Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

" W hat do you mean?" Paige cried, the shock making her knees weak. "Did you miss it?"

Devon stared at her, disappointment floating in his eyes. "No, Paige. I didn't miss it."

Drucinda shook her head. "You couldn't miss it. It would be a massive shimmering rainbow. You would have to be blind to miss it. Take me up."

"Dru, I'm not an idiot."

"I didn't say you were," she answered as she stuffed the knife into her waistband. "But I want to see for myself what we're working with here."

"Fine." Devon morphed into beast mode and waved a clawed hand to Drucinda who crossed to him. He gripped her and flapped his wings, shooting out of the plane and into the air.

"I can't believe this." Paige slapped a hand against her forehead as she sank onto the couch.

"Right?" Dewey fluttered into the air, shaking his head. "I mean, who saw this coming? "

"I know. No portal? How can that be? And how will we get home?"

"Wait." Dewey's brows knitted. "I was talking about the whole…'I'm in love with you, Devon' thing."

Paige screwed up her face as she raised her gaze to the tiny dragon fluttering in the air in front of her. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I mean…who saw that coming, right? Like suddenly…you admit you have feelings for Mr. Beefcakes. Although, I knew that all along. I knew you dug his hotness. You kept denying it, but there's no way you couldn't fall for him."

Dewey squashed his features as he rubbed his chin. "Maybe we are fictional characters. This feels like a story arc. I wonder…"

His eyes went wide and his jaw fell open. "No."

"What is it?" Paige asked. "Although, this is ridiculous. We're not fictional."

"Suppose we are. You finally found your mom…you fell in love with Devon…ohhh." His voice warbled as he huffed out a worried sigh.

"What?"

"Paige…this is the series end."

"Okay, so?"

"So? So! Are you kidding me. I can't believe you claim to be a reader. Paige, this is where everything wraps up."

"Right, good. Maybe our lives will stop being a complete mess now."

"Or cease to exist entirely. At least for me."

"How does that make any sense at all?"

"I am the witty side kick. How I was not the star of this book, I still don't know but that appears to be you. Anyway, the witty side kick always…dies."

Paige shook her head. "That's so not true. "

"It is true. Somewhere near the end of this story, I'll die a horrible death. You will vow to avenge me as you weep over my limp, broken body. Then you, Devon, and Drucinda will bring down the evil forces, save your mom and live happily ever after. The end scene will be you lighting a candle at a small, flower-filled memorial with a bad picture of me."

"Dewey, I think you're getting ahead of yourself."

"No. No, I'll be…ohhh, I'm going to be Dobby–the movie version. Everyone will cry when I'm dead, but still…the story will just go on thanks to my sacrifice."

He pressed his lips together, tugging them into a frown before he curled his paws into fists. "No. I won't do it."

He flicked this gaze to the sky. "Do you hear me, Nellie Steele? I won't do it! I won't die for the sake of the character coming full circle!"

"Dewey, Dewey," Paige said as she rose and grabbed hold of his shoulders, "you're not going to die. Maybe you're the witty side kick who gets to live like…Watson."

"Watson wasn't the witty one."

"Well, Sherlock lived, too, so…they both lived."

Dewey sucked in a few deep breaths, sliding his eyes closed. "Right. I can live."

He snapped his eyes open. "But let me say this…I will not fly in front of any bullets or jump in front of a knife flung at you. None of that. You get shot at, I'm hiding behind you."

"Deal. I don't want you to die either."

"That makes two of us," Dewey said as Drucinda and Devon returned to the plane.

As Devon shed his beast form for his human one, Paige whipped around to face them. "Well?"

"He's right. There's nothing."

Paige's stomach twisted into a knot. "What? How can that be? How did we get in here?"

"I don't know. We can try to track the trajectory of our plane and see if we can find the portal from there," Drucinda answered.

"Track the trajectory of our plane crash?" Paige asked, her mind whirling. "Are you serious? While the Graggles track us and kill Dewey?"

"Hey!" Dewey shouted. "You said I wasn't going to die."

"Why would Dewey die?" Devon asked, his features squashing with confusion.

"I'm not following it either. He's the least likely to die at the hands of the Graggles because he can fly away from them. They aren't good tree climbers, so he could just avoid them by perching high in a tree."

"But he's the snarky side kick, so he's more likely to die than I am. Or Devon. If this is the series end, no one wants to read that I just said I love Devon and then he dies."

"Ohhh, Drucinda could die," Dewey pointed out. "I mean, she'd be missed but not that much."

"I am not likely to die due to my exceptional skills, little man. And what are you babbling about with his snarky side kick and series ends?"

