揟hey know we抮e here,?Circe said.
It took me a second to remember that I wasn抰 alone in this anymore. I had someone who had the exact same abilities as me and who knew what it was like to live with them every day.
揟hey only want to be near us,?Circe said. She stepped onto the grass, and a patch of canary yellow daffodils bloomed under her feet. 揌as it been hard for you to keep them in check??
揊or a really long time I couldn抰 go anywhere without feeling like the grass and the trees were going to give it all away,?I said. 揂nd I make myself sick梙eadaches, nausea梐ll from trying to keep it bottled up.?
Circe came back over to me. 揌ow has it been since you抳e been in Rhinebeck? Do you think it抯 easier to control out there??
揑t抯 not so much the town,?I said. 揑t抯 that I stopped trying to fight it. When I let it all go and just lean into it 厰 I wasn抰 sure how to describe the feeling. 揑t抯 like breathing條ike I抦 doing something I抦 supposed to do.?
揈mbracing it will be the best thing you抳e ever done for yourself,?she said. Then she raised an eyebrow and gave me a little smirk. 揂nd with the way things are going it might be your best weapon, too.?
In my head, images of roots breaking through the apothecary floor and winding themselves around Mrs. Redmond played on a loop.
揟his is the place,?Marie said. She had turned her attention to the brownstone directly across the street. 揗y contact has been living here for a few years now. He moved here from Ithaca thinking he could keep a low profile, but I showed up at his door the same day the movers were carrying his couch inside.?
揌e didn抰 want you to know he moved??I asked.
揋uess not. But ask me if I care what he wants.?She grinned. 揌e likes to keep things quiet. He used to deal in stolen artifacts and still has a lot of contacts in the trade. It makes him vulnerable, but it also comes in handy when I抦 trying to get some of this stuff back to where it belongs. He moved because he didn抰 like me popping up on him and making sure he hadn抰 fallen back into his old ways.?She gazed up at the building. 揑 hope he didn抰 do what I think he did.?
I had a feeling things were about to get extremely awkward once we got inside.
The streetlights were on and cast long columns of light across the sidewalk. The narrow brick building rose up three stories and was accented with pointed arches and an intricate round portico over the front door. The shutters were drawn in the large bay window that overlooked the street, but a light was on somewhere inside, casting a muted yellow haze through the glass.
揇o we just ring the bell??Circe asked, turning to Marie. 揝omething tells me this guy is not gonna be happy to see you.?
揥ho wouldn抰 be happy to see me??Marie asked. Her voice dripped with syrupy-sweet sarcasm.
She mounted the front steps and rang the bell as Circe and I stood at her back. There were footsteps inside, a pause, and then the curtain covering the rectangular stained glass window in the door moved aside, revealing a man抯 face. Plastered across it was an expression that could be nothing other than absolute dread.
Marie leaned toward the glass. 揙pen the door before I kick it in.?She gripped the handle, and the hinges groaned as if they were being pulled apart.
揙kay!?the man shouted. 揂ll right! Just don抰 pull the door off! It抯 original to the house!?
Marie pressed her hand to the glass and a crack spread across its surface. 揝ir. I have never cared less about anything in my entire life. Open the door.?
The man undid the locks but before he got the chain off, Marie pushed the door in like it was made of air, scattering the broken links across the floor. She swept in and stood glowering at the man. He put his hands up in front of him梐s if it would do him any good.
He was a short, balding man with a splotchy pale complexion, sweating out the pits of his pin-striped pajamas.
Circe shut the door and Marie approached him. 揥ell, hello, Phillip.?
Nothing about this should have been funny, but I had to pretend to be fishing something out of my pocket to keep from laughing. He just didn抰 look to me like his name should be Phillip. A smile danced across Circe抯 lips, too.
揗arie,?he said curtly. 揓ust listen to me棓
揑 should snap your neck,?Marie said.
揗arie! Damn!?Circe marched up and stood between her and Phillip. 揅an we at least talk to him first? How is he going to answer our questions if he抯 dead??
揥e can have a s閍nce,?Marie said.
揝top,?said Circe. 揥e came here for a reason, remember??
I slipped my hand into Marie抯 and pulled her back a little. 揑抦 not tryna tell you what to do, but maybe, if you want, just take it down a notch? At least until we talk to him??