?慍hanged?means what exactly??Mo asked.
揟hey抮e stronger, faster, more ?resilient than they were before,?Circe said.
Resilient. I guess that was one way to describe immortality.
揕ike條ike superheroes??Mo asked.
揑抦 definitely a villain,?Marie said.
She was trying to lighten the mood, but Mo looked like she was gonna pass out.
Marie grimaced. 揑抦 joking. I抦 not a bad guy, Mo. Promise.?
Mo didn抰 say anything, and I was a little worried she was in some kind of shock. I didn抰 know Persephone抯 backstory, and Marie抯 was gonna require more than just a passing mention. But we didn抰 have time for that.
I patted Mo抯 arm. 揑t抯 okay.?
揇efinitely not okay,?she muttered under her breath.
Persephone slid open the small door hiding the shelves stocked with the dried pieces of the deadliest plants in the garden, removed one of the jars, and hopped down as easily as she抎 gone up. She tossed the jar to Circe, who set it on the disjointed remains of the counter.
揘eed some hot water,?Circe said.
Persephone disappeared down the hall in the direction of the kitchen.
Circe slipped off her jacket and tossed it on the floor. She rummaged through the rubble and seemed to find what she was looking for梠ne of the small copper dishes Dr. Grant抯 father had asked me to provide for him when he stopped by.
Nyx and Marie hung back as I watched Circe move with the kind of assuredness that told me she knew exactly what she was doing. Her long slender fingers worked to turn the dried parts of the belladonna out into the dish. She covered the pieces with her hand and closed her eyes. The hair stood up on the back of my neck. I wasn抰 the one handling the poison, but I knew what that felt like. She didn抰 grimace or wince. She breathed in and out slowly, rhythmically.
揇o you think you are immune??Circe asked suddenly.
揥hat??I replied, confused.
揟he first poisonous plant I ever came in contact with was belladonna. My mama gave it to me in an old coffee can when I was little. She made me swear to never let any of my friends touch it. I抦 sorry to say I was not the most obedient child.?Her eyes became glassy in the dark of the broken apothecary. 揑 could grow the plant, and there was a connection there that I didn抰 fully understand. I thought it was just another facet of my gift梒ontrol plants and be unaffected by the poisonous ones.?
揟hey don抰 affect me at all,?I said. 揑抦 definitely immune.?
Circe smiled warmly, but there was sadness there. 揑t looks that way on the surface, but you feel the cold, don抰 you? You feel the tingle to varying degrees when you come in contact with something toxic.?
I nodded.
揑f you were immune it wouldn抰 have any effect on you at all, right? You抎 feel nothing.?
I hadn抰 thought of it like that at all, but I guess she was right. 揝o what are you saying? Because I抳e had the sap of a hemlock plant go directly into my bloodstream. I held the Heart with my bare hands and I felt like I was dying.?Sharp flare of pain and sadness in the pit of my belly.
Circe pressed her palm flat against the belladonna. 揥hen you come in contact with the poisonous plants, your body leaches the poison. You take it into yourself, in essence becoming so much like the plant itself that you cannot be harmed by it. The more poisonous the plant, the more painful it is. Medea was the most talented poisonist in existence for two reasons梥he studied under her aunt Circe, arguably the most gifted sorceress ever, and secondly, because she inherited the same gifts we now possess from Hecate. It抯 what allowed Medea to do her work with such precision. It抯 why people sought her out.?Circe exhaled sharply as she pulled her hand back and wriggled her fingers. 揑抳e drawn out enough of the poison in the belladonna so that it won抰 be fatal, but the sleep will be as close to death as you can safely get without going to meet Hades himself.?
Persephone returned with a kettle and four mugs on a silver tray. She set it on the counter, and Circe dropped a few pinches of the belladonna into each cup, then covered it with steaming water. I reached for it, but Mo caught my wrist.
揥ait,?she said. 揑抦 not tryna be rude, but we don抰 know you.?She eyed Circe carefully. 揑 mean, we just met. Now you want to give us some kind of potion that抯 going to knock us out? This is ?a lot, especially for Bri.?She turned to me. 揕ove, you抮e in charge of what抯 happening here. We don抰 do anything you抮e not comfortable with. Nothing has changed about that.?
For a split second my thoughts wandered to what Mom was gonna say and the realization that she wasn抰 there fell on me all over again. Mo gathered me to her and swayed with me in her arms as the tears came in a rush.
Circe batted at her eyes again and reached out to put her hand on Mo抯 arm. 揗aybe you and I could talk??