“I want the Absyrtus Heart, and I want it now.” Her voice cracked. For the first time, I saw something in her eyes that wasn’t pure malice or fake kindness. It was raw desperation.

“I need to know why,” I said. “Why do you want it so bad? You really wanna live forever? What about Karter?” I was so angry at him. He’d lied to me, broken my trust in the most awful way by pretending to be my friend when I needed one so badly. But he’d also warned me that I wasn’t safe. I wanted to believe that there was some part of him that was on my side.

“I don’t give a damn about him,” Mrs. Redmond growled. She shook her head and clenched her teeth like she’d said something that was supposed to be a secret. “My family has always sought the Heart, and their reasons were petty and selfish. I want it for something bigger and more profound than they could have imagined.” She drew a slow breath. “My forefathers still walk the earth. Imagine it. Gods among us. And if I have to leave Karter behind to take my rightful place among them . . . so be it.”

Her contempt for her own son was clear, but I struggled to comprehend the rest of what she was saying. “What do you mean, they still walk the earth?”

“Hermes lives,” she whispered. “As do so many of the others. I come from them. I belong with them. I’ve been searching and I’ve found hints of them—clues.” She was trembling as she spoke. She looked like she would come undone at any minute. “I know they’re out there, but I can’t keep searching in this mortal body. I need more time. The Heart will give that to me—all the time I could possibly need and when I find them, they will welcome me home.” She pressed the knife down and a circle of blood seeped through my mom’s shirt.

“Stop!” I yelled. “I’ll get it for you! Please don’t hurt her!”

Mrs. Redmond stood and marched toward me. She stuck the knife under my chin, her eyes wild, her hand trembling slightly. “Take me to it.”

Her motivation for this elaborate inheritance scheme made more sense when I understood she expected to take her place among some kind of ancient, godlike beings. I didn’t think it was possible that she could be telling the whole truth, but it didn’t matter. She believed it, and she was willing to hurt me and the people I cared about to get what she wanted. I tried to think of a way out of this while protecting Mom and the Heart, but I couldn’t see how.

I glanced at my mom’s crumpled frame. Her chest rose and fell, and the whites of her eyes were visible under their half-open lids.