This Poison Heart

The manager reports that when Circe was pronounced dead in January, the bank prepared to auction off the house. They received a message from an adoption agency about Briseis’s relationship to Circe. The documents were intended for Briseis, but they went missing after Mrs. Taylor, who oversaw them, also went missing. She was found dead with foul play suspected, as Briseis already heard from the news report while she was in Mrs. Redmond’s office. For security reasons, the bank made new account numbers for the Colchis estate; the length of this process means that the real papers have not yet been delivered to Briseis. The manager is astonished that Mrs. Redmond was able to give Briseis the keys to the property, but he identifies her as the woman who came from the adoption agency. Briseis urges the manager to call Dr. Grant, and then she texts her moms. She also texts Karter to ask if he knew what his mom was doing, but he only responds to insist that she return to Brooklyn. Dr. Grant arrives, and Briseis asks the manager to disclose everything while she tries to find Thandie, who isn’t answering her phone. She speaks with Angie, who is hurrying back from Brooklyn but is less than halfway to Rhinebeck. Briseis relays everything she has learned and then takes a rideshare home, worrying about Thandie. In the apothecary, she finds a note telling her to look out the window. Outside, Mrs. Redmond is holding a knife to Thandie’s throat. She claims that she will kill Thandie unless Briseis takes her to the Absyrtus Heart.

Mrs. Redmond reveals that she is descended from the mythological figure of Jason, via his second wife. She mocks Medea for being an “afterthought” to Jason’s fame and disparages Briseis’s competence at tending to the Absyrtus Heart. She admits that she forged the letters that Briseis thought were from Circe and that she killed Mrs. Taylor, the bank worker. She hits Thandie over the head with the butt of the knife, knocking her unconscious, and points the knife at Thandie’s heart. Frantic, Briseis asks about Karter, but Mrs. Redmond flatly states that she “[doesn’t] give a damn about him” (339). She claims that Hermes, her ancestor, still lives, and she feels she deserves the same immortality. Mrs. Redmond propels Briseis at knifepoint toward the Absyrtus Heart. She admits that Karter orchestrated the attack at the theater and that she sent the same men after Briseis on the night that Marie took the teen to the cemetery. She knows about Marie’s powers and calls her an “abomination.” Mrs. Redmond covers her face as they enter the Heart’s chamber, though her eyes still grow bloodshot. She shoves Briseis into a wall, causing Briseis to hit her head. She warns Briseis that if she doesn’t return to the house, she has arranged for Angie to have an “accident.” She slices her knife across Briseis’s hand, spilling a gush of blood over the Heart, which begins to beat.

Mrs. Redmond orders Briseis to pull up the pulsing heart. Briseis obeys despite the pain that the plant sends shooting through her. Mrs. Redmond drags Thandie along, stabbing her in the arm when the pain of carrying the Absyrtus Heart causes Briseis to stumble. They hurry back to the house with Briseis in agony. In the apothecary, Mrs. Redmond makes Briseis bind Thandie and then orders her to fetch some oleander. Mrs. Redmond calls Karter, who arrives shortly thereafter. Karter seems dismayed that Thandie has been injured but obeys his mother without question, even when Briseis protests the betrayal. Mrs. Redmond reveals that Karter has been working for her all along, including distracting Briseis and slashing the Greenes’ tires. Suddenly, the ground rumbles, and Mrs. Redmond looks frightened. She urges Briseis to grind up the Absyrtus Heart, ordering Karter to kill Thandie if Briseis hesitates. Mrs. Redmond adds two mysterious vials to the ground-up plant, plus honey. She orders Briseis to “transfigure” the mixture, and Briseis summons the feeling that Dr. Grant’s father showed her. The contents of the bowl coalesce into a thick, blood-red liquid.

Mrs. Redmond crows over her accomplishment while Karter regards her sadly. While the two are distracted, Briseis tackles Mrs. Redmond, knocking the vial of Living Elixir from her hand. Briseis and Karter scrabble for the vial; he kicks Briseis in the head, and she blacks out briefly. Karter apologizes even as he reaches for the vial. Mrs. Redmond admits to killing Selene and then shoves a handful of oleander into Thandie’s mouth. Briseis lunges for them, but Karter holds her back. When Mrs. Redmond is done, Karter releases her, and Briseis rushes to her mom’s side. Angie bursts in, and the two release Thandie from her bindings even as she dies from the overdose of poison.

Overcome with anger and grief, Briseis lets her powers loose. Vines burst through the windows, grasping Mrs. Redmond. Karter tries to run but is stopped by a massive dog. A hooded figure enters behind it. The figure reveals herself to be a Black woman with black eyes, wearing a golden crown. The dog bites Karter’s leg. The woman orders Briseis to release Mrs. Redmond. She obeys, and the woman lifts Mrs. Redmond by the throat and forces her to drop the Living Elixir before telling her dog to release Karter. She reveals that Mrs. Redmond’s true name is Katrina Valek and then cites several other pseudonyms that Briseis recognizes from the apothecary’s ledger. Katrina insists that she deserves to be “among the gods” (354), which the woman rejects. She drops Katrina onto the floor, and the dog bites Katrina’s shoulder. A void appears in the room, and the dog drags Katrina toward it. The woman orders Karter to leave Rhinebeck and never return.

The woman approaches Briseis, caressing her face. She confirms that Thandie is dead and then asks if Briseis recognizes her. Suddenly, Briseis does, realizing that this is Hecate. She reports that Medea was her daughter and Absyrtus her son. She cannot save Thandie but says that she can temporarily stave off death. If Briseis can find all six pieces of the Absyrtus Heart in 30 days, it will resurrect Thandie.

Briseis calls Dr. Grant and Marie; the Greene women try to explain what has happened through their shock and grief. Because Marie already consumed her vial of Living Elixir, Briseis reasons that they already have two pieces of the Absyrtus Heart, with four more to find if they hope to resurrect Thandie. She thinks of the pins in the map behind the fireplace, hoping they will provide a lead. Dr. Grant reminds them that they also must locate the injured Karter.

Briseis retreats to the destroyed apothecary, where she cries in despair. A commotion outside draws Briseis back into the front room, where a tall woman with braids holds an upset Marie while another woman shouts at Dr. Grant for her lack of vigilance. The tall woman points the stranger, Circe, in Briseis’s direction. Circe says she has many things to tell Briseis. Two glass enclosures sit nearby, and a thumping sound comes from within.