Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

P aige's heart hammered as she studied their predicament.

"Cross," Bones said next to her.

"How do you expect us to do that?" she cried, sweat making her shirt stick to her skin.

"Easy." Dewey sailed across the air toward the opposite side of the room. "See."

"I can't fly, Dewey," Paige said with a stamp of her foot.

"Stinks to be you, Paige."

Paige twisted to glance at the Mummy but found him missing from her side. Where had he gone? She searched the room, finding him scaling the wall and shimmying across toward a platform.

He flung himself from the rough stone wall to the sliver of stone sticking out over the water. "Cross."

"You've got to be kidding me. I'm not going to do that. I'm not Indiana Jones." Paige slapped a palm against her forehead.

"Uh, Paige," Dewey said. She glanced at him to find him now hovering above her .

"Yeah?"

"You may want to give the wall-climbing bit a try."

She shook her head. "No way, no how."

"Uh, but the thing is…that platform you're on…is sinking toward the water."

Paige stared down at it, her eyebrows pinching. The water rose toward her. "Oh, no."

She glanced behind her to find the doorway now several inches above the platform.

"Better hurry before you can't reach the divot in the wall Bones used to climb."

With a grimace affixed to her face, Paige grabbed onto the handhold and pulled herself up, bracing her feet against the rough stone wall. She slipped twice, making her hands sweaty as her nerves kicked in.

"This stupid pyramid." She shimmied sideways, searching for her next handhold to slide closer to the small platform.

Dewey fluttered along next to her. "Technically, this isn't a pyramid, Paige."

Sweat beaded on her brow as she worked to reach the first platform. Across the room, Bones had nearly made it to the doorway.

"How is he doing this so quickly?"

"He's a mummy. He weighs a lot less than you," Dewey said. "A lot."

"Thanks, pal." Paige took a breather at the first tiny platform before moving on to shimmy over to the next further into the chamber and below her. "Appreciate that."

"It's just the truth. You're not heavy, but he's way lighter than you. It makes him far more nimble."

Paige flung herself to the second platform and heaved in breaths. "Well, that's perfect. It'll take me the rest of the year to get my heavy behind all the way over there."

"I think that's a gross overstatement," Dewey said .

She tugged one corner of her lips back in a smile. Maybe he'd felt bad about the weight comment.

"It won't take you the rest of the year, but maybe a few hours."

Her smile faded, and she shook her head at him. "Thanks, buddy. My arms will fall off if this takes hours."

"Maybe try going faster then.'

Paige glared at the wall as she clung to it, trying to move over to the next rest spot. She cleared the next spot and worked her way to the center of the room. Below her the alligators followed her journey, waiting for one slip-up to cash in.

"You're doing great, Paige," Dewey cheered from the side.

Paige panted for breath, swiping at the sweat rolling down her cheek. "Thanks, buddy. Only half of the room to go."

"Yep, and look." Dewey thrust a claw toward the doorway. "Bones is waiting for you over there. See his beady, red eyes glowing?"

Paige grasped hold of the wall again, digging her fingers into the stone until they hurt. "I see them. I'm coming, Bones."

She worked her way to the next platform. As she reached for another handhold, her aching fingers slipped, and she plunged downward, her feet kicking and arms flailing as she tried to find purchase.

Her movement ceased. She glanced behind her to see Dewey, his wings beating hard, tugging her upward. "Grab on to something. You're heavier than I thought."

"I hate you," she said through clenched teeth as she braced her feet against the wall and found something to grip.

She moved sideways toward the platform, but it now sat well above her. She'd never make it up there, and Dewey couldn't pull her. Soon, she'd lose her grip on the wall and slide down toward the angry alligators below.

They awaited her with a hungry stare. Tears formed in her eyes as she realized she wouldn't make it.

She glanced up at the platform, her vision blurred. Her muscles started to tremble from the effort. She couldn't hold on much longer. Just as she started to lose her grip, a white hand reached toward her.

She snapped her gaze to it. Bones had crawled back to the platform and leaned over to help her climb up. She grabbed hold of his hand and scrambled upward to crouch on the platform as he scurried to the next. He waved her forward, encouraging her to continue.

Paige fought through her aching muscles and pushed herself to move forward, platform by platform until she reached the doorway. She collapsed inside on her back, letting her eyes slide closed, her chest heaving as she sucked in gasps of air.

"You made it, Paige. Great job."

