This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron
This Wicked Fate picks up right after the events of This Poison Heart, so please go check out the summary and/or listen to the episode for a refresher.
Bri, Mo, Marie, Nyx, Persephone, Dr. Grant and the new stranger are all together, trying to figure out what is going on. The new stranger is Circe, Bri’s aunt and owner of the house and the garden that Bri recently inherited. It was all a ruse by Melissa Redmond, aka Karter’s mom, aka Katrina Valek, who was recently eaten by the goddess Hecate’s giant dog, to find someone who would be capable of reuniting the Absyrtus Heart. Bri tells Circe that Hecate took her mom and vowed that if Bri could gather the six pieces of the Absyrtus Heart, she would bring her mom back to life. They realize they have five pieces in various forms, Marie and Persephone with their immortality from the living elixir, two pieces that they have in cages, and another vial of living elixir, so they just have one more to go. Before Mo can do anything, she needs to sleep, so Circe brews up some very very weak belladonna tea to help her rest. The tea won't work on Bri of course since she's practically immune to poisons thanks to her gift, but Circe tells her she's not completely immune since she can feel some effects of the poisons. Marie goes with Bri to rest and prepare for what they'll have to do next.
Bri wakes alone the next afternoon. Mo is still asleep, so Bri leaves her to rest. She finds Persephone rearranging furniture so they can have a workstation. Persephone gives Bri a piece of the heart to lock away in the turret and they talk about Jason and Medea and Hercules and the Absyrtus Heart, so clearly this has been a thing for a very very long time. Bri goes to find Circe in the poison garden and they talk about Selene, Bri’s birth mother and Circe’s sister. They didn't want Bri to fall into the family troubles which is why Selene put her up for adoption. They knew that eventually someone would come looking for the Heart and its powers of immortality. They talk about the last piece, the Mother piece, from which all others grow. That's the one that they'll have to find. Circe talks about another piece of Absyrtus, the Resurrection Stone, and makes it grow. Bri worries that Circe doesn't want her involved since she was put up for adoption, but Circe and Selene only wanted her to be safe.
Back at the house, the group discuss the history of the pieces of the Absyrtus Heart back through the ages and how Jason's family has always wanted it. They decide that the only place the last piece could be hidden is Aeaea, but that's just a story, surely it doesn't actually exist. Obviously it does. Bri asks, since she saw Hecate, if any other gods or goddesses might be around and offer to help, but Circe and Persephone don't think so. Mrs. Redmond mentioned something that seemed to refute that, so Circe decides it could be possible. They make plans to go see Alec, Marie's great great nephew and history scholar to ask him what he knows about the island, which 100% will have sirens that will lure them to their deaths. They also plan to call Mo’s friend, Dr. Kent who knows all about Medea, to see if she can help, too. Marie remembers having a piece of pottery at one time in her long life that might be a clue, but she let someone have it to return to its rightful owner like Indiana Jones but they never gave it back. They decide to pay this person a visit.
In Albany, the group goes to see this person, a man called Philip. He describes a wild tale of mysterious people who came to purchase the artifact. He doesn't remember any of their encounter so they must have drugged him or something, but he remembered waking up to a pile of cash on the table and the artifact and the mysterious buyers gone. He's acting really weird which leads the group to discover that he has been making and selling forgeries of the artifacts he's supposed to have been returning. They find the original piece of pottery, video call Alec and together they realize it marks a place in the Black Sea, so it looks like they are taking a trip. Is it possible that the mysterious buyers are in the same hunt they are? Was one of them Karter?
They go back to the house and argue about who is going to the island to find the Mother Absyrtus Heart and bring Thandie back. Mo insists she will go and Bri will stay behind. Circe tells Mo she can't go because being in such close proximity to the Heart will likely kill her. As they argue, Mo takes a step outside for a breather but returns immediately and passes out. Circe and Bri are wrapped in protective vines, but then Nyx and Marie come in talking about a very massive pet of Nyx’s who has just arrived. On wings. It's a griffin and his name is Roscoe. Back inside the house, Circe plans to meet Dr. Kent, Mo's museum friend, who she doesn't believe is innocently involved in the entire situation. How is it possible that someone who knows so much about Medea is friends with Bri’s moms? It can't be coincidence, but maybe it's Fate.
