Page 25 of No Charm Done

“—fancy suit?”

“I’m . . . between costume parties.”

“Cool,” they said in perfect unison. Their together-talking was somehow even more unnerving than their sentence-finishing.

Luna crouched down to their level with the sort of easy familiarity that suggested she was good with children. “You’re Hector, right?” she asked the twin on the left.

“I’m Diego,” the kid corrected. “He’s Hector.”

“Sorry. You guys are out pretty late, aren’t you? Where are your parents?”

“Inside, helping Mr. Morales—” the one called Hector started.

“—hand out free ice cream—” Diego continued.

“—before it all melts,” they finished together.

Creepy little ankle-biters, Elias thought. But Luna didn’t appear to be at all bothered, so he sure as hell wasn’t going to let on that all the hairs on the back of his neck were standing at attention.

“So,” Luna continued, “I have kind of a crazy question for you guys. Do either of you ever . . . notice things? Like, things other people don’t notice?”

Here we go, Elias thought. She’s fishing to see if they’re magical.

“I mean,” Luna pressed on, “do you ever feel like you can do things that are . . . special?”

“Like what?” Diego asked.

“Well, like . . . magic? Have you ever made something happen just by wishing really hard? Or how about knowing things? Have you known something you shouldn’t know?”

The twins went silent, and Elias shuddered. Their sudden seriousness was by far their most unsettling trick.

“Sometimes we know—” Diego started slowly.

“—what the other one is thinking,” Hector finished. “But Mama says that’s just because we’re twins.”

Luna stood up to confer with him. “We need a new approach.”

“What can you expect? They don’t know they’re witches yet. I think this is a dead end.”

“But they clearly sense things. They sense one another’s thoughts; they’ve got instincts, for sure. I’m just not asking the right questions.” She paused, frowning, then turned abruptly back to the boys. “What about other people . . . like, adults? Do you notice anybody around who seems . . . I don’t know, unusual? Surprising?”

“Oh yeah!” Both twins sat up straighter, suddenly animated. “Over at the Waverly⁠—”

“—there’s all kinds of weird people.”

“What’s the Waverly?”

“Movie theater,” said the boys as one.

“Midnight show,” Hector offered. “Very weird.”

His brother nodded. “Super weird.”

A flash of excitement crossed Luna’s face but quickly dimmed, and Elias could see her practical side taking over. “Wait, though. What kind of weird are we talking about? Are you saying they act weird or just look weird?”

“Both?” Hector said uncertainly.

“But these people—” Diego continued.