Page 152 of The Glittering Edge

“But nobody knew this blood oath existed. Now that we do, you’ll do something about it, right?”

“Yes,” Milton says. “I’ll make sure of that.”

Penny’s heart soars. Alonso will get his magic back, along with the rest of his family.

“But, Penny…” Milton’s tone is dark. “This means that we don’t know where the curse came from.”

Penny glances at Giovanni’s letter to Ellie Barrion. “Is it possible for a mortal to curse someone?”

“It’s complicated,” Milton says.

“Now would be the time to let me in on it.”

Milton sighs. “This is sensitive info, so don’t go spreading it around. But a mortal can kill a witch and drink their blood. They’ll get access to that witch’s magic for a few minutes, but that’s a shortwindow. Even then, that mortal would have to have access to spell books, and if they want to curse someone, they’d have to write their own incantation. That’s a delicate process, as you now know.”

Penny bites her lip. “What if it wasn’t a curse?”

“What else would it be?”

“I don’t know.” She picks at a thread on the frayed hem of her denim shorts. As soon as she pulls it free, she freezes, staring at it.

She has an idea.

“Alonso said the curse-breaker was supposed to cut the ‘threads’ of the curse,” Penny says. “So is there anything stopping us from cutting a single thread?”

Milton pauses. “Explain.”

“What if we could save my mom without breaking the entire curse?”

“Nah, impossible. Someone would have to cross the Veil, cut the connection between the curse and your mom, and get back to the Primary World. And the curse has that Shadow protecting it. That thing will be way more powerful across the Veil, and it’ll come for whoever is messing with its power source.”

Penny pictures Ellie’s face. “What if the Shadow is on our side?”

“Wait, what? How do you mean?”

“Remember how I asked about the Shadow? About why it might appear in dreams? It’s because I’ve seen the Shadow in mine. It’s happened a few times now, and the last two times, it’s shown me some stuff.”

“Somestuff? The Shadow was communicating with you?”

“I think it showed me memories involving Corey’s and Alonso’s grandparents.”

Milton breathes out. “Shit. You should’ve told me sooner.”

“What does it mean?”

“Sounds like you already have an idea.”

Penny considers Giovanni’s letter. This confirms that Corey’s grandfather blackmailed the De Lucas, which means everything Penny saw was probably real.

“It felt like Corey’s grandmother was trying to tell me something important.”

“If this is true, it would mean that Corey’s grandma found a way to rebel against the binds of the curse. Her spirit is controlled by it, but she’s pushing the limits. That’s not normal, but I guess it could be possible if there’s enough emotion behind it. She must be one powerful spirit.”

“Hear me out,” Penny says. “What if I cross the Veil and try to… I don’t know, communicate with Ellie Barrion? If I got the Shadow to stand down, would we be able to cut the thread between the curse and my mom?”

“It’s a great idea if you don’t mind the strong possibility of dying.”

“But is it also possible that I would survive?”

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