Penny Emberly is caught in a magical feud in order to save her mother's life – perfect for fans of Tracy Wolff and Maggie Stiefvater.
Rumors are the lifeblood of Idlewood, Indiana. The locals whisper that the De Lucas are witches, and that decades prior they cursed the wealthy Barrion family as revenge for a love gone tragically wrong: now, if a Barrion falls in love with you, you’ll die. If this isn’t reason enough for wallflower Penny Emberly to stay away from both families, she doesn’t know what is. But when Penny’s mom is in an accident that leaves her on the brink of death, Penny can’t ignore the rumors anymore—because the Barrion curse is real. And her mom is its latest victim.
In order to save her mom’s life, Penny must bring together two bitter enemies on either side of the feud and work with them to break the curse. For star quarterback Corey Barrion, doing so would mean finally saving his family from the magic that killed his mom. And for misfit witch Alonso De Luca, it would mean convincing everyone in Idlewood—especially Penny—that he isn’t the villain they believe him to be.
But as the trio navigates Alonso's unpredictable magic, the tangled web of Barrion-De Luca history, and an increasingly chaotic group chat, it soon becomes clear that the curse is not what they expected. Did a De Luca really curse the Barrions in a fit of jealousy, or is something even more sinister afoot? Penny will have to conquer her anxiety, wrestle with her budding feelings for Alonso, and delve into dangerous, forbidden magic to find the truth and save her mom -- even if it means putting her own life at risk.
For Fans of:
Slow-burn romance
Found family
Small town angst
He falls first
Misunderstood heroes
Release date:
May 6, 2025
Publisher:
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Print pages:
432
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THE FOURTH OF JULY PARTY IS SURPRISINGLY FUN UNTIL ALONSO DE Luca shows up.
Penny is the first person to notice him. She’s at her usual post at the perimeter of the crowd, which offers great people-watching. Plus, she doesn’t know how to socialize by dropping herself into a tornado of drunk people. This is one of Corey Barrion’s parties, which means it’s straight out of a 2000s high school comedy: big and loud and peppered with people vomiting into houseplants. Or, since they’re currently in the woods, vomiting into Elkie Lake.
Penny catches sight of Alonso’s blue hair just as she’s taking her first sip of beer, and she gasps mid-swallow. A few people laugh as she coughs violently. You are beauty, you are grace, she tells herself as her eyes water, but she still can’t look away.
Because if Alonso is here, this party is about to take a turn for the worse.
A wave of silence follows Alonso as he cuts through the crowd. Even the music and the crickets go quiet, or maybe that’s because of the blood rushing in Penny’s ears.
“Naomi!” Penny whisper-shouts at her best friend.
Naomi is absorbed in a conversation with Kyla McGuinness, her on-again off-again girlfriend. Normally, Penny wouldn’t interrupt them. She takes pride in being a great wingwoman, like most best friends with no love life. But this is an emergency.
It takes Penny waving her arms like an air traffic controller for Naomi to finally clock her, and the flirtatious smile disappears from her face. Naomi turns around right as Alonso is stalking by, heading for the keg. Two of his cronies follow close behind, looking bored.
Kyla leaves Naomi stranded as she runs back to her own friends, so Penny glues herself to Naomi’s side. “Sorry! I panicked.”
Naomi flicks her sleek ponytail over her shoulder. “So did Kyla, apparently. Alonso is on my shit list for ruining an almost romantic moment.” She grins as she takes in the party’s rising frenzy. “I bet twenty bucks Alonso throws the first punch.”
“What if he just wants free beer?”
Naomi raises a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “You really think he showed up at Corey’s party on accident?”
Naomi is right. Idlewood’s center of gravity is the animosity between the families that produced Alonso and Corey. Without it, their small Indiana town would probably collapse in on itself like a dead star.
Penny’s eyes find Corey in the crowd. He’s absorbed in a conversation, and he hasn’t noticed the entire party looking between him and Alonso like they’re facing off in a tennis match. Corey starts to turn around, and Penny reflexively hides behind her hands. Because in a matter of seconds Corey will realize Alonso has crashed his party.
