Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

P aige's eyelashes fluttered open but only darkness surrounded her. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she blinked rapidly, struggling to make out anything in the dim light after the bright beam had burned her eyes.

A groan escaped her as she sat up, smacking into something. "Ow."

"Watch it, Paige," Dewey snapped.

"Dewey?" Her heart lifted at the sound of his voice. "Dewey, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. Who else would you have smacked into when you sat up without warning?"

"Well, I didn't know it was you. It's pitch black in here." She rubbed her head where she'd knocked into him. "Where are we?"

"No idea. I was trying to feel my way around, but…it's pretty dark."

"Hello?" Paige called.

"Paige, I'm right here," Dewey answered .

"Where is everyone else? Where is Damien? Marcus? Celine?"

"Not here, apparently. No one is but us."

Paige climbed to her knees as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness surrounding them. "Damien?"

Her voice echoed off whatever walls surrounded them.

"Marcus?"

"Not here, Paige. I'm telling you."

"The ground was shaking like crazy. Did we fall through to another place or something. Are we trapped somewhere away from them?"

"Yeah, and there was that bright light."

"Right. Then I touched something really icy, then blackness."

"Hmm, I didn't touch anything icy," Dewey murmured. "What could– "

"Hello?"

Paige's heart leapt at the sound of a new voice. "Someone. Someone's here! Hello? Hello!"

"Paige?"

Paige recognized Drucinda's British accent. "Drucinda?"

"Drucinda!" Dewey shouted. "Help! We're in here! We're…somewhere!"

"I'm coming," she answered as a new voice entered the mix.

"Paigey? Are you back?" Devon called.

She'd never been so excited to hear Devon's voice. "Devon? Devon!"

Paige rose on shaky legs as light bobbled toward them. She grinned as she spotted the people behind it.

"You found us! We're home!" Dewey cheered.

Drucinda patted the little dragon on the back as he flung his arms around her. "Yes, you are home. And have you been successful? "

"No," Paige said with a shake of her head. "We were just about to open the safe containing the serum and– "

She uncurled her fist, realizing she held something in her hand.

"And?" Drucinda asked. "So, you'll have to go back."

"Wait. What is this?" Paige furrowed her brow as she stared down at the vial in her hand.

"That's the serum," Drucinda answered as she shined the light on the label. "That's what we need, you did it."

Her heart soared. "We did it. We did it!" Her brow furrowed. "How did we do it?"

"I don't know, Paige, but of course, we did," Dewey said as he buzzed over to sit on her shoulder. "We're awesome."

They tried to high-five but missed. "Well, not at that, but still…okay, good. How is my mom?"

"Hanging in there," Drucinda answered as she pocketed the serum vial. "We should get back right away."

"Yes," Paige said with a nod, taking a step toward the woman. Her foot kicked something, and she glanced down at it. "The music box. Oh, I thought I'd left it with Damien."

She bent down to scoop it up, running her hand along the inlaid surface.

"Music box?" Devon asked as he slid an arm around her waist. "I'm glad you're back, Paige. I was so worried."

"Yeah. We had to find these keys to open the safe that held the serum. And we had to go all over to get them. The last set of people who had the keys gave me this music box. It's really pretty, and it's got a lovely song."

"Aw, that's nice," Devon said as they followed Drucinda from the cavern back into the amusement park ride they'd started at.

"So, did you meet Marcus?" Devon asked as they followed the illuminated exit signs to leave the ride .

"We did. He's cool, man," Dewey said with a nod of his head. "You would have liked him."

"I really wish I could have gone. Maybe when all of this is over, we'll take a trip." Devon sucked in an excited breath. "Paige! We could honeymoon there!"

Paige wrinkled her nose as she recalled the hulking Dracopires that roamed around the area surrounding Bucksville. "Uhhh, let's not do that. I mean, we could go there maybe but…it's pretty dangerous there."

"Aww," Devon said with a whine in his voice, "okay, fine. We'll honeymoon somewhere else."

Paige tugged her lips back in a wince, wondering if they should just divorce when the whole thing was finished. "We can talk about it later."

"Okay, sounds good."

Drucinda pushed through the exit door, bright sunshine streaming into the hallway they walked. Dewey slipped his ring on, turning himself into his human form again.

Paige squinted against the light, wondering if the people they'd left behind in Maine realized what had happened to them. Her hands trembled while holding the box as they threaded through the crowd, making their way back to the entrance.

They piled into the car, returning to their plane. As they made the flight home, Paige stared out the window, every second that passed was torture.

Would they make it in time? How long would the serum take to work?

Questions crowded into her mind, and she couldn't answer any of them.

A warm hand slid around her shoulder before another snaked around her waist. "Hey," Devon whispered in her ear. "You look like you're a million miles away. "

"I'm however many miles away my mother is from me right now."

"We'll get there soon, babe."

She twisted to eye him as he stroked her hair. "Thanks."

"Of course. You mean a lot to me, Paige. I want to be here for you."

The words crushed her. He'd been so kind to her, and she'd only used him to save her mother. Guilt roiled through her. Her features pinched and tears burned her eyes.

"Paige?" Devon asked, his hand rubbing her back. "You okay?"

She nodded, but it quickly turned into a wag of her head. Guilt mixed with the enormity of the situation she'd just faced along with the upcoming one. All of the uncertainty poured out of her, and a sob escape her. "No."

"What is it?" Devon asked.

Before she could answer, Dewey buzzed from the doorway leading to the back. "What did you do to her, Muscles?"

"I didn't do anything, she just started crying."

"It's not his fault," Paige answered.

Dewey fluttered toward her, landing on the arm of the couch. "Whose fault is it? It's imperative that we place blame appropriately."

