My fingers still ached as I took hold of the plant. The Heart had stopped beating. The leaves had wilted and the lobes were ashen. The smell of rot was just as intense as the cold sensation. I ripped the Heart to pieces and placed them in the mortar, then crushed them together.

Mrs. Redmond pushed the stone bowl toward me. “Dump it in here.”

I tipped the mortar, and the ground pieces of the Heart slid into the bowl. She picked up the two vials of liquid—one gold, one silver—and dumped them in. She added three spoonfuls of honey. The contents shimmered and a thick ash-gray mist billowed out. Mrs. Redmond stood transfixed, but I took several steps back. The bowl rattled and the jars on the shelves clanged together.

“Put your hand in there,” Mrs. Redmond said. “Complete the transfiguration.”

I didn’t move. Mrs. Redmond motioned toward Karter. He sank his fingers into the wound in my mom’s arm. She cried out weakly, then sobbed, her body convulsing with each heave.

“Okay! Okay!” I shoved my cut hand into the bowl, trying to recreate the feeling I had when Dr. Grant’s father had shown me how to transfigure the contents we’d put on the copper plate. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate. A warm sensation built in my palm, chasing away the cold. The liquids and pieces of the Heart combined under my hand. I pulled back as my muscles spasmed.

Mrs. Redmond stared into the bowl as a deafening crack split the air. Then, silence. She grabbed the bowl and poured the contents into an empty glass vial. The liquid was red as blood and thick like honey.

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 30

“The Living Elixir,” Mrs. Redmond said breathlessly. She held up the vial, admiring its contents. “It has had a thousand names over as many years, but the Absyrtus Heart was always the most important piece of the formula. Do you have any idea what this means for me?”

Karter was staring at his mother—not with reverence or admiration, but sadness. His jaw was set, his fingers twitching on the handle of the knife. I couldn’t stand it. I had to put an end to this.

As Mrs. Redmond gawked at the elixir, I edged around the counter, lowered my shoulder and rushed her, catching her in the gut. We crashed to the floor and my shoulder struck the counter on the way down, sending a stab of pain through my arm. The glass vial flew out of her hand and skidded across the floor.

“Get it!” she screamed.