This Wicked Fate (This Poison Heart #2)(77)

Everything around us was steeped in shadows. The dense foliage made voids of corners, and the abyss of fading purple above us made night-lights of the stars. We had no time left. We had to figure out how to combine the pieces of the Heart and hope that Marie and Persephone’s presence was enough to count as bringing them together.

Circe unlocked the other cage and took out the flat red stone. She handed it to Persephone, who buried it in the mound near the foot of the Mother. Circe made a sound. Like a short quick gasp—a sob. But as I turned to look at her, Marie swept in and turned my face to hers. Persephone walked behind me and took Circe by the arm, pulling her away.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Marie slipped her hand around my waist and pulled me close. “Have I told you how much I care about you today?”

I stared into her big brown eyes as she let her gaze move over the contours of my face like she was trying to memorize every part of it. A sinking feeling settled over me. “What’s wrong?”

Marie shook her head and gently pressed her lips to mine. She tasted like honey. Her breath was warm and sweet, and she held me like this embrace would never ever be enough. Normally, I would have been swept up in being with her like this, but this was different. There was an urgency in that moment that made me uncomfortable. When she pulled away, I readjusted my glasses. I thought she’d be smiling at me, happy we’d finally come to the end of our journey, but the expression that met me wasn’t that at all. She was on the verge of tears.

A gasping sob sounded from behind me, and I turned to Circe and Persephone. They were caught in an embrace, their faces buried in each other’s shoulders. Circe’s tearstained face twisted into a mask of sorrow, of anguish.

“What is it?” I gave Marie’s hand a squeeze and went to stand with them. I put my hand on Persephone’s arm. “You guys okay? What did I miss?”

Circe didn’t move to wipe her face or let go of Persephone. She simply exhaled a shaky breath as another torrent of tears cascaded down her cheeks.

“We knew what we were getting into,” Persephone said.

Circe huffed. “Did we?”

“Maybe not fully, but we’re here now and I think I finally understand what needs to be done and you do too.” She kissed the top of Circe’s head as her own eyes misted over. “I’ve had my suspicions. You know this. I think it’s clear now—we must recombine the pieces. We have to give up what was given to us in order to make it whole again.”

I didn’t understand.

“We know who we do it for,” Persephone said. “I’ve lived my fair share of lifetimes. I’m ready, Circe.” Persephone broke Circe’s grip and stood in front of me, her hands resting on my shoulders. “How far are you willing to go for the people you love, Briseis?” She smiled warmly. I was completely lost. “You’ve crossed an ocean,” she continued. “You’ve braved the sea and this wild island, and now you’re here, to save your mom. Gods, what a remarkable person you are. To be loved by a person like you is the most any of us could ever hope for. I would go to the ends of the earth to make sure the people I care about most could be free from their burdens, from their fears. Let me do this for you and for Circe and for those who may come after. Let me do my part to unburden you.”

She leaned in and hugged me tight, then moved to the mound and climbed atop it. She stared into the dark, and it took me a second to realize she was staring at Marie.

A wave of confusion and then the clarity of understanding broke over me like the crashing of a wave. Persephone was a piece of the Heart now, and we had to reunite them. She was saying goodbye to Circe and to me, and now she was waiting for Marie to join her.

“When we were in the Grotto with the Fates, I saw something I couldn’t share with you,” Marie whispered.

“I—I don’t understand,” I said.

She grasped my hand. “We gotta get your mom back. And if I have to give something up to make that happen, I will.”

My mind went in circles. “Wait. What—what are you talking about? We’re here. All the pieces are here and—”

“The pieces have to be put back together,” Marie said softly. “Like a puzzle.”

She stepped away from me but I cut off her path. I pressed my hands into her chest. “What are you doing? Stop talking to me like you’re not gonna be here when all this is over.” As I said the words I understood fully how this had to work. The Heart flowed in Marie’s blood, in Persephone’s, too. It gave them their immortality, and if the pieces were to be reunited, they had to give that up. Not just their power but also their lives. The very lives granted to them by the Heart. It was the fear that had lived in the back of my head from the beginning of this journey. It was always there, but I hoped that we could find something, anything, that would give us another option. But we were out of time. This was the only path forward.

“No,” I said. “No. Marie, please. You can’t—”

“I can. And I will.” The tears flowed from us both. “I knew it might be like this before we left Rhinebeck. I just—I couldn’t tell you that. I didn’t know how. The Fates, they cut my thread.”

I couldn’t speak. Marie and Circe had seen what would happen. Clotho, Atropos, and Lachesis had shown them.