This Wicked Fate （This Poison Heart #2）
Kalynn Bayron
CHAPTER 1
Chrysanthemum sinense. Common name, mum.
White mums symbolized grief, death, bottomless unending sorrow. The house at 307 Old Post Road was festooned with them. They twisted themselves around the exterior like a cocoon. Tendrils of mulberry purple bougainvillea writhed like snakes, intertwining with arms of Devil抯 Pet, crimson thorns bared like teeth, leaves so deep purple as to be black. Inside, rumbling groans from the wooden frame protesting the worried embrace of the foliage echoed through the darkened halls. The plants had come to shelter me from the agony of grief. But that was like holding back the tide梡ointless and, ultimately, impossible.
Mom was dead and the goddess Hecate herself was holding her somewhere in the underworld for one full cycle of the moon. I could get her back but only if I could do the thing that had never been done梑ring the six pieces of the Absyrtus Heart back together. It was an impossible task. At least it had felt impossible until I walked in on the scene unfolding in the front room.
Circe, my birth mother抯 sister, a relative I抎 thought to be dead until that very moment, stood in front of me like a ghost. But she wasn抰 spectral, she was living, breathing, and full of confusion if the pained expression on her face was any indication of what she was feeling inside. Tears clouded my vision and made a hazy outline of her frame.
I couldn抰 make sense of her. She looked like me梥ame deep brown skin, dark brown eyes; she even wore a pair of oversized glasses like me. I hadn抰 been in the presence of someone I was related to by blood since I was a toddler, and I had no clear memory of that time anyway.
Circe抯 gaze swept over me and her lips parted then closed again, like she was struggling to find the right words. 揧ou抮e not supposed to be here,?she said, her voice choked with emotion. 揌ow梬hy桰 don抰 understand. What is going on here??
Dr. Grant, the head of Rhinebeck抯 Public Safety department, stepped forward and straightened out her blazer. She spoke gently to Circe, as if she was worried about how she抎 react. 揥e knew something wasn抰 right but we didn抰 know exactly what. I抳e been here trying to piece it all together.?
Circe bristled, like Dr. Grant抯 voice irritated every fiber of her being. She didn抰 turn to face her but instead kept her eyes locked on me.
Mo put her arm firmly around my shoulder. 揑 think we need some introductions.?
Circe glanced at Mo and her expression softened immediately. 揙f course. I抦 sorry桰桰抦 Circe Colchis. That抯 Persephone Colchis.?She gestured to the tall woman with the braids next to Marie, and her梬ell I still wasn抰 sure what Nyx抯 title might be, but 揵odyguard?seemed like the right thing.
Persephone.
That was a name I knew, and even in the midst of a million complicated feelings my mouth opened into a little o.
Circe blinked a few times and took a deep breath. 揘ot that Persephone.?She smiled a little, but it was all nerves. 揝he抯 your棓 She stopped herself. 揝he抯 a distant relative.?
揟his is my mom, Angie,?I said, gripping Mo around the waist. 揑抦 Briseis Greene.?
揧ou are,?Circe almost sighed. 揧ou really are. Briseis. Standing right here in front of me.?She opened her mouth then closed it. Words seemed to fail her.
I glanced at the two padlocked cages sitting in the front entryway. The pulse emanating from them rattled me, literally. I could feel the slow steady rhythm reverberating in my bones. 揧ou have other pieces of the Heart? How many? Two??
Circe nodded. I tallied up the pieces in their various forms. We had the Living Elixir, the two new pieces in their cages, and we had Marie, who had been transformed by the Heart抯 power. I didn抰 know if that counted anymore, but that抯 where we were at, and that only gave us four pieces in total. We needed all six if we had any hope of bringing my mom back from whatever in-between place Hecate was holding her in.
Circe turned to Dr. Grant. 揑 think you should leave.?
Dr. Grant shook her head.
揝he抯 been helping us,?I said.
揌elping??Circe asked. She took a step toward Dr. Grant. 揓ust how have you been helping, Khadijah??
Dr. Grant patted the air in front of her. 揅irce, please. I have been busting my ass to figure out what was happening here. I knew there was no way you could be involved, but I couldn抰 put it together until it was too late.?
Circe turned away from her, her eyes brimming with angry tears.
揚lease don抰 shut me out again,?Dr. Grant said. Her tone was pleading, like her heart was breaking. 揧ou know I tried to help Selene. I抎 give anything to bring her back to you.?
揧ou got one more time to say her name in front of me,?Circe warned with a kind of sharpness in her tone that sent a stab of fear through me. This woman was not to be messed with. 揑抦 not saying we won抰 speak, but it抯 not gonna be right now and it抯 not gonna be with you pretending you抳e been doing me a favor. I need you to leave.?