She opened her eyes, finding Dewey hovering over her and Bones's red eyes peering at her. She started to smile when Dewey jabbed a finger at her. "Now, get up, we have to keep going."

"Ugh," she moaned. "I ache everywhere."

"How do you think I feel? I've been flying around in there forever thanks to how pokey you were."

Paige rolled onto her stomach and pushed up to stand. "Oh, sorry it took me a while to literally crawl across the wall from one end of that massive room to the other."

"It's not that big."

"Uh, yeah it is. It's like thirty feet across."

"I'll get you an award when we get back to the library. If we get back to the library."

Paige heaved a sigh as she stared down the corridor. " What's that supposed to mean? We'll make it. We're awesome!"

Dewey settled on her shoulder as the Mummy began his shuffle down the hall. "While that's true, we still have who knows how far to go and a Mummy Lord to battle."

"About that," Paige said as she crept forward, her eyes on their Mummy buddy.

"Yeah? Ohhh, wait a minute, I know where you're going with this."

Paige slid her eyebrows up and offered Dewey a sideways glance filled with amusement. "Right?"

"I mean, it could work. We should have a backup plan, but…with the way things have been going…that just might work."

Paige shifted her gaze forward. "Same thing I thought. We'll let Bones deal with it. I mean, maybe he has some kind of in with this guy."

"Wait, what?" Dewey fluttered into the air and hovered in front of her.

"We'll let Bones deal with this Mummy Lord character. Maybe he knows him, and the thing will just give us the scepter." Paige stared at Dewey's confused face. "What? What did you think my plan was?"

"Hope your Snow White Syndrome kicks in, and the Mummy Lord asks you to marry him. And then, you can ask for the scepter as an engagement present. That was my plan."

"That's the stupidest plan in the world."

"Oh, and letting the Mummy who loves you negotiate with a Mummy Lord isn't? My plan is waaaaay better."

"Hope a Mummy Lord proposes to me? Awful plan."

Dewey settled on her shoulder again. "It's not. In the history of our knowing each other, you have been proposed to multiple times but several types of creatures. It's actually fairly likely at this point to find another one willing to claim you as his bride."

They rounded a corner and sidestepped a whirling blade that had already hacked Bones to pieces. He regenerated and continued down the hall. "No one is claiming me as their bride, okay?"

"You really have a thing about marriage, huh?"

"I do not."

"You kind of do. You've basically shut down every person who's asked you."

Paige stopped, waiting for a flicking blade to slide past her before she hurried around it. "How does that mean I have a thing about marriage?"

"Obviously, you have a problem with commitment."

"Right, that's so obvious because I didn't marry the first man who proposed because I cured him and then imprisoned me with the threat of beheading or the second who staged a car accident and proposed after he'd almost killed me, I'm a commitment-phobe. Sure."

"Seems accurate. I have nothing against it. I'm living the bachelor life and loving it. I can't imagine being tied down like that. Coming home from a rough mission to save the world and listening to her yammering on about how she wants new curtains. Somewhere in the distance, a baby dragon's crying, and she complains she's been home with the kid all day. She has no adult conversations. Suddenly, we've got Dragon Daycare raising our child while we both work to further our careers. No thanks."

"I feel like you just described marriages from another century."

"I have not."

Paige studied the pattern of a series of three knives that shot from the floor before she dashed across to beat them and meet their Mummy leader on the opposite side. "You have so. And if you think that's how marriage is, imagine my choices. I sit on a hard throne all day while Henry whines to me about his life. Or, behind door number two, I–"

"Are Dominic Durand's daughter-in-law and reign supreme over almost all supernatural creatures while you live a lavish life of attending parties with eye candy, Devon, on your arm and having peeled grapes fed to you?"

"What's with the peeled grapes? Why don't you marry Devon if you want to live the life?"

"It wouldn't work between us," Dewey said as Paige grabbed a vine and swung across a chasm. "I'd always know that he picked you first. That I'm a mere substitute for what he couldn't have."

Paige rolled her eyes at the drama. "Marry whatever his sister's name is, then."

"Oh, Luna. Mmm, hard pass. Talk about drama. Wow. That one brings it hard. It's easy to see why Devon's so whiny after you've met his sister."

"But with that drama comes peeled grapes."

"There's a line even I won't cross, Paige." They reached the end of a corridor, and Paige heaved a sigh as she flicked her gaze back and forth between the two passages.

"Which way now?"

Bones shrugged.

"You don't know?" Paige questioned.

