揥hat is that??
Circe quickly transferred the stone to the enclosure surrounding the vacant hole in the ground. She pushed it deep into the dirt and stood back, clutching her hand.
揟he resurrection stone. The philosopher抯 stone. It has lots of names.?
揑t抯 a piece of the Heart??I asked. 揑 thought transfiguring it turned it into an elixir.?
揑t can be transfigured into anything. A liquid, a stone ?a person.?
Marie抯 face flashed in my mind.
揟his stone was created by a woman named Perenelle Flamel. I don抰 know where she found her piece of the Heart or which of our ancestors transfigured it for her, but when she died in 1397, she was nearly two hundred years old.?
揝he died??I asked. 揝o it didn抰 work for her??
揑t worked for a while.?Circe moved to the second enclosure. 揃ut the Heart, in its transfigured form, must be held within the body. That抯 why it抯 been preferred as a liquid for so long, but creating the liquid is much harder to do. Perenelle kept the stone beneath the skin of her forearm. Her husband removed it and she died. He then secreted the stone under his own skin, right in the center of his chest, and lived on for four hundred more years.?
揥hat happened to him??
揚ersephone caught up with him in Paris many, many years ago.?
I glanced at the hole in the ground where Circe had put the stone. 揌ow did she get the stone back from him??
Circe cleared her throat. 揂 knife, I imagine.?She opened the second enclosure, took a halting breath, and plunged her hand inside. From it, she pulled an Absyrtus Heart, almost identical to the one I抎 been forced to uproot. It was pink and supple and beat in a furious rhythm. The thick black roots dripped blood onto the stone floor. Circe quickly transferred it to the enclosure and set it on top of the stone. The roots burrowed into the dirt, writhing like worms as they anchored the plant in the ground. It immediately sprouted a half-dozen tufts of velvety black leaves as wide as a hand. Circe closed the little glass door and bent over, resting her hands on her knees.
I knew that feeling. 揑t抯 like dying,?I said.
A film of sweat blanketed her forehead as she tried to catch her breath. 揕ike dying.?She locked up the enclosure door and took a step back.
揑抦 sorry I brought Mrs. Redmond桲atrina Valek梔own here,?I said. 揑抦 so sorry. I didn抰 understand, and I thought I could trust Karter.?
揔arter??Circe asked.
揌er son. He was梙e was my friend. Or at least I thought he was.?
揑t抯 not your fault,?she said. 揘one of this is. I wish I抎 known what was happening here. I wish I抎 put it together sooner. I抦 so sorry, Briseis. This whole situation is a mess, and so much of it is my fault. We don抰 go into these things thinking we won抰 have a chance to make them right. We抮e just trying to survive so much of the time that I think we forget to live. I wish I could see Selene just one more time梩ell her how much I love her.?She ran her fingertips over her mouth as her chin trembled. 揌ow is it that some of us have no time left and others have more than anyone could ever truly need? It抯 not fair.?
It wasn抰 and I didn抰 have an answer to her question, only more tears. I missed Mom and I could see how much Circe missed Selene. Our pain was the same.
I took off my glasses and wiped my face. Circe reached out but let her hand hang in the air in front of me. It was her way of asking if it was okay. I met her gaze and nodded. She swept me into an embrace with all the warmth of the sun, all the tenderness of family, born out of blood or choice, it made no difference in that moment. It was she and I and all that remained of the oldest branches of our ancient family tree ?almost.
CHAPTER 3
Back at the house I found Mo in the front room with Persephone. Mo was scratching the top of her head with the most bewildered look on her face as Persephone slid a large wooden table, plucked from one of the other rooms, into place.
Circe patted Mo on the arm. 揧ou okay??
Mo nodded but she was clearly not okay. I quickly wrapped my arms around her and she squeezed me tight. She brushed her fingers across my forehead and down the side of my face. 揑 love you.?
揑 love you more.?
She narrowed her eyes at me. 揥here you been, love??
揑n the garden,?I said.
Her teeth clicked together as she clenched her jaw. 揑 don抰 even know if I can go back out there.?
揧ou don抰 have to,?I said. 揑t抯 okay.?I leaned against her shoulder.
揑抦 going to bring down all my research,?Circe said. 揥e can start by laying it all out. Retrace where we抳e been and figure out where we need to go next.?
She went to the mantel over the fireplace and ran her hand along the edge of the intricately carved wood. She pressed in one swirly arm of flourish, and there was a soft click. A narrow compartment, like a small drawer, fell open. Mo抯 entire frame tensed up, and she pulled me back a step. From the hidden space, Circe took a small object. She dusted it off with her shirt.