Dr. Grant slowly reached out and touched Circe抯 knee. 揚ops is always knee deep in my business,?she said. 揑抦 forty-five this year, and he抯 still acting like me and you are in high school.?
Isaac just shrugged.
Circe scanned the room, then took Dr. Grant by the arm and pulled her down the hall toward the apothecary.
Marie cleared her throat. 揂wkward as hell.?
揑 think we should get going,?Isaac said.
Lucille joined him in the entryway, and as she went out to the car, Isaac tucked the small vial of invisibility elixir into my hand.
揑 can抰 take this,?I said as we walked out onto the porch. 揑 wouldn抰 even know what to do with it.?
揟ake it anyway,?he said. 揑t抣l make me feel better if you have it.?He sighed and looked up into the sky. 揗iss Briseis, I have to believe that all of this is very overwhelming for you.?
揑 don抰 think that抯 a strong enough word.?
揗aybe not,?Isaac said. 揑 hope that you get a chance to put things right, but so much of what you need to do is over my head. Please try to stay safe.?
揑 will,?I said.
揑 know you抮e not going on this trip with Circe, but I抎 like to tell you that if for some reason or another you were wondering who might be here to keep Mo safe if you had to leave for a little while, well, Lucille and I are a couple of old farts, but we are not to be underestimated. We抣l be here.?
He squeezed my hand, then got in his car and pulled out of the driveway. I went back inside to find Dr. Grant and Circe emerging from the apothecary with tear-stained faces but holding hands. Dr. Grant squeezed my arm as she, too, went out to her car and left.
揂re you okay??I asked Circe.
She nodded but didn抰 say anything else about it, and I decided to stay out of her business for now.
The mood had changed. The hopeful feeling I抎 had as we discovered Aeaea抯 most likely location was being eclipsed by an encroaching dread梬hat were we really stepping into here? We knew where we needed to go and how we抎 get there but had no clue as to how it would actually unfold. On top of that I had to think of a way to leave Mo behind, to lie to her without hating myself for it. I didn抰 know if she抎 forgive me for leaving when she抎 made it clear that she wanted me to stay. If I brought Mom home, I could see her letting it go, maybe. But if I couldn抰 get Mom, if something happened to me along the way ?I pushed those thoughts away and pulled out Circe抯 moon clock and stared down at the dials.
Waning gibbous. Third quarter moon. Waning crescent. Six days on the calendar and three phases in Circe抯 moon clock had ticked by. Marie抯 contacts were dragging their feet, and I was pretty sure Circe had aged five years in that same time. Every morning she looked like she hadn抰 slept, and her interactions with Marie became more and more strained. Mo was starting to think her plans weren抰 going to work. She urged Circe to make a plan B, but there was no alternate plan that didn抰 involve missing our window to resurrect my mom.
I spent as much time in the garden as I could. It felt far from the chaos that enveloped me in the house. I lay among the overgrown beds of the Poison Garden, staring up at the scaffolding that crisscrossed high over my head. I worried about how much longer I could hide myself away. Mo was worried. So were Circe and Marie. But it was Persephone who found me in the Poison Garden early in the morning.
揟hought I抎 find you here,?she said as she leaned against the curved arch of the moon gate that separated the front part of the garden from the back.
I sat crisscross on the ground as a tangle of black hellebore bloomed around me, their velvety petals unfurling by the dozens. 揑t抯 quiet out here.?
Persephone had her braids piled high on top of her head and wrapped in a red scarf. She came over and sat down across from me. She stretched her legs out and rolled her head from side to side as she leaned back on her hands. 揑 need a favor.?
I glanced up at her. 揙kay??
揑 need you to let me have this place to myself tonight.?
I looked around. 揟he Poison Garden??
She nodded.
揧eah, sure,?I said.
She stretched out her hand and beckoned to a gathering of pale purple bell-shaped blooms sprouting from thick ovate leaves arranged in rosettes. They leaned toward her.
揗andragora officinarum,?I said quietly.
揌erb of Circe,?Persephone said. 揝orcerer抯 Root. Mandrake. When I learned about these plants I didn抰 know them by their scientific names. I抦 still a little hazy on that, but I know their folk names like I know my own.?
揑 thought if I studied plants I抎 be able to figure out what was going on with me.?
Persephone抯 brows pushed together. 揑抦 sorry you didn抰 have someone to guide you.?