But to everyone’s surprise, Dylan Mayberry accidentally saves the day. She saunters over to Corey and interlaces her fingers with his, distracting him.
Crisis averted. For now.
“If you keep staring, you’ll accidentally look into Dylan’s eyes,” Naomi says. “I don’t feel like dragging a stone version of you home in my mom’s Civic.”
Penny snorts. “Be nice.”
“I refuse. Dylan Mayberry is evil incarnate.” Naomi gasps. “Oh my god, did I tell you that Carly Pilowski said Dylan leaked Lisa Yung’s nudes last spring? Apparently Lisa got drunk and flirted with Corey at a party, and the photos were all over the internet three days later. Coincidence?”
“Probably not,” Penny admits. Possessive doesn’t begin to describe Dylan Mayberry. If she’s around, it’s best to pretend Corey isn’t one of the most attractive human beings alive, as difficult as that may be. Letting your eyes linger too long on his high cheekbones or full lips will be seen as a declaration of war.
Corey is now talking with some theater kids while Dylan scrolls through her phone, sending a clear message that whatever they’re saying isn’t worth her time. Penny looks between them, wondering what she’s missing. They’ve never really made sense as a couple. Corey is way too nice for Dylan, but then again, Penny doesn’t know him personally. She feels some kinship with him, since they both lost parents when they were little, but that’s the only thing they have in common. What’s undeniable is that anyone attracted to boys will have a crush on Corey at some point. That includes Penny, who liked him for a year in middle school. But as time went on and Corey failed to acknowledge her existence, Penny’s crush faded. She and Corey would only happen in some parallel universe, and Penny is perfectly happy in this universe, thank you very much. She’s got everything she needs—her best friend, her mom, her job at Horizon Café. It’s the summer before senior year, and it might be the most perfect summer of Penny’s life.
She can’t think about next summer, though. High school will be over, and everything will change.
“You might be right about Alonso,” Naomi says, distracting Penny from an impending thought spiral. “He actually seems… calm?”
The subject of everyone’s attention has settled with his friends on the opposite side of the clearing. Alonso is busy glowering, which is as calm as he gets. His friends are holding red plastic cups, but Alonso drinks from a brown bottle he must’ve brought himself.
“Did he bring his own beer to a keg party?” Penny asks.
Naomi leans in, smirking. “Maybe he’s here to cast a spell on everyone. As soon as midnight strikes, bugs will start crawling out of our ears.”
Penny’s throat goes tight. There are lots of rumors about the De Lucas, who have a long, complicated history in Idlewood—a history that involves Corey’s family. The rivalry between the De Lucas and the Barrions has lasted for decades, and everyone knows exactly when it started: Like many mythic wars, it was thanks to a very dramatic love triangle. Corey’s grandmother Ellie was originally engaged to Alonso’s grandfather Giovanni. Then it was discovered that Ellie was cheating on Giovanni with Corey’s grandfather Charles, and she married him instead.
If you were being diplomatic, you could say that Giovanni never got over it. In truth, the term murder-suicide doesn’t begin to cover the wreckage Alonso’s grandfather left behind. Over the years, the stories about these two families—and about Giovanni De Luca in particular—have taken on a supernatural bent. And those stories have followed the De Lucas all the way to the present.
Which is to say, most of the people at this party believe Alonso De Luca is a witch.
Naomi elbows Penny. “Hey, I’m kidding.”
But to Penny, it’s not a joke. Not even a little.
Since she can’t say that out loud, she shrugs, trying to look casual. “Some people think the stories are real.”
“Just because they dress like those girls from The Craft doesn’t mean they’re hypnotizing people and forcing them to jump off of balconies.”
Penny’s eyes are drawn to Alonso. It’s the worst timing, because for some reason Alonso is looking at Penny, too. His gray eyes are focused and bright.
Suddenly, the grass at Penny’s feet is fascinating.
