Haven’s dad grabs grocery bags from the hatchback. “Do you mind . . . ?” he asks, breaking up the cluster of Grays, his arms full. He passes through the front doorway, and startles when he sees Haven watching.

He nods, his dark-dark eyes — Imogen’s eyes — already moving on to something more interesting. They used to hug every time they saw each other. Now Haven’s dad is polite, as if she’s a stranger who wandered into his house.

Haven turns back to watch Mom through the window. At least she’ll put on a show. Her face has tightened; her hands are two tight coils. “Shouldn’t you be at school?” she asks the Grays, the threat in her voice as polished as her freshly done, peachy-pink manicure.

“Is Haven okay?” June asks.

Haven swallows painfully. The Grays don’t care if she’s okay. That’s not part of the story.

Mom wedges her way past the Grays. “She just needs a few days at home.”

“Because of Imogen?” Lelia asks.

Mom blanches, almost white enough to match her platinum hair, dyed twice a month. She’s been covering the dark red roots for so long that they seem almost shameful now. Haven inches forward, not sure what her mom will say about Imogen. She’s lost in the house somewhere. She doesn’t care what anyone says about her — not that she ever did.

Dad passes through again, coming back with more groceries. He might as well be in a different dimension.

But before Mom can decide how to take on the subject of her older daughter, Rachel and that other girl, the one with the off-kilter haircut, slither out of Imogen’s room, their faces down. The new girl is carrying a bag.

Haven leans over as they pass through the living room, looking down into the depths of the bag. Knots of string. Knives and wax. And the vials of water. Always, those vials, clinking in Imogen’s pockets, glaring at Haven. Their mom used to pour them down the drain like she’d caught Imogen with alcohol. When Imogen got more, Mom would break them on the decorative stones in the backyard.

But more would always surface.

Imogen was unstoppable.

Rachel and the new girl emerge from the side door into a standoff between the Grays and Haven’s mom. When Mom sees the obviously stolen magic crap, her throat turns into a tight cable. Haven inches forward so she can hear what’s happening outside, waiting for the moment when someone loses it.

“I could bring the police into this,” Mom says.