Page 98 of Witch You Would
“A charmed bracelet.” I explained how it worked, trying not to feel like Hugh’s green eyes were lasers putting holes in myhead.
Fabienne and Doris both popped their piñatas and got their bracelets. By apparent mutual agreement, they all triggered thespell simultaneously, saying, “Presto!” in unison.
Every single bracelet worked perfectly. Five bursts of fake fireworks faded into showers of glitter. Fabienne even did itagain, showing that it repeated.
They grilled us about how we’d made each component, how we’d handled the repeating, how many times we expected thebracelet to trigger before the enchantment wore off, on and on until they had nothing else to ask.
“The piñatas are certainly a solid choice for a party favor,” Fabienne said. “I’ve seen various enchanted versions of thelarge ones, but I can’t think of any in miniature. And you not only have those, but you also went above and beyond with asecond spelled item inside instead of, say, simply candy. Well done.”
Gil and I smiled at each other. Awesome!
“They’re utterly charming,” Doris said. “I can envision scores of children happily throwing them in the air and clapping.And as Fabienne said, the piñatas alone were excellent, but the bracelets are inspired.”
Two for two! But Hugh was next.
He stared at us in silence for long enough that I had to fight the urge to grab Gil’s hand. Fuck it. I did.
“These are exceptional,” Hugh said. “You’ve melded form and function in a way that aligns with the original object, whileadding elements of magic and whimsy. The bracelets are also quite the feat, and perfect for the child-centric approach you’vetaken here. Good work.”
I waited for the criticism, and it didn’t come. My mind exploded like a piñata. In a daze, I thanked the judges and went backto our station with Gil, still holding his hand.
We waited as the scores were decided. There seemed to be some disagreement, but it was hard to tell what about. Finally theyfinished and went back to their places. The camerapeople got their cameras ready, Tori retreated to her corner, and Syd tookover.
“First,” Syd said, “it’s my honor to present the winners of this round. They definitely put the party in party favors, andtheir spells made the judges want to yell, ‘Presto’!”
Oh my god. No way.
“This round’s winners are... Penelope and Leandro!”
Leandro and I high-fived when what I wanted to do was scream and dance. Celebrating too much now would be mean to the othercontestants, though.
If we’d won, who was going to be dropped?
“And now,” Syd continued. “I’m sorry to say one team will be leaving us today. Both remaining groups did well, but had theirtroubles. Unfortunately, in the end, the judges decided that a well-executed but less inspired idea met the round’s requirementsbetter than a good idea gone wrong.”
Oh no.
“Dylan and Zeke, you won’t be joining us in the final round.” Syd smiled. “But I’ll be happy to dispose of the rest of yourradio cakes personally.”
Dylan smiled, and Zeke shrugged, and that was that. I couldn’t believe it.
I knew it wasn’t my fault, that I’d done what I could. And it wasn’t about me, it was about them. But I couldn’t help butwonder: Was this sabotage again? Had someone—had Felicia waited until it was too late for them to fix the spell, then somehowmade it go wrong?
And if she had, what would she do to us in the final round?
Chapter 20
Penelope
When we got back to the hotel, Quentin grabbed Dylan and towed him to the bar for “commiseration and debrief,” as he calledit. Amy joined them. I almost went, too, but Gil kept sneakily grabbing my hip and giving me looks I classified as smoldering.
Three seconds after the door to his room closed, we were tearing our clothes off, and also each other’s. I got a whiff ofmyself and decided I needed to shower first, to which Gil said, “Have you seen my shower? We both fit.”
He was not wrong. The multiple jets were also enticing.
I did my best to scrub off the day’s sweat and dirt quickly, but Gil kept helping me, for a particular definition of helping.I loved looking at his naked body, and with the water painting his skin, he was more delicious than usual.
I kissed his neck, tasting clean skin as I licked my way down. He palmed my breast, kneading it gently, then bent down toflick my nipple with his tongue, electric shocks of pleasure shooting through me. I moaned and pressed against him, my handslipping down to grab his cock. He was already hard and getting harder. Gripping him tighter at the base, I stroked him andteased the spot underneath that I’d figured out was extra sensitive. He growled. Mmm.
