Page 79

Alonso

AS ALONSO DRIVES HOME, HE GROWS ANGRY WITH HIMSELF. IT’S NOT A great look to ditch your new girlfriend in front of her family, but there’s something he needs to take care of. Immediately.

Why can’t he remember what it is?

Alonso parks at home and walks up the driveway, swinging the car keys around his finger.

“Meow.”

On top of a cracked garden globe sits Nimble, curled into a ball. She’s been limping ever since their adventure across the Veil, but she won’t let Alonso examine her right paw. She’s been weirdly skittish the last few days.

“Hey,” he says. “You gonna let me take you to the vet today?”

She glares at him, her ears angled back.

“Fine, be that way,” he says, and he starts up the stairs.

A blur jumps in front of him and then Nimble is blocking the door, hissing.

Alonso is about to roll his eyes and walk around her, but he feels a little… strange. His temples are suddenly pounding. And then his feet are carrying him away from Nimble, away from the house. A walk in the woods might help with his headache, so he walks into the trees.

And it’s like he blinks, and he’s in front of another house.

Corey’s grandfather’s house.

“What the hell?” he mutters.

A voice whispers in his ear:

“My turn.”

He knocks on the door for a long time. Charles must be sleeping, but that’s okay. He can be patient.

When the Barrion patriarch finally opens the door, he’s in his robe, and his expression is cold. “Can I help you?” he says, putting on his glasses.

When he sees his visitor, Charles takes a step back.

“Hello, Chuck,” Giovanni says, and he pushes the old man to the ground.

Charles is too shocked to respond. He scrambles back, reaching behind a side table he keeps next to the door.

When his hand reappears, it’s holding a gun.

He’s barely lifted the weapon before Giovanni raises his hand and says, “ Limbs loose, lips easy, eyes on the stars. ”

The gun falls to the ground as Charles goes limp. He’s still conscious, his chest rising and falling rapidly, and he stares at Giovanni with unmitigated terror.

“You want to know the best part about being dead?” Giovanni says as he grabs the gun. “The blood oath I made to never harm anyone in your family no longer applies.”

“I…” Charles swallows and tries again. “This isn’t possible.”

“Isn’t it?” Giovanni says. “If anyone could do it, you know it’s me. After all, I do have my reasons.”

“Your grandson will end up in prison for this.”

“My grandson is even more powerful than I was. He and I are going to make a great team. This town destroyed Ellie, and it destroyed me, and I’d like to repay the favor.”

“We can make a deal,” Charles says. “I’ll make sure you never have to go back to the land of the dead. I’ll give you a stake in the company. Your family will never want for anything again.”

“Tempting,” Giovanni says, “but I’ll pass.”

Giovanni takes his time putting the gun in Charles’s hand, and he lifts it so that the barrel is pointing at the old man’s temple. By the time he’s done, Charles is sobbing.

“The only question I have,” Giovanni says, “is will you pull the trigger yourself, or will I have to do it for you?”