shop, she was still there like a ghost, walking the halls, mourning every minute of the day.”
I thought of what it must have been like for her. My grandpa Errol was the best man I’d ever known, and when he died, Mo didn’t get out of bed for a week. For a long time, it was like she was going through the motions. She would get up, shower, eat, and go to work, but it was like a shadow was constantly hanging over her—over us, because we mourned with her.
It only got better when we went to counseling and got the help we all needed to process what had happened. I couldn’t imagine how things would have been if we hadn’t gone. Maybe Circe didn’t have that opportunity. Every new thing I learned about these people made them more real.
The trees surrounding the grave site bowed their limbs, a reflection of my own sadness.
“I didn’t bring you here to make you sad,” said Marie. “I wanted you to know that you have a connection here that’s bigger than what happens in the shop, and the Heart is that connection. They all took their turn protecting it, but as much as I tried to understand it, they guarded their secrets fiercely. It was like they couldn’t allow anyone else to share their burden.”
“You don’t know why they kept it hidden?” I asked. “Why is it a burden at all?”
Marie walked over to a meticulously maintained grave. A fresh vase of fuchsia orchids sat next to it. The name read Astraea Colchis 1643–1680. She knelt and dusted off the grave marker. “When I was younger, I was ready to take on the world. I wanted to leave this place so badly—until I met Astraea. I stayed here because of her. She was my best friend during a time when I had none at all.” She swallowed hard. “One summer, I got sick. Sicker than I’d ever been in my life. My sister and my father had already died, and I knew I’d be next. Astraea saved me.”
My heart ached for her, but I couldn’t pretend that other parts of what she was saying weren’t bothering me. “You just said ‘when I was younger’ like you’re not young now. I’m confused.”
Marie sighed. “I’m thinking of how I can make it clearer for you.”
“See? Saying things like that makes no sense, and I’m not gonna lie, it scares the shit out of me. Like, literally scares me to death.” I recalled how, twice now, just being in her presence had sent fear rippling through me. It wasn’t the only thing I felt for her, but it still concerned me.
Marie shook her head. A pained expression stretched across her face. “I don’t want that.”
“Then you gotta start being honest with me. How could Astraea have been your best friend if she died in 1680?”
“All I know is that Circe left everything to you,” Marie said, glossing over my question. “She wanted you to pick up where she left off.”
“I didn’t ask for any of this. I don’t even know if I want this responsibility.” I was willing to grow the garden and stock the apothecary, but protecting the Heart? I didn’t know what that meant. Protecting it from what? And why? Because it was poisonous? It didn’t make sense.
Marie drew her mouth into a tight line. “That’s your choice. But I can tell you that the apothecary is important to people around here. People like me. I’ve been thinking of a way to be more open with you. It might—” She stopped, and her eyes grew wide.
“It might what?”
“Shhh!” She was by my side so quickly I didn’t even see her feet move, but before I could say anything, something darted between the trees. Marie tilted her head to the side, then took a long, slow breath. “If I asked you to close your eyes and keep them shut until I told you to open them, would you do it?”
“I—I don’t know, I—”
A man wearing a dark jacket and a baseball cap emerged from the tree line. Three other men stepped into the graveyard behind him.
“Nice to see you again,” said the first man.
Marie glanced at me and I realized where I’d seen at least one of them before.
“He came after me and Karter at the movies,” I said, my heart pounding.
Marie stepped in front of me. “Leave,” she said to the men. Her voice was low, like a growl, and that terrible feeling of