揑 don抰 think we have a choice,?Circe said. 揥e抣l need a charter flight because we have to transport all the pieces of the Heart. I don抰 think we抣l have time to bring them back to Rhinebeck if we somehow manage to find the last piece. Probably gonna need a boat, too, something serious, because if that painting is showing what I think it is, if the legends about Aeaea are true, we抮e going to need more than some dinghy.?
Marie took out her phone and began texting furiously. 揑抦 on it.?
I stared at the mermaid-like creatures painted on the ancient pottery. They had claws and pointed teeth and were dragging a man from the ship, presumably to his death. I quickly covered it back up. We were a step closer to getting my mom back, and I didn抰 care if I had to cross a monster-infested sea to do it.
I opened Circe抯 clock and watched as the dials moved in their housing. Circe and Persephone were giving us a rundown of the legends surrounding the sirens who supposedly lived in the waters off Aeaea. We weren抰 talking about Ariel and her lovable sidekick, Flounder, either. These creatures were murderous sea-dwelling monsters who lured people to their deaths by way of enchanting sea shanties
揑抳e seen a living goddess, a hellhound, a plant that beats like a human heart, but mermaids??I asked. 揑抦 having a hard time with that.?
揟hat抯 the sticking point for you??Persephone asked. 揑 love that the mermaids are the thing that抯 throwing you.?
揝irens,?Circe corrected. 揘ot mermaids.?
揝ea bitches,?said Marie.
Persephone let out a deep throaty laugh, and Mo actually smiled.
Nyx clapped her hand over her mouth. 揙h my god, Marie. Please try to be serious.?
揑 am!?Marie said. 揗er-hos. Is that better??
Nyx threw her hands up and shook her head. 揑 know you use humor as a defense mechanism to hide how scared you are about the danger Bri is in and everything else that抯 going on, so I won抰 hold it against you, but try to keep it in check.?
揥ell, damn,?Marie said as she leaned back against the wall, shoving her hands in her pockets. 揓ust tell all my business to everybody.?
Her gaze cut to me for a split second, and I could tell that Nyx had hit a nerve.
Circe opened several different books and file folders and laid them out on the table. She was poring over them, pencil in hand. 揇o you know the story of Persephone and Hades??
I glanced at Persephone.
揥e抮e talking about the original Persephone,?she said. 揑 would have clawed Hades抯 eyes out. He would抳e gotten sick of me real fast.?
揕et抯 not judge,?said Circe. 揧ou say that now, but I bet you抎 be pretty powerless against the ruler of the underworld.?
Persephone shrugged.
揑抳e seen Hadestown,?I said. 揇oes that count??I could almost hear Mom in my head complaining about the ticket prices and it put an ache in my chest.
揥hat抯 that??Circe asked.
揂 Broadway show,?I said quietly. 揑t抯 a reimagining of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.?
Circe looked thoughtful. 揑抳e been gone a long time. I guess I抦 out of the loop. But it goes like this: When Persephone was abducted by Hades, Demeter桺ersephone抯 mother梩asked her closest friends with finding her daughter. But they couldn抰 search the sea, so Demeter gave them tails like fish so they could look for her. That抯 how sirens came into existence, and over time they grew to be vengeful, dangerous creatures.?She pushed an open book toward me. 揟he sirens on those three tiny islands we saw on the pottery are said to guard Aeaea. Their songs beckon sailors to the water. To their deaths.?
揝eriously??I asked. 揑f we gotta get by them to get to the island棓
揥e??Mo chimed in. She came to the table. 揥e aren抰 going anywhere. I抦 gonna go get your mama. You are gonna stay your butt right here.?
揥hat? No. I have to come with y抋ll.?I glanced around, expecting Circe and Persephone to agree with me, but they both avoided my eyes. 揧ou gotta be kidding me. I want to go. I want to help get Mom back.?
Persephone motioned to the door, and Marie walked out of the room with Nyx trailing behind her. Persephone then left me, Mo, and Circe alone.
Mo stood in front of me. 揟his is too dangerous. You抮e talking about traveling to the other side of the world, and who knows where that kid Karter ran off to. He can抰 be the only one looking for the pieces. And we抳e seen firsthand that people are willing to kill anyone they need to in order to get to it.?She clenched her teeth. 揑 can抰 lose you, too, love. I can抰。 I won抰。 I抣l go get your mama. I抣l bring her back.?
揧ou can抰 go either,?Circe said.
Mo spun around and tilted her head to the side. 揈xcuse me??
揧ou抮e absolutely right,?Circe said, choosing her words carefully. 揟his will be incredibly dangerous. We have to travel with the existing pieces of the Heart. The only people who can semi-safely be around them are those of us who are mostly unaffected by them. And I anticipate that the Mother, that piece that seeded the others, will be a thousand times deadlier than the pieces we already have. You can抰 go, Mo. It抯 not safe.?