Turning to Willow, Ash asked, "Please tell me you inherited Glamouring?"

"Yeah, pretty much everyone in our family gets it."

"Good, I need you to make Rose look like you, and you need to look like Rose."

"How does that help matters?" I spluttered. "You're just putting Willow in the cross hairs of Harmony's witchy finger. Jemina's too."

"Willow can protect herself. You can't."

His statement held no condemnation. He might as well have been commenting on the weather, and for that reason alone, I didn't sharpen my tongue and attack. I couldn't argue against something I knew was true.

If I walked out there as Rose, I was walking out there with a target on my back and no way to escape. There was a very good chance I'd end up sharing Dad's hammock on the porch until Mama talked Harmony into turning me human again. Unless of course, Jemina got to me. I shuddered at the thought.

"So your idea is to just walk out of here? Right in front of them?"

"It's not a bad one," Willow said, biting her lip. She pointed at the witches who were half asleep. "Octavia Young is a Council witch. They'd be crazy to try anything in front of them, and swapping places will buy us time if they try to be clever."

"Considering the state they're in, I very much doubt clever is going to be an option for them."

"Let's do this before I lose my nerve," I said, closing my eyes and waiting for Willow's magic to hit me.

A warm hand engulfed mine and squeezed. I looked down to admire the way Ash's fit with mine, but in an instant it changed. My long, slim fingers shortened, my palm widened, and my olive skin turned honey. I pulled away from Ash and touched the top of my head. Willow's spiky hair pressed into my skin, and I felt dizzy as I peered around the room. Everything was so much harder to reach at this height.

But that wasn't the most disconcerting part about the experience. Short, I could handle- that included the hair and the height- but Willow's magic crawled across my skin, sharp and unsettling, like June Bugs scuttling on my flesh.

"You okay?" Willow asked. Her high pitched voice sounded strange coming from my mouth. "You look like you're going to hurl."

"Let's get out of here," I said, not sure I wasn't going to throw up. Cold sweat prickled along the nape of my neck, and the coffee in my stomach sloshed about in protest.

We exited the cafe at a brisk pace. Ash reached for my hand once more, but I shook my head. To soothe the hurt in his expression, I explained, "What will they think if they see you holding Willow's hand?" What am I supposed to think about you holding my hand?

"Well, you're falling behind," he said, shoving the rejected hand into his pockets.

"That's because I'm working with half the legs!"

"Oh hush," Willow said, looking over her shoulder as she pushed open the door, "if it makes you feel any better, I feel like I'm walking on stilts."

"I thought glamours were only supposed to change how other people saw me, not actually physically change me."

Neither Ash nor Willow were able to provide more information because Harmony and Jemina chose that moment to pounce. Three steps into the parking lot, and we were cornered. 

I hovered behind Ash, doing my best to channel my friend's peculiar brand of confidence- the kind of confidence boosted by the knowledge you could turn someone into a toad. A difficult task for someone who spent her life wondering when, not if, someone was going to decide she looked better sporting warts.

We were screwed.

Jemina waggled her finger at Willow, and I sucked my lip between my teeth when my friend didn't flinch. I would've hit the ground with my hands over my head if that dangerous digit had come so close, and I prayed whatever devilry the two girls had gotten into last night was enough to keep them from questioning the odd behavior.

"I thought I was very clear yesterday when I told you to stay away from my brother."

Ash pushed her hand down. "Stop it. It's just a coincidence. They were here when I showed up."

Heck, even Ash was too afraid of the witch to admit he'd purposely sought us out. That, or he was too ashamed. I squashed the negative thought, but it wormed through my mental barriers, spreading through my mind like a disease until I edged away from the boy.

"Mami said you left the house to see Willow, and where Willow is, she is," Jemina pushed.

She peered over Ash's shoulder and stared at me with almost as much hatred as she directed at Willow's version of me. Harmony crossed her arms over chest, replicating Jemina's nasty look perfectly, but she remained silent. I noticed she was paler than usual, and she swayed on her feet.

"I can't see my cousin?"

"You should be spending time with people who are going somewhere. Not queer little hedge witches who play with plants all day."

"Shut your mouth," I shouted while pressing a hand over my aching stomach. We needed to leave now, but I couldn't stand by while she talked about one of my friends that way. 

Tear me down all day long but don't mess with my friends.

Jemina recoiled, and Harmony gasped. Ash inched in front of me as Jemina lunged. "You don't speak to me that way!"

"Come on Willow. Let's go." Willow's voice sounded odd, like she had a cold, and it wasn't until Harmony tilted her head to the side, like a dog puzzling out a sound, that I understood the grave mistake we'd just made.

"Jemina," my sister said, "something isn't right here."

Willow clapped her hands, and the two witches threw their hands over their ears. "Gotta go. Come on, y'all move!"

Ash and I didn't need to be told a second time. We broke out into a run, every jarring step sending a surge of re-flux up my throat. Willow jumped into the backseat, and Ash moved to get in the passenger seat until I pressed the keys into his hand.

"I can't drive."

He didn't argue, opening the door for me before running around to the driver side. Angry shrieks echoed behind us as we peeled out of the parking lot. Willow whooped, her cheeks flushed with excitement, and even Ash laughed out loud once the cafe faded from view. I said nothing, clinging to what Clemmy referred to as the 'oh shit handle' as I bargained with breakfast.

"Quick thinking with that one," Ash said, catching his cousin's eye in the rear view mirror.

Willow beamed. "I thought about a smoke bomb, but figured a screaming hex would do a better job since I could isolate it to individuals. We're gonna pay for that one, though."

"Take it off," I panted.

"Oh crap. Sorry," Willow said, reaching out to touch my shoulder.

The glamour dissolved, feeling like tape peeling off skin. "Stop the car. Pull over!"

Tires squealed as Ash obeyed, and I made it to my knees on the roadside before vomiting. The sour stench filled my nostrils as I heaved, and tears threatened to spill over my lashes. Willow crept to my side, her hand moving on my back in slow circles while Ash scraped my hair away from my face. Their kind actions only made me cry harder once my stomach was settled.

"Does magic always make you feel like that?"

I scrubbed at my mouth and looked up at the warlock. He looked concerned and just a little bit guilty.

"No, that's the worst it's ever been, but it never settles well."

They helped me to my feet and eased me back into the vehicle. Ash conjured a water bottle but hesitated before handing it to me. "You won't get sick if you drink this?"

The beads of cold condensation running down the plastic called to me, and I shook my head as I took it, guzzling it down so quickly my head hurt. "The water itself isn't magic. Just the act of getting it here."

"So what now?" Willow asked after we were back on the road. "I don't think we should hang around town, and they'll look for us at home."

"Maybe another night of partying will make today a little hazy," Ash responded, hope making his voice go high. "How about we go to the town over?"

"Mama really wanted me to stay around town," I reply, bouncing my knees as I watched the kudzu whiz by.

"The worst your mama is gonna do to you for leaving town is ground you," Willow insisted. "Jemina is going to make your hair fall out."

"Willow," Ash said.

The tiny witch threw up her hands and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just saying. If it was up to me, I'd much rather get store duty than have to buy wigs."

Ash gripped the wheel tight as he slowed to a stop. If we turned right, we'd loop back through Black Brier. Straight would carry us on to St. Augustine. To a world where people were normal.

"Fine, to St. Augustine's."