Page 66 of The Glittering Edge

“Do you want to know the story or not?”

Corey crosses his arms and waits.

“The De Lucas and my family used to work closely together, since we both made our way to Indiana at the same time,” Milton says. “The De Lucas had a long history in Italy; lots of power in the blood. Y’all were on track to get a seat on the Council. And then Giovanni came along.” He shakes his head. “Everyone had a real bad feeling about him, but my great-grandma let his bad behavior slide.”

“Why?” Corey says.

“I guess she was too optimistic. She and Giovanni’s mom were close. She didn’t want to believe he could hurt anyone.”

“Except she was wrong,” Corey says.

Milton narrows his eyes. “The curse wasn’t her fault. But yeah, she could’ve reined him in, punished him,something.” He nods at Corey. “And when your dad came looking for a ward, she felt like it was the least she could do.”

It’s almost impossible to imagine his dad coming here, desperate enough to find a way to protect Corey’s mom that he begged a coven for help. James Barrion doesn’t show affection. He barely shows attention. Corey hates thinking he has anything in common with his dad, but here he is, standing where James did all those years ago.

“If the ward is working, there’s nothing else I can do for y’all,” Milton says. “My great-grandma spent a year making that ward, and she was the greatest witch of her generation. Any additional protection spells would take too long in the oven.”

“Wait!” Alonso says as Milton turns to go back inside. “If this ward is supposed to protect people from the curse, then why did it burnme?”

Milton blinks at him. “Like I said, it repels evil. By our definition, that includes all the De Lucas.”

Alonso takes a step closer to Milton, but he doesn’t gettooclose. Corey almost smiles. Alonso might actually be afraid of this guy.

“I’m impressed your families have gotten past the bad blood, but the witch who cursed you is dead, and y’all can’t do shit.” Milton deliberately doesn’t look at Corey or Penny as he speaks. “I wish we could help you. But we gotta protect our own.”

They all fall silent. Corey looks to Penny for some sort of cue, but she’s staring at the pavement, chewing on her lip.

After a moment, Alonso steps forward. “You’ve heard the story about Park HaeJung?”

Milton’s brow furrows. “There are a lot of stories.”

“The one where she broke the curse placed on a family by her ancestor.”

“That’s a legend, man. Nobody knows if it’s true.”

“Last I checked, people have managed to replicate dozens of her spells. Witches used to say those were legends, too.”

Milton barks out a laugh. “If someone is going to prove it’s possible for a descendant to break a curse, it’s not going to be you. You ain’t got magic, remember?”

Alonso considers him, and Corey knows the look on his face. He’s deciding whether to back down or to fight—and Alonso never backs down.

As they all watch, he raises a hand toward the sky, and his voice takes on a strange monotone.“Gather here, neglect not the earth. Circle round, let loose the clouds.”

There’s a clap of thunder from above. The clouds begin to circle overhead, and Corey’s heart rate goes through the roof. He grabs Penny’s arm. “We need to get inside.”

But when Penny looks up at the sky, there’s no fear in her eyes. They’re shining with something else.

Astonishment.

Corey is ready to drag Penny inside when thunder claps again, and the rush of rain gets closer and closer until—

Nothing. It never falls.

At least, not on Corey or Penny or Milton. The rain falls in a perfect circle around Alonso.

Milton watches with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open. Finally, he lifts his own hand and whispers a few words Corey can’t hear. The rain stops immediately.

A dangerous silence falls over them. Milton’s expression is dark.

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