Chapter 8

THOR

One look over in Daisy's direction made it clear that she was in her element. Even though she'd shown me her technique when we'd skill-swapped, it was something else to see her lost in creation. The expression on her face was one I recognised too, it was the magic of creation, the one that felt even better than doing actual magic.

I glanced up at the timer, relieved to find that there was still half an hour left. It wasn't a huge amount of time, but it was enough for me to put some final touches to my own sculpture. I'd done several leaves using Daisy's method, not quite confident enough to use it for flowers when I didn't have the same delicate touch as she did. But I'd used my own to create dandelion seeds. Maybe it wasn't flowers in the strictest sense, but I could see a lot of people liking it.

"You have one minute remaining!" Duncan called.

I stepped back and looked over my sculpture, hoping that I wasn't about to spot an imperfection that I didn't have time to fix.

"And we're done!" he called again. "Step away from your sculptures!"

The bell sounded, signalling that filming had ended.

Daisy came over and leaned against the pillar by my station. "It looks good." She nodded towards my sculpture.

"Thanks. I did a couple of practice leaves first." I gestured over to where they were still sitting.

She picked one up and turned it over in her hands. "It's good. Better than my first attempts."

"You probably had less experience when you first started shaping them like that," I pointed out.

"Hmm. True."

"Can I see what you made?"

"Sure, but you should be quick, they'll be coming to get it in a moment," she replied.

I headed over to her station, accidentally brushing past her as I did. Her breathing hitched loud enough for me to hear, filling me with thoughts that I really shouldn't be thinking when we were here.

Or without her having a say.

I refocused my attention on the sculpture instead. She'd been much more confident in using the technique I showed her than I had in hers, and had used it to create the top of a toadstool which shimmered in the light of the studio. A flower leaned over it, the petals each beautifully created.

"If I was doing this in my own studio and without a time crunch, I think I'd have put a fairy on top of the toadstool," she said.

"That would have looked beautiful," I responded.

"I'm glad you think so."

Two of the studio team appeared and made us move out of the way so they could move it through to the judging room.

"You're going to get Judge's Choice this week," I said as I watched them cart both of our sculptures away.

"I appreciate your confidence in me, but I doubt it. I haven't won it yet, the others are too good for that," Daisy responded.

"This is your week," I assured her. "Your sculpture is beautiful. It's even better than your daisies." I gestured towards the plaque with her name on.

"That's because I put thought into this, whereas I made the daisies on a whim." She wiped her hands on a cloth. "But I am glad you like my flowers. It means a lot coming from someone as talented as you are."

"You think I'm talented?" I asked.

"Everyone here is talented," she reminded me. "But I can see the way you look at the metal. It's like it speaks to you."

"You get the same look on your face while you're working," I responded.

She gave me a curious expression. "Just how much have you been watching me?"

I cleared my throat. "How much wouldn't be creepy?"

She let out an amused laugh. "It's a good thing I like you, Thor."

My heart constricted at her words, and I couldn't help but hope that she was feeling some of the things I was when it came to my attraction for her. I'd caught her staring at me a couple of times, but that was fairly common. People were normally enamoured by the muscles.

But Daisy seemed different. I was sure she liked the muscles too, but it did seem as if she saw more than that.

I certainly hoped she did.

She sighed and cracked her neck. "I know I should be used to it, but I swear these stations are making my neck hurt."

"It's not having as much space," I responded.

"And you must have it even worse than me. You fill it up so much."

I chuckled. "I'm not even sure what to say to that."

She closed her eyes and groaned. "That's not what I meant."

"I know, I'm teasing," I promised. "And I have massages booked in for the day after filming, you should try it."

"Smart." She looked over to where the coffee machine sat, with all our other competitors standing around it. She let out a frustrated sigh. "Why can't it just be right next to my workstation so I could get coffee every time I needed it?"

"You really love your coffee."

"I've wanted a machine like that for my studio for ages. It's the first thing I'd buy if I get the money from the Jinx commission."

A small kernel of guilt nestled inside me at her words. I'd been thinking about this competition as a challenge for my skills, but I hadn't considered that for others, there was more on the line. Maybe if I did win, I'd have a talk with Aine and see if she could hire one of the other competitors instead. It wasn't that I didn't want the prestige that came with winning, but it would mean more to someone like Daisy.

But I didn't think she'd like it if she discovered that she'd only gotten the commission because I turned it down. The other option I had was to throw the competition and let myself get knocked out, but that wasn't right either. I came here to prove to myself that I could win against people when the judges didn't know my name, and that was what I had to continue doing.

How I'd deal with winning would have to wait. And based on the quality of the sculptures the others were putting up against mine, it might not even be something I had to worry about.