Mrs. Redmond gestured to the Poison Garden. “You took my son in there. You showed him the Heart.”

“I wish I hadn’t,” I said. “Do you have any idea how poisonous it is?”

“Obviously,” she said, rolling her eyes and glancing at her watch. “That’s why I need you. I’m going in with you, but know that if anything happens to me, Mo might have an unfortunate accident when she arrives home. Bad things happen all the time, Briseis. You know that though, don’t you? But Mo won’t have some unworthy abomination to protect her.”

My blood turned to ice as I realized she was referring to Marie protecting me from the men at the cemetery. “How did you know about that?”

She gripped the knife. “Karter set up the trip to the theater perfectly, but not everything went to plan. I had to adjust course.”

“Karter?” I’d played right into their scheme. Betrayal burned away any shred of hope I had that he might not have been as bad as his mother. “You had those men come after me?”

Mrs. Redmond pulled a cloth mask out of her pocket and strapped it across her face. But even with her mouth covered I could tell she was smiling.

“Move,” she said.

Mrs. Redmond prodded me in, the tip of her knife at my back. I led her to the back wall, where the vines pulled away from the hidden door. As I fumbled with the keys on the lanyard I stole a quick glance at her. She wasn’t coughing, but her eyes were bloodshot and she’d pulled her shirt up over her nose and mouth. Apparently the mask wasn’t providing her enough protection. I lingered at the door, hoping the poison in the air would take its toll on her.

“Hurry up!” she said.

She shoved me into the metal door and my head collided with the carved crest. A searing pain shot across my skull. I grabbed my head to stem the ache.

“Immune to poison but not head injuries, I see,” said Mrs. Redmond.

I wrenched the door open and stumbled into the darkened space. Mrs. Redmond stepped in behind me, so close I could smell the sweat on her. She grabbed my shoulder, digging in her fingers, and pushed me down the stairs as the crimson brush aimed its poison darts at her.

“If I’m not back at the house by eleven, Mo is a dead woman,” she quickly reminded me.

I held my hand out in front of the crimson brush blooms. They folded closed and retreated.

We entered the underground chamber as the light from the moon outside shone down the shaft in the ceiling, bathing the still-withered plant in pale light. I unlocked the enclosure.

Mrs. Redmond peered inside. “You haven’t fed it?”

“Fed it?” I hated the way that sounded, like it was some kind of monster. “I pricked my finger.”

“Pricked your finger? Who are you, fucking Sleeping Beauty? Hold out your hand.”

Mrs. Redmond grabbed my wrist and dragged the knife across my palm, opening a deep gash. I screamed as she shoved my hand into the enclosure. Blood rushed from the wound and spilled across the surface of the Heart.

This time it did more than shift inside the glass enclosure. The Heart contracted, then flushed pink on the rounded bulbous lobe where my blood had fallen. Ribbons of red rippled down the stalks that snaked into the dirt. And then, as slivers of moonlight filtered down from the hole in the ceiling, the Absyrtus Heart began to beat.

CHAPTER 29

The Heart beat like it remembered powering a flesh-and-blood body. The steady pulse was audible and reverberated in my bones. The fresh infusion of my blood pumped through its stalk and down into the ground.

“Pull it up,” Mrs. Redmond ordered.

I’d barely brushed one of its dried and crumbling leaves before and it made me feel like I’d broken every bone in my hand. How was I supposed to uproot it completely?

Mrs. Redmond backed away from the enclosure. Desperate as she was, she knew its power, and she was afraid of it. I thought of tossing it at her. I was sure it would kill her, but Mo wasn’t back yet, and I didn’t know who Mrs. Redmond had waiting for her to return.

I reached in and grasped the base of the plant, my hand still oozing blood. Blistering cold numbed my palm. One hard tug, and the Heart’s roots broke from the soil. The icy cold spread up my arm and into the right side of my chest. The shock of it took my breath away. I stumbled, falling onto my knees, dropping the plant. It continued to beat, flopping around on the floor like a fish out of water.

“Get up!” Mrs. Redmond barked.

I grabbed the Heart, tripping up the steps as the cold invaded every part of me. It had spread to the side of my neck and face. A wave of nausea washed over me. I leaned against the damp rock wall to steady myself as the Heart dangled from my hand, bits of earth and blood dripping from its freshly exposed roots. Mrs. Redmond screamed at me to keep moving.

Staggering up and out to the Poison Garden, I fell to my knees, dropping the Heart and clutching my chest. The numbing pain began to subside—but not before Mrs. Redmond was threatening me again. I picked up the plant and the cold intensified. I couldn’t catch my breath.

Lurching forward, I managed to make it to the moon gate before I had to put the Heart down again. Mrs. Redmond ripped off her mask and stood over my mom, who had rolled over, clutching her head, still dazed. Mrs. Redmond grabbed her under her arms and pulled her to her feet.

“I can’t breathe,” I heaved. My heart felt like it was beating too fast. Lights danced around my vision. “I can’t. I can’t carry it.”

Mrs. Redmond plunged the knife into my mom’s arm. She screamed as Mrs. Redmond twisted the handle.

“Stop!” I pleaded.

She pulled the knife out and my mom swayed on her feet, but Mrs. Redmond held her tight. “Back to the house. Let’s go.”

We left the garden with Mrs. Redmond prodding my mom along behind me. Vines slithered around my ankles; groans and rustling surrounded us on all sides as we staggered down the path.

“If a single thing comes toward me, I’ll slit her throat,” Mrs. Redmond said.

I moved forward as quickly as I could, but the Heart’s poison had spread into every joint of my body. Every step was excruciating, like my bones were grinding together.

When we finally emerged onto the rear lawn, my arms and legs were heavy, my vision blurry through my glasses. Mrs. Redmond shoved my mom toward the house, and she groaned. She hadn’t said a word since she’d regained consciousness, and she still had a dazed look on her face.