Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

" U ndefeatable magic system?" Paige's stomach twisted into a tight knot even though she didn't understand the words entirely. "What does that mean?"

Drucinda arched an eyebrow. "Are you serious? It's pretty obvious. It's a system that cannot be defeated."

"Yeah, but…like how?" Paige asked.

"I think it's a relevant question," Ronnie said with a shrug. "I mean, the more we know about this the more we can try to tackle it."

"Higgins stumbled upon an ancient tome, one that talked about magic that we had never seen. He managed to reverse engineer one of the artifacts by combining several of the things in our archive."

"So," Dewey said as he buzzed into the air, "he, for example, combined a…MagnoPro with a duplicating mirror to create multiple massive beasts?"

Reed poked a finger at him. "That's the idea, yes, only on a much more grandiose level."

Drucinda's features pinched. "And how is it that he is still alive, by the way. We saw him die. "

Reed hung her head, chewing her lower lip. "I'm afraid that's my fault."

Paige arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"He had a deadly form of cancer. After he died, we…used some of my magic combined with an artifact to resurrect him. It also gave him multiple magical powers. I…I shouldn't have done it but…I had no choice."

"No one is blaming you, Reed. These people staged your murder, kidnapped you, and held you hostage for decades," Ronnie said. "It's not your fault."

"I feel so guilty. Why did I go to that warehouse?"

"What was there, by the way? I followed you but…outside of blood, there was nothing."

"Liches. Two of them. They're part of the cabal."

"Liches?" Devon choked out. "The Liches have partnered with Higgins?"

Reed bobbed her head.

Devon stiffened next to Paige, his jaw tightening. "I need to call my dad."

"Whoa, no," Reed shouted, her heart monitor beeping faster.

"Easy, Reed," Ronnie said, patting her arm. "Try not to get upset."

"I am upset! I didn't share this information so Devon could feed it to his father."

"Hey, my father can be a powerful ally in this. And it sounds like we need all the allies we can get."

"We don't need those type of allies. We'll be beholden to them when this is over which puts us in just as bad of a position as if Higgins takes over the world." Reed's features pinched.

Paige frowned, her mind trying to wrap around the entire scenario. Her reunion with her mother hadn't been what she'd expected. Within hours of waking up, she'd hated her husband and then told them the world was likely about to end.

Now, chaos ensued as arguments broke out about how to handle the tricky situation.

"Okay, Devon, can you hold off for a little while before you speak with your father as a courtesy to the library," Ronnie said. "I need to do a little digging on my end."

"Please be careful, Ronnie," Reed answered. "If you tip them off…"

"I know," Ronnie said with a nod. "We could end up worse off than we are right now."

Drucinda cocked her hip, crossing her arms. "I disagree with all of this. First, I think we should allow Devon to inform his father. The Durand's can be powerful allies in this, and we may need them. Second, I don't believe we should do any digging. We need to strike."

"While I disagree with your first statement, Drucinda has a point about striking immediately. The longer this goes on, the less chance we have of being successful in destroying what they've built."

Ronnie wrinkled her brow. "Well, do we have any idea where to strike? That's the question. We know so very little."

"They have a stronghold they've retreated to. I don't know the exact location, but I believe it's somewhere in the…"

Dewey clasped his paws together. "Please don't say a cold place, please don't say a cold place, please don't say a cold place."

"Artic."

"Noooooo!" Dewey shouted as he flung his arms to the sides.

"I've still got your tiny snowsuit, little man. You'll be fine." Drucinda shifted her gaze to Ronnie. "That's the digging we need to do. Find the location where Higgins is holed up. And we'll destroy it."

"Wait, how are we going to destroy it?"

"Magic bomb," Drucinda said with a shrug.

"I'm not so sure about that, Dru," Reed said with a shake of her head. "He's created magic we've never seen before. A magic bomb could release things into the world that we don't want."

"We can't possibly retrieve all of the assets and defeat Higgins and his merry band of Lichs," Drucinda said. "We need to go big."

"I agree about going big, but…magic bombs are messy."

"So, in other words, we need the properties of both a containment bomb and a magic bomb," Dewey said. "We need to destroy everything then rapidly suck up any traces of magic into a container to be archived."

"That would be a fantastic idea," Ronnie said with a bob of her head. "If that existed."

"I'll invent it," Dewey said. "I can do it. You track down where this little hideout is. I'll invent a magical containment bomb."

Reed arched an eyebrow. "Just like that?"

"Just like that," Dewey said with a nod.