"It's just everything," Paige answered. "Will we make it home in time? Will my mom finally wake up? Those people we met who helped us were really kind. Devon is really kind."

"Aw, Paige, I appreciate that. A lot of people think because I'm a vampire, I'm just inherently bad. It's an awful stereotype to live with."

Paige's lower lip trembled as she wrinkled her nose at him. "Yeah, sorry. "

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Drucinda said with a sigh as she sauntered into the room. "Again?"

"Huh?" Paige asked with a sniffle.

"All you do is blubber. Honestly. You'll never make it as a librarian. You cry over everything ."

"Easy, Dru. She's upset over her mom."

Drucinda poured herself a drink. "So am I. I actually knew the woman, yet here I am a pillar of strength."

"You're way cooler than me," Paige answered.

"Obviously. Look, we have the life-saving serum. All we need to do is administer it and wait for her to wake up."

Paige swallowed hard, trying to imagine the moment. "It almost seems surreal."

Dewey patted her on the shoulder. "But soon, it'll be happening."

"And then you'll probably hide in a corner and cry about whether or not Reed will like you." Drucinda rolled her eyes.

"I will not."

"Right. Reed has to like her," Dewey countered. "She's her daughter. It's a requirement. Even if Paige is a complete disappointment, Reed has no choice. Even if Paige is the worst possible daughter she could imagine…"

"Okay, Dewey, you're not helping." Paige wiped her tears away as she shook her head.

Her gaze fell on her bracelet. "I wonder if she'll be able to explain anything about this. Althea seemed to know a little."

"Reed didn't know much, but coupled with whatever that woman told you, you may be able to solve it." Drucinda eased onto the loveseat and took another sip of her bourbon. "What did she say?"

"That I had a magical energy, and that I likely came from an Irish clan based on the symbols on my bracelet."

"All of which I've already told you," Dewey reminded them .

"She said I was some form of witch, but she said most secrets were guarded within families."

"And Reed didn't seem to know much." Drucinda wrinkled her nose. "But I'm certain we can figure it out."

"After we save my mom," Paige said with another sniffle.

"Then you both can learn," Drucinda said, offering her a rare half-smile that didn't look like a smirk.

"Right," Paige said as a shudder shook the plane. She glanced around the cabin. "That didn't sound good."

"Relax, Paigey, it's fine," Devon said with a rub of her shoulders. "Planes like to be in the air."

Another tremble of turbulence shook the plane. "Right. Just a little air pocket or something."

"Exactly."

"Well, unless we're going to crash again," Dewey pointed out.

"Why must you say stuff like that?" Paige asked. "Seriously? You're always a downer."

"I am not. But the fact remains that we crashed once before." Dewey crossed his arms and lifted his chin.

"Yeah, exactly, so what are the odds that we'd crash again." Paige let her chin sink into her palm.

Dewey furrowed his thick brow. "Well, that's an interesting question. Normally, I'd say it's pretty low, but …we are dealing with you. And you, Paige, are like…accident-prone."

"I may be a little klutzy but I'm not capable of downing planes just by being on them."

The plane shook all over again, rattling the glasses on the drink cart.

"Try again," Dewey said with a shake of his head. "‘Cause it looks like maybe you can. Are you using your magical powers to do this?"

"What?" Paige cried. "Why in the world would I use magic to down my own plane? "

"I don't know. You've been kind of stressed lately. Maybe you have a secret death wish."

Paige screwed up her face, her jaw unhinging. "I just found my mom and am on my way to save her life. Why would I want to screw that up?"

"Maybe you're afraid your mom won't like you, and you'd rather die in a fiery plane crash than face that." Dewey shrugged.

Paige offered him an unimpressed stare. "I'm not using magic to down the plane. It's just a little turb–"

"May want to buckle up back there," the pilot's voice crackled over the intercom. "It's getting pretty rough here."

"That's the same thing they said the last time," Dewey said as he plopped down next to Drucinda and grabbed a seat belt.

"No, it's not," Paige said, buckling her own belt.

"Babe, don't fret," Devon said as he slouched next to her, cool as a cucumber, "we can just bail if we need to."

"Over the ocean. Devon, you can't fly us back to Europe." Paige smacked a palm against her forehead.

He squashed his features at the perceived insult. "Well– "

"Folks," the pilot said, "we're in a spot of trouble up here. We're looking at a crash landing, most likely."

Paige's heart hammered against her ribs. "You're kidding."

"I don't think he has that kind of sense of humor, Paige," Dewey answered as he unbuckled his seat belt and rose into the air. "Stuff me in a bag, someone, and let's get out of here."

"We're not going to crash," Paige said with a vehement shake of her head.

"Pretty certain you're wrong about that," Drucinda answered as she rose and peered out the window. "That water is coming at us pretty fast."

"This is what happens when I think positive." Paige dug her fingernails into her palms, trying to stave off the panic that threatened.

"It's okay, Paige. I'm not going to let you die." Devon patted her shoulder.

"How are you going to stop it? We're literally plunging to the ocean right now!" Paige sank her head into her hands. "Sorry, sorry."

"It's okay, Paige. You're stressed. I get it."

"Why does this keep happening to me? I just wanted to fly home and save my mom."

"You're cursed, that's why," Dewey shouted as he clung to Drucinda. "Save me! I'm not cursed."

"Calm down, little man. We'll figure something out. I'm not about to die in a plane crash."

Paige rose to her feet, struggling to stay steady as the plane shuddered. "Right. Positive thinking."

"No, literally as part-Valkyrie, I won't die. Devon won't either. It's you and Dewey who are at risk here," Drucinda explained.

Paige's heart skipped a beat. She had forgotten she was flying with two immortal creatures while she and Dewey were mortal. Two of them would survive this crash easily. But for her…she glanced out the window as the water rushed toward them. She was facing her own death.