The Mummy poked a bandaged finger in one direction and said, "Deception." Then, he pointed down the other corridor and said, "Peril."

"Oh, great. So we're choosing between deception and peril?"

"Peril," Dewey said, poking a claw at him.

Paige waved a hand in the air as she shook her head. "Wait, no, I didn't pick peril. Peril sounds way worse than deception. "

"How do you figure that?" Dewey asked. "Peril is peril. We can live through peril. We have no idea what the con is on this side. What if the con is that it's more perilous than the peril corridor?"

Paige tried to work through the logic. "What if the peril side is the perilous one, just like it says, and the deception side is just deceptively easy. Maybe it's the easier route, and no one picks it because it sounds scary."

"No, we'll take peril. Some straightforward peril never hurt anyone."

"Pretty sure it has. We've been in peril lots of times and have nearly died."

"But we haven't. We've never been deceived and lived, though."

Paige crinkled her brow as the Mummy awaited their instructions. "I don't–okay, fine. We'll do peril. You want peril, you got peril."

The Mummy nodded and began down the corridor they'd chosen. Paige followed behind him. No traps accosted them as they walked down the wide, well-lit passage.

They rounded a corner and continued deeper into the so-called perilous passage.

"Boy, am I glad we picked peril," Paige said as they shuffled along. "This is like a walk in the park."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Nothing perilous here except a few loose stones on the floor. Don't trip, Paige. You are pretty klutzy."

"Yeah. And I haven't fallen once. I mean this is…the least perilous peril I've ever experienced."

"Me too. Good going, partner. You finally called one right."

Paige held up a hand, and Dewey slapped a paw against it. A second later he snapped his gaze over his shoulder.

"What?" Paige asked .

"Nothing. Just thought I felt something."

"Probably a draft. This place is drafty."

Dewey nodded. "Right. Maybe that's the peril. Maybe we'll end up with colds after this. Or the flu."

"At least it's not damp. We shouldn't get pneumonia."

"Yeah, like that damp tomb in Scotland. This is way better than that." They continued around another corner.

"Yes, it is. Except we don't have Dean's fish and chips."

Dewey rubbed his stomach and licked his lips. "Mmmm, I could go for some Dean's right now."

"Don't worry. At the rate we're moving, we'll be out of here in no time. And I will take you to celebrate in Millom just for the chippy."

Dewey bobbed his head. "I'm getting a double order this time. I'm not messing around."

"Yeah, I'm–" Paige stopped, whipping around to stare behind her.

"What?" Dewey asked.

"I felt something, too. Like fingers on my shoulder."

"Mine felt like claws scratching my tail," Dewey said.

They stared down the torch-lit corridor before Paige shrugged. "I don't see anything. Maybe it's dust or something."

"Yeah, that's it. Scratchy dust. The peril stems from getting it in your eyes, and then you have that sandy, gritty feeling."

"And you get dry eye." Paige chuckled as they continued to follow the Mummy.

"That's the peril!" Dewey clapped his paws together as he laughed.

Paige held her belly as her laughter ramped up, bringing tears to her eyes. "Maybe this is the peril. It's so easy, it's funny, and you die laughing."

Dewey flung himself against her head as he giggled along with her. "Yeah. Oh, I wonder if there's something in the air. This is the same way I felt when we drank all that champagne."

Paige sobered for an instant. "I hope there are no master tappers around."

"TopTappers," Dewey corrected.

"Whatever," she said as she snickered before doubling over with laughter again. "Oh, I wish Drucinda could see us now. Just casually strolling through the corridor of peril because we're too cool for trouble."

"Can't touch us," Dewey said.

"Nope. Not even one trap has dared try to cross us here."

"I don't think there are any. This hall is a dud. We definitely picked right."

"Definitely." Paige's forehead creased, and she spun around again. "I felt that grabby feeling again."

"I don't see anything."

She scanned the hall behind them. "Me either, but–"

She froze, slowly sliding her gaze over her shoulder. Her forehead wrinkled as she spotted something black curling around her shoulder. She swiped at it as she darted away. "Ah! What the hell?"

"Whoa!" Dewey buzzed away from a similar black object reaching for him.

Paige whipped around, her breathing labored, and searched the corridor for whatever had attacked her.

Fingers brushed against her neck. She spun again, not finding anything, but the sensation continued. No matter which way she turned or how far she ran, she couldn't find the source.

"What's happening?" she cried with a grimace.

Dewey stared at her with wide eyes. "I know what the peril is. We're doomed."