Ronnie lifted her chin. "Dewey created a cure for a day-walking vampire beast mark wound. We won Best Library Team last year."

"Ronnie!" Reed grinned at her. "Congratulations! And Dewey, that sounds…wait…why did Paige need cured from a beast mark."

Her smile faded as she focused on Devon.

"Dimples over here may or may not have marked her early on before he fell in love with her, and accidentally almost killed her," Dewey answered.

"You nearly killed my daughter, and now you married her?" Reed's voice turned shrill as she balled her fingers into fists.

"Yeah. And it's the subject of my first paranormal romance trilogy," Dewey said. "You can read all about it starting February fourteenth!"

"No way, dude," Devon said, his eyes wide. "Oh, I've got to preorder this. I can't wait."

"No, don't…Mom, don't read that. Dewey used our names and our likenesses but…the story is nothing like what he wrote. There was no…please don't read a steamy romance about me and Devon."

Drucinda rolled her eyes. "Get over it, Paige, there will be thousands of us reading all those steamy details. But the important thing is for us to find Higgins and destroy this magic system. Now, little man, you go start on the bomb with Paige. Ronnie and I will try to find Higgins's lair. Devon, put your father on high alert. If we fail, we'll need him and his entire network."

Devon nodded as he pulled his phone from his pocket and strode from the room.

"I don't like this," Reed answered.

"I know, but this is a good plan," Ronnie said. "You lie back and try to rest, okay? We'll keep you updated."

Paige crossed to her mother, taking her hand. "Mom, we'll fix this, okay?"

Reed reached for her cheek, cupping it. "Oh, Paige…when you were born, I wanted so many things for you…I feel like I've failed you."

"No," Paige said, her features scrunching. "No, you didn't fail me. Look…"

She forced a grin onto her face. "I'm a librarian. It's like…the world pushed me exactly where I needed to go anyway."

"I just…every day that I spent in captivity, I wondered about you, dreamed about you, lamented the life we'd lost. I co uld have raised you in the library, taught you so many things."

"Stopped her from marrying Devon, but then would we have as great of a story on our hands?" Dewey asked.

"I, uh, I think we'd have a better one, but that's just me."

"The beef cake isn't that bad," Dewey said as he landed on the mattress next to Reed. "Give him a chance. And Paige, too. Wait until you see what she can achieve. You'll be amazed. Your daughter is pretty great."

Reed offered Paige a glassy-eyed grin. "I'm so proud of you, Paige. I just…wish I'd raised you."

"Me too. But hopefully we'll be able to spend lots of time together now. After we defeat the evil guy looking to take over the world, of course."

Reed chuckled, a tear escaping to her cheek. "Of course."

"We'd better get going. I have a lot to learn about these bombs. I'll check soon," Paige said, reluctantly letting go of her mother's hand.

Reed bobbed her head as she settled back into the pillow. "I look forward to it."

Paige backed from the room, her stomach tightening as she turned her back on her mother. Every step she took away from her made her nervous. What if she fell back into the coma? What if she disappeared again?

"Paige?" Dewey asked softly.

"Sorry, just…it's hard walking away from her after everything that's happened."

"Oh, right, that, yeah."

"What did you think it was?" Paige asked, her features scrunched.

"Hunger. I'm pretty hungry."

Paige's shoulders slumped. "Okay, we'll get you some food. "

"I think you need some, too, Paige. It shouldn't be that hard to walk."

"What?" She shook her head. "No, not…it's hard to leave my mom in that hospital room because I'm afraid I'll go back, and she won't be there.'

"Well, I mean, they may take her for tests…"

Paige slapped a palm against her forehead. "No, I mean…she'll be gone. Like dead or…missing again."

"Ohhh, this is irrational fear, I see."

"Yes, Dewey," she answered, her tone unimpressed, "irrational fear. Which I am totally entitled to after what happened."

"Sure, of course you are. But could you possibly have it after we've invented a new bomb because I really need you to focus."

Paige heaved a sigh as she drummed her fingers against the counter. "Okay, fine. You have my full attention."

"Good, start reading up on these bombs so you can help me with my tests. I'm going to begin formulation on a few options, and we'll see what happens."

"Why is that so frightening to me?"

Dewey squashed his eyebrows together. "No idea. Can't come up with a reason. Now, grab the RP and get a feel for these things."

Paige nodded as she slid the device off of the counter and shuffled to the chair. A quick search of containment bombs revealed that, unlike their more violent counterparts, simply created a vacuum that sucked all the magic inside of it.

Paige flicked her eyebrows up. Easy enough.

