Extra Normal by Kate Alice Marshall

Author:Kate Alice Marshall [Marshall, Kate Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2023-08-29T00:00:00+00:00

Charlie said goodbye and closed the conversation. She was not at all sure she was going to be able to avoid causing paperwork, but since AD Dixon couldn’t actually fire her or anything, she wasn’t too worried about him.

Dixon had said that the case bothered Dad. That at least made it more likely that he’d have the file on hand—he’d want to have it nearby when he got in one of those moods where he puzzled over old cases, trying to see what he’d missed the first time around.

And the file wasn’t the only thing that might be here. Her eyes drifted back to the Malice Vault. Was it her imagination, or could she hear the faintest whisper coming from the door?

She shuddered. She was imagining things. There was no way anything could get out of the Malice Vault. Not even the faintest whisper of sound.

Except for that time that it had.

“I’m trying!” Gideon said in a plaintive voice, and Charlie’s attention snapped back to her siblings. Matty was shoving the phone in Gideon’s face, jabbing his finger at the screen.

“Like this. Gently, not shoving it around!” he signed.

“It’s hard when I can’t see it,” Gideon protested. The air around him was shimmering. Matty let out a low, very inhuman growl, his eyes pure amber.

“Hey!” Charlie dove forward to wag a hand where Matty could see it. “Calm down, both of you. Matty, you’re losing control.”

“I am not,” he protested, baring teeth that were starting to get sharp. Then he clamped his lips shut and crossed his arms angrily, his version of “I’m not talking to you.”

Charlie sighed. She should have known she couldn’t just let them do it on their own. She sat cross legged next to Gideon, who was hunched over, looking miserable. She put an arm around his shoulders.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to if it’s too hard,” she said. Maybe they could find another way to open the filing cabinet.

“I was showing him what to do,” Matty said.

“You were bullying him. He can’t do it if he’s flustered,” Charlie said.

“Stop treating us like babies!” Matty replied, and threw his hands in the air. Opal shrank back, smoke spilling out around her.

“You’re stressing Opal out,” Charlie chided him.

“Fine. You show him, then.” He stalked over to the other side of the room and leaned against the wall, glowering. Charlie glowered right back, but turned her attention to Gideon.

“I don’t know if I can do it,” Gideon whispered.

Charlie squeezed his shoulder. “Remember when you found that butterfly that couldn’t fly because its wings were wet, and you used your powers to unfurl them until they dried? You were so, so gentle, and so precise. If you can be so delicate you can save a butterfly, you can do this. Even if you can’t see it.”

Gideon’s brow furrowed in focus. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll try.” She gave him an encouraging smile, shooting a glare at Matty over the top of his head.

Gideon stared. He stared so hard that sweat broke out on his forehead, and Charlie could feel the air pressure changing around them.

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