This Wicked Fate (This Poison Heart #2)(82)

I turned away from him and gazed out over the water as it broke against the rocky shore. Mom looped her arm around me and pulled me close. I wrapped my arms around her waist and only let go when Circe gestured for us to join her.

We went down to the shore and followed Circe and Hermes into the lighthouse. Hermes sat in the chair by the fireplace. He appeared to be thinking very hard about something, his dark eyes troubled. Karter stayed close to the door as I pulled out a chair at the table and guided Marie to it. Hermes glanced up and looked her over.

“You’ve been stripped of immortality,” he said. “And still I sense an air of relief about you. Why?”

The look on his face caught me off guard. His eyebrows bunched together, his head tilted—he looked like a kid who’d just asked a very important question, something he couldn’t fully comprehend.

Marie stared right back him. “I am relieved. I’m lucky to even be alive.”

“It’s this fragility that excites you?” he asked.

“I have lived my share of lifetimes.” Marie sighed as she echoed Persephone’s words. “But I don’t know if I’ve ever really lived.” She glanced at me. “But that’s what I plan to do now, so yeah. I’m happy to have a chance to do that.”

Heat rose in my face. It was the wrong time to feel so moved by her words, but it was clear they were directed at me and I couldn’t help but smile.

“And you,” Hermes said, turning to Mom. “You’ve come back from the underworld. Do you understand what a feat that is?”

“I do,” Mom answered.

“Only a handful of mortals have ever been able to return from that place,” he said.

Mom nodded. She hadn’t gone into detail about what she’d been through, but there’d be time for that later.

Hermes stood and crossed the room to tower over Karter, who tried desperately to press himself into the wall behind him.

“And what will you do?” Hermes asked. “You’re alone in this world.”

“He’s not,” Circe said. “Remember what Persephone—” She stopped short and swallowed whatever sob or grief-stricken howl had clawed its way up her throat. “Remember what she said. She found purpose with us, with her family. Maybe you have a chance to do the same thing.” She looked to Karter. “He’s looking for redemption, but he’s not gonna find it with Bri or her mom or anyone else here. Maybe you can help redeem him … for himself, for his own benefit.”

Hermes returned to his seat and motioned for Karter to follow him, which he did on unsteady legs. He sat down in a chair across from Hermes, and they stared at each other for a moment before Karter looked away.

“You’ll stay,” Hermes said to him. “We’ll see what redemption there is to be had.”



Hermes kept Karter busy unloading our things from the ship and transferring them into the trunk of our rental, but between rowing the dinghy out to the ship and lugging our stuff up the rickety steps, Hermes had taken Karter aside and said something to him that sent Karter into his own thoughts. He avoided eye contact with me and didn’t try to speak to me at all. I was a little surprised by how much that stung.

Finally, when we’d loaded our things, Mom helped Marie into the back seat of the car as Circe and I said goodbye to Hermes. Karter stood in his shadow, staring down at the ground.

“You know where to find me should you need my assistance,” Hermes said.

“I thought you didn’t get involved with mortals,” I said.

He eyed me carefully, and I decided not to press him. He’d clearly had a change of heart, and whether that was due to Persephone’s intervention or Karter’s sudden need of him didn’t really matter. He could use his power to help somebody other than himself, and that was really all we’d been asking of him anyway.

As Circe turned to head to the car, Karter slipped a folded piece of paper into my hand and pressed my fingers closed around it. His hand lingered on mine for just a second longer than it needed to.

“Bye, Bri,” he said.

I pulled away from him, tucked the paper into the back pocket of my jeans, and walked to the car without looking back. As we drove away from the Great Eye, I breathed deep, let the cool air from the cracked window fill my chest. We’d taken our own hero’s journey, and we’d emerged with wins that meant more to me than anything, and losses so profound I thought there was a good chance we hadn’t been able to fully process them yet. Circe reached over and patted my shoulder, and when I looked in the rearview mirror, Mom smiled at me the way she did when I’d done something she was proud of.



Nyx met us at the airport outside Red Hook when we landed the next day. She and Circe shared a new round of tears, and what I hadn’t fully realized was that Persephone had her mind made up long before we left Rhinebeck, much the same way Marie had.

Nyx had left Mo at the house with Dr. Grant keeping watch.

“And Roscoe, of course,” Nyx said as she peered down at our pile of belongings. “No cages with strange plants growing inside them?”

“No,” Circe said. “Never again.”

Nyx went to Marie and ran her hands over her face. They pressed their foreheads together and cried tears of relief.

“Be careful,” Marie said. “I’m fragile now.”