Page 32 of The Glittering Edge

“It was my grandpa. The curse was his handiwork.”

“So…” Penny struggles to word her question. “How do we stop it?”

Alonso lets out a hiss between his teeth. “We don’t. Did Corey leave that part out?”

Penny feels every muscle in her body go tense. “But… but can’t we—”

“My grandpa is the only person who could break the curse, and he’s been dead a long time. If my family could fix it, we would.” He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Suddenly he can’t look at her again. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry.Strange words coming from Alonso. Even stranger, he sounds like he means it.

Penny had walked into the record store believing Alonso would be angry. Maybe he would even magic her to another dimension, or at least yell a little bit. Instead, she found out Alonso has created a shrine to her dad’s band. That he doesn’t drink. That he’s not even mad that Penny wanted to talk to him about the curse—or that she knows he’s a witch.

Their conversation about her yearbook pops into her mind. Who is Alonso, really? Should Penny actually be afraid of him?

And if Penny pushed him, is there a chance he’d help her?

“You said only one person could break the curse?” Penny asks.

“Yeah, my grandpa.”

“Okay, hear me out.” Penny holds up her hands as if she’s a magician and she’s presenting Alonso as her amazing assistant.

Alonso blinks at her. “I’m listening.”

She gestures more deliberately in his direction.

“I’m sorry, I don’t do telepathy.”

“Alonso!” she says. “You’re a witch!”

“So?”

“So you havemagic! What if there’s a way to save my mom that you don’t even know about? There must be a million spells out there—”

“There’s only one spell in existence that can break a curse, and it has to be cast by the person who cursed you in the first place.”

“But you’re from the same family.”

“Technically the same coven.”

Penny gulps. “Fine. Coven. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

Alonso glares at her, though it’s less intimidating than past glares. Then he returns to the front of the store and starts smacking the price-tag gun against boxes of cheap earbuds. The message is clear:Conversation over.

Penny follows him. “Don’t youwantto break the curse?”

This time, Alonso slams the sticker gun down. “I guess Corey forgot to tell you all the details, huh? He didn’t mention that my family doesn’t have magic anymore?”

Whatever hope Penny had wavers like a flame. “But you said you’re a witch!”

“There’s a very powerful witch council, okay? When my grandpa cursed the Barrions, he basically committed a witch felony. And the Council punished us by sealing our magic.”

“Which means…?”

“It means we’ve gotnothing. Whatever magic is in our blood is dormant now.” Alonso is only a foot away, and his eyes are bright under his wild blue hair. “My ancestors used to make medicine for people, you know? They used to see thefuture. They would know if a storm was coming, or if the crops would die. They weren’t evil, butthat didn’t matter. My grandpa fucked up, and we were all punished for it. So no, Penny, I can’t help you.”

This can’t be real life—standing here listening to Alonso vent about his family’s lost magic while Penny’s mom lies unconscious in a hospital bed. It’s like falling down the rabbit hole, but when Penny hits the ground, she won’t be in a fantasy land. She’ll still be in Idlewood, and her mom will be dead.

---