Paige winced, wrinkling her nose. "We may be fictional characters. In Bucksville, Damien found a book series called Shelving Magic, following the life and trials of a woman named Paige Turner as she starts her new job at the Shadow Harbor Library."

Drucinda stood motionless, her features registering confusion and disbelief. "Have you been sniffing glue? Did you hit your head during the crash?"

"No." Paige shook her head as she motioned toward Drucinda, flicking a glance at Dewey. "You were there. Tell her."

"It's true. On the cover, there was a woman who looked sort of like Paige, although hotter. And a dragon who didn't resemble me at all, but still was close enough to be me," Dewey answered. "And the story inside was…strangely familiar."

"Was I in it?" Devon asked.

"I didn't read the entire book, but yeah."

"Wow." He crinkled his brow. "But…I'm likely safe, right? Because…who would kill off the hunky heartthrob, right?"

"Unless it's an ugly cry book," Dewey answered. "If it's an ugly cry book…you're a goner, Dimples."

He tugged his lips into a wince. "Do you think it is? Did it look like that?"

"No, it looked like your standard fare for the supernatural genre, so you may be safe. I'm convinced if someone is going to die it'll be me or Drucinda–"

"Not happening. Look, even if this is true," Drucinda said with a shake of her head, "I won't die. I'm likely the author's favorite."

Paige screwed up her face. "How do you figure that? Wouldn't I be the author's favorite? I'm the main character."

"No, darling, you're the hot mess that she chose to write about. I'm the favorite. The exceptionally entertaining side character who steals the show."

"I'm pretty certain that's me. The snarky side kick who everyone adores," Dewey answered.

"Obviously…I'm in the running here for favorite. I'm hot, hunky, and pretty dang irresistible. And I did win Paige over so…author must like me." Devon puffed out his chest.

"Can we please stop debating this?" Drucinda asked. "Not only is the answer clear, but it's wasting time. The author isn't going to magically get us out of this bind."

"Technically, she is–" Dewey began.

"Stop!" Drucinda shouted. "Please. We have other problems that we must focus on. We are being surrounded by Graggles and have no clear shot out of here. "

Paige heaved a sigh. "Fine. So…what should do we? We can't just head out into the jungle and wander aimlessly."

"And we can't stay here, or we'll be killed. It looks like the plane came in from the east, so we'll follow that path." Drucinda tugged her knife from her waistband, readying it for their trek.

"Maybe the pilots saw something," Paige suggested as she crossed to the door. "I can't believe they aren't out here yet."

"The probably bailed out before we crashed," Drucinda answered.

"Bailed out? Really? So, then they're out there in the jungle somewhere. Maybe we should search for them." Paige winced. "Oh, or do you think they're already dead?"

Drucinda slid her eyes closed and shook her head. "I honestly do not understand how you seem to be getting dumber as we go long rather than smarter."

Dewey settled on Paige's shoulder again, patting her head. "Magical bailout. When they saw the portal, they likely bailed and ended up in the ocean in the real world."

"Why didn't they take us with them?" Paige cried. "Maybe they are the author's favorites."

"I'm not certain–" Dewey began.

"Shut up, let's get moving. We need to find this portal and get that serum to Reed." Drucinda heaved a sigh as she hovered in the doorway.

After collecting their things, they followed her out into the jungle.

"These trees are knocked down. We'll go in that direction." Drucinda waved a finger toward a wide swath that appeared to have been sliced down by the incoming plane.

Paige's heart pounded against her ribs as they began their trek into the thick jungle, following the path their plane had made. "It's pretty quiet in here," Paige finally whispered. "Maybe the Graggles– "

An arrow whizzed past, cutting off her words as it rammed into a tree next to her. Her eyes went wide, and her knees wobbled. "Uhh…"

"Graggles!" Drucinda shouted. "Run!"

A wild ululating sounded, closing in on their location and striking fear into Paige's heart.

"Hang on!" she shouted to Dewey as Devon grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her along with him.

"Come on, Paige!"

"Where are we running to?" Paige shouted as she puffed for breath.

Arrows continued to pelt them, landing in trees and on the ground around them.

"Away!" Devon shouted. "I don't want to die."

"OMG," Dewey shrieked. "This is it! This is how I die. An arrow through my heart."

"That's not going to happen," Paige said, determination filling her voice. "We're all getting out of here alive."

Dewey glanced behind them, his eyes going wide. "If you really believe that, you may want to run faster."

"Huh?" Paige twisted, finding a color set of fuzzy characters racing after her. "OMG!"

Before she could react, she was whisked off her feet. She glanced up to find Devon in beast mode, hauling her skyward.