When Alonso is around, it’s best to pretend you’re a single-celled organism, invisible to the human eye. Attracting his attention is always a bad idea, and not only because of the witchcraft rumors. It’s because Alonso is a buffet of anger and toxic masculinity. Last year, he broke Eric Lim’s arm in PE after his team lost a game of baseball. The year before that, when Mrs. Hollis failed him in an exam, Alonso set a bunch of frogs loose in her biology lab.
Penny doesn’t like to imagine what Alonso would do if he found out what she saw ten years ago, in these same woods.
“Do you want to get out of here before shit goes down?” Naomi asks.
There’s a shock of electricity in the air that was fading before Alonso’s arrival; it’s like the night has started over again. “I feel like everyone almost wants them to fight.”
“This is Idlewood, Penz. What else is there to do except watch overgrown babies get angry?” Naomi sighs. “I can’t wait to get out of this stupid town.”
That stings. Naomi must see the hurt in Penny’s face, because she quickly adds, “I didn’t mean it that way. You know Idlewood isn’t my place, and honestly, I don’t think it’s yours, either. I know you’re afraid of leaving your mom alone, but she’ll be fine.”
“I want to stay, Naomi,” Penny says. “It’s not just because of my mom. This is home.”
“You only think that because you’ve never left. You can’t tell me you really want to live in flyover country for the rest of your life.”
Penny gapes at her. “Right. I’m just a country girl, so far beneath you.”
“You’re not. I’m sorry, okay?”
“It’s fine,” Penny says, hoping Naomi can’t hear the tremor in her voice. “I’m going to get another drink.”
Penny tries not to run to the keg. She’s always known that Naomi will leave Idlewood, but why does she have to bring it up now? They have a whole year left. Can’t they put off that conversation for as long as possible?
Penny takes her time refilling her cup, waiting for her anxiety to loosen its grip on her muscles. When she finally turns around, there’s someone standing in her path.
Alonso De Luca.
Alarms go off in Penny’s head. Nobody escapes Alonso’s general aura of rage, and that includes Penny. Sometimes he’ll walk by her lunch table just to glare at her. Or if they have a class together, he’ll raise his hand right after Penny speaks to argue with her. It’s like he’s aiming for maximum humiliation.
Which is why Penny immediately steps around him, avoiding his eyes. Maybe if she pretends she didn’t see him—
“Hey,” Alonso says. “I need to talk to you.”
Penny stops, her heart beating fast against her ribs. “Me?”
Alonso laughs under his breath. It’s a low, gravelly sound, and it sends a weird shiver over her skin. “Yeah, you.”
Penny’s fingers tighten around her cup, but she stands her ground. She can do this. It’s just a conversation. She’ll pretend she’s talking to anyone but him.
Alonso grabs the beer bottle out of the pocket of his silk robe-slash-jacket. His white skin is almost translucent, and his dangly earring glints in the string lights hanging from the low branches above them. Penny wants to see if Naomi has noticed so she can swoop in and save her, but Alonso is staring Penny in the eyes, and looking away feels like admitting she’s afraid of him.
Alonso opens his mouth, and Penny braces herself.
“How’s your summer going?”
Penny flinches. “What?”
“Your summer,” Alonso says slowly, as if he’s talking to a toddler who doesn’t understand the concept of seasons. “Is it good?”
Is this… small talk? Does Alonso do small talk?
“Uh,” she says, but incoherent sounds don’t count as answers, so she adds, “Good. Yours?”
“It’s fine. Listen, sorry about what I wrote in your yearbook. I was drunk.”
Penny suddenly feels like the single-celled organism she was pretending to be. Alonso wrote something in her yearbook? How had she missed that? And what would embarrass him enough to bring it up like this? Maybe it was a nasty drawing, or a government secret. Or maybe he wrote something awful about Penny’s mom. He wouldn’t be the first person to do that.
All Penny manages to say is, “You were drunk at school?”
Alonso narrows his eyes. “Just forget about it, okay?”
“Okay! Already forgotten!”
