Chapter 29

Paige blinked her eyes, scrunching her features. She let her hands drop to her sides, her neck craning as she stared around the space.

Something fluttered at the back of her mind as she tried to recall what she'd been doing and where she was.

A red-headed woman strode into the room, her long hair falling in a braid over her shoulder, contrasting with the green plaid blouse she wore.

"Hi, honey. Back already?"

"Back?" Paige inquired.

The woman set the vase of freshly cut flowers she carried on the baby grand piano and nodded. "Yes. Didn't you have the book club meeting at the library today?"

Paige's features crinkled as she tried to make sense of the situation. "Book club?"

The woman offered her a confused smile, setting a hand on her hip. "Paige, are you okay?"

Paige studied the woman's features as realization dawned. "Mom?"

"Yes?" the woman answered.

Paige scratched her forehead. "But…how?"

"How what? Paige, I'm starting to get worried about you. Are you feeling all right?"

"Do we live here?"

The woman crossed the room and felt Paige's forehead before slipping an arm around her shoulders and guiding her to the sofa. They eased onto it, and Reed pushed a lock of Paige's hair behind her ear.

"Yes, we live here. We've lived here since you were born."

Paige glanced around the space. She ran her fingers over the furry blanket tossed over the back of the sofa. Her eyes lingered on the pictures displayed on the mantel above the fireplace. Smiling photos of her as a child beamed back, along with several snapshots of her and her mother in exotic locations.

"I'm feeling off," Paige admitted, adjusting her glasses. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"I do," Reed said.

Paige snapped her gaze at her mother. "You do?"

Reed nodded, lifting her chin. "A mother always does. You're pushing yourself too hard. I know how important it is to you to get into a good college and to get your degree in library sciences, but, honey, it's okay to take a break sometimes."

"Right," Paige said, letting her gaze fall to her lap.

Something didn't seem right, but she couldn't figure out what.

"Tell you what, why don't you and I have a girls' weekend? I'll get that gourmet hot chocolate you love. We'll rent a few movies and just relax together. How does that sound?"

Paige nodded slowly, chewing her lower lip. "That sounds great."

A smile slowly formed on her lips as she considered the prospect.

Reed offered her a tight-lipped smile as the tension in Paige's shoulders started to ease.

She glanced around the room again, letting the familiarity soothe her.

"Why don't you go upstairs and lie down for a bit?"

"I'm okay," Paige said, giving her mother's hand a squeeze. "If you don't mind, I think I'll just stay here and stretch out on the couch."

Reed nodded at her, unfurling the fluffy blanket and draping it over Paige after she kicked her shoes off and slid her legs onto the mauve cushions. Paige settled back into the pillow behind her as her mother leaned over to kiss her forehead.

Reed strode from the room, and Paige popped up, wandering to the fireplace. She ran a hand along the mantel, studying the pictures.

She eyed an image of herself holding a bouquet of flowers at a dance recital, another of her sitting on Santa's lap, and a third of her holding up an Easter basket with a toothy grin. She paused at the picture of her and her mother standing in front of a decorated Christmas tree in this very room.

She lifted the photo from the shelf and stared at it, trying to recall the memory. Had they had hot chocolate? Yes, she thought so. She recalled sipping the warm, chocolaty beverage as she hung the gingerbread man ornament on the tree.

Paige stalked across the room, her eyes never leaving the photo in her hands. She collapsed onto the couch and snuggled into the blanket. Holding the photo overhead, she traced the line of her smiling face. Why did it seem fake?

She hugged the frame close to her chest, scanning the room. "This is real," she whispered.

Something tugged at the back of her consciousness. Images flashed into her mind. A large library. Never-ending shelves. A teal blur flew around her.

She shook her head, squeezing her eyes closed for a moment.

"Paige!" a voice called.

Her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes opened wide.

She pushed herself up to balance on an elbow, glancing around. "Hello?"

Only silence met her ears. After a moment, she settled back down, still clutching the framed photograph to her chest. She blew out a long breath, staring up at the ornate tray ceiling.

It skittered across her vision, fading in and out. She sucked in a breath as the voice called her name again. Tan stones replaced the warm living room for a millisecond.

Paige shot up to sit, gasping as she slid her gaze around the room.

She grabbed the couch, digging her fingers into the velvety cushions. "What is happening to me?"

"Paige, focus. Come on. You've got to come back."

Paige grabbed her temples, squeezing her eyes shut. "No, stop it."

"Paige. Listen to me. It's Dewey. Come back. I don't know what it's promising you, but you've got to come back."

"Dewey?" Paige questioned.

Pain shot across her forehead. A blurry image formed of a teal face.