It definitely is Fate, or one of them anyway. After arriving at Dr. Kent’s museum and being shown a piece of jewelry that is definitely an ancient family heirloom, Marie gets mad and Indiana Jonesy again, but then Dr. Kent takes them on a long elevator ride into what feels like the depths of the earth and reveals that Circe is correct and she is Clotho. She pulls her sisters Atropos and Lachesis from a sewer like pool and tells them about the threads of fate she has woven for the children of Hecate and how she's surprised that descendents of Medea and Jason have survived as long as they have. There are some vague threats and scissor-snapping sounds but it seems that the fates cannot cut their threads of life just yet.
Back at the house, Circe begins gathering supplies while Mo freaks out over everything that's happening, but ultimately decides to just go with it. Circe shows Bri a really cool apothecary-on-the-go kit she has full of hundreds of vials of any sort of plant she might need. She pulls a tiny flake out of one of the vials and asks Bri to make it grow. After a moment, she's able to, and Circe knew she'd be able to do it. She promises to teach Bri everything she needs or wants to know because she knows what it's like to grow up with this sort of power and the pressures of keeping it concealed. Bri isn't sure she can fully trust Circe just yet because Karter and his mom were really nice and protective of her and they betrayed her, but Circe understands that too. Circe wants to convince Mo to let Bri go with her to the island because she deserves to be there to bring her mom back to life. As Bri gazes out the window, thinking about everything that's happened, she hears Persephone and Marie arguing. Persephone wants Marie to be truthful with Bri because she knows they have feelings for each other, but she also knows that they're all going to die. Well that's not what you want to overhear.
Bri asks Marie what is going on and she says they're definitely not going to die and that Persephone is just a pessimist. Later, Circe decides that they need to talk to Lou the undertaker from book one because it's odd that Mrs. Redmond knew so much about Bri and the rest of the family. Lou tells them that she offered him immortality with the Absyrtus Heart for any information he could provide and that she is on her way to a lighthouse. Circe knows what lighthouse this is, The Great Eye, the same one that Zeus created to see everything from. Circe asks Marie if she's made travel plans for them because they really need to get on their way to finding the island Aeaea, but she admits it's going to take her at least two weeks to get everything in order. It's not like they all have real active passports since most of them are supposed to be dead or way way older than they appear. Marie says it would take her at least six months to get a trip like this planned so two weeks is going to have to do.
While they're making plans and preparations, Bri gets a phone call from Karter, so she excuses herself. She does not want to talk to him, he was supposed to be her friend yet he betrayed her, but he tells her that he and his family are going to get the last piece of the heart and when they do, Bri and her family need to hide because his family hates hers. After the call, he sends a text with the name of a town off the Black Sea, Abana. When she returns, Isaac and Lucille that Bri helped in book one, plus Dr. Grant have arrived. Isaac shows everyone a concoction that Bri helped him make from wolfsbane that makes him become invisible. It's really cool but it also makes Bri wonder… is that why no one has found the island that they're looking for? Has someone made it invisible too? It's possible, after all, the original Circe and Medea lived there.
That night is a new moon and not much time remains for Thandie to be resurrected. Persephone asks Bri if she can have use of the poison garden that night and Circe tells Bri that that's the night that people would typically make sacrifices to Hecate. Bri decides she wants to make an offering of her own so she sneaks out to the garden to gather some black flowers, but while she's there, she hears Persephone talking. Circe sneaks up, too, then confronts Persephone. They overheard her saying “let it be me,” which worries Circe. Does Persephone think they won't be successful in their quest and is offering herself as a sacrifice?
A week passes and it's finally time to go. Bri has to trick Mo because she doesn't want Bri to get hurt on this quest, but obviously she has to be a part of it. Circe tells her that Nyx will arrive to pick her up at midnight. Bri sneaks away from a snoring Mo outside as midnight arrives. Instead of seeing a vehicle, Nyx arrives on Roscoe who screeches into the night, obviously waking Mo. Vines grow around the house, keeping her inside as Bri jumps atop the griffin and soars into the night.
