Page 68 of Shadow Witch

A glance over her shoulder made her eyes grow wide. The snake’s massive jaw snapped at Ivy’s heels, but the woman continued her sprint forward.

Paige pushed herself to run faster and slammed into the portal first. Her heart lifted as she rolled across the ballroom floor, the first person to emerge from the challenge. “I did it! I won!”

Ivy stepped out moments later, unscathed by the serpent. “She’s a liar. She completed none of the challenges.”

“What?” Paige said with a crinkled brow. “I bypassed them. All’s fair, right?”

Dominic flicked his gaze to the judges who conferred before the head judge leaned forward. “We have come to a decision.”

Paige held her breath as she awaited the results of the competition. Would she emerge triumphant and head into her wedding day on easy street or had she just suffered her first loss?

CHAPTER 16

Paige swallowed hard as sweat beaded on her brow from both exertion and nerves. Would she win or lose?

The judge flicked his gaze between the two contestants. “The winner of this round is…Ivy Delacroix.”

“What? No!” Paige shouted as she slapped a hand against her forehead. “How could that be? I beat her. By a lot!”

“You failed to successfully complete any of the challenges, therefore, despite your faster time, you are ineligible to win this challenge. The win goes to Ivy Delacroix for completing all challenges successfully.”

“This is crazy! Cheating is always encouraged,” Paige shouted. “I cheated. I should win for cheating alone!”

“The judges’ decision is final. Ivy Delacroix is our winner. We stand with each woman with one win and will head into our final round tonight to determine who will win Devon’s hand,” Dominic said.

Paige screwed up her face as applause rang out. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I was robbed!”

Warm hands wrapped around her shoulders and squeezed. “You were robbed, babe. That’s right.”

She twisted to glance at Devon. “I was robbed, yes.”

“Cheaters never win,” Dewey said as he fluttered in front of her.

Paige crossed her arms and offered him an unimpressed stare. “They said cheating was encouraged.”

Get over it, Paige,” Dewey answered as he landed on her shoulder. “It’s over. You lost. At least you’re still alive. Thank goodness you have Snow White Syndrome or you’d have been that snake’s lunch.”

“This is unreal. If they can take this win from me, then they can set me up to lose in the last round. There goes our wedding.”

“Aww, baby,” Devon said as he pulled her close, “that’s not going to happen. You’re going to blast through that final round I know it.”

“How is everyone okay with what just happened? I was robbed!”

Drucinda sauntered over, her arms crossed. “Darling, get over yourself. You didn’t do anything in that maze but ride around on a snake. Let it go.”

“I won’t! This could cost me big time!”

“Work harder in the last round,” Drucinda said with a shrug.

Paige poked an angry finger at the Valkyrie. “You work harder in the last round.”

Devon squeezed her shoulders again. “It’s okay, guys, she’s just hangry. But it’s lunchtime. Let’s go eat.”

“I’m not hangry. I’m just angry. Plain old angry. Cheating was allowed and encouraged.”

“Yeah, but in a scored situation like this, you’d lose on scores alone,” Dewey answered. “I’m with Devon. Let’s get lunch.”

“You and your stomach,” Paige said with a shake of her head as Devon led her to the dining hall.

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