Page 28 of The Glittering Edge

Alonso flips the page, but that’s the end of the story. He already knew HaeJung left no record of the incantation she used, or details of the ritual, because she was infamous for her lack of record-keeping. But he thought the story might give him some clue about how he could do the same—break a curse after its creator was long gone.

But there’s nothing. No clues at all.

Alonso sighs, snapping the useless book shut. What this bedtime story fails to mention is that Park HaeJung was a preternaturally gifted witch. Of course it was possible for her to break the curse of a long-dead witch. But breaking the Barrion curse is impossible. Alonso isn’t some once-in-a-millennium witch. What happened with Nimble was a fluke.

Alonso sniffles. He hates crying, probably because he does it all the time. Almost immediately, Nimble jumps onto Alonso’s lap and starts kneading his legs.

“I give up,” Alonso mutters.

Nimble goes still. When Alonso looks at her, she’s staring at him, her pupils dilating.

“What?”

The light bulb above them flickers once, twice, three times. As the light goes on and off, Nimble’s shadow grows larger on the basement floor.

The hair on the back of Alonso’s neck stands up. “That’s not funny.”

The light keeps flickering, and it might be Alonso’s imagination, but it looks like Nimble’s shadow has eyes. And giant claws. And they’re reaching for his ankle—

Alonso stands fast, knocking over his chair. Nimble drops to thefloor, where she lands with perfect grace and stares up at him, the picture of innocence.

“Fuck,” Alonso says, wiping the sweat from his brow. “I said what I said. I don’t care how spooky you are, I’m done with this shit.” He makes it halfway up the stairs before he turns around and adds, “You’re sleeping in the living room tonight.”

The light flickers again, and Alonso takes the rest of the stairs two at a time.

Penny

PENNY DOESN’T LEAVE HER MOM’S HOSPITAL ROOM FOR TWO DAYS.

She convinces Ron to let her sleep there. He argues at first, saying he doesn’t want her there by herself, but he doesn’t have the energy to put up a real fight. Naomi brings Penny food, and they walk laps around the fifth floor, sipping coffee from Styrofoam cups and saying very little. When Penny is alone, she mostly sits in a chair and stares at the wall, or out the window. Occasionally her eyes wander over to her mom, and inevitably to the necklace.

The ward. That’s what Corey called it.

Their conversation in the parking lot doesn’t seem real. Not just because of what Corey said about his family history, but because of how afraid he was. Afraid of the curse. Afraid of the De Lucas. Maybe even afraid that Penny wouldn’t believe him. If Penny hadn’t stumbled upon Alonso in the woods ten years ago and seen him do the impossible with her own eyes, she probably wouldn’t have.

But what Corey is describing—a curse that has been killing people for decades—is very different from what Penny saw when she was a kid. What if thereisanother explanation? Corey said the deaths in his family always look like accidents when the curse is involved, but there must be at least one exception.

Penny grabs her phone and finds the website for the Idlewood Central Library. She clicks on their digital newspaper archives, first typing inBarrions Idlewood. When that turns up nothing but articles about Barrion Heating & Cooling, she triesBarrion obituary.

The obituary for Corey’s mom is the first result. Penny remembers the day it happened. Corey was absent from school, and there were whispers among the students that someone in his family had died. Later, the story spread through Idlewood like a bloodstain: Mrs. Barrion’s SUV broke down on some abandoned train tracks, and somehow,impossibly, a train got routed onto the old tracks instead of the new ones.

A strange, terrible accident.

Penny swallows and clicks on the next link. This obituary is for Jason Chaudhary, Helen Barrion’s late husband.

JASON CHAUDHARY, 1978–2009

Jason Chaudhary, beloved son, father, and Idlewood’s Teacher of the Year for two years running, died Thursday in a sudden lightning storm that occurred outside his home. He is survived by his wife, Helen, and their four-year-old son, Julian…

A lightning storm. Definitely an accident.

Next is an article from theLos Angeles Times:

TECH ENTREPRENEUR DIES IN PLANE CRASH

September 14, 2014

Latin American billionaire Ramón Hirsch was larger than life, but even that didn’t make him immortal. Hirsch died on September 13th when his private plane went down as he flew from his hometown of Puebla to Mexico City for the 4th annual Artificial Intelligence Conference of the Americas, or AICA. He leaves behind his parents, Humberto and María Hirsch; his siblings, Gigi and Paulo; his wife, Latin Grammy–winner Sofía Barrion Hirsch.

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