Page 71

Alonso

THE RAIN STARTS AS PENNY BEGINS TO FALL.

Alonso throws himself forward, catching her before her head hits the bleachers. Immediately there’s an electric snap in the air. The crowd stumbles together, some people clutching their chests, others holding their friends and family members in protective hugs. The rain stops as quickly as it started, like someone turned off a faucet.

Someone gasps. “The sky!”

The menacing clouds fold back as the sky fades to a soft pink. The wind becomes a breeze and then disappears. Crickets start chirping again.

The whole thing took three minutes. Maybe less. Most of the crowd hasn’t even made it off the bleachers yet, and they look up in wonder, completely silent.

Penny isn’t awake. Her face is gaunt and the circles under her eyes are dark purple.

“Penny.” Alonso pushes wet hair out of her face. “Penny, wake up. Please, Penny, please wake up!”

“Is she okay?” an old man asks. “Should I call an ambulance?”

Milton presses fingers to her neck. “There’s a pulse.”

The bleachers shake as Corey bounds up them. He falls to his knees on the bleachers just below the group, and he puts a hand to Penny’s head. “She’s bleeding,” he says, staring at the red blooming on her thigh.

“Come on,” Alonso says. “Come on. ”

Half a second later, Penny’s eyes shoot open. She sits up, gasping for air. When she sees Alonso, she grabs the front of his shirt. “Are you real?”

“Yes,” Alonso says, pulling her to him. She hugs him back. Her grip is weak, but she feels solid. “What happened?”

Penny gasps, pulling away from Alonso. There’s a quiet devastation in her expression that makes his stomach sink.

“Did you find her?” Corey says.

Penny nods. “We were running away from the Shadow, and—” She stops, her eyes going wide. “I know why the curse-breaker didn’t work.”

Corey puts a hand on Penny’s shoulder, his face alight with hope. “You do? Then we should try again!”

Penny shakes her head. “It isn’t a curse, Corey. It never was.”

The words sound familiar, like Alonso has heard them somewhere before. Then he remembers: his grandfather. He said the exact same thing as he taunted Alonso from across the Veil.

Corey’s face falls. “What do you mean, it’s not a curse?”

Penny looks away from them. “It’s a bargain.”

The word rings like a bell, low and mournful.

“A bargain,” Alonso repeats. He looks to Milton, who presses a fist to his mouth.

Corey doesn’t speak, even when Helen Barrion appears. “Penny? What happened?”

Penny stands on shaky legs. “We have to get to the hospital.”

Then they’re all running—first down the bleachers, then across the field to the parking lot. Alonso holds Penny’s arm, but her strength returns quickly and she’s so fast that her feet barely touch the ground.

Dylan and Naomi join them. “Did it work?” Dylan asks.

“I don’t know,” Penny says.

Alonso grits his teeth. They were so close. Her mom must’ve made it out.

“Corey!” James calls as they barrel past.

“Meet us at the hospital!” Corey says, and he doesn’t give his dad the chance to argue.

They pile into Alonso’s car, and he floors it.

“Watch yourself,” Milton says as Alonso’s tires screech around a turn. When they’re halfway to the hospital, a black Escalade catches up to them.

“Great,” Alonso mutters. “More Barrions.”

“Just get us there,” Corey says.

“Working on it, thanks.”

Alonso speeds into the hospital parking lot, leaving the car spread across three spaces. At the entrance, they wait for an excruciating moment as the revolving door moves in a slow circle, and then they shoot past the reception area to the elevators, where Alonso presses the button at least fifteen times before the elevator arrives. As they pile in, there’s a shout.

“Hold the doors!”

Corey’s dad appears. When he takes in the strange crew in the elevator, he pauses, expression darkening as his eyes dart from face to face. Helen appears behind him a moment later.

“Last call,” Alonso says.

Helen steps on and grabs her brother’s shirt, pulling him in after her.

The ride up is silent, but the second the doors open, they’re all running again, ignoring the nurses who shout at them to slow down. Penny reaches Anita’s room first, and Alonso stops behind her. The door is open, with nurses running in and out, frantic and speaking in low voices. One of them sees Penny and gasps. “Penny! We’ve been trying to call you.”

“What is it?” Penny asks.

The nurse notices how many people are there, her face growing more panicked. “Perhaps we should talk privately.”

But Penny is already walking into Anita’s hospital room, her hand alighting on the threshold. “Mom?”

There’s no answer.