Page 54 of Witch You Would
No screaming. Nope. I would be calm and cool and—what was Leandro doing at our station with that chalk?
I did not run, because I was pushing a shopping cart. But I definitely power walked, hoping my face didn’t look as worriedas I felt. Sound guy Liam was probably wondering why my heart was dancing salsa and I was panting like a dog.
Calm. Cool. “How’s it going?” I asked.
Leandro looked up at me from the floor and spun the chalk in his hand. “Almost finished with the inner ring sigils. Want to check my spellwork?”
How dare he be adorable, and also, his sigils were perfect, and so were his circles and lines. My heart settled into a cumbia.
Trust him. I had to trust him. I should trust him.
“Good,” I said. “All good. Help me with the groceries?”
He stood and bowed. “As you wish, m’lady.”
We pulled everything out of the cart and arranged it neatly on the counters and tables. Again, as I always did, I checkedeach container’s expiration date, then opened them one by one to sniff and scan. Rosemary, check. Spearmint, check. Twice-bloomingcereus, check.
“You really do that every single time, huh?” Leandro asked. “Even here?”
“Even here,” I said. “You never know. You’d be surprised what can slip through quality control.”
“Sounds like a story.”
“More than one, unfortunately.” I’d learned some lessons the hard way, even when I’d tried not to.
After everything was set up, we were still missing the tarragon. I headed for Felicia and Charlotte’s station. Okay, Penelope,opportunity to network. Be professional. Friendly smile.
“Hi!” I said.
“Are you lost?” Felicia replied.
Charlotte made a scoffing sound as she carefully positioned a mirror and prism array. Was she irritated? Or laughing?
“I just need some tarragon, please. You took all of it.”
“Use something else. We need it.”
I kept smiling, even if my jaw was clenched. “I guess we’ll figuresomething out. Thankfully we know enough magic theory to do that, unlike you, apparently.”
I decided that was a good exit line and went back to our station. Take that, esprit d’escalier. When I glanced back at Charlotte,she was looking at me with a closemouthed smile.
Hah! Maybe I had impressed her.
“No tarragon?” Leandro asked.
“Nope. We can use something else.”
“Anise seed?”
“Or fennel...” We wouldn’t need it until later, anyway.
Leandro finished the outer circle while I mixed the first set of ingredients, and we dove into casting. Minutes walked; hoursran. We ate lunch while we worked, careful not to spill anything. The judges circled us like sharks waiting for blood to hitthe water, but this time when they came to ask us questions, I felt more ready.
At some point around hour six, Felicia came over. “Here’s your tarragon,” she said, holding out a jar like it was a dead animal.
“Thank you so much,” I said sweetly.
“Whatever.” She left without looking back.
