Page 35 of Fairy Godmothers Aren't Cheap

“You can leave,” Josie said calmly. “But I’m going to stick around.”

“Why?” Samantha asked. “You have a portal to go through?”

“Something like that.” Josie looked to me. “Shall we?”

I really didn’t want to, but Josie was already pulling the door open, dragging a hesitant Tamara inside. At the last minute, I hopped over the threshold, turning back to see Samantha and Gabby frozen in place.

I gasped and stepped back outside again. They began moving, seemingly unharmed by the fact that moments before they’d been in an alarming state of stasis.

“Come on,” Josie said impatiently, tugging me back through the doorway. “It’s just a spell that bends time.”

“A spell?” Wait. I thought Josie was here to help me prove this was all made up. Now she was talking about spells?

I slowly stepped into the entryway that was thick with plants, watching Samantha and Gabby freeze again. This felt like a really big thing—one of those things I couldn’t rationally explain away. And especially one of those things that might prove that I really did have a fairy godmother.

“They’ll be fine,” Josie assured me.

“Are you sure?”

“Somewhat positive.”

“How do you know?”

She shrugged, already pressing forward. “I don’t.”

Something in the plants to our left moved, and Tamara jumped, stumbling against me. Her eyes were wide, and she looked about ready to collapse.

“You okay?”

“What’s in here?” she whispered.

“Just the stuff I told you about.” I hoped. I wasn’t quite so confident now that I’d seen our roommates freeze in place out on the sidewalk.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked Josie, tugging on her elbow.

“Quit worrying.” She was grinning like a diehard Harry Potter fan who’d finally got to step foot in the Universal Studios’ Harry Potter theme park.

“You again?” the receptionist barked once we made it as far as the desks. “And you brought along friends? How lovely for all of us.”

“We’d like to see Estelle,” I said, my voice embarrassingly shaky.

“Are you a witch?” Tamara asked timidly.

“Yes, of course she is,” Josie replied with a brisk air of authority. She gave the receptionist a curt, businesslike nod. The receptionist said nothing, simply did something behind her desk that had Estelle appearing a second later, ready to greet us.

“Char! How lovely to see you again. Hello, I’m Estelle.” She shook hands with Tamara and Josie. “So nice to meet you.”

“If you’re a fairy godmother, where are your wings?” Tamara asked, her expression puzzled by Estelle’s black leather pants, unnaturally red hair and lack of wings.

“We don’t have them,” she said brightly. “It makes it too hard to sit in chairs.”

“Do you have a unicorn?”

Josie gave Estelle a patient smile, like she knew the answer. And the answer was yes.

I held my breath, waiting for confirmation and cataloguing the fact that unicorns might be real. I wanted to see one. Like, last week already. Could I wish to see one? How much would it cost, because I bet it would totally be worth it.

I shook off the thought. No. No wishes. No debt. No unicorns.

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