Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

" W e need to bail out!" Paige shouted, panic in her voice.

"There's no time for that and it wouldn't help anyway," Drucinda answered. "The best thing we can do is– "

"Prepare for a crash landing, folks," the pilot's voice crackled over the intercom. "We're going to attempt a water landing, but we've barely got control up here. This is going to be rough."

A moan escaped Paige as she wrung her hands. Dewey threw his arms around her as Devon pulled her to the couch and buckled the seat belt around her before he wrapped her tightly in his arms. "It's okay, Paige. I'll protect you."

"Protect me, Beefy!" Dewey shouted as he clung to Devon's t-shirt. "I can't die!"

Drucinda slouched in her seat on the love seat, bracing for the impact.

Paige squeezed her eyes closed, wondering if they'd make a miraculous water landing or if they'd end up in a fiery wreck or worse, submerged under the water in a crumpled heap of a plane .

In the seconds before impact, she wrapped a hand around Devon's, opening her glassy eyes to peer up at him. "Devon–" she started when the plane smashed into the water with a loud bang, but they never stopped moving.

She had expected the water to halt them, but it didn't. They continued to plummet. "What's happening?"

"Must have hit a portal opening in the water," Drucinda shouted as they continued to fall.

"What?"

"Portal!" Drucinda dug her nails into the supple leather as she pushed her feet against the floor. "We could end up anywhere."

"Are you serious?"

"Look on the bright side," Dewey yelled over the roar of the shuddering plane. "We're not dead."

"Right," Paige answered with a bob of her head as she tried to make sense of it. "We're alive and we're– "

"Crash landing imminent," the pilot shouted. "Land crash."

"Land? We were over the ocean." Paige's lips tugged into a taut wince.

"Portal!" Drucinda shouted again, her voice showing her irritation.

Seconds later, trees battered the bottom of the plane before they smashed through them. The plane hit the ground hard, the wheels buckling underneath and sending it sailing forward on its belly as the pilots fought to bring it to a halt.

Silence finally reigned in the cabin as Paige fought to steady her erratic breathing. The lights flickered before they went off, plunging them into near darkness.

"Did we make it?" Dewey's voice finally whispered in the darkness.

"I think so," Paige answered.

A bright light pierced the blackness around them .

"We made it. Let's go find out where we are so we can find a way home." Drucinda, already up, tugged at the door.

"How are you already this prepared to go?" Paige asked as she struggled to stand on her shaky legs.

"It's the Valkyrie in her," Dewey answered, still hanging on Devon as the vampire rose.

"You okay, Paige? We can take a few minutes. Or if you need me to carry you– "

"No, I can walk," she said with a nod. "I'm okay."

"Idiot," Dewey said with a shake of his head. "You should have let him carry you. What kind of heroine are you?"

"An independent one?"

"Hahahaha," Drucinda cackled as she finally kicked the dented door open, revealing a jungle outside. "Hardly. You whine too much to be an independent heroine. If you wanted an independent heroine, the story should have revolved around me. But then, it would be rather boring as I simply dominate everything the entire time with ease."

"I'm not that bad," Paige answered. "I get the job done."

"Barely. But I suppose you manage."

"You would write a book called Somehow I Manage ," Dewey answered.

"Please with the books." Paige approached the door, peering into the dense foliage outside. She listened for any sounds but didn't hear anything until the leaves rustled.

She fell back a step. "Did something just run past?"

"Yes," Drucinda answered. "The question is what and how deadly."

"Any clue to where we are?" Devon asked. "Looks like an earth-like realm."

Drucinda narrowed her eyes before she crouched at the entrance to the plane, studying the soil below them. "Yes, it does. But outside of that, there are no other clues."

Paige gasped again as something red darted through the green foliage. "There it goes again. It's red. Bright red. Maybe a cardinal."

Drucinda screwed up her face and twisted to stare at Paige. "A cardinal? Are you crazy? There aren't cardinals in a jungle."

"Well, maybe in this realm there are." Paige frowned at the woman as she squatted in the open door. "You don't know everything."

"I know more than you," Drucinda shot back. "That is not a cardinal."

An arrow struck the side of the plane, punctuating her statement.

Drucinda arched an eyebrow at Paige, shooting her a haughty glance. "Do you think the cardinal shot at us?"

"Okay, fine, it's not a cardinal, okay? Are you happy now?" Paige asked.

"Geez, Paige, calm down," Dewey said.

She heaved a sigh, rolling her eyes as she tried to keep her annoyance in check. "Fine, okay. We're all…stressed and upset and– "

"Speak for yourself," Drucinda said as she straightened and yanked the arrow from the plane to study it. "I'm neither stressed nor upset."

Paige's jaw clenched as a warm hand slid around her shoulder. "It's okay if you're stressed and upset, Boo. I'm here for you."

