Karter leaped over me, grasping at the elixir. I grabbed his leg and he fell face-first onto the floor with a sickening crack. He was still for a second, then scrambled forward, groaning, holding his unnaturally situated jaw. He writhed on the ground and I tried to grab hold of him, but he thrust his leg out, catching me on the side of my head. Everything went black.

“Briseis,” Karter mumbled. “I—I’m sorry.”

As my vision came back into focus, I could feel blood trickling from the top of my ear and into my open mouth. It tasted the way the Absyrtus Heart smelled, like wet metal. Karter grabbed the vial as I clawed at him.

“Get away from it!” Mrs. Redmond screamed. She really didn’t give a single thought to her son. All she cared about was the elixir. She’d moved behind my mom, holding a fistful of plant matter. The jar of dried oleander leaves lay at her feet. “Selene tried to keep me from the Heart.” Anger burned in her eyes. “She paid for that with her life.”

It took a moment for me to register what she’d admitted to. I scrambled to my feet. “You—you killed her? You killed Selene?” A numbing ache coursed through me that had nothing to do with handling the Heart.

Mrs. Redmond glared at me. “It seems I’ll have the very rare privilege of making you a motherless child twice in your life.” She shoved the oleander into Mom’s mouth and clamped her hand over her lips. I lunged toward them, but Karter caught me by the arms, holding me back. My mother struggled against her bindings, but she’d lost so much blood, she didn’t have the strength to fight back.

“Mom!” My legs went out from under me. Blistering sores erupted on her face. She gasped as Mrs. Redmond shoved another handful of leaves in her mouth, her own fingers blistering as she did.

The damage was done. Mrs. Redmond rushed to the sink, holding her hand under the tap. Karter loosened his grip on me and I wrenched away from him, scrambling to my mother’s side. I pulled the leaves from her mouth and cradled her head as her eyes rolled back. A gurgling sound erupted from her throat.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see straight. Karter handed his mother the vial, and they embraced. I hated them with everything in me.

Suddenly, Mo was kicking in the door, screaming and scrambling across the floor. She tore the tape from my mom’s hands and feet. We lowered her to the ground and Mo held her, tears running down her face.

My mom didn’t speak or cry. The color drained from her face. I knew the poison was quick, and Mrs. Redmond had given her enough to kill fifty people. She became so still, she didn’t look real.

And then, she was gone.