Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

" W hat do you mean I'm gone? I'm literally standing right in front of your face!" Paige waved at him. What kind of joke was he trying to play?

"Paige, you're not–" Dewey slapped her across the face as he swung his paw in the air. His eyes went wide, and he bounced back. "Paige?"

"Yeah, that was my face you just slapped." She set her hands on her hips.

"Oops, sorry. I…accidentally…" He pressed his lips together, a worried expression on his teal features.

Paige glanced down at her hands. They were a normal color, and they seemed perfectly normal. She pressed her hands against a few spots on her body. She seemed perfectly normal. She felt perfectly normal. What was the problem?

Dewey planted a paw against his forehead. "I made you invisible!"

"What?" Paige cried. She raced to the table and grabbed the metal bowl and stared into it. She saw nothing reflected. She should have at least spotted a flair of red from her hair .

"Paige? Paige!" Dewey called, his gaze still scanning the space.

"I'm here."

He whipped toward her voice, narrowing his eyes as he tried to spot her.

"Don't move." She strode to him as he hovered in the air, then wrapped her arms around him.

He stiffened as she tugged him closer. "Paige?"

"Right here, buddy."

"This is terrible. I'll have to get you a sheet or something. I can't see you at all." He flung his hand in the air and smacked her across the face again.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry. See this is why we need a sheet."

Paige started to nod before she reversed course and shook her head. "No, wait. I'm invisible! This is perfect. We can sneak right out of here!"

"Ehhh, it's not really perfect. I mean…I'm still visible."

Paige winced. "Right. So, it'll look like you're floating around if you sit on my shoulder or I carry you."

"And everyone will know I'm wandering around, and you'll get away scot-free."

"Can you mix up a quick batch of invisibility serum for yourself?"

"There is no such thing as invisibility serum. I have no idea why you're invisible. Must be a side effect of the weird pink stuff Higgins blew on us. Or from the weird shrinking side effect. Who knows? You're kind of weird."

"Thanks," she said wryly. "What if you hide under my sweater?"

Dewey rubbed chin. "Hmm, that may work. Let's try it."

Paige ballooned her tunic and shoved Dewey underneath. "How can we tell?"

"Get the bowl and hold it up. "

Paige retrieved the metal container and held it in front of her. No flashes of teal in the reflective surface.

"We're clear," Dewey said after he wriggled around a bit. "I'm hidden."

Paige tossed the bowl onto the worktable. "And away we go!"

She hurried across the room as Dewey clung to her hip. "Hey, easy, I'm getting jiggled around all over the place."

"Just hang on. We have no idea how long this invisibility will last."

Dewey blew a raspberry a second later. "Why did you have to get lace on this camisole? It's blowing in my face."

"I'm sorry my choice of undergarments isn't up to your approval."

"Next time, go plainer. The lace is slippery and flutters around too much. It's too fussy."

Paige heaved a sigh as she stepped into the hall.

"Ohhh, or was this for a special occasion?"

"Huh?" Paige asked, peeking around a corner before she realized she didn't need to. No one could see her. She could walk right down the middle of the hall even if someone was there.

"You know…we've been hanging out a lot with Devon lately. Maybe you thought–"

"Stop. I am not wearing a lacy camisole for Devon. I like it and it's pretty. I'm wearing it for me."

"Just asking. Seem's like an odd choice is all."

Paige wrinkled her nose as she peered out of a window. Tall magnolia, oak, and weeping willow trees dotted a vast lawn. Where were they? "How is it odd? Lace is a standard undergarment fabric."

"I dunno, just is. Hey, I can't see a thing under here. Have you found a way out yet? "

"No," Paige said. "Just a window and I couldn't open it. This place is a maze."

"Have you checked for our stuff in any of the rooms?"

Paige huffed and wrinkled her nose. "No. Why would I? I'm searching for a way out."

"Because I'd really hate to go back to Paris and admit that we lost their artifact. We'll never live it down with Drucinda. And it just makes us look like two-bit hacks who don't know what they're doing."

"We kind of are two-bit hacks who don't know what we're doing," Paige said.

"Hey!" Dewey growled as he dug his claws into her hip. "I'm not a hack. And if I am, I'm at least three bits."

"What does that even mean? What is a bit?"

"I have no idea. How have you not found anything yet?"

