" I really do like curses. They can’t fail, that’s the beauty of them. Any bad thing that happens to either boy, from now until Kingdom Come, they’ll attribute it to my curse. Should the devils survive to adulthood, they’ll tell their children and grandchildren about it. They’ll blame me for everything from their ingrown nails to a fall in stock prices. They’ll swear my name at every paper cut, every death of a child. It’s more power than I have, and more power than anyone deserves. But they’re the ones who give it away, so to hell with them. "

― Cherie Priest , Chapelwood (The Borden Dispatches, #2)