Bronwyn reached out her foot to step on one, and for a brief second, she looked like her granddaughter, Imogen. I watched as Starr appeared to resemble her older foster daughter for a moment.
These were certainly no ordinary silverfish.But how did they get out of the shoe box?
As I looked around the shop, I saw people’s appearances changing as soon as they stepped on the slinky little bugs. One mother in a bright pink sundress took on a glamour of her daughter for a few seconds before changing back into her own likeness once again. The father-daughter couple each looked like the other fora quick moment, before regaining their normal appearances.
Some guests were laughing, others shrieking, and one young girl started crying.
I searched the crowd for Patience and Renna, hoping to find a magical ally to lend a hand, but either they were running late or they’d decided against coming altogether.
“It’s likeFreaky Friday!” exclaimed Starr, smiling. “How did you manage this, Lily?”
“I...” What could I say? If I admitted I wasn’t orchestrating the mayhem, it would only frighten everyone further.
As an enchanted atmosphere took over the store, the antique dresses that had been hanging on the walls ripped free of their pins and started to dance in the air above our heads, like a Halloween haunted house. More people started laughing,oohing andaahing, believing it was all some sort of elaborate trick designed for their entertainment.
Then an iced cupcake—one of Renee’s—sailed across the room and landed with aplopon Maya’s back, icing side down.
“Hey!” Maya cried as she turned around, but there was no obvious culprit. Another cupcake, then yet another, flew across the shop.
Next the silver cutlery crashed to the floor, skittering across the wooden planks as the tea goers inadvertently kicked the forks and spoons. The lamps glinted off the silverware, casting orbs of light on the walls and the ceiling.
It was bedlam.
Xander came up to me; then the glamour slipped and he transformed into Wendy before my eyes.
“What can I do to help?” she asked.
“Just try to calm folks down,” I said. “These bugsaren’t going to hurt them, and the glamours don’t last. And if it doesn’t weird you out too much, try to corral these silverfish? They aren’t normal bugs.”
“Yeah, I got that impression,” Maya said as she joined us. “Come on, Wendy. I’ll help.”
“Hey, Maya, have you seen Selena?” I asked, searching the milling crowd.
“Not lately.”
“She was headed over to Lucille’s Loft for something, last I saw,” said Wendy.
Panic crept up on me. “Where’s Renee?”
“I was talking to her earlier,” said Maya. “But then she put out more cupcakes....”
I pushed my way through the chaos. How could I have been so foolish? I had been so focused on Wind Spirit and her connection to Renee that I utterly failed to make sure Selena was safe.
“Dude,”said Conrad as he held the door open for me. “You know how to throw a heck of a party. Did someone spike the punch?”
“Did Selena come out here? Or Renee?”
“Didn’t see them, but I have to confess I was off duty for a coupla minutes. Nature called.”
“Where’s Oscar?”
“I thought he went back in with you. What’s wrong? Hey, where are you going? Want me to come with you?”
“No, thanks. It’s best if you stay here and watch over things.”
“Watch for what, exactly?”
“Just please try to make sure things don’t get out of hand, okay? And if someone who looks like Sailor arrives—”
