揑 just want Mom back,?I said. 揘othing else matters. I don抰 care what we have to do or what we have to believe.?
Mo nodded and kissed the top of my head.
More angry voices cut through the air, and I went to the bedroom door to try to pull it open without making a bunch of noise. The hinges screamed and immediately silenced the heated conversation going on below. I sighed and glanced back at Mo.
揕ove,?Mo said. 揧ou did see a giant winged creature sitting in the driveway yesterday, right? It wasn抰 just me??
揌is name抯 Roscoe,?I said.
Mo抯 eyebrow arched up. 揢m, what??
揧eah. I抦 just gonna go with it.?
揜ight,?Mo said, a vacant expression on her face. 揑抦 gonna shower. Love you.?
揕ove you more.?
I went out and closed the door behind me. As I went down the stairs and into the front room, Marie and Persephone were sitting across the table from each other. If looks could kill, somebody would抳e been dead. The look of absolute rage plastered across both their faces made me a little wary of being in the same room as them.
Circe came in behind me. 揧ou抮e up. How you feeling??
揑抦 okay. Were you guys fighting??I asked.
揘o,?Persephone said.
揧es,?Marie shot back.
揑 need to talk to Briseis and you two should take it outside or something,?Circe said. She wasn抰 even trying to hide the annoyance in her tone. She turned to me. 揥ould you come with me for a minute. There抯 something I抎 like to show you.?
Marie and Persephone got up and headed to the front door while I trailed Circe to the apothecary. The broken floorboards had been put back in their places. The vines and branches were cut back as much as possible, but an entire black locust tree had come up through the floor and looked like it might be a permanent fixture now. Pendant clusters of dense white blooms hung between the blue-green leaves. The scattered apothecary jars had been set back on the mended shelves, the ladder fixed and put on its track.
揚ersephone is exceptionally handy,?Circe said. 揥e can worry about restocking another time. The main thing I wanted to talk to you about was 厰 She trailed off, running her hand over her mouth, and chewing at her bottom lip. 揈ver since I got back I feel like all we抳e been talking about is how heavy the burden of guarding the Heart is梙ow much has been lost because of it.?
揑 mean, it抯 true,?I said.
揃ut taking care of the Heart isn抰 the only thing my mother passed down to me,?Circe said. 揝he抯 been gone since I was a teenager but she taught me and Selene so much about these gifts, and well, it抯 probably easier to just show you.?She picked up a large rectangular case with a handle on top and set it on the counter. It was closed by two silver locks and had the Colchis family crest梩he image of the triple-faced Hecate, her torches, the crown of poison thorns梒arved into its face. 揑f we make this journey, as I fully expect we will, we will need supplies.?
I stared into her face. 揃ut you said棓
揑 know,?she said, lowering her voice. 揑 know I said you couldn抰 go桰 just桰抦 hoping I can convince Mo to let you come with us, because you are the only one who has actually seen Hecate. She spoke directly to you and that has to mean something. It抯 your mother she抯 sheltering. I don抰 know if we can do this without you, but I did mean what I said, it is dangerous.?Worry drew her eyebrows together. 揑 could never forgive myself if something happened to you, and of course I would make sure you were as safe as possible, but look what we抮e dealing with here. Ancient goddesses, power beyond our full comprehension. There is a risk.?
揂 risk I can take.?I moved closer to her. 揥hat did Dr. Kent show you? I抦 just gonna assume that you wouldn抰 let me come along if you knew I was gonna die, right??
Circe gripped the handle of the case. 揘o. Of course not.?
A terrible thought occurred to me. Mrs. Redmond and Karter had both been kind to me. I抎 trusted Karter and even thought he was my friend. I was wrong about him in ways I couldn抰 stand to think about. But Karter and Circe were not the same. I could trust Circe to tell me the truth, and still, I wondered if maybe I was already too trusting. The thought grew in my mind like a ragged ugly weed.
揝o, what抯 in the case??
She lifted the lid. Inside, the two halves were divided into smaller compartments, each containing miniature apothecary jars closed with corks. Some were no bigger than my thumbnail, but even the biggest ones were only an inch or two. There had to be a hundred vials set inside little velvet-lined cubbies.
揗y mother taught me that I should never go anywhere unprepared,?Circe said.
揥hat do you mean? Like how my grandma is always telling me to make sure I have on clean drawers when I leave the house in case I get in a car accident??