Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(51)

When the piece of fruit didn’t transform immediately, murmurs of defeat could be heard from the crowd. Time held its breath.

A second before accepting her failure, a light cloud of magical fog appeared hovering over the table. The apple disappeared and an orange, a bright, perfectly round orange, proudly took its place.

A light applause echoed from the crowd. The tickle of victory filled her chest. One down, two to go.

*

Given a five-minute break before the second part of the competition, Miranda ignored the increasing sense of lurking danger and darted off the stage. She refused to let Tabitha’s silly hex distract her. Determined, she hurried back to her room to study the competition brochure and hopefully discover what the next spell entailed. If she worked quickly, she might even fit in one practice.

Face it. If she wanted to win, she could use a little practice.

She shut her door, ran to the small table where the brochure had been left unread. The small print seemed to try to push in her brain at the same time. Damn dyslexia. Closing her eyes, she tried to concentrate. One line at a time. One line at a time.

Opening her eyes, she moved down to the second paragraph and ran her finger under the line she needed to read: The second spell will be altering …

The door to her dressing room shot open, slamming against the wall. Turning, she glared at the intruder, certain it would be her mom, probably to yell at her about the horseshit.

Not her mom. But the horseshit maker herself.

“Stop it!” Tabitha seethed.

“Stop what?” Miranda asked.

“You know what,” she accused in a serious voice. She walked off, slamming the door so hard Miranda’s eardrums flinched.

“No, I don’t know, bitch,” Miranda muttered in a sneer. Then, determined to focus on the competition, she pushed all curiosity about Tabitha’s little tantrum into a mental vault, and stared back at the brochure.

The second spell will be altering live DNA. Each contestant must transform a feline into another animal—the animal of the contestant’s choice.

A smile lit up Miranda face. What had she done for karma to smile down on her like this? Of course, she could only hope the judges meant it when they said the animal was the contestant’s choice. Odds were, most of the witches would take the conventional route and go with a dog or rabbit.

She bit down on her lip and did a little victory dance. She’d never been accused of being conventional. It was then she saw her reflection in the mirror. No streaks in her hair. She looked content. Maybe those streaks didn’t define her after all. Did that mean Perry didn’t define her either? There was only one way to find out. Go to Paris. Find answers.

She looked back at the brochure. Confidence made the air taste sweeter. She was no stranger to altering DNA. This happened to be the spell she’d once attempted, failed at miserably, but had finally conquered.

All that practicing, week after week, had left that spell tattooed on her brain. She could only hope she got this feline turned and turned back before trouble arose. But again, the judges docked you for not completing a spell, not for being skunked.

The three-minute warning bell dinged. She moved to leave. Only this time, she looked down and up before she stepped out. Noting the hallway was crap-free, with poise giving her steps some pep, she headed back to the stage.

*

Miranda found her place with the other girls forming a circle center stage. Flanked by a set of identical twins, whom she’d run across in several competitions, she offered them each a nod. Candy and Sandy Gleason were tall blondes who’d both won more competitions than they lost.

One of the judges stood up to address the crowd. “No animals will be harmed in the competition. All felines have been blessed, and a superior spell has been placed on them so in ten minutes, no matter what their state of being is, they will be turned back into cats.”

Miranda had expected nothing less from the council, especially since two years ago, the Wicca council had been sued by the Wicca-affiliated Animal Rights Association because a frog had accidentally been left as a prince longer than he’d agreed.

Miranda looked up and saw Tabitha standing directly across from her. The girl scowled. Miranda ignored her and the lurking feeling of danger Tabitha had obviously brought on.

Sienna’s name was called first. Miranda sighed with relief. The only thing she hated more than going last was going first.

A large black cat appeared on the table. It raised its paw and let out a slow meow. Sienna closed her eyes, raised her hand, her pinky twitching. She started her spell. “Cat to dog. Man’s best friend…”

Miranda purposely stopped listening, not wanting her words to influence her spell. The cat vanished … or half-vanished. The creature standing proudly was part gray poodle part black feline.

Murmurs erupted in the audience. The judges started whispering amongst themselves. The voice of the group stood up. “You have accomplished your task, but with defects. You get only fifty percent of your points.”

Sienna nodded, lifted her pinky, and changed her creature back into the cat. When the girl moved back into the circle, Miranda saw the sheen of disappointment in her eyes. Miranda didn’t particularly like Sienna, but having been in her shoes so many times, she felt her pain.

Ten more girls were called forward to cast their spell. Only three got the whole one hundred points. Six had simply failed altogether. Miranda felt the blow for each and every one of them, too.