We sat in a silence for several moments in quiet recognition of all those who had come before us.
揑 met Astraea when we were young,?Marie said quietly. 揑 don抰 remember much before I knew her. My family had traveled north and came to the place that would be known as Rhinebeck.?She took a deep breath and continued. 揥e were best friends. We spent so much time together people thought we were sisters. I remember her talking about her family, about the secrets they kept. Then we got sick. My baby sister died first. She was so little, her body didn抰 stand a chance fighting off the illness. Then my father died.?
揋ods, Marie,?Circe said.
Marie stared blankly at her. 揧ou抳e heard this story before.?
揂nd it never gets any easier,?said Circe. 揑 can抰 imagine. I抦 so sorry, hun.?
Marie nodded then went on. 揑 got sick and had to stay in bed. I don抰 think I could抳e gotten up if I wanted to. I was so weak. Astraea came to visit me every day, but my mother wouldn抰 let her inside. She didn抰 want her to get sick, too, so Astraea sat outside the window, where she抎 grown a bunch of sunflowers that never wilted. My mother thought it was a sign that I抎 recover but I knew the truth. It was Astraea, and she had that magic that all of you have. As the days dragged on, my body felt like it was on fire. It hurt to breathe, to swallow. I wanted to die, and the look on my mother抯 face told me I was gonna get exactly what I wanted.?
A knot stuck in my throat.
揑 closed my eyes one night and fully expected to never wake up. But at some point I felt someone抯 hand behind my head. There was a cool sensation on my lips and then in my throat, and then there was nothing. I thought I was dead until I started to hear Astraea抯 voice calling to me from somewhere. She just kept saying my name over and over again. When I finally opened my eyes, I was renewed, revived. I got up and my mother fainted.?She laughed lightly. 揑 went to her and picked her straight up, like she weighed nothing. I was stronger than I抎 ever been.?
揘obody questioned it??I asked.
揟hey did. Even I questioned it. It took years for me to convince Astraea to tell me what she抎 given me. She kept saying it was an elixir or a tonic but she didn抰 want to go into detail.?
揝he knew how to keep our secrets,?Persephone said.
Marie rolled her eyes. 揝he should have been able to tell me more than she did. She used the Heart on me. Y抋ll could抳e helped me deal with what was happening.?She glared at Persephone. 揧ou knew what I would become and you didn抰 even try to reach out. Real neighborly of you.?
揘ot everything is your business,?Persephone snapped.
揔ind of feels like it抯 my business when I抦 dying and then all the sudden I抦 a damn monster!?
I grabbed Marie抯 arm. 揧ou gotta stop saying that. You抮e not a monster.?
揌ow can you say that after the things you抳e seen me do??She put her hand over her mouth and her gaze dropped to the floor.
揑抳e seen you rescue me from people who were probably trying to kill me,?I said. 揑抳e seen you do what you had to do to protect the people you care about. That doesn抰 feel monstrous to me.?
揂nd if I didn抰 have this power??she asked. 揥hat would you think of me??
揑 don抰 understand,?I said.
Marie sighed. 揈ven if I didn抰 ask for this. Even if I was afraid of it in the beginning ?It抯 what makes me special,?she said quietly. 揘ow it抯 the most interesting thing about me. Who am I without it??
揧ou serious??I asked in disbelief. 揟here抯 so much more to you than that.?
Persephone turned her face to the window, and Circe pulled out a pair of headphones and stuck them in her ears.
揑抦 glad you think so,?Marie said.
I laced my fingers through hers. 揑抎 still like you if you weren抰 ?this. Anyway, I think the most interesting thing about you is the way you think nobody sees how scared you are sometimes, how you kind of put up this front with Nyx and Alec even though it抯 clear you love them. You抮e not a monster. You抳e seen some shit. Been through a lot of things that I can抰 even begin to imagine, and you抮e still here, trying to make it work.?
Marie stared into my face like she couldn抰 believe what I was saying.
I leaned closer, emboldened by the feeling that we were careening toward an uncertain end. 揇on抰 look at me like you don抰 know how I feel about you. What the Heart has done to you doesn抰 even matter to me in the way you think it does. I wish you could see what I see.?I took off my glasses and let them hang on the chain around my neck. 揧ou are not a monster.?
Marie sighed as she kissed the side of my face and pulled me close to her.
We landed at a small airport outside Paris, where we were asked to sit and wait while Marie and Circe spoke to officials. They checked our paperwork, our passports, and then boarded the plane to check our belongings. My heart crashed in my chest as the pair of uniformed officials walked to the back of the plane. I turned to Marie, who was completely unbothered.