And I feel…
Exactly the same. Worse, actually.
The crown can’t erase what Candi did. It can’t undo the years I spent believing I was the problem. And it can’t bring Max back to the empty seat behind the judges’ table.
The price I paid to stand here is far greater than the prize.
Mrs. Abernathy holds out the microphone. “Would our new Frosting Queen like to say a few words?”
The crowd blurs behind the tears filling my eyes.
“I’ve wanted this crown for a long time,” I begin. “I thought winning it would prove that being human in a town filled with magick didn’t make me less talented or less worthy of living here.”
My fingers tighten around the microphone.
“I thought it would change how everyone saw me. Maybe even how I saw myself. But it doesn’t feel the way I imagined.”
I take a shaky breath.
“This crown doesn’t make me enough. It only made me realize I already was. I might not be able to cast spells or shift into an animal, but I can transform other things—butter, flour, sugar, fruit. I turn them into comfort and celebration, memories you carry home. That’s my kind of magick.”
Applause rolls over the stage as I hand the microphone back to Mrs. Abernathy.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “But I have somewhere I need to be.”
I lift my skirt and hurry down the stage steps.
“Where are you going?” Judith calls.
“To find Max.”
“Go get him, Frosting Queen!”
CHAPTER TEN
Max
“Max!”
Lila’s voice rises above the festival music.
I stop at the edge of the boardwalk.
She runs toward me through the crowd, clutching her skirt in one hand and steadying her rhinestone crown with the other, the Frosting Queen sash glimmering across her chest.
She’s beautiful.
The sight of her hurts.
“You won? When I left, Candi?—”
“Judith found surveillance footage from last night.” Lila slows as she reaches me, breathing hard. “The historical society recorded Candi's magickal attack on the Ferris wheel.”
My fox growls.
Lila’s smile fades. “I looked for you.”
The hot pink notebook is tucked beneath her arm, the mere sight of it twisting my stomach.