Paige gasped in breaths, doubling over and sliding her eyes shut. "No, stop!"

The room shuddered around her again.

"Come on, Paige. Work with me here. Whatever you're seeing isn't real."

"What? No, this can't be real. I'm hearing things. I must be under way too much stress."

Paige massaged her temples before she fluttered her eyes open and grabbed the photograph. She focused on every detail. But something wasn't right.

She couldn't recall owning that sweater. She tried to pull the memory of decorating the tree back into her mind. Her mother faded from it. The room morphed. She hung an ornament on the tree as a cat rubbed at her legs.

"Dickens," she breathed.

"Yes, Dickens, that's right. Your cat," the voice said. "Now, try me. Dewey. Your little dragon pal."

"Dragon?" Paige repeated. "Dragon."

The teal face formed in her mind's eye. Spikes rose from his nose to between his wiggling ears. He grinned at her, his wings flapping behind him.

"Dewey," she breathed.

"Yes, Dewey! Me! Now quit fooling around in whatever's going on in your mind, and get back here. The place is falling to pieces! Literally."

"Pieces?" Paige asked.

She opened her eyes and glanced around the room. The photos on the mantel rattled around before they fell to the floor. Glass shattered across the floor. A chunk of the ceiling smashed into the hardwood. The walls shook, pieces of the plaster crashing down.

Paige glanced down at the photograph of her and her mother. With tears brimming in her eyes, she traced her mother's face. "It's not real."

She lifted the frame and smashed it onto the floor. The room broke apart around her, and she floated in a dark space for a moment before she gasped in a breath. Her gaze fluttered around the space.

"Paige," Dewey shouted, buzzing in front of her face.

"Dewey!" Paige said, a smile forming on her lips.

Dewey flung his arms around her. "You're back. Thank goodness."

A large crack sounded as Paige wrapped her arms around the tiny dragon and squeezed him closely to her. "What happened?"

"The moment you touched that glass box, you went haywire."

"I had some sort of vision. I was at home with my mom."

Dewey pulled back and stared at her, a sad expression on his face. "Paige, I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "It's okay. It wasn't real."

"I hate to rush you after your emotional moment, but the floor is caving in. We need to get the crystal and go." Dewey poked a finger toward the floor in one corner.

The stones had fallen away, leaving a gaping black hole.

"Oh crap," Paige said, shoving her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose.

She scrambled to her feet and stared at the glass box. With a nod to herself, she reached for it.

"Wait. What if you go haywire again?"

"I won't. Now I know what's happening." Paige slapped her hands against the glass.

False memories of her mother shot through her mind. She pushed them aside, gritting her teeth as she lifted the box and smashed it onto the floor.

Another large chunk of the floor fell away with a thunderous boom. Paige glanced at it before she reached for the crystal.

"Hurry up, idiots, I'm going to plunge to my death!" the pixie yelled as the hole in the floor approached his location.

Heat filled her hand as she touched it. The warmth traveled up her arm, radiating through her body. She tucked it into the waistband of her leggings, feeling the tingly heat race across her stomach.

"Let's go," she called.

Dewey buzzed across the space as another chunk of floor dropped away. As Paige raced across the unsteady surface, a large piece near the doorway fell. The carrier hovered in the air for a moment before descending into the hole.

Paige lunged forward, grasping at the strap and tugging it up before she leapt across the black chasm to the doorway on the other side.

"Come on. This entire place is collapsing," Dewey shouted as a stone from the ceiling toppled into the blackness.

Paige nodded, and they ducked through the door into the peg puzzle room. She dropped to her knees, crawling across the room as Dewey flew low, his belly grazing the floor as it rumbled and threatened to drop out from under them.

They reached the opposite side and raced through the now open door, sprinting down the long corridor.

"Hurry," Dewey shouted. "The door's opening at the end."

Paige pushed her legs to carry her faster, her muscles burning. They reached the halfway point, and the door began to slide closed again.

"Oh no," Paige shouted, waving a finger ahead at the slab sliding down.

"Run," Dewey shouted, flying forward and through the door.

Paige pressed her lips together as she eked more speed from her body. The slab continued its march toward the floor.

"Dive, Paige," Dewey shouted, his teal face peeking through the ever-smaller opening.

Paige flung herself headfirst into the closing door. She slid across the rough stone floor with her arms stretched in front of her.

Dewey caught hold of her hand and tugged her through the opening as the slab smacked closed inches from her feet with a cloud of dust billowing from it.

"Oh, that was close," Paige said as she pushed herself to stand and dusted herself off.