She snapped her gaze forward, finding Drucinda scrambling into a tree. Devon flew to her, landing on a branch near hers.

"We're trapped," she said, eyeing the group amassing below them.

"I can fly around and search for the portal, then fly you there one by one," Devon suggested.

"It may be our only option, but you may run out of steam," Drucinda answered .

"Maybe we should just wait for a bit. They may give up." Paige eyed the group of muppets below them.

"Are you mad?" Drucinda asked. "They are not going to leave. They'll set up a camp at the bottom of this tree and wait for us to die off."

Paige wrinkled her nose. "You're right. We're trapped. Dewey and Devon are our only hope."

"No, no," Dewey said with a shake of his head. "Devon is our only hope. He's the safest of all of us. No one kills off the heartthrob. It's up to Devon."

"I can go," he said with a nod. "I'll find the portal."

With a deep breath, he glanced at Paige before he pulled her closer and planted a kiss on her. "Just in case."

Dewey screwed up his face. "In case of what? She's not going to die. We know this."

Paige shook her head. "We don't know that. I'm just as vulnerable as you are."

Dewey jabbed a claw her way. "Except you're not. You are the main character. If you die, the book just ends. So, that can't happen."

"Maybe it can. Maybe it's an ugly cry book where good doesn't win." Paige shrugged.

"Can we please stop making decisions based on this ridiculous notion that we're not real?" Drucinda said with a huff.

"Fine, you're right. This is silly. We'll all be okay. We're smart and capable– "

"Some of us," Drucinda interrupted.

Paige shot her a warning glance before she continued. "We'll be able to figure this out. We can– "

Her voice cut off as the jungle suddenly became quiet. She wrinkled her nose, peering over the foliage to eye the Graggles that had gathered at the base of the tree .

Her jaw fell open as she spotted nothing but ground. "Where did they go?"

"What?" Drucinda asked.

Paige poked a finger downward. "The Graggles. Where are they? They're gone."

"That's ridiculous. They wouldn't just leave when they have us…" Drucinda sat back on the branch as her brows knitted. "Trapped."

"They're gone. Are they able to camouflage or something?"

"No," Drucinda answered with a shake of her head. "No, they don't have that ability. Why did they leave? This is highly unusual."

"Maybe they decided they couldn't beat us since we have Devon." Paige shrugged. "Maybe they can smell him and know he can fly."

"Hey, I don't smell…except like the rugged scent of deadwood with hints of citrus and sandalwood."

Paige screwed up her face. "What is this? An Old Spice commercial?"

"It could be…I sent a video to them. I just love Old Spice Timber."

She stared at him, disbelief playing on her features before she shook it away. "Okay, I can't handle that right now. Look, obviously the Graggles left for a reason. Maybe we should capitalize on this opportunity and get out of here without Devon having to fly around and leave us stuck in a tree."

Drucinda peered down to the ground again. "I don't like this."

"They could be lying in wait for us to head back to the ground, then pounce," Dewey answered.

"They could, though I don't see them anywhere. With their colorful fur, you'd think we'd be able to spot at least one of them. But I don't see anything. "

Paige sucked in a breath and shook her head. "Look, I think we need to move now. Maybe they are regrouping, bringing backup. We can't wait."

"She has a point," Devon answered. "It's better if we all get to the portal at the same time."

Drucinda scanned the space around them again before she nodded. "All right. We'll give it a try, but…I don't like this at all. What possibly could have frightened the Graggles away from their prey?"

"I don't know, but let's hope this is the break we need," Paige said as Devon morphed back into beast mode and grabbed hold of her.

They descended slowly to the ground while Dewey hovered above them in a slow descent and Drucinda slid down the tree.

As their feet touched the ground, they glanced around warily, wondering if they'd soon be attacked again.

"Looks like they're gone," Paige whispered.

"Yes, but we still don't know why."

"Doesn't matter," Paige answered with a shake of her head. "Let's just keep following the plane's path and hope we find the portal."

With a nod, Drucinda crept forward, her knife at the ready for any threats.

As they pushed through the thick jungle, the ground under them shuddered. Paige froze, glancing around. "Did anyone else feel that?"

"I did," Drucinda answered. "I don't know what it was, but I'd suggest we pick up the pace. I don't like this."

"You've said…many times," Paige answered, annoyance creeping into her voice. "But I really don't see what the big– "

Her eyes went wide as Drucinda tugged back a large leaf. She froze, her head cocking before it slowly tilted to search for the end of the object standing in front of them. "I think I know why the Graggles left," she whispered, her voice breathy.

She twisted around to face them, fear dancing in her eyes. "Run!"