Paige turned another corner and ambled down the seemingly endless hall. "I told you. This place is like a–"

"Like a what?" Dewey prompted.

"Shh," Paige hissed. "I hear voices."

Paige crept to a set of slightly ajar double doors and peered through the slit of an opening.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ivy said before nursing a sip of the amber liquid from her glass tumbler.

Devon slammed a hand down on the nearby desk. "That's crap, Ivy."

"Is that Devon?" Dewey breathed. "Is Devon here? I can't see a thing."

"Yes, quiet!" Paige shushed him as she shifted to study the scene.

"It isn't," the blonde answered with a shrug. "I have no idea what the little twit is up to."

Devon offered her an incredulous glance before he raked his hand through his wavy, dark hair. "Oh really? You don't."

"I told you. I haven't seen her since I bit her at your place. "

"I don't believe you."

"Wow, lover boy's going to the mat for you," Dewey murmured.

Paige clenched her jaw. "Shut up."

"I'm just saying, this is great fodder for my book. I wish I could see what was happening."

"Don't put this in your book."

Devon heaved a sigh as he flicked his narrowed eyes toward the door. Instinctively, Paige stepped back before she remembered she was invisible.

Inside, Ivy poured another beverage from a decanter and sauntered closer to Devon. She shoved it into his hands before she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let's stop talking about her and start talking about us."

"Oh, gross," Paige said with a shake of her head. "I'm out of here."

"No, wait!" Dewey hissed. "Stay. A love triangle would be a great addition to my plot."

"Then make one up," Paige said as she hurried down the hall, peering through any other open doors in search of a way out.

"But that one was perfect. The femme fatale throws herself at our hero…"

Paige groaned. "Please stop calling him our hero."

"The femme fatale throws herself at the MMC. Better?"

"Much. No one is the hero of my story, but me, got it?"

"Oooh, that's a good line. Oh, how I wish I had something to write on. No one is the hero of my story but me. And Devon, who is the hero of Taming his Royal Biteness. "

"For heaven's sake, please don't call it that."

"Why not? It's an awesome title."

"It's awful." Paige caught sight of two massive wooden doors. Her heart skipped a beat as she hurried toward them. "I think I may have found the way out. "

"Good. And it's not awful. Do you know how many books that's going to sell?"

"None, I hope."

"Hey, that's not very nice."

Paige pulled the doors open. Cool night air swept across her. She grinned as she stepped out of the house. "We're free."

"Awesome, now where are we and how can we get away? Ohh, do you think we can hitch a ride on Devon's plane?"

Paige eased the massive doors closed behind her before she turned to scan the fog-laden grounds. "I have no idea. And, honestly, that's not a bad idea. Maybe we should wait to see if Devon comes out of there and then use him to hitch a ride home."

"Sounds good to me."

Paige hurried across the lawn and stepped behind a massive oak tree. "Actually, I guess I don't have to hide. I think I'm still invisible."

"Let me out, and I'll see." Dewey pushed against the tunic top. Paige lifted the bottom hem, and he fluttered out into the air. "Nope, still invisible."

"Good. Well, I'll stay here just in case."

"Let's hope Devon comes out of there. Ivy was really putting the moves on him."

"Yep. Maybe he won't. Well, we can discuss a new plan while we wait a few minutes."

"First," Dewey said as he settled on a branch, "I want to discuss why you want to sabotage my book sales."

"I don't want to do that. I would just prefer you became a rich, famous author on Malice in Wonderland , rather than a completely bogus story about me and Devon called Taming His Royal Biteness ."

"It's not completely bogus. There's the whole kidnapping thing. And that happened. That was real."

"Okay, then I'd really rather you didn't become a rich, famous author on a biography about my life because it's pretty embarrassing if millions of people are reading about me and Devon and devouring it like it's some kind of awesome romance. It's not."

"Well," Dewey said with an arch of his eyebrow, "it is in my book. There's this one scene in Devon's bedroom where–"

"Stop. I don't want to hear any of this. I'm a sweet romance gal, not a steamy romance reader."

"That figures. Sex sells, Paige."

"I really wish you could see the disapproval on my face right now."

Dewey pulled his gaze away from the door and glanced down. "Nope, still can't. You're invisible."

