being in the presence of something uniquely dangerous washed over me again.
“Give her to us and we’ll let you live,” said one of the shorter men.
“You’ll let me live?” Marie asked. I couldn’t see her face, but the rise in her tone made it sound like she was talking through a smile.
I couldn’t breathe. I balled my hands at my sides as a chorus of groans emanated from a cluster of large willow trees behind me. The unkempt grass rustled in the windless night.
One of the taller men took a step forward, and Marie held up her hand. “Last chance to rethink this.” Her voice was so cold it scared me, but she didn’t sound afraid. She sounded irate.
“We’ll take her by force if need be,” said the man.
“Take me where?” I asked. “What do you want?”
“She doesn’t know?” one of the men asked.
“Shut up!” shouted the taller man.
“Close your eyes, Briseis,” Marie said. “Please.”
I was trembling so bad I could hardly stand up straight. The first man lunged forward, and I shut my eyes. Something impacted me from the front. I was suddenly being dragged across the ground. My eyes snapped open and I clawed at the dirt as a tangle of vines wrapped around my waist, pulling me back to the tree line. A gathering of nettle rose up like a fence, and to my utter astonishment, a rare and deadly plant called the stinger, a mustard-yellow bloom with poisonous barbed spears that, when threatened, released porcupine-like quills.
A pained moan cut through the air. One of the shorter men lay on the ground. He rolled onto his back. A sickening gurgling noise erupted from his throat, which lay torn open. He became unnaturally still. I tried to scream but nothing came out.
The vines held me tight, refusing to release me. I spotted Marie standing at the edge of the clearing with her back to me. The tall man stood in front of her.
“Marie! Run!” I screamed.
She didn’t move. The man leaned toward her. Her hands held the sides of his head. The vines gripped me harder, the poison plants like guard dogs in front of me.
“Marie?” I called out again.
There was a loud pop and the man’s arms went limp, dropping to his sides. Marie tossed him to the ground like a rag doll. The vines loosened, and I was able to wriggle free.
“We need to go,” Marie said. Her voice had returned to its normal singsong tone.
“What the hell is going on?” The tall man lay in a heap on the ground. The space where his head should have been was a dark spot in the grass. Was it a shadow? A trick of the light? The other two men were nowhere to be seen.
Marie huffed loudly as she marched up to me. “Did you close your eyes like I asked?”
“Are you serious right now?” The plants surrounding me slunk back into the underbrush.
The smell of metal, like wet pennies, permeated the air around her. Marie’s eyes were black as soot—no pupil, no white. She leaned toward me. “You have so many secrets, Briseis. Can you keep one more?”
CHAPTER 23
I struggled to keep my feet under me as Marie pulled me along the path that led out of the cemetery. Nyx was standing at the driver’s side of the car, readjusting her jacket.
“Where were you?” Marie asked.
Nyx motioned to the ground by the rear wheel. A man lay on the ground, his arms and legs bent at unnatural angles. “He tried to run.”
“I handled the other three,” said Marie. “They already came after Briseis once before.”
Nyx frowned. “That’s . . . concerning.”
“ ‘Concerning’?” I almost screamed.
Marie pushed me into the car and slid in beside me. Nyx got behind the wheel and soon, we were driving toward my house.
My stomach spasmed and vomit rose in the back of my throat. I gripped the edge of the seat. “Will you please tell me what is going on? Did you—did you just kill those guys?”
Marie took a bottle of water from the cooler and spilled it across her hands and face, wiping away dark smudges with the sleeves of her sweater. “I’m going to have to be more honest with you than I wanted to be.”
“No shit,” I said.
“Should I call Dr. Grant?” Nyx asked.
Marie nodded.
“Wait,” I said. “She knows y’all are out here killing people?”
“I wasn’t planning on killing anyone. But those people in the cemetery came after you, twice. All because they want what you have.”