Goddess of Magic: A Snow White retelling (Kingdom of Fairytales Snow White Book 4)

was so inviting. To hide in their arms, to pretend everything was alright. I took a step forward.
“We love you so much,” they chorused as I stepped up to them.
“Come on Darling.” I held my hand out to touch my mother. Her smile widened and inside I broke.
“You aren’t real!” I screamed, hitting first my mother and then Topher. Blue smoke erupted and in the midst of my tears and the smoke, I heard the sound of two pings.
Wiping my eyes on the back of my sleeve and taking a deep breath, I headed through the tent and outside to the waiting crowd.
I tried to spot Adam or Jake in the crowd but didn't see either of them.
The need to see them, even Jake was overwhelming. I’d basically killed them inside and though I knew it wasn’t real, it hurt enough for it to have been.
I found a spot by the front and stared at the leader board. The scores and rankings were yet to change.
"Attention, attention," the announcer called. "Thank you to everyone who has taken part this year. As always, there has been an exceptional show of skill today. The points are tallied, and now it's time for us to reveal the winner of this year's casting competition."
Murmurs traveled through the assembled contestants at that, despite the fact we all knew what was coming. I felt relief at seeing they were all alive and well, and none of them seemed in the least bit unhappy that I’d murdered their magical counterparts. They probably didn’t even know. I wondered how many of them had killed a magical version of me. It didn’t bear thinking about so I chose not to dwell on it.
I shuffled from side to side as I waited with bated breath. There was a chance this was going to be the worst part of the entire competition.
The announcer counted down the contestants, awarding them their places. If I thought I'd felt nervous while going through the contest, then I had no idea how to describe the intense feelings I was going through now. I hadn't realized how much I wanted to win. Or what I'd do if I did. Should I reveal who I was if I did? Or just allow people to recognize me if they already knew who I was?
I pushed that thought to the side. I could worry about it if I won. I could always keep my competition life separate from my princess one. Some people would figure out who I was, but so long as I wasn't using my status to rig them, I didn't suppose it mattered.
Somehow, Adam had managed to pull his score up so much that he finished eighth. He must have done really well in the third test to have done that. Hopefully, that meant I'd managed to pull my score up too.
"And now for the runner up..." the announcer said.
My stomach did a flip. There were only two names that hadn't been called—mine and Jake's. I was starting to understand why he was so bad at losing. I didn't want to come in second. Not when victory was within reach.
Jake side-eyed me, a hint of malice in his gaze. He gave me a spiteful grin that was so unlike the smile his magical counterpart had given me inside the tent. Only now did I wonder how it had taken me so long to realize the guy inside wasn’t real. I grinned back, thinking of the way his head had exploded just ten minutes earlier. Ok, it wasn’t really him, but a girl can dream right?
"Second place in this year's contest goes to Jake..."
I didn't even hear the rest of the announcement. Nor the one of my own name. The blood rushed to my ears. Was this real? It was hard to process what was happening. When Adam and his friends had first encouraged me to take part in the competition, I'd never expected to actually win it. But, despite ignoring it for most of my life, it seemed that magic came naturally to me. With some more training, I could get an even better score. And beat Jake when he wasn't hungover, I was sure that was a factor, too, as much as I didn't want it to be.
Cheers sounded all around me, and the whole place suddenly erupted into a cacophony of sounds and colors as people surged down from the stands to talk to the people they knew. It was good to know that these competitions weren't particularly rigid in the way they were run. It would make staying under the radar easier.
"Congratulations, cousin," Adam said, slapping me on the back. "I should have known you'd take the crown."
"Thanks," I responded, still in a little bit of a daze.
"Kelis, you did amazing," Rhi said as she approached from the stands, a wide smile on her face. "And so did you two," she added to Jake and Adam.
The latter laughed loudly. "Don't go congratulating me. We all know eighth isn't worth anything." From the way he spoke, it was clear he wasn't in the slightest bit bothered by the loss. Perhaps he'd expected it.
"I'm going to see Stacey," Jake muttered and walked off.
"Who is she?" Rhi asked.
Adam shrugged. "His most recent conquest. I think they met last night."
I waited for the pain to lance through me, but nothing happened. My crush on Jake was well and truly gone. I was a free woman. And I could spend my energy on someone who deserved my feelings.
But speaking of that, where was he? Shouldn't he be here with my friends now? He'd helped me so much, I was certain he'd want to celebrate with me.
I turned to Rhi. "Where's Topher?" She'd understand why I was asking and not need to ask a dozen questions about it.
"He got a message, and said it was urgent," she replied.
"Oh." I tried to stop the disappointment that flooded through me. Not being able to celebrate with Topher kind of took the