Page 62 of Witch You Would
Penelope hauled me up to the pool deck for a breakfast-and-planning meeting; no smooches, all business. The Miami sun roastedus even in the shade of the beach umbrellas sticking out of the poolside tables, cooling charms dangling from their spokes,but we had more quiet and privacy than in the restaurant. A few blocks away, Biscayne Boulevard traffic honked and vroomedand screeched; in front of us, the sunlight sparkled on the water so brightly it hurt to look at. I didn’t get to spend muchtime in this area—Sam and Ed and I lived in a part of South Miami rich people were trying super hard to gentrify—so it wasnice to have a little of that stereotypical Miami waterfront experience.
When we finally left for the warehouse, we had a checklist and schedule with times listed next to each step in the recipe.She’d even included lunch breaks.
I loved it. I couldn’t tell her I loved it, because Leandro wasn’t like that, but I wanted to.
Maybe I would tell her I was Gil, sooner instead of later. Maybe my secrets would be safe with her. But dropping that revealnow felt like a huge mistake. If we didn’t make it to the next round...
We had to make it. She needed the money and the prestige,and I needed the money for Grandpa Fred’s charity. We had to stay focused and sharp, and I was already using up necessary brain space thinking sexy thoughts. Adding my “secret identity” to the mix would be one more catalyst that could blow things up in our faces.
A messier-than-usual Isaac Knight awaited us on the soundstage after we finished with hair and makeup and mic placement. Someonehad brought him a box to stand on instead of using Dylan and Zeke’s station again. Tori stood next to him like his faux-hawk-wearingshadow.
“Our techs and supply reps have gone through the storeroom,” Isaac told us. “You’ll be happy to know they didn’t find anyother ‘irregularities’ back there.” He made air quotes with his fingers. “We still don’t know what happened with the two bottlesof whatever the fuck—”
“Tarragon and sage,” Tori said.
“—but it seems to be a one-off. So don’t start thinking your fuckups aren’t your fault.” Isaac pointed at the clock, whichgave us a little under ten hours remaining. “Now we have to hustle so we don’t fall behind, which means a long day. Judgingcomes after, as usual, so if you can do basic math, we’re looking at fourteen hours minimum. Suck it up, buttercups. Especiallyif you’re non-union.” He got down from his box and stomped off, alternately muttering under his breath and yelling at thetop of his lungs.
We went back to our stations, the camera people readied their rigs, and the countdown started counting.
Penelope and I split our duties today. She handled the cauldron, and I was in charge of circle work. Instead of glass, our centerpiece core was made of interwoven vines and stems from the flowers we’d be magically growing with the spell. It wasn’t much to lookat, just a green wreath about sixteen inches in diameter; once activated, it would get much bigger.
To make that happen, though, I had to layer in a separate enchantment for every type of flower we’d be using. It was puregrunt work, the kind I’d done in labs back in college, but not as much since I’d started the Leandro videos. This competitionwas forcing me to pull shit out of the depths of my brain that I hadn’t thought about in years.
This was what I’d hoped for when I got my PhD, this kind of boundary-pushing, theory-testing spellwork. Regardless of howmy parents thought the job market worked, I hadn’t expected a cushy tenure-track position, on a team with a huge researchbudget from multiple major grants, to happen right after I graduated. Still, I’d imagined better than adjuncting, for practicallyminimum wage if you counted grading time, and then Leandro Presto got big...
Four hours passed in a blink. I got up to stretch my aching calves and noticed the judges had arrived. Their call time waslater than ours, no doubt. They wandered around, examining things, asking questions. They’d reach us soon enough.
Penelope stretched, too, and gave a little groan as she rubbed the small of her back and rolled her head around. Today shewas wearing a black apron with yellow straps, the outline of a pointy hat with “Kiss the Witch” in yellow cursive on the front.I wanted to do just that, but not in front of the cameras, obviously. Had she picked this apron specifically to tease me?Not likely. That’s not how she thought.
I walked over and put a hand on Penelope’s neck, squeezing gently. “Massage, m’lady?”
Penelope’s shoulders went up, but she forced them back down. “I’m getting a cramp, so yes, please. Not too long; we have aschedule.”
I’d given Sam and Ed enough rubs to have a decent idea how to manage. I started at the top of her neck, then worked my way down and sideways to her shoulders, then reversed and went back up. By the third repetition, she was practically jelly, and her butt had gotten a little too close to my crotch for decency.
“Good?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Penelope said, a little breathy.
“Sweet. Back to work, then.” Except I needed a minute to get the tiny brain in my pants under control. Hopefully the cameraswouldn’t see anything they shouldn’t.
Tori did, though. She gave me a thumbs-up. Ugh.
The judges eventually made it to our station. Hugh dressed like his wardrobe was sponsored by one of the high-end stores inthe Design District; Fabienne wore a corporate-chic purple dress and her usual unreadable smile; and Doris was going fullabuelita, with pearls and a mint-green sweater covered in pink flowers.
“Tell us about your spell,” Fabienne asked, her dark eyes digging into us like awls.
Penelope explained while I looked excited and derpy. It wasn’t hard, for a change. The more we worked together, the happierI got.
“Are you certain the naudhiz rune is suited for this particular circle?” Hugh asked.
“In this case,” Penelope replied, “we’ve combined it with kenaz, which should guide the transformation—”
The table we’d been assembling our centerpiece on jolted under my hands. One of the glass jars that held some of our catalyzingsolution tipped sideways. Before I could grab it, it fell over and shattered, spilling its contents across the table.
“Oh dear!” Doris said.
Shit, shit. I rushed to grab a towel to clean up the mess. Penelope picked up the centerpiece before the liquid could reach it and disrupt the enchantments I’d spent hours laying.