"Thanks," Paige mumbled, still annoyed, but working to cover it. "Okay, suppose we are in another realm– "

"There is no supposing, we are in another realm." Drucinda held up the arrow. "This is a Graggle arrow."

"A what?" Paige asked her nose wrinkling.

Before Drucinda could answer, the red creature darted through the thick leaves again before it emerged in the clearing cut down by their crash .

"What the hell is that?" Paige stumbled back a step, her features aghast.

"Graggle," Dewey answered as Drucinda grabbed the small creature by its scrawny neck and lifted it into the air.

"Graggle?" Paige studied the fluffy red being. "Wait. That's a Fraggle."

Devon chuckled next to her. "No, Paige, that's a Graggle."

Paige poked a finger at the critter kicking its legs as it tugged against Drucinda's grip. "That's a Fraggle. It's Red Fraggle to be specific. I had the doll when I was a kid."

Devon heaved a sigh, shooting a glance at Dewey.

"Paige, yes, there was a rip-off show that painted Graggles as friendly little beings that were kind and sweet, but it was lies. As you can see, real Graggles are mean and nasty. These darn things will bite you rather than look at you."

"Stop fighting me, you little beast," Drucinda growled. "You can't win. I'm far stronger. Now, tell me where your realm gate is."

"NEVER!" the thing shouted in a high-pitched squeal.

"Oh, really?" Drucinda asked before she shook it hard.

"OMG," Paige shouted. "Stop that! You're hurting it."

Drucinda snapped her gaze toward Paige. "Seriously? Would you rather I turned it loose in here?"

"No!" Devon and Dewey shouted in unison.

"I just think that this is…cruel. You're literally beating it up. I feel bad."

"Honestly. This is the problem with pop culture." Drucinda waved a hand toward Paige. "We've raised a generation of adults who fear vampires– "

Devon scoffed as he nodded. "Tell me about it. Paige was totally scared of me for no reason. I wanted nothing more than to love her."

"What? You tried to kill me."

"I didn't try to kill you. We've been over this. "

"Whatever," Paige mumbled as she crossed her arms.

"You feared vampires, yet you cherish Graggles. Graggles, of all things. The tiny beasts are menaces. We'll be lucky to make it unscathed to the realm portal with these maniacs running about. But instead, here you are, defending these things because you watched a television show that portrayed them as friendly and cute."

"Fine, okay, fine. They are mean, nasty things, nothing like Red Fraggle or Mokey."

"Mokey is the worst of them. She's awful and does nothing but incite violence."

Paige wrinkled her nose at the description, trying to reconcile the image with what she'd grown up with. "Uh, okay, well…"

"We cannot waste time searching for the portal. They could kill us. Well, you, anyway."

Paige swallowed hard as she stared at the angry face of what had once been her childhood buddy. "Look, Red, just tell us– "

"Shut up, human moron," Red answered.

"Well, that's not very nice. I'm here defending you and your kind, and you insulted me."

"I can't help it you're an idiot," the Graggle shot back.

"Wow. Drucinda wasn't kidding when she said you're nasty. You really are. Okay, fine, shake her again."

"With pleasure." Drucinda smirked as she tightened her grip around the creature's neck.

"Wait, wait!" Red shouted.

Drucinda hesitated as fear flashed in the small creature's eyes.

"Stop!" Paige said, her heart holding hope that the Graggle would help them. "Looks like she may be having a change of heart."

Before anyone could respond, the Graggle slammed a fist down on Drucinda's wrist and slipped from her grasp. She fell to the floor, using it as a springboard to launch herself toward Paige, teeth bared.

"OMG!" Paige shrieked as the frightening beast careened toward her.

With one swift punch, Devon knocked it to the side. Red smashed into the love seat and slumped to the floor. After a second, she pushed to sit, shaking her head before she scrambled to her feet and raced from the plane.

"Oh, well, that figures. Great work, Paige. Really a bang-up job." Drucinda glared at her.

"I'm sorry. I thought she was going to help us. I thought maybe since I treated her nicely…" She flicked her gaze to Devon, chewing her lower lip. "Thanks for the save."

"Anytime, Paige. No Graggle is going to attack my wife and get away with it."

"Technically, she got away with it," Dewey answered. "She ran off into the jungle, and now we're going to get killed when they swarm our plane."

"No, we are not. We are going to move before they can trap us here."

"Trap us? Really?" Paige questioned as Drucinda rummaged around to find gear for their trek.

"Yes, really. I don't want to be trapped inside here, outmanned and outgunned. If I had more than a knife and a broken arrow, I wouldn't care, but we are severely ill-prepared."

"Any hint of which direction we should go in?" Devon asked.

"None. We may need your beast mode to give us a clue."

Dewey bobbed his head. "Great idea. Devon can fly up and search for the realm entrance, then we'll make a plan for getting to it."

"What does one of these things look like?" Paige asked .

