This Wicked Fate (This Poison Heart #2)(49)

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach, but I quickly collected myself. “We can watch something on my computer.”

She nodded, and I followed her up to my room to set up my laptop so that we could pretend to watch a movie when really we were only going to watch each other. I’d given myself away. She’d caught onto something I did or said, and now she wasn’t going to let me out of her sight until she was sure I wasn’t going anywhere.

She brushed her teeth and tucked her hair under Mom’s ugly red bonnet and fluffed up the pillows on my bed, where she stretched out, clearly prepared to stay all the way awake.

Panic gripped me. I had no doubt that if I wasn’t outside to meet Nyx at midnight, they’d leave without me. They had to.

“I’ll be right back,” I said.

“Where you going?” Mo asked, avoiding my eyes.

“I’m gonna grab a book from Circe’s room. I’ve seen all these movies already anyway.”

Mo pressed her lips together. “Okay. Hurry up because I want us to pick something we can watch together.”

“Give me one second,” I said. I hurried across the hall. My backpack had been ready for days. I’d shoved it in the back of Circe’s closet, where I knew Mo wouldn’t go looking. It sat waiting with a pair of sneakers, a jacket, my ID, and a few changes of clothes stuffed inside. Most importantly, I’d transferred the vial of Living Elixir to my bag, tucked inside a padded inner pocket alongside the invisibility token Isaac had gifted me. I moved the backpack to just inside Circe’s bedroom door so I could grab it the moment Mo fell asleep.

“You good?” Mo called.

“Yup,” I called back. I grabbed a random book off Circe’s dresser and gently closed the door.

Mo and I watched a movie and were halfway through a second one as the clock ticked past eleven thirty. I watched as Mo began to nod off, fighting her sleep. I rolled onto my side and shut my eyes, hoping I could convince her I was asleep. A few minutes later Mo turned over and after a while, began to snore.

In the dark, I took out my mangled phone and composed a note to Mo. I couldn’t think of what to say that would be enough. It occurred to me that this might be the last thing she ever heard from me if things went sideways. What could I say to her to make her understand that I loved her more than anything but that I had to go?

Mo,

I don’t know what to say. I just have to tell you that I love you. So much. More than anything, but I have to go help get Mom back. I can help Circe and together, we’ll bring her back. We’ll come back and we’ll make this place a for-real home. I never want to hurt you or lie to you, but I know you, and I know you’d rather put your life on the line than let me risk mine. You’re such a good mom. The best mom. I love you. Please don’t be mad at me. I’ll see you soon.

Love always,

Bri

I couldn’t see through the tears. I kept the text open as I slipped out of bed and went across the hall, where I put on my shoes and threw my backpack on. I went down and opened the front door, glanced back up the stairs one last time, then gently closed it behind me.

I looked for a car, thinking Nyx might have been waiting in Marie’s black sedan. The sky was cloudless, the color of purple-black velvet. The moon hung above me, its bright face slowly revealing itself, pushing us toward the full moon.

A sudden gust of wind knocked me back against the railing. As I scrambled to right myself, the griffin swooped down and landed in the drive almost silently. In the dark he was a hulking shadow, a ghost. He folded his wings against his body and lowered himself as close to the ground as possible.

“You gotta be kidding me,” I said.

The creature squawked so loud, a high-pitched ringing lingered in my ears when he was done. There was a sudden pounding of footsteps from inside. Mo was up, and from the sound of it, barreling down the steps. The front door bounced open.

“Briseis!” she yelled, her eyes wild.

Suddenly, a tangle of ivy cloaked the doorway. Mo clawed at the vines, ripping them down, but they grew back immediately, trapping her inside.

“Don’t do this!” she cried as I tripped down the front steps and sprinted toward the griffin. I grabbed a handful of feathers and tried to pull myself up. With a quick flip of his wing, he boosted me onto his back, where a makeshift harness had been looped around his neck. I wound my shaking hands through the rope.

Tears once again blurred my vision. “I love you, Mo,” I called through choked sobs.

Mo’s cries carried through the dark. I pressed my body to the griffin’s back and shut my eyes. He took three lumbering steps, and suddenly a sinking feeling, falling. No.

Ascending.

Flying.





CHAPTER 14

I didn’t dare open my eyes. The wind whipped my face and my glasses flew off. I grabbed at them as they dangled from the chain Nyx had given me. I counted the beating of the griffin’s wings in my head to try and calm myself. I didn’t know how long we’d been airborne before we took a sharp downward turn. My stomach did a barrel roll and I had to grit my teeth to keep from throwing up. There was a sudden drop, the rustling of leaves, and then a large thump.

“Briseis,” a voice called to me. “Bri. I’m right here. Give me your hand.”

I opened my eyes and lifted my head. We’d landed and Marie was there, reaching for me, but I couldn’t let go of the rope. My hands were locked in position.