"Too bad. Because it's very disapproving. You should make your writing a success because of your writing not because–"

"Shhh, quiet. Someone's coming." Dewey poked a claw toward the door as it opened.

Devon jabbed a finger back toward someone behind him as he backed from the door. "If I find out you had anything to do with this, Ivy–"

"You'll what?" The pompous blonde stalked toward him with an unimpressed frown on her cherry-red lips.

"Don't test me," he growled. "You won't like the result."

She smirked at him, crossing her arms and leaning against the door jamb. "My family is powerful, too, and soon we'll be far more powerful than yours. If you were smart, you would join me now while you have the chance."

Devon shook his head, his hands curling into fists. "I'm not joining you, Ivy, and I wouldn't be so self-assured if I were you. I'm still a Durand."

"And soon, the Durands will be our slaves. Think about my offer, Devon, but think quickly. It won't last forever. My patience is running thin."

Without waiting for a response, she retreated into the house and slammed the door shut in his face.

"Ouch, lover boy is getting the cold shoulder at every door these days."

"Maybe if he stopped proposing randomly."

"To be fair, I think his father did the proposing on this one."

"It's so weird to me that arranged marriage still exist in this world."

"In the supernatural world, I'm sure these are pretty normal. A bond between the Durands and the Delacroixs makes for a really powerful network."

"Then they can challenge the Klingons for interstellar domination," Paige said with a chuckle.

"Huh? I don't even know what the Klingons are? Are they some form of vampire?"

"No, they're…Star Trek. They're the weird aliens on Star Trek."

"Wow, you're dorky.'

"I am so not. Lots of people–"

"Shhh, here comes Hot Stuff. We'll miss him with this stupidity talk." Dewey leaned forward in the branch, cupping his paws around his mouth. "Psst, Dimples. Over here."

Devon strode down the walk, his hands still balled in fists.

"Devon!" Paige hissed. "Over here."

Devon stopped mid-stride, his eyes narrowing.

"On your right, Perfect Hair. Right, that's the hand that doesn't make an ‘L,'" Dewey called.

"Oh, burn," Paige said. "He's not that dumb."

Devon huffed. "I know which way right is, but I can't see you. "

Paige waved her hand around the tree before she realized he couldn't see her. "Dewey, wave or something. Shake the branch."

Dewey leapt around on the oak tree's limb, shaking the leaves. "Here, right here."

Devon glanced behind him before he ran his fingers through his hair and stepped onto the lawn, hurrying toward the tree.

Dewey buzzed out of the branch and hovered in the air as he approached. "Finally."

"Uh, sorry, I didn't expect you to have made it outside, though I thought you were in there."

"How did you know?" Paige asked.

Devon glanced above him.

"I'm right here." Paige patted his shoulder with her invisible hand.

Devon glanced at his blazer, his forehead crinkling.

"Dewey accidentally made me invisible when he cured me of my tiny size."

Devon glanced at the dragon. "Dude, you are awful at potions. Did you fail that class?"

A puff of smoke escaped Dewey's nostrils. "I aced it. These are not standard potions, and Paige is not a normal subject. I did the best I could on short notice in someone else's lab. And, what do you know, it worked. She's full-sized, and her invisibility allowed us to escape without issue."

"Right. That's the least of our problems. I'm just glad we're out of there. Can you help us get home?"

Devon flicked his gaze forward, his eyes staring blankly ahead. "This is weird."

Paige patted his cheeks, causing him to startle. "Snap out of it, Devon. Get with the program. We need to get back to Paris."

"Actually, we still need to find the Scepter. We received an official transmission from Central stating that the correct lead was in Egypt. Drucinda flew there but I came here because I had a bad feeling the Scotland thing was a setup."

"And it was," Dewey said, "but on the bright side, we got fish and chips."

Paige rolled her eyes. "And kidnapped."

"But the fish and chips were worth it," Dewey answered.

"Whatever, fine, we'll go to Egypt. Though knowing Drucinda, she probably already has the Scepter, a dozen other artifacts, and has made peace in the Middle East."

"You really don't like her, do you?" Devon asked.

Paige heaved a sigh. "She's fine, I just…she's way too good at this. I feel like an idiot around her."

"If the shoe fits," an icy British voice said. "Get your hands up, all of you. You're surrounded."