Dewey landed on Paige's shoulder. "A realm entrance? Super easy to spot. Looks like a giant vibrating rainbow."

"Yep, I should have no problem finding it from the air. Just…don't let the Graggles kill me." Devon wrinkled his nose as he shot a pleading glance at Drucinda.

"I'll do my best. Your skin is pretty tough, though, you should be able to fend of at least a few arrows."

"I don't want to fend off a few arrows, Dru. Those could leave a scar."

"Babes love scars, Muscles," Dewey said with a grin.

Devon wrinkled his nose at the dragon. "I'm not ruining my looks over this. Besides, it only matters if Paige digs scars."

Paige lifted her gaze to find him staring at her. "Uhhh, I mean…I'd still…"

He slid his head forward as she stumbled around. "Would you still love me if I wasn't this handsome?"

"Ummm, I mean…"

He let his head fall between his shoulder blades. "I knew it. You wouldn't."

"That's not what I said."

Dewey cracked Paige on the head with a shake of his own. "Nice going, Paige. You ruined your marriage on like the second day."

"It's not the second day, it's the third. Isn't it? And I didn't say anything about if he had scars."

"Okay, let me ask you this. Do you think I'm handsome?" Devon asked, desperation and heat entering his voice.

"Is this really an issue at this moment? I mean, we're being attacked by Graggles, we're stuck in another realm, and we need to get back to save my mom."

Devon smacked a hand against his face as he frowned. "Oh, man, this is worse than I thought. You don't even find me attractive anymore. Look, I'll admit, I haven't been lifting since we got married, but I'll get back to it as soon as we're home."

Paige screwed up her face at his upset.

"Perhaps we ought to–" Drucinda began when Devon cut her off.

"I promise, Paige. I'll get my physique back into top shape, okay?"

Paige stared at him, completely astounded by his words.

"Good, sounds like a plan. Now, let's get you up in the sky–" Drucinda started.

"No!" Devon shouted, cutting her off. "No, not until Paige and I work this out. I can't go up there until I know I have Paige to come back to."

All eyes turned to Paige, and heat rose in her cheeks as she stared at him. "Uhhh, I mean…"

"Get it together, Paige. We need him to get out of this, and you just keep stammering around instead of telling him what he wants to hear."

"I don't want to…I'm trying not to…"

"Lie? Is that it?" Devon asked, his voice breaking. "You don't want to lie to me and say you'll be here when I get back because you won't be. Is it my beast mode that disgusts you? I can only change when you're not around…I can–"

"No, no, it's not that." Paige pressed a hand to her forehead as emotions swirled around inside her, each fighting for dominance. "It's just that…I…"

"Spit it out, for the love of all things holy," Drucinda barked. "I'd like to get going before we are all killed by those mangy muppets."

"I…" Paige raised her gaze to Devon's, her features melting a little at the pleading dancing in his dark eyes. "I will be here for you. I think…I might be in love with you."

His features registered shock as she spoke the words .

"And I wouldn't care if you had a scar because…you're honestly the nicest person I've ever met–"

"Hey!" Dewey protested.

"Next to Dewey who is both mean and snarky, but also nice," she continued. "And I know we said our marriage was fake, but I feel like maybe it shouldn't be."

A grin spread across Devon's face, and he grabbed Paige's hands, squeezing them. "Paige, this is…incredible. Yes, yes, I want to stay married. It's never been fake for me."

"Yeah, I…wanted it to be fake because after growing up alone, I just…have trouble trusting people."

"You can trust me, Paige," he said, pressing her hand against his chest. "I will never betray you."

"Great, perfect. This is lovely. Your marriage is saved." Drucinda whirled a finger in the air. "Now, may we please get going."

"Yes," Devon said with an enthusiastic bob of his head. "Yes, I've got to get my wife home to save my mother-in-law."

He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him.

"Wonderful. Let's get on with it, then, shall we?"

"Beast mode, coming right up." Devon kissed Paige hard on the cheek before he morphed into his new form, lumbered to the door and shot up into the sky.

"Whew." Dewey raked his paw across the forehead. "That was close. Good cover with the whole I may love you thing, Paige."

"It wasn't a cover. I really feel that way. I just…have been too afraid to admit it."

Drucinda rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I do not understand you at all."

"What? It's complicated with Devon. We've gone from–"

"Enemies to lovers," Dewey finished. "Popular trope."

"Well…you know what, never mind. This is private between Devon and I. "

"Actually, you just made it really public, so I feel like Drucinda and I get to comment as much as we'd like," Dewey answered.

Paige clenched her jaw, wanting to melt into the floor, but before anyone could respond, Devon reappeared in the doorway, shedding his beast form.

"That was fast. I trust you aren't scarred?" Drucinda asked.

"No scars, but also a really big problem."

"The Graggles have surrounded us our deaths are imminent?" Drucinda asked.

Devon shook his head, his features grim. "No. There is no portal. Anywhere."