whispered.
“That you won’t ever lose me again.”
She told Tony about Eva on their walk back to his house. He was marginally interested, a little surprised—like Alice, he’d thought that Eva was much younger than she actually was—but he was too preoccupied with the situation at home to give it much thought.
“There’s something strange about her,” Alice told him.
“Well, I’m sure she’s really sad about her sister. It’s probably just that.”
“What you said about magic being involved—do you still think that’s even possible?”
Tony shook his head. “No, I’m sure it’s nothing like that. You said so too.”
Alice knew what she had said in her text the night before, but the book made her rethink things. After her near-death experience with the curse, she’d told herself that the hotel was unique—a one-in-a-million exception to general, overwhelming normality. It was the only way her current life made sense.
But finding the spellbook made her wonder. That book wasn’t handwritten, it was printed, and books are never printed in single copies. Who knew how many “ordinary” people like her had gotten hold of a precious copy? How many similarly dangerous books were out there?
What had started out seeming inconceivable now seemed unlikely, but possible. It was enough to make her rethink things at the very least.
She tried to convince Tony to introduce her to his black-sheep brother before she went home, but when they turned onto his street, the old sedan wasn’t in the driveway. Tony was visibly relieved.
“I sent Dan to the grocery store,” Nora said when they got inside. “By the way, Alice, your dad called. Says he’s been trying to get in touch with you.”
Alice reached for her backpack and took her phone out of the front pocket. She had indeed missed several calls from her dad. There was a text message from him too.
Dad: Coming home soon?
Both worried and annoyed, Alice tucked the phone into her pocket so she wouldn’t miss any more calls. It wasn’t like her dad to be home so early. Maybe he had worked from home today? The text wasn’t necessarily a sign of disaster. If something terrible had happened, he would have told her in the text—like “ mom in car accident ”—something that would at least catch her eye. Last time he’d called her while she was with Tony, he simply demanded to know when she would be home. Things like that usually happened if her dad was frustrated with work. He would go on and on about how things were getting totally out of control, and then he’d compulsively hunt down some way to remedy his feelings of helplessness. Sometimes this took the form of cleaning a bathroom or two, which was always amusing—her dad brandishing a toilet brush like a weapon against this oppressive world.
Unfortunately, his favorite thing to do was hunt down his children and keep them in lockdown for the entire evening. This was fine when Alice had no social life, but proved more problematic now that she was so rarely at home.
“Do you want to call him back? You can use our phone if you’d like.” Nora handed it to her, but Alice placed it back on the table.
“No, I’m sure it’s fine. I should probably head home, though. I don’t want him to have too long to stew.”
“Probably wise,” Nora agreed, then added dryly, “If there’s anything we parents are prone to, it’s boiling over.”
Alice smiled and Nora, taking the phone back, grinned at her. “If he calls again, I’ll tell him you’re rushing back home.”
“While keeping safely under the posted speed limits, of course,” Tony added. Alice punched him playfully in the arm, relieved to see him nearly back to normal now that his brother was out of the house.
“You watch out. My dad’s just looking for a reason to make your life miserable.”
“Maybe I should start building up an immunity to the more common poisons.”
He managed to keep a perfectly straight face
“That you won’t ever lose me again.”
She told Tony about Eva on their walk back to his house. He was marginally interested, a little surprised—like Alice, he’d thought that Eva was much younger than she actually was—but he was too preoccupied with the situation at home to give it much thought.
“There’s something strange about her,” Alice told him.
“Well, I’m sure she’s really sad about her sister. It’s probably just that.”
“What you said about magic being involved—do you still think that’s even possible?”
Tony shook his head. “No, I’m sure it’s nothing like that. You said so too.”
Alice knew what she had said in her text the night before, but the book made her rethink things. After her near-death experience with the curse, she’d told herself that the hotel was unique—a one-in-a-million exception to general, overwhelming normality. It was the only way her current life made sense.
But finding the spellbook made her wonder. That book wasn’t handwritten, it was printed, and books are never printed in single copies. Who knew how many “ordinary” people like her had gotten hold of a precious copy? How many similarly dangerous books were out there?
What had started out seeming inconceivable now seemed unlikely, but possible. It was enough to make her rethink things at the very least.
She tried to convince Tony to introduce her to his black-sheep brother before she went home, but when they turned onto his street, the old sedan wasn’t in the driveway. Tony was visibly relieved.
“I sent Dan to the grocery store,” Nora said when they got inside. “By the way, Alice, your dad called. Says he’s been trying to get in touch with you.”
Alice reached for her backpack and took her phone out of the front pocket. She had indeed missed several calls from her dad. There was a text message from him too.
Dad: Coming home soon?
Both worried and annoyed, Alice tucked the phone into her pocket so she wouldn’t miss any more calls. It wasn’t like her dad to be home so early. Maybe he had worked from home today? The text wasn’t necessarily a sign of disaster. If something terrible had happened, he would have told her in the text—like “ mom in car accident ”—something that would at least catch her eye. Last time he’d called her while she was with Tony, he simply demanded to know when she would be home. Things like that usually happened if her dad was frustrated with work. He would go on and on about how things were getting totally out of control, and then he’d compulsively hunt down some way to remedy his feelings of helplessness. Sometimes this took the form of cleaning a bathroom or two, which was always amusing—her dad brandishing a toilet brush like a weapon against this oppressive world.
Unfortunately, his favorite thing to do was hunt down his children and keep them in lockdown for the entire evening. This was fine when Alice had no social life, but proved more problematic now that she was so rarely at home.
“Do you want to call him back? You can use our phone if you’d like.” Nora handed it to her, but Alice placed it back on the table.
“No, I’m sure it’s fine. I should probably head home, though. I don’t want him to have too long to stew.”
“Probably wise,” Nora agreed, then added dryly, “If there’s anything we parents are prone to, it’s boiling over.”
Alice smiled and Nora, taking the phone back, grinned at her. “If he calls again, I’ll tell him you’re rushing back home.”
“While keeping safely under the posted speed limits, of course,” Tony added. Alice punched him playfully in the arm, relieved to see him nearly back to normal now that his brother was out of the house.
“You watch out. My dad’s just looking for a reason to make your life miserable.”
“Maybe I should start building up an immunity to the more common poisons.”
He managed to keep a perfectly straight face
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