“Your power? I don’t understand.” Where was Sparkle? The longer she stood chatting with the goddess, the greater the chance she’d say something really dumb.

“I have no control over who in your family receives the gift. If it were up to me, I would have chosen your sister Ginger. But now that you realize how special you are, you have to abandon these disgraceful experiments and destroy the mutations you’ve already created.”

“No.” The word popped out of her mouth before she could stop it. It hung there in the air between the goddess and her. Cinn wished she could pluck it back and swallow it. Too late.

“You will do as I say.” The eyes and wind thing started up again. “I am the Celtic goddess of the growing green. I am the herbal healer to the Tuatha De Danann. How dare you say no to me?”

The healer to whom? What?

Suddenly Sparkle was there. She clutched a bunch of bags, so she must’ve already paid for her stuff. She took one look at the pissed-off goddess and yelled, “Run!”

Cinn didn’t need to be told twice. Wind roared down the aisles, panties and bras sailed past her, and she could hear display cases crashing to the floor. Screams filled the store as customers fled.

She and Sparkle were caught in the crush and carried out of the store on a wave of terrified customers. Even the greeters were hitting the exits. Once free of the mob, Cinn didn’t stop running until she reached Sparkle’s car. Sparkle was already inside with the engine running. Just as they peeled out of the parking lot and back out onto Seawall Boulevard, the roof of the store caved in.

Cinn was horrified. “What if there were people still in there? If anyone’s hurt, it’s my fault.” In the distance she could hear sirens.

“It is not your fault. It’s the fault of the ditzy goddess with anger issues.” Sparkle relaxed a little as they got closer to the castle. “It’s really too bad about the store. I suppose I won’t be able to buy any more cheap and serviceable clothes there for a while.” She didn’t seem overly upset by the thought.

Cinn was still thinking about the people in the store. “I should’ve let her think she’d won.”

Sparkle pulled into the employee parking lot near the hotel’s side entrance. She parked and then dragged all her bags out to lug them into the castle. It was only when they were in the elevator that Sparkle hit her with the questions. “What did she want from you? What did you say that made her so mad? Did she tell you who does her hair?”