The Living Elixir

Absyrtus Heart

Quicksilver

Liquid Gold

Transfigure

Infuse in a draft of honey

This burden is sometimes too much to bear. The Heart must be kept, but at what cost?

We must find the pieces that have been lost to time. We must. We have to bring them together to save her. Even if it is too late, we must still do this.

Absyrtus in pieces, everlasting life.

Absyrtus made whole, master of death.

Maybe I’ll set aside this terrible task and let this family pass into legend and myth like our ancestors before us.

Tucked between the last pages of the sketchbook was a single sheet of paper, sealed between two pieces of plastic casing. As I studied it under the glow of my flashlight, I thought “paper” might not have been the right word to describe it. It was more like fabric. I could see the individual fibers poking out from its uneven edges. It was covered top to bottom in lettering that looked a lot like the Greek I’d seen in the books about Medea. It was riddled with holes, so I assumed the casing was the only thing keeping it from falling apart.

I set the book on top of the desk and reached into the compartment to see if there was anything else. A wadded-up piece of cloth was shoved inside, near the back. As I pulled it free, something clattered to the ground.

I picked up the object. It was a small, ancient-looking key, made of some kind of off-white material too heavy to be plastic—maybe some kind of bone. About the size of my pinkie, its bow was a beautifully carved Valentine’s Day–style heart. Another shape was set inside, molded from a glistening red stone, and this one resembled a tiny human heart.

A bolt of exhilaration shot through me and my hands began to shake. This is what I’d been looking for. It had to be the key to the door in the garden.

My phone chimed in my hand, and if I hadn’t been gripping it so tightly out of pure excitement, I would have dropped it. It was Marie.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Briseis. I’m sorry to call so late.”

I glanced at the clock on my screen. “You’re good. It’s not even nine. Everything okay?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to come over.”

I looked down at the key. I really wanted to go straight to the garden, but the time and the sound of her voice were making me reconsider. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything you want,” she said.

“Right, I, uh—do you know about—”

“The garden?” she cut in.

“So you do know about it.”

“I’ve never been inside their garden, but yeah, I know.”

“Did Circe ever tell you anything? About what was in there?” I asked.

There was a long pause. “Why don’t you come over and we can talk about it?”

“Right now?” I snatched the scarf off my head and touched my hair. It had been a few hours, and I’d dried it halfway before twisting it up so I could get the most stretch and cut my drying time by more than half, but it was still damp at the roots.

She laughed lightly. “Come on. It’s been a minute since I’ve had company.”

“I don’t have a ride. I don’t drive. And I—”

“I’ll send a car for you.”

“I can get an Uber or a Lyft myself. It’s not a big deal.”

She huffed into the phone. “Do you know how dangerous rideshares can be? I’ll send my own car with a driver I can trust to get you here safely.”

I hadn’t heard right. “Wait. You mean like a car service?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Gimme thirty?”

She huffed into the phone. “Okay. See you soon.” She hung up.

I closed up the hidden room and stashed the newly discovered sketchbook and key under my mattress. I put the hair dryer on low heat, high air and blasted my scalp till I was sure I could safely take out the twists. I could not meet Marie in another state of crusty disarray.

Ten minutes under the dryer and the world’s fastest take down later, my hair was coifed and ready to go. My eyebrows were a mess and I didn’t really feel like putting on a full face of makeup, but I also wanted to look halfway cute. I threw on a pair of gold hoops and dragged a fingertip full of Vaseline across my lips. I slipped on a pair of sneakers and went downstairs. Mom and Mo were in the front room.

“Is it okay if I go over to Marie’s house for a little bit?” I asked.

“Who’s Marie?” Mom asked.

“That girl who came to the house the other day.”

Mom raised an eyebrow. “If you want to, baby, but do you think it’s a good idea? You just met her.”

“She seems pretty nice,” I said.

Mo gave me a look. “Nice, huh? Is that why you got on them hoops? Everybody knows that hoops mean you tryna look cute.”

“Do I look cute?” I asked.

“Always,” Mom said. “Do you need a ride?”

“No,” I said. “She’s sending a car.”

They both turned toward me, eyes wide.

“A car?” Mom asked. “What kind of rich people behavior—”

“Shoot, Briseis is single. Might be a match made in heaven,” Mo said.

Mom thought for a moment then nodded in agreement. “Secure the bag, baby.”

I cringed. So hard. “First of all, y’all are terrible, and second, that’s not what’s goin’ on. She knows about some of the plants in the apothecary, and she invited me over to talk.”

My phone buzzed.

Marie: Car’s outside.

“The car’s here.”

Mo scrambled to the door with Mom at her heels. I went over and peered around them. In the drive was a sleek black sedan with tinted windows. The driver’s door opened and a tall, bald woman with broad shoulders wearing a bloodred pantsuit got out and came around the passenger side. I pulled the door open and walked onto the porch.

“Miss Briseis?” the woman asked.

Mom’s mouth was stuck in a little O. Mo’s eyebrows arched up so hard they disappeared into the one wrinkle that ran across her forehead.

I kissed Mom and gave Mo a hug. “I’ll text you when I get there.”

I jogged to the car and the woman opened the door for me. Only when I was standing next to her did I realize she was at least six feet tall. “Okoye got nothin’ on you, huh?”