揝he has always been with us,?Circe sobbed. 揗y great-great-grandmother knew her and her mother before her.?Circe sat back, resigned to the understanding that Persephone would not be coming home with us. 揑 don抰 know how to live without her.?
Circe was right all along. We would not come out of this unbroken. We would not be whole.
Hecate studied my face and smiled warmly. 揗arie is granted another chance. Persephone wanted it to be no one but her who kept the balance.?She took a long, deep breath. 揂nd because you have returned my son to me, he can make his journey to the underworld. That, too, is an exchange. One that requires an equally meaningful return.?
Hecate glanced at Absyrtus, who nodded and motioned for me to follow his gaze toward the void. Someone else was emerging from the darkness. As her face came into view I broke into a run. The poison garden cleared a path for me as I sprinted forward. I felt like I was moving in slow motion, my legs pumping under me but not fast enough. Nowhere near fast enough.
I leaped into her arms before she抎 had a chance to fully emerge from the void. The heat beat against my face and the drop-off below me looked a mile deep, but I didn抰 care. Nothing mattered in that moment because I was finally, after all we抎 been through, in my mom抯 arms.
揗om! Mom! Mom!?
She locked her arms around me and pulled us out of the gaping void to where the cool night air swirled around us. The moonlight danced against her skin, and she pressed her face to my hair and whispered my name over and over again like a prayer, like a plea, like a thank-you, like I love you.
CHAPTER 23
I don抰 know how long I held on. Minutes, hours. I never wanted to let go. Mom turned my face to hers and I took her in all over again.
揑s this real??I asked. With everything I抎 seen I was worried this was some illusion, some trick.
揧es, baby,?she said to me. 揑t抯 real.?
Her voice was like a song, and I never wanted it to end.
Absyrtus approached us, cradling Persephone in his arms. We stepped aside, and after giving me a nod, he descended into the void and disappeared. Circe came up, supporting Marie抯 weight as Marie hobbled along beside her. Hecate loomed in the darkness behind them with her dog at her side. Marie breathed deep, like it hurt. She held her hand up in front of her, opened and closed her fist.
揝omething抯 wrong,?Marie croaked.
揝he抯 mortal,?Hecate said as she brushed by us.
I looked Marie over. She was changed in a way I couldn抰 fully explain, but she smiled at me and reached for my hand, which I took and held tight. Mom looked back and forth between me and Circe. There was so much she needed to be filled in on, I didn抰 know where to start.
揗om,?I said. 揟his is my auntie Circe.?
My heart sputtered as I realized that we were standing in the center of the deadliest place on earth and now that Marie was mortal and Mom was back, we couldn抰 stay there.
All around me the deadly foliage pulled back. Blooms closed and thorns retreated. The air was suddenly warm and sweet instead of icy. Mom and Marie would be all right.
Mom smiled and pulled Circe and Marie close to us. We clung to one another for a long time, crying, smiling, feeling grateful and grief stricken and full of wonder, all at the same time.
Hecate moved around us and stood at the opening to the void. I caught her eye and she sighed.
揥e will meet again, my dear Briseis. Of that you can be absolutely sure.?
With that, she turned and the void swallowed her and her familiar once again.
Circe helped Marie limp out of the poison garden as I trailed behind with my mom. I stopped and plucked a sprig of hellebore and willed it to bloom until it twisted itself into a wreath of the deadly black flowers. I paused to set it atop Medea抯 grave.
I ushered my mom through the gate and found Marie standing outside the tangle of vines holding Karter captive.
揥hat抯 goin?on here??Mom asked.
揔arter抯 in there,?I said.
Her eyes grew wide and she stepped toward him. 揗ake the vines go away, Bri. I want to whoop his behind myself.?
揧ou抮e alive??Karter asked. 揑抦 really happy about that. Please don抰 kill me.?
Mom crossed her arms over her chest and glowered at him.
揥ait,?I said. 揑抦 not saying he doesn抰 deserve it, but I have a different idea.?
揃eating him to death sounds like a good idea to me,?Marie said.
I was happy to see that while her immortality had been stripped away, her personality remained intact.
揥hat do we do with him??Circe asked. 揑f we leave him here, he抯 dead.?
揑 see no issues with that,?Marie huffed.
I shook my head. 揘o. We take him to Hermes. That dude needs a pet project, and Karter needs 厰 I trailed off. I didn抰 know what he needed exactly. A mentor? A parental figure? A friend?