Bri and Nyx land at the airport and are greeted by Marie, Circe and Persephone. Nyx is staying behind with Mo, but the rest are soon off on a long private flight to find the island of Aeaea. On the way, Marie talks about how she became immortal when a close friend of hers with the same plant powers as the others gave her an elixir as she was dying from a long illness. The elixir was made from the Absyrtus Heart and she was able to hop right out of bed, stronger than ever, though she feels like a monster because of it. Bri assures her that she is not and they kiss.
When they arrive, they ask around about a lighthouse even though they can see there isn't one, and a townswoman tells them of one a few towns over that is a tourist trap because you can't actually visit it. She also mentions that there was another small group of people who recently arrived asking about it. Well, that's obviously the Great Eye and where they need to go. At the island, they meet a grizzled old man who tries to turn them away but when they insist on staying, he is revealed to be Hermes. He let Karter look through the Great Eye and let's Bri look through it, too. Karter wanted to see if he and Bri would have any sort of relationship after this journey ends, but the Great Eye cannot see the future. Bri sees her mother, and with only five days left before the end of Hecate's bargain, she hopes she'll be able to see her again soon.
Hermes decides to let them use a boat to get to Aeaea which he did not offer to Karter and his mother, and offers a place for them to rest. He asks about Hecate keeping Thandie hidden from Hades and suggests that they don't want to have to deal with him. Bri only thinks of the animated version of Hades, but if Hermes and Hecate are around and real, he must be too. As everyone gets ready to sleep, Bri and Hermes talk about the outcome of their quest. Hermes thinks there's no way any of them will survive, but Bri has to believe they will. Back with Circe later, she gives Bri some paperwork and a plan to get back home without them. It seems she doesn't think they'll survive either, but she's willing to try regardless.
The next day they get up and set sail for the island, Marie insisting she is a pirate and that they all say “matey.” Persephone hints that she's actually been a pirate before and that no one actually says that. They put on noise canceling headphones, their version of tying themselves to the mast, to stop themselves from plunging into the mermaidy depths below because Alec was right, there are definitely sirens in the water. Soon though, there's one on the deck. Marie tries to fight it but her headphones come off and she follows the siren down into the depths.
Bri can’t have her girlfriend leaving her for a fish, so she jumps in after Marie. Vines they had on board to help keep the sirens at bay push Bri quickly through the water and cut any sirens that come too close. Luckily with the help of the vine, Bri is able to reach and rescue Marie and the vines pull them back onto their ship. When they get there, they realize they can hear something else and that the sirens have gone away. They look up and see an island that wasn't there moments ago. Persephone takes the dinghy and rows ashore. She comes back after talking to a figure they can see on the beach to gather the others and together they all go to Aeaea where they are greeted by the Real Persephone who is playing Orpheus’s lyre from ancient myth.
Real Persephone tells them that another group came ashore on the other side of the island but something destroyed their ship and only four people made it to Aeaea, one of them a young man, but they could all be dead by now. Bri kind of hopes that Karter is still alive because she wants to know why he hurt her. Real Persephone tells them to rest and that she'll play the sirens away again in the morning when they leave. Bri uses Circe’s apothecary supplies to grow an avocado tree and they eat and rest.
They’re awoken the next day by giant boars who have come to sniff them. It seems that maybe Real Circe maybe forgot to turn some of those men she met back in the day back into men. They probably deserved it though. Everyone is able to get away without being gored, so they decide to begin their search for the Heart that must be somewhere on the island. They weave in and out of trees, clearly lost, but then they come upon a house and venture inside. They are immediately attacked by someone who has the power to make them sleep instantly.
