I leaped from the counter and Circe wrapped me up in her arms. I hugged her tight.
揘yx is on her way,?Circe said. 揌ow are we going to do this, Bri? You want to come. And I really believe in my heart that we need you with us, but Mo is not gonna let you go.?She shook her head. 揑 hate lying to her. I hate it.?
揝o do I,?I said. I meant it. We didn抰 keep secrets. We didn抰 need to, but this situation was impossible. There was no way around it.
揝ay goodbye to us,?Circe said. 揟hen I抣l have Nyx pick you up in a few hours, after Mo is in bed.?
I nodded and she hugged me close, then rushed off to get her things together. A half hour later Nyx was helping her load her bag into the car. Circe asked one more time if it would be possible for me to go along with them, and Mo said no in a way that made me a little worried for Circe抯 safety. Circe let it go, said goodbye to me, and as I walked her to the car Nyx caught me by the shoulder and pulled me into a hug.
揑 don抰 like this at all, but I抣l send transport for you at midnight. Be prepared and only bring one bag, preferably something you can wear on your person. And here敆she slipped something into my hand棑put your glasses on this or you抣l regret it.?Without another word she let me go and got in the car.
I joined Mo on the porch as they drove off, and she looped her arm through mine and led me inside.
揟hey抮e gonna be okay and they抮e gonna get your mama back,?she said.
揑 know,?I said.
揥hat抎 Nyx give you??she asked.
I opened the small package and found a long chain that was meant to keep my glasses around my neck if they weren抰 on my face. It was dotted with little gold stars and moons.
揚retty,?Mo said.
I hooked the ends to the arms of my glasses and put them back on my face.
揧ou look like a librarian,?Mo said. She smiled, but she couldn抰 hide how exhausted she was or how heavy the burden of keeping up a front for me was.
I wrapped my arms around her. 揑 love you so much, Mo. More than anything.?
揑 love you more,?she said as she buried her face in my hair. 揑抦 gonna go to bed. Are they gonna call us when they land??
I nodded. 揟hat抯 the plan.?
揧ou coming to bed??she asked.
揑 don抰 think I can sleep,?I said. 揅irce said I could look at some books she抯 got in her room. I抣l probably just stay up and read until I抦 tired.?
Mo looked me over and I could feel her searching for something in my movements, in my words, that told her what I was hiding. I didn抰 meet her gaze.
揑 might stay up a little longer,?she said.
My heart sank into the pit of my stomach, but I quickly collected myself. 揥e can watch something on my computer.?
She nodded, and I followed her up to my room to set up my laptop so that we could pretend to watch a movie when really we were only going to watch each other. I抎 given myself away. She抎 caught onto something I did or said, and now she wasn抰 going to let me out of her sight until she was sure I wasn抰 going anywhere.
She brushed her teeth and tucked her hair under Mom抯 ugly red bonnet and fluffed up the pillows on my bed, where she stretched out, clearly prepared to stay all the way awake.
Panic gripped me. I had no doubt that if I wasn抰 outside to meet Nyx at midnight, they抎 leave without me. They had to.
揑抣l be right back,?I said.
揥here you going??Mo asked, avoiding my eyes.
揑抦 gonna grab a book from Circe抯 room. I抳e seen all these movies already anyway.?
Mo pressed her lips together. 揙kay. Hurry up because I want us to pick something we can watch together.?
揋ive me one second,?I said. I hurried across the hall. My backpack had been ready for days. I抎 shoved it in the back of Circe抯 closet, where I knew Mo wouldn抰 go looking. It sat waiting with a pair of sneakers, a jacket, my ID, and a few changes of clothes stuffed inside. Most importantly, I抎 transferred the vial of Living Elixir to my bag, tucked inside a padded inner pocket alongside the invisibility token Isaac had gifted me. I moved the backpack to just inside Circe抯 bedroom door so I could grab it the moment Mo fell asleep.
揧ou good??Mo called.
揧up,?I called back. I grabbed a random book off Circe抯 dresser and gently closed the door.
Mo and I watched a movie and were halfway through a second one as the clock ticked past eleven thirty. I watched as Mo began to nod off, fighting her sleep. I rolled onto my side and shut my eyes, hoping I could convince her I was asleep. A few minutes later Mo turned over and after a while, began to snore.
In the dark, I took out my mangled phone and composed a note to Mo. I couldn抰 think of what to say that would be enough. It occurred to me that this might be the last thing she ever heard from me if things went sideways. What could I say to her to make her understand that I loved her more than anything but that I had to go?