The corners of Alonso’s mouth twitch downward. “You didn’t even read it, did you?”
Penny tries to smile. “I must’ve missed it?”
“Then you should’ve said that.”
Maybe it’s the beer giving her confidence, or the fact that she already messed up this conversation, but Penny gives up all pretense. “It’s fine, Alonso. I don’t even want to know what you wrote.”
Alonso’s glare is so intense, he doesn’t even blink. “Why not?”
Penny grits her teeth and forces the words out. “I know you don’t like me, okay? And I don’t need you to like me. So let’s forget you ever wrote anything in my yearbook. I’ll never bring it up again, I swear. Just leave me alone.”
Penny expects Alonso to laugh at her, or maybe turn into the Hulk. But he doesn’t move. Instead, he stares at her, a vein bulging in his neck, his eyes wide and impossible to read.
Then another voice cuts through the silence.
“What are you doing here, Alonso?”
The words come from behind Penny. Alonso starts, as if he forgot for a second where he was. Then a slow smile spreads over his face.
“Hey, Corey,” he says. “Great party. Guess you forgot to invite me.”
Even though the night is hot, Penny’s blood turns to ice. Because she’s somehow found herself right in the middle of a battlefield.
SLOWLY, PENNY TURNS AROUND.
Corey Barrion is standing a few feet away, arms crossed over his broad chest. He glances at Penny, and she feels the heat rise in her cheeks.
Where Alonso is disheveled, pieced together like a collage, Corey is his opposite. His white T-shirt is tight in all the right places, his brown curls shorn close to his head. Where the dim light makes Alonso ghostly, it lends a gentle glow to Corey’s brown skin. And while Alonso is smirking like a stand-up comedian who doesn’t realize he’s bombing, Corey is as impassive as stone.
“I know harassing people gets you off, but you’re not doing it here,” Corey says. His eyes are serious, and behind them is a weariness that makes him look older.
Alonso is still grinning. “Penny and I were catching up. Right, Emberly?”
Just like that, the party’s attention is on Penny.
Oh no. She can’t do this. Between the Indiana humidity and her animal fear of conflict, she’s sweating enough to create a moat around herself.
Corey must see the desperation in Penny’s eyes, because his gaze softens, and he turns his attention back to Alonso. “Fine. Then stay. Hope you have fun.”
The party shivers with whispers and laughter as Corey walks away, and Penny almost relaxes. Maybe this will be okay, and for once they won’t fight. Just because their family hatred goes back three generations doesn’t mean this night has to end badly!
But of course it was never going to be okay.
Alonso takes a step in Corey’s direction and shouts, “Since you already called me out in front of everyone, I have something to say.”
Corey freezes, but he doesn’t turn around.
“This entire lake doesn’t belong to you,” Alonso says. “My family owns half, remember? So next time, you should ask our permission before you decide to trash the place.”
There’s a collective gasp, but Alonso is technically right. Even though they hate each other, the Barrions and De Lucas have been neighbors for decades, and their properties stretch all the way out to Elkie Lake. Any normal family would crumble under the stress of having to see their sworn enemies as they’re rushing off to work and school every morning, but the Barrions and the De Lucas are not normal. They’re too stubborn to be scared off.
So Alonso is right. This lake is his, too, and his self-satisfied smirk makes it clear he thinks he’s won.
Corey slowly turns around. “I sent your mom an email about the party two weeks ago. Ask her.”
“Sure, because there’s no way you’d plan a party out here just to give us the middle finger, right? To show us who really owns Elkie Lake?”
“No, I wouldn’t, because I’m not like you.”
“It’s amazing how much you know about me. You must be my biggest fan.”
The look Corey is giving Alonso would make anyone else wither. “I don’t want to deal with this. I’m only here to have a good night.”
“Yeah, man, of course you are.” Alonso turns, locking eyes with a few people who laugh or look away. One girl even screams, muffling it with her hand, and Alonso glares at her. “Must be nice knowing everyone is on your side. And you didn’t even do anything to deserve it.”