Dewey raked a paw across his forehead. "Yeah, whew. Let's get–"

"Give us back our friend," a small voice shouted.

Paige glanced up to find a contingent of pixies buzzing in front of her.

The one closest to her poked a black nail at Paige, her other hand on her tiny hip.

Paige tugged the carrier closer to her, eyeing the exit behind them. She caught sight of the strawberry blonde hair still spilled across the stone floor poking from behind the generator.

"No," Paige said, her forehead wrinkling.

"Give him back, or we'll–"

"You'll what?" Paige barked.

The pixie's tiny face twisted with anger. "We have the wand already. We'll destroy you!"

"You do not," Paige countered. "If you did, you'd be using it right now to get this crystal off me!"

"You'll never get to it in time! We have people on site already searching for it."

"Don't underestimate me. I caught him, didn't I?" Paige lifted the carrier triumphantly. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find that wand, too."

Paige started inching toward the wall.

"Stop right there!" the pixie demanded.

"Or what? You'll bite me again with your tiny teeth? You can't do anything to me. Come on, Dewey. Let's get out of here!"

"Right behind you, Paige."

The pixie raised a tiny cell phone in the air. "One call and you're done."

"Don't get your teeny knickers in a twist. I'll let your friend go as soon as we're out of here. But if you want him back, throw down your phones."

"Don't do it," the assassin pixie shouted.

The leader wrinkled her pixie nose and tossed the tiny phone toward Paige.

Paige stomped on it, crushing it easily under her heel. "Come on. Pony up the rest."

Tiny phones littered the floor as they tossed them down. Paige crushed them all before she skirted around the army of pixies, her eyes never leaving them, and grabbed Emma's limp hands. She dragged her across the stone floor and wrinkled her nose while she struggled to slide her up the stairs.

"You wanna help out here?" she huffed at Dewey.

Dewey grabbed Emma's feet and fought to raise them in the air as they finished ascending the stairs. After a few minutes of laboring, they made it back to the entrance.

Paige carefully propped Emma against the wall before she unzipped the carrier. The pixie flew out and zipped away from her, hurling a line of insults as he went.

"He really needs to stop talking," Paige murmured while they hurried toward the camels.

Tarik rose from a crouch as they approached him. "Did you get it?"

Paige tugged the crystal from her waistband and stuffed it into her tote. "Got it."

Tarik nodded, unfastening the first camel's lead. "We should go."

"Wait," Paige said, brushing a lock of hair from her face as she glanced back toward the tomb. "Emma got knocked out by the pixies. I left her at the tomb's entrance. I feel bad. Someone should probably take her to her tent."

Tarik glanced toward the tomb, then into the desert. "All right. I will go, but you must start back on the camels. We cannot risk you being caught here."

"Okay," Paige said, untying her camel.

Tarik coaxed Paige's camel down as Dewey hopped onto his. He turned the camel and started it walking before handing Paige the reins.

"I will catch up," he promised before jogging back toward the camp.

They spent the first part of their ride in silence as Paige mulled over the events. The recollection of the odd false memories about her mother flitted across her mind.

"Hey, Paige?" Dewey asked after a few moments.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

Paige nodded as the moonlight shone down on the desert sands. "Mmm-hmm. I'm okay. You?"

"I'm fine." Dewey eyed her sideways as his camel meandered alongside hers. "I didn't mean just physically for you."

Paige wrinkled her brow. "I'm fine mentally, too."

"Are you sure? What happened when you touched that glass box? You said you saw your mom?"

Paige sucked in a deep breath as she swayed with the camel and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. That box put me in some kind of trance or something. I was in this big house with my mom. And there were pictures of us. I guess I had grown up there with her. I guess the box showed me what it thought would make me happy."

"And did it?"

Paige snapped her gaze at him. "Make me happy?"

Dewey nodded.

"I guess. Until I realized it wasn't real."

"I'm sorry it wasn't, Paige."

She reached for his paw and squeezed it as Tarik caught up to them. They rode through the night and arrived at the airstrip when hints of daylight streaked across the sky.

"Good luck, Paige and Dewey," Tarik said with a bow of his head. "I hope our paths will cross again."

"Thank you for all your help, Tarik," Paige said, shaking his hand while Dewey perched on her shoulder.

"One more stop to go, and we'll have this all wrapped up," Dewey said as Paige strode back to the plane.

"Bulgaria, here we come," Paige said with a grin as she high-fived Dewey and climbed the stairs to the plane.

Her jaw dropped as she stepped inside. Couch cushions were tossed around the space. The contents of her tote bag were strewn across the floor.

And in the center of the cabin, the pilot and co-pilot sat bound and gagged.