I walked her to the car Nyx caught me by the shoulder and pulled me into a hug.

“I don’t like this at all, but I’ll send transport for you at midnight. Be prepared and only bring one bag, preferably something you can wear on your person. And here”—she slipped something into my hand—“put your glasses on this or you’ll regret it.” Without another word she let me go and got in the car.

I joined Mo on the porch as they drove off, and she looped her arm through mine and led me inside.

“They’re gonna be okay and they’re gonna get your mama back,” she said.

“I know,” I said.

“What’d Nyx give you?” she asked.

I opened the small package and found a long chain that was meant to keep my glasses around my neck if they weren’t on my face. It was dotted with little gold stars and moons.

“Pretty,” Mo said.

I hooked the ends to the arms of my glasses and put them back on my face.

“You look like a librarian,” Mo said. She smiled, but she couldn’t hide how exhausted she was or how heavy the burden of keeping up a front for me was.

I wrapped my arms around her. “I love you so much, Mo. More than anything.”

“I love you more,” she said as she buried her face in my hair. “I’m gonna go to bed. Are they gonna call us when they land?”

I nodded. “That’s the plan.”

“You coming to bed?” she asked.

“I don’t think I can sleep,” I said. “Circe said I could look at some books she’s got in her room. I’ll probably just stay up and read until I’m tired.”

Mo looked me over and I could feel her searching for something in my movements, in my words, that told her what I was hiding. I didn’t meet her gaze.

“I might stay up a little longer,” she said.