A muscle in Corey’s jaw starts to twitch. “What are you trying to prove?”
Alonso throws up his hands. “Nothing. Just thought everyone could use a reminder that they’re on De Luca property, too. Technically, they’re trespassing. Who knows what could happen?”
The laughter dies immediately, and people start glancing toward the path that leads out of the woods. For years, people have said if you look a De Luca in the eyes, it gives them the power to control your thoughts. Or if you dream the same dream three times, it means they’re angry with you. Even back in elementary school, kids whispered if you looked into a puddle after it rained, you’d see the De Luca witches staring back at you, and they’d pull you inside.
Long story short: You don’t want to get on the De Lucas’ bad side.
Alonso is clearly basking in the effect he’s having on everyone. Corey, for his part, loses whatever calm he had left. His hands clench into fists, and he says, “If you’re going to threaten people, go home. You don’t belong here, anyway.”
She isn’t sure what she expects to see in Alonso’s face. Rage, probably. But it’s not that simple; there’s a war going on behind his eyes, and when he takes one step back, Penny bites her lip and silently begs him to leave.
But then his smirk returns, and there’s no humor in it this time.
“I don’t belong here, huh?” Alonso says. “Whose fault is that?”
Before Corey can answer, Alonso takes three quick steps forward and punches him in the face.
The party turns to chaos. Corey stumbles, but he barely slows down. He’s their school’s quarterback, so knowing how to get hit and bounce back is a necessary skill. And in this case, bounce back means “hit Alonso in the gut.”
Alonso doubles over, coughing. Just as Corey is about to grab him by the neck of his shirt, Alonso charges forward like a bull, tackling Corey and knocking him over.
People scream and cheer as the two of them struggle on the ground. Someone starts playing “Blitzkrieg Bop” by the Ramones, and a few guys chant along in bad British accents. Across the party, Yvonne Mason holds up her phone, clearly filming. Hannah Hartley clings to her side, eyes flicking from Yvonne’s phone screen to the fists flying in real time. Some of the football players frown and talk to each other in low voices, maybe debating whether they should pull Corey back. But they do nothing.
They just let it happen.
As Corey knees Alonso between the legs, Penny turns away, feeling sick to her stomach. She’s never witnessed these fights up close, and all at once, the hatred between Corey and Alonso is too real. She needs to leave.
“Penny!” Naomi appears behind her.
“Fuckin’ kill him, Corey!” someone shouts.
There’s a collective oooooh, and Naomi cranes her neck to see. That’s all Penny can handle. She pushes through the crowd of people hankering for her front row seat to the bloodshed, and she starts to feel claustrophobic between all the bodies. By the time she’s through, her heart is racing and she breaks into a run.
“Penz, wait!” Naomi calls as she reaches Penny’s side. Soon they’re in the woods, hopping over fallen tree branches and slipping on grass that’s damp with the day’s humidity. Penny’s cup is still in her hand and beer sloshes over her wrist. She dumps it on an unsuspecting weed and keeps running.
They reach Mrs. Salazar’s old Honda Civic, which Naomi parked too far into the grass. But it’s on the De Luca side of the street, and Alonso’s family couldn’t care less about their lawn. His old Victorian house is so dark it’s barely visible, while Corey’s house is lit up like a Christmas tree, all glass and stone and tasteful hedges.
“Seat belt,” Naomi says as she takes off, going from zero to forty a little too fast for a car from the early aughts. They stay quiet until they’re turning onto County Road 500 W, and then Naomi visibly relaxes.
“God,” Naomi mutters as she rolls down the window and turns up the music, making the cup holders rattle with the bass. “Some things never change. Those two won’t stop fighting until one of them dies.”
“Yeah,” Penny mutters, but it doesn’t feel that simple. Because didn’t Corey and Alonso learn this hate from people much older than them?
Naomi squints into the darkness ahead. “Do you hear that?”
Red and blue lights appear, speeding toward them. A police car flies by, sirens shattering the steady silence of the countryside as it heads straight for the party.
