Page 20 of Jingle Spells

Scarlett made a huffing sound, and her breath was visible in the winter air. “Everybody lies, Del, come on.”

Delilah’s expression went as dark as the shadows between the trees. “I don’t. Truth is truth, period.” She returned to stalking down the road like a hungry apex predator. She passed the old stone wall that marked the edge of witch territory . . . and kept going.

Her sister followed, a mischievous smile playing on her face. “Now you sound like that historian guy. Hey, he’s pretty cute, yeah? You and he certainly seemed to hit it off.”

“Oh, don’t start.”

“What? I’m just saying. It’s not every day we get a handsome nerd traipsing through town.”

“I agreed with him because he was the only one talking sense. Which at that moment, just happened to align with my completely justified rage.”

“Uh-huh. And the way he kept looking at you like you were the Mona Lisa come to life had nothing to do with⁠—”

“I swear, Scar, if you don’t stop? I will turn you into a toad.”

They rounded a bend in the road and there it was: the casino erupted from the winter landscape like some fever-dream merger of Hogwarts and a Kardashian bathroom, its mirrored surfaces reflecting and distorting the winter sunset.

The main tower reached toward the sky like a bully’s middle finger to good taste, but the entrance was where the worst aesthetic crimes could be seen. Where the Excalibur Hotel in Vegas had princess turrets at the front, this monstrosity sported a lineup of giant top hats, each one rotating slowly while puffs of smoke emerged. Mechanical white rabbits popped out of the hats at regular intervals, their red eyes glowing with demonic intensity.

A fountain danced in front of the main entrance, with jets of rainbow-colored liquid spelling out “MAGIC IS REAL” in Comic Sans.

“Oof, look over there. Is that . . .” Scarlett squinted. “Is that a topiary rabbit being sawed in half?”

Sure enough, the landscaping featured a series of sculpted shrubs depicting various magic tricks. A rabbit emerging from a hat, a prone woman levitating above a platform, and yes—a rabbit being bisected while somehow maintaining a cheerful expression. Like Edward Scissorhands had a mental breakdown at a birthday party.

“Never give magicians a landscaping budget,” Delilah muttered. She squared her shoulders and marched toward the entrance.

“Del, wait. Hang on a sec, there’s something you don’t⁠—”

But Delilah wasn’t listening. Someone was about to receive a rather substantial piece of her mind about both their terrible taste and their acts of botanical cruelty.

She stomped straight at the golden awning and suddenly bounced off thin air like a bluebird hitting a plate-glass window.

“Ow! What the—” She pressed one hand against the invisible barrier. Little sparks of angry magic crackled around her fingers.

“I tried to warn you!” Scarlett steadied her sister. “They’ve got the whole place warded beyond belief. Belinda tried to sneak in and ended up with her eyebrows singed off.”

“Really?” Delilah pushed against the invisible wall, letting her own magic probe at the barrier. The wards snapped back like rubber bands made of pure spite. “What kind of protection spell is this?”

“The nasty kind. We tried everything. Counter-spells, enchanted lockpicks, even that old trick with the mirror and the sage bundle that Jerusha swears by. Nothing has worked so far.”

Delilah pulled her hand back. Wisps of blue smoke curled from her fingertips where they’d touched the ward. “Okay, new plan. Let’s make a quick circle around the building, look for weak spots. Maybe if we⁠—”

“Shh!” Scarlett yanked her behind one of the larger shrubs as two gardeners approached, pushing a cart of pruning tools.

“—brilliant plan really,” the older gardener was saying. “The bosses are gonna be so pleased when they get here.”

“Wait, is that why we’re out here at this hour?” demanded his companion. As they passed some shrubs, he deadheaded a topiary dove with perhaps more violence than necessary. “To impress some stupid bosses?”

“Listen, young one. The top brass has some powerful magic. You don’t mess with those boys. And if they want the topiaries spruced up in time for tomorrow’s meeting, then that’s what we’re gonna do.”

From the safety of their shrub, Scarlett turned to her sister, eyes wide. She mouthed, “Meeting. Tomorrow,” and waggled her eyebrows.

“NO,” Delilah mouthed back silently. “Don’t even think about it.”

“And this game they’re running, with the tours,” continued the older gardener. “I’m telling you, it’s genius. By the solstice, those broads won’t know what’s real anymore. The boss says that will totally⁠—”

Delilah shifted position, the better to hear the men, and promptly lost her balance, taking down both herself and Scarlett in a spectacular crash of limbs and cursing. They tumbled out from behind the shrub in a decidedly un-stealthy heap.