Bri wakes up without the rest of her group. Three others, Viv, Dre and Calvin, presumably from Karter’s group, are in the room with Bri. Bri tries to escape but Viv keeps knocking her out with her sleep ability. When they’re finally able to talk, Viv, Dre and Calvin tell her that Katrina, or as Bri knows her, Mrs. Redmond, is dead because of her and that she was their sister. When Bri asks about Karter, they assume he’s probably dead, too, and Bri doesn’t know how to feel about that, though he did let her mother get poisoned and die, so she doesn’t feel too bad. Bri had the invisibility elixir and the elixir of life in her pocket, but Viv has them now and knows one will give her immortality. She asks Bri which is which and Bri tricks her into drinking the invisibility elixir instead of the immortality one and she starts vanishing and retching. You’re not supposed to drink the vial to become invisible, so it’s possible that she’ll die from it since it’s made from wolfsbane. Viv, Dre and Calvin take Bri out of the house so she can help them acquire the last piece of the Absyrtus Heart, and Bri willingly goes along, though zip-tied, because today is the last day she can save her mom.
They tramp through the trees toward a huge wall in the center of the island, but Viv and Calvin aren’t doing so well. Calvin must have been poisoned by something on the island, since pretty much everything there is poisonous, and Viv’s invisible wolfsbane is really kicking in. Soon enough, Marie, Circe and Persephone appear and take out Viv, then Karter shows up and frees Bri from her restraints. Before they could kill Viv, she managed to put Circe into a deep sleep which now, unless they figure something out, she’ll never wake up from. Bri spots some clover and tries something she’s never done before. She takes the life out of it, reducing it to a pile of nitrogen rich ammonia and uses it as smelling salt to wake Circe. With her group together again, Bri realizes that Calvin has died from his poison and that Karter set her free. Dre is pretty terrible and yells at Karter for being weak, but Karter wants nothing to do with his family anymore, they’ve killed so many people to get where they are, to try to achieve immortality. He doesn’t want that. He just wanted his mom to be proud of him, which Dre reveals that she was not. Damn, what a bunch of assholes. Persephone breaks his neck and tosses him into the undergrowth as Bri binds Karter with vines.
Bri, Persephone, Circe and Marie continue into the walled center of the island where they find Medea’s resting place and the Mother Absyrtus Heart. Bri pulls the living elixir from her pocket that she took back from Viv and wonders about putting the pieces of the Heart back together. While she’s doing that, Circe begins to cry and then Marie comes over to tell Bri how amazing she is and that she’s happy she’s spent some of her immortal life with her. Bri doesn’t understand, but when she sees Persephone and Circe hugging and crying, she realizes. To put the Absyrtus Heart back together, Marie and Persephone have to return their parts of it that they took. They have to give up their lives. They cut their palms and begin to bleed.
The Absyrtus Heart begins to beat and vines twist out from it, pulling the blood from Persephone and Marie. With all the pieces reunited, a body, large like a god’s, begins to emerge from the soil. It is Absyrtus, rescued and resurrected. He asks where he is and where his sister is, and they manage to gesture to Medea’s grave. He understands that she’s been dead for a long time, but now, here he is, alive again. Not long after, a large hound appears, followed by Hecate. She revives Marie, but when Circe asks her to revive Persephone, too, the goddess tells her that Persephone made her sacrifice knowing what it would mean. Bri remembers when she encountered her in the poison garden, talking to Hecate. The goddess tells them that with Persephone’s sacrifice, Marie was able to be restored. She also tells them that with Absyrtus’s return, he’s now able to go peacefully into the Underworld, which means someone else can come back from there, Thandie. Bri rushes to her Mom.
Circe helps the revived Marie and Bri walks with her mom out of Medea’s resting place, leaving a wreath of black flowers on her grave before they go. They unwrap Karter from his vines and, while the mortal and less powerful Marie still wants to kill him and Thandie wants to give him a beating, they decide they’re going to take him to Hermes. Karter has no one left and could use some guidance and/or punishment from a god, and they figure that Hermes wouldn’t mind having a project to work on. As they reach the shore, they see Real Persephone and their Persephone together, their Persephone playing the lyre to keep them safe from the sirens. They drop Karter off with Hermes, then head home. Thandie and Mo embrace, then drag Bri into the hug, too, and she pulls Circe in as well. Their family is finally reunited. Six months later, the apothecary is so successful that Thandie and Mo are able to hire extra help for their flower shop in Brooklyn and build another in Rhinebeck near the apothecary. The moms are happily reunited, Circe and Dr. Grant have set up a date for that evening, and Bri and Marie can be fragile and mortal together, happily in love.