Marie said nothing.

“I don’t think we should tell anybody about what we saw,” I said. “Not the Heart, not Marie’s abilities, none of it. Not right now.”

“I’m not even sure what I saw,” he said, glancing at Marie.

“I’ll explain everything,” I said. “I promise. But right now I need to get home. My ankle is killin’ me.”

Karter nodded but his expression remained tight and his gaze kept flitting back to Marie.

Marie walked me to the front door, with Karter trailing far behind. Mo was waiting.

“They’re back,” she called. Marie gently lowered me to the ground. A strangled yelp escaped me as the pain in my ankle flared again. Mo’s brow furrowed. “What happened to you?”

“I tripped,” I said. “It’s pretty swollen.”

Mo and Marie helped me inside and onto the couch. My mom knelt and removed my shoe and sock.

“Shit,” she said. My ankle was already starting to bruise.

“Can you move it?” Mo asked.

I wiggled my toes. The pain was only on the outside of my ankle. “It hurts, but maybe it’s just a bad sprain.”

“We should go to the ER,” Mom said.

“No,” I said. “Not happening.” I leaned back against the pillows. “I can put something on it. Can y’all help me get into the apothecary?”

Mom and Mo exchanged glances. Marie and Karter both held out their hands to help me up.

“You could do it yourself, huh?” Karter asked, looking Marie dead in her eyes.

“You know what?” I said. “Never mind. I’ll do it.”

I pulled myself up and limped down the hall with Marie and Karter following close behind. I turned on the lights in the shop and tried to hoist myself onto the counter but slipped. Marie slid her hand around me, grabbing hold of the back of my shirt and pulling me up before anyone saw. Mom and Mo came in and helped me prop my leg on the counter.

“I need that book.” I gestured to a large book I’d brought down from the turret that had the handwritten instructions for a salve to help with bruising and pain. Marie handed it to me and I leafed through. “I need the jar of arnica.”

Karter pulled the ladder over, making his way to the top row.

“Mom, can you get me the mortar and pestle?”

She massaged her temples. “Baby, I don’t think this is the right time to make a potion or whatever it is you’re about to do.”

“Please?” I asked.

She begrudgingly slid the stone mortar and pestle set over to me, and Karter handed me the jar of dried arnica. I double-checked the instructions in the book, then took out a handful and crushed it into a fine powder, added some olive oil, and stirred until it became a thick paste. I slathered the mixture on my ankle and covered it in plastic wrap. The relief was immediate.

Mo came over to me. “I don’t know what kind of witchcraft you’re doing, but it’s about to save me some money on healthcare, so I’m with it. You need something, you let me know. One of them pots, those big pots that witches use?”

Marie bit back a smile.

“A cauldron?” Mom prompted.

“Yeah,” Mo said, smiling. “A cauldron, a pointy hat, a broom, some green face paint, whatever you need.”

“I should get home,” said Karter.

“Thanks for helping me get back,” I said.

“I didn’t really help, but I’m glad you’re okay,” he said. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

He squeezed my hand, gave Marie a quick nod, then disappeared down the hall.

Marie turned to me. “I’m gonna head out, too.” She gently gripped her arm where I’d seen those streaks of black. Poison was working its way through her body, but she’d said not to worry. I didn’t think I was going to be able to do that.

She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, letting her lips linger for half a second longer than they needed to. She turned and walked to the door. “Mamas Greene, it was good seeing you both.”

Mo grinned. “You come back any time you want. I’ll make waffles.”

“No, the hell you won’t,” said Mom. She tucked Marie’s arm under hers and steered her out into the hallway. “I’d never let her do that to you, baby. Don’t you worry.”

Mo helped me off the counter.

“I think I’m gonna go to bed,” I said.

“Let me help you upstairs,” Mo said.

“No, I’m good. I got it. Love you.”

“Love you more,” she said.

I shuffled out into the hallway and made my way upstairs as Mo joined Mom in the front room. I crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to my neck.

The image of the Absyrtus Heart was burned into my mind. I Googled “human heart” and a video came up in the search results for a donor heart that was kept pumping by a system of tubes and machines. If it had been flipped upside down and rooted in the ground, it would have been the same as the plant in the garden. I closed the video, tossed my phone toward the end of my bed, and tried to fall asleep.

CHAPTER 26

The next morning, I found Mo in the kitchen scrambling eggs and making toast.

“Need me to get the fire extinguisher?” I asked.

“Hush,” she said.

I eased myself onto a seat at the table. The swelling in my ankle had gone down, but it still ached. I didn’t think I’d be able to get back into the garden yet, but I couldn’t stop thinking of the Heart.

Mom came into the kitchen wearing a billowy red bonnet and a raggedy robe that looked like Freddy Krueger had used it for practice before he sliced those kids up on Elm Street.

“This pollen is tryna kill me today,” she said, sniffling. “Bri, baby, I know you’re laid up, but your arm still works, right? We gotta stay on top of the dust if y’all want me to live. All the sills I cleaned last week already have a layer of green dust on them.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said. Only thing getting me out of Sunday morning cleaning was probably death, so after I finished breakfast, I found the broom and a bunch of clean rags, then hobbled to the apothecary to get started.

I opened the windows in the shop, letting a warm breeze waft through. The sun slanted through the stained glass window on the outer wall, casting blue and green columns of light onto the floor. Down the hall, I heard the familiar notes of Sam Cooke’s crooning, and I smiled. They’d played that song at their wedding and I loved it—but now, it was house-cleaning music, which would be followed by either Earth, Wind & Fire or Zapp & Roger. Broke ankle or not, it was time to clean.