Page 18 of The Glittering Edge

“Enough!”

The word reverberates throughout the room, leaving silence in its wake. Grandpa Charles is staring daggers at Julian, his pale face red with anger.

“Is this what your mother needs to hear right now?” Grandpa Charles says. “You would do well to follow Corey’s lead. He knows when his voice is not welcome.”

Corey bites his lip to keep from reacting. This is how hisgrandfather talks. It isn’t personal. And there’s no point arguing with him, especially now, when the curse has reappeared.

The whites of Julian’s eyes are practically glowing. His hands tremble, and he once again pulls his arms behind his back. “S-sorry, sir.”

Their grandpa’s face settles into a tense smile. “Since you’re so emotional, why don’t you take some time alone?”

Julian flinches. “But—”

“Corey will fill you in once you’ve collected yourself.”

Corey hears the double meaning as clearly as if Grandpa Charles had said it out loud:You can’t handle this. But Corey can.

Except that’s not true. Corey is just better at faking it.

Julian takes a long moment to leave. He meets Corey’s eyes, and there’s a mix of regret and devastation in his gaze. Then he walks out.

Corey wants to run after him, to say that he feels Julian’s embarrassment as if it’s his own. But that will make it worse. So Corey sits next to Aunt Helen and wraps an arm around her shoulders as her words are lost to sobs. He wants to burn the whole world down, much like Giovanni De Luca’s curse set fire to Meredith House years ago, killing Ellie Barrion.

Grandpa Charles looks out the window. Across the street, the De Luca house looms, hungry and dark. Is he thinking of Corey’s grandmother? Does he miss her more when the curse returns, or is it a constant ache?

Corey will never know that pain. He can promise himself that much.

“Aunt Helen,” Corey says, “you have to tell us who it is.”

Penny

PENNY LOCKS THE CAFÉ’S FRONT DOOR AND FLIPS THE SIGN TOCLOSED.“Have you heard from Mom?” she calls to Ron. “It’s weird that she’s been gone all day.”

Ron is going through receipts at the cash register. “You know your mother. She’s probably off networking with coffee roasters. Or making out with a hot-air balloon pilot.”

Penny would laugh, except both of those things have actually happened. She checks her phone again, but there’s no text from her mom. Penny calls her, pressing the phone to her ear as it rings.

Voice mail.

She’ll call again in an hour.

Penny turns down Ron’s offer of a ride home, deciding she’ll walk instead. It’s the kind of summer day that makes you forget what winter feels like: late sunset, sprinklers running, the low hum of conversation as people sip drinks on their porches. The evening air is tinged with the day’s heat and the smell of milkweed, and Penny finally starts to relax. Maybe she’ll sit outside and read until her mom gets back. Or she’ll invite Naomi over, and they’ll watch the next episode ofAmityville High.

But when Penny turns onto Clancy Street, all those thoughts disappear.

There’s a police car in her driveway.

Penny pauses for a moment, like a record skipping, and then herfeet carry her forward. Maybe it’s not in her driveway. It could be in Mrs. Acre’s driveway next door. But as she gets closer, Penny spots two cops at her front door, knocking and ringing the doorbell.

Penny’s breathing becomes shallow. She stops at the end of her driveway, and she knows she should say something, but she can’t.

One of them finally notices her. “Penny Emberly?”

“Yes.” Penny’s voice cracks.

A petite woman with brown skin and close-cropped hair steps forward. “I’m Officer Washington, and this is Officer Erickson.”

All Penny can do is stand there. The officers glance at each other, and Officer Washington says, “Maybe you should sit down—”

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