“Hope somebody dumps the keg,” Naomi mutters.
The porch light is on when they pull up to Penny’s single-story house on Clancy Street. The outside air smells like smoke from the fireworks at Barrion Park, but inside, it smells like marzipan.
Penny and Naomi lock eyes. “Raspberry bars,” they whisper in unison.
They drop their shoes onto the pile by the front door and snag two raspberry bars from the kitchen before they tiptoe to Penny’s room. Even in the dark, they know to hop over the squeakiest floorboards as they creep down the hall past Penny’s mom’s bedroom. Anita Emberly gets up early to open her café, so she’s probably been asleep for hours.
“Roof?” Naomi asks when Penny shuts the door to her bedroom.
“Roof,” Penny agrees.
Getting onto the roof is second nature: crouch on the sill, grab the ledge, push yourself up. When they’re resting against the shingles, staring up at the moon and handing a flask back and forth, Naomi says, “So. Alonso was chatty.”
Penny grimaces. “You noticed.”
“A lot of people noticed.” She pauses. “Have you ever wondered if he… you know. Has a crush on you?”
Penny sits straight up, the flask almost flying off the roof. “What?”
“It was just a thought.”
“You’re definitely wrong.”
“Sure.”
“Sure?”
Naomi laughs. “Why are you freaking out? It’s not like it matters. You’re Team Corey.”
“I’m actually Team François.”
“Well, François is a fictional poltergeist on Amityville High—”
“A sexy fictional poltergeist,” Penny corrects.
“—and you’re a real girl. So that’s not going to work out.”
Penny takes a wistful swig from the flask. “I guess not.”
“What did Alonso want? You were talking for a while.”
Penny opens her mouth, but something stops her from sharing what Alonso said about the yearbook. Naomi will take it as evidence that Alonso has some weird crush on her. If Naomi had been in Penny’s place, she would’ve seen the anger in Alonso’s eyes, the superiority in the set of his shoulders. Alonso looks at Penny exactly the way he looks at everyone else: as beneath him. In the way. Disposable. Naomi wasn’t wrong; Penny is Team Corey, but only because Corey treats people like human beings.
“He was giving me a hard time, as usual,” Penny says, taking another swig.
“Then why didn’t you tell him to fuck off?” Naomi says, grabbing the flask. “You don’t have to be so nice to everyone all the time.”
Penny is about to reply that she kind of did tell him to fuck off—but something in the distance catches her eye. Behind Penny’s house are trees and a fence, weeds and wildflowers. It’s so overgrown that you can’t see their neighbor’s house a few yards away. But outside the fence, before the trees really take over, there’s a shadow.
It could be a trick of the light. The moon might be shining at a perfect angle through the branches above. Except the shadow moves in a way that is distinctly not like tree branches in the wind. It almost looks—
Human.
“Do you see someone?” Penny whispers, trying not to panic.
“Huh? Where?”
“Shh,” Penny says, and she points. “Right there, by the broken fence post.”
“I see nature.”
Penny is about to argue, but when she looks back at the fence, there’s nothing there.
“You’re drunk and sleepy, Penz. And probably on edge, after Alonso and Corey went gladiator.” Naomi frowns. “You’re really not going to tell me what Alonso said?”
Penny watches the woods for a long moment before she lies back on the roof. “He asked how my summer was going.”
“He did? That’s weird.”
Alonso has always been weird, but he’s predictable, too. Except for tonight. Tonight, he was almost decent to her for a second, but that’s scarier than all the stories Penny knows about him. It makes her feel like she’s missing something.
As she stares up at the moon, Penny decides she’ll never look for Alonso’s message in her yearbook. Because even though some dark part of her is fascinated by what she saw in the woods all those years ago, she’s sure of one thing: Alonso De Luca is a mystery she never wants to solve.
WHEN THE POLICE OFFICER ESCORTS COREY AND ALONSO OUT OF THE woods, their families are already waiting.
