Surely, I would be disqualified now.
“Do you think the wolf boys will just be silent during the archery tournament?” Dagmar shouted. “Do you think they won’t play dirty? They’ve already moved the game to nighttime, for crying out loud. We need competitors who can handle their tricks. All right,” Dagmar said, clapping her hands. “It’s down to the final shootout. Astrid,” she called, and the gathering crowd erupted into cheers for her as she brushed her blonde hair over her shoulder and put both hands under her chin like she was on the creepiest episode ofToddlers and Tiaras.
“And Gwen,” Dagmar said.
I choked. “What?”
The entire Flower Moon cabin crashed into me, shaking me around and cheering so loud that I thought I might perforate an eardrum.
I looked at Dagmar for confirmation. This couldn’t be real. But Dagmar just gestured to the middle two targets.
Astrid flounced over to me with a vicious smile on her face. “Good luck,” she crooned in a mocking tone. “You’re going to need it.”
I flashed her a tight smile back. “May the best witch win.”
She scoffed, but whatever snarky remark she had died on her tongue as Dagmar called, “Blindfolds back on!”
Astrid and I both tugged up our blindfolds. My palms were clammy as I grabbed my bow, my breathing ragged.
Just think of the bull’s-eye, just think of the bull’s-eye, I coached myself.Will the arrow to find its mark.
I thought of Sabine and how confidently she wielded her magic.
I thought about how powerful, beautiful, and calm I felt around her.
The arrow warmed between my fingers as I pictured the target as clearly as if I were standing just a foot away from it.
The wind eased, and I felt the muscles in my arm steady as I waited for the signal.
This time, the cheering was so loud I could barely hear Dagmar call, “Ready, aim, fire!”
I loosed my arrow and didn’t have enough time to remove my blindfold before everyone started cheering so loudly that my ribs shook. When I yanked down the blindfold, I saw Astrid’s arrow just kissing the outside of the red center circle, but not quite making it. An amazing shot.
Then my eyes found my arrow just as I was hoisted into the air. Through the melee of flailing and clapping hands, I saw that I’d hit a bull’s-eye.
A motherfucking bull’s-eye.
That I’d hitblindfolded.
I was the champion of the archery tournament.
I, a girl who had never picked up a bow before coming here, had hit a bull’s-eye—at night—using mymagic.
25
Sabine
Iwatched Gwen celebrating with the Flower Moon cabin, watched the way her friends raised her up and carried her around without using their levitation spells. It was like a montage at the end of a sports movie, and Gwen practically glowed with the accolades.
Astrid stood off to the side of the archery range, scowling, with only two of her closest friends beside her.
Gwen had been the underdog of the summer, and now she was suddenly the MVP.
I tried my best not to make it obvious, but I was brimming with pride for Gwen and delighted over Astrid losing. Seeing the coven princess being put in her place after all these years felt a little too good.
But then, I noted the look on Gwen’s face—the way she needed that praise from her new friends so badly, though she’d never admit it. A homecoming long overdue. Something flaredin my chest at the way she looked like sheknewshe finally belonged.
A boulder of guilt formed in my stomach as her eyes found mine. She was beaming, and I forced myself to smile back at her even as emotions hammered through me and tangled into a massive knot.