The Barrions are arranged on the porch of Meredith House, which has been their family home for over seventy-five years. Corey’s dad, James, stands at the front of the group, with Aunt Helen close behind. Leaning against the house is Aunt Helen’s son, Julian. Even from a distance, there’s a visible smile playing at his lips. Their live-in bodyguard, Warren, hovers on the lawn, keeping his eyes on Alonso. And Sofía Barrion Hirsch, Corey’s cousin once removed, is huddled with her ten-year-old daughter, Camila. Only Corey’s grandfather is missing, probably because he avoids the De Lucas at all costs.
There’s blood crusted at the edge of Corey’s mouth, and his head is pounding from the two punches Alonso landed. But Corey isn’t worried about how his family will react to the police being there, even if he is the only half-Black kid in a mostly white family. When it comes to the De Lucas, the Barrions’ hatred runs deep. They’ll probably throw Corey a celebratory dinner.
Across the street from Meredith House, Alonso’s mom stands at the end of her driveway, her white-blond hair piled into a messy bun on top of her head. Despite her six-foot height, Vera De Luca’s black lace cardigan is long enough to brush the dirt of their driveway. Behind her are her sisters: Donna De Luca is puffing on a cigarette, while Emilia De Luca shakes with silent sobs.
Corey can’t even look at them.
His dad comes to meet them in the street. “What happened here?”
Officer Erickson glances at Alonso’s mom, but she hasn’t moved. She’s watching from yards away, her expression impassive.
“Someone called us to report a violent altercation in the woods,” Officer Erickson says. “The kid didn’t give any names, probably because everyone was drinking underage at your son’s party.”
“Not me,” Alonso says. “I don’t have to be drunk to want to punch a Barrion in the—ouch, that hurts.”
“It’s not the time, De Luca,” Erickson says, not loosening his grip.
A smoky voice calls, “Is my son under arrest?”
It’s Alonso’s mom. She hasn’t moved from the driveway, but now she’s glaring at Alonso.
Vera cuts him off. “Then I’d like you to take your hands off of him.”
Officer Erickson mumbles something, but he lets go of Alonso. “Ma’am, this is the second time this year these boys have gotten into a fight. Your son will be eighteen next year, and I won’t be so lenient anymore.”
“I understand.”
Officer Erickson crosses his arms. “Assuming you don’t want your son to have a criminal record, I’d like to suggest a mediation for your families. I know y’all have a complicated history, but maybe it’s time to put that behind you—”
Before Corey can stop himself, he says, “Respectfully, there’s no point. I think my family would agree with me.”
“We do,” his dad says. “There’s no way to mediate this mess.”
Alonso’s mom doesn’t bother responding. She just looks at Corey like he’s gum on the bottom of her shoe.
Officer Erickson looks back and forth between the two families, visible confusion on his face. He must be new. The rest of Idlewood’s tiny police force knows better than to encourage the Barrions and the De Lucas to “put the past behind them.” They all know the story of the fire that killed Corey’s grandmother at Meredith House almost fifty years ago.
But that wasn’t the last time a De Luca killed a Barrion.
“Well, then, I’ll leave you to sort this out,” Officer Erickson says, trying to maintain an air of authority as the tension rises. “Don’t let it happen again.”
In a matter of seconds, the police officer is driving away, brake lights disappearing as he turns a corner in the distance.
Then it begins.
“I warned Corey your son would sabotage his night,” says Corey’s dad. His blond-and-gray hair shines with gel, and his suit is free of lines, even at midnight.
Vera De Luca ignores him. “Alonso,” she says, and he walks leisurely toward her, stretching his arms one by one as if he’s just finished a run around the neighborhood.
“Nothing to say?” Corey’s dad calls. “I guess that’s not surprising. You’ve won.”
Vera finally looks at him, her gaze cold and sharp, even in the dark. “We’ve won?”
“Your father got what he wanted,” James says. “Even from beyond the grave, Giovanni is destroying our family.”
“This is not—” Alonso’s mom starts, but she cuts herself off. After a moment, her face rearranges into a cold mask. This time, she smiles, like this is some petty disagreement. “
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