She may have to read more about how it pulls the magic inside effectively to contain it, but she moved on to study the magic bomb. These seemed to range from relatively mundane things that sent out tiny spurts of magic into the air that quickly fizzled to massively violent explosions that would destroy virtually everything in their paths and could spew magic into the air, sending it out untethered into the world to latch onto anything.

It was widely believed that many artifacts were created this way.

"Hmm, interesting," Paige murmured.

"What is?" Dewey asked, glancing at her through a pair of safety googles.

"This magic bomb that has been responsible for some artifact creation."

"Oh, yeah obviously. I mean, it's not the only way artifacts are created, but it is a way. We need to make sure we don't do that."

"Yeah, with this new sort of magic, we don't want it getting out at all. It's sort of scary."

"Sort of? It's terrifying. A new magical landscape? And Higgins at the helm? No thanks. Now, have you done your research? I'd like to run some ideas past you."

Paige rose and crossed to him. "I have, but I don't see how this is going to work. One literally sucks things in while the other pushes energy out to destroy things. How can we do both?"

"Well, here's my idea…first, we blow it all to smithereens. Massive explosion that just wipes out everything in its path. Then , we quickly reverse course and collect it all up with a containment bomb."

"Oh, that's actually…a really simple, but brilliant solution," Paige said with a nod, her features turning impressed.

Dewey puffed out his chest. "Right? Brilliantly simple, that's me."

The grin slipped from his face. "No wait…that's…I'm brilliant, let's leave it at that."

"Okay," Paige said with a grin. "Now, how do we do this?"

"Well, that's what I don't know. I mean, in theory this is fantastic, but in practice…well, we're going to need to figure out how we can ensure we've blown everything sky high but also reach one hundred percent containment. If even a speck of this new magic is left, it could spell trouble for us."

"So, maybe…we do like a bomb with a big radius, but then, a containment bomb with a bigger radius," Paige suggested.

"I like it. Let's see if we can do it."

"Wait, how will we know?"

"Simple," Dewey said, motioning toward a setup tucked behind a massive piece of glass. "We can test it inside here. We'll do it on the small scale, then extrapolate our results."

"Oh, got it. Well, this should be easy then."

"Yeah, seems almost too easy," Dewey answered as he began gathering materials from the shelves. "Then again…we are geniuses, so maybe it's just easy for us."

"Also, we're sort of new to the game and that kind of energy can really change things. You know, you get stuck in a mindset after so long, and you don't think of fresh ideas."

"Exactly," Dewey answered, measuring out a variety of powders and liquids. "There's a reason we're the best library team."

Paige shot a finger gun at him with a wink. "Yep and looking to take that title again."

"Heck yeah!" Dewey said as he put together the materials he'd mixed into a plastic container with a wick.

"Okay, now I've made this for a blow radius on the first bomb of about three feet, and on the second four."

"Let's see how she does."

Paige donned a pair of googles as Dewey delivered the device to the test area. He set a few bits of pretend magic loose in the chamber along with some fake artifacts.

"Light fire and get away," he said as he lit the wick and buzzed backward to join Paige .

They waited with bated breath. The wick burned down to nothing. Then nothing happened.

"What the he– "

The bomb suddenly blew violently inside the test chamber. Paige ducked instinctively, keeping her eyes trained on the bits of artifact fluttering in the air.

Seconds later, they began being pulled back into the tube that had housed the bomb.

"Come on, come on," Dewey said. "Shoot!"

A few blobs of magic and bits of artifact still floated in the chamber after the bomb finished.

"Second radius of five?" Paige suggested.

"At least. I'm thinking we do six just to be safe."

"Is there any harm in going bigger?"

"Not from my perspective," Dewey said.

He built a second bomb, and after three tests they were satisfied that they'd achieved the desired effect and would leave no magic traces in the atmosphere.

Dewey peeled off his goggles. "Well, we solved that pretty easily. Now, all we need to do is get to the lair and set it off."

Paige raised her hand in the air, seeking a high five. "Yep. Bad guy's lair…here we come."

Dewey slapped a paw against her palm, and both their eyes went wide. "We did it!" Paige exclaimed.

"Yep, we did," Dewey said with a nod. "Because we're awesome. All we had to do was solve this problem and suddenly, we're awesome."

"Yeah! Let's go back and check on my mom and see if the others completed their task."

"Okay," Dewey said, landing on her shoulder.

They traversed the hospital's halls back to Reed's room, finding her asleep.

Paige tiptoed back into the hall as the Drucinda, Ronnie, and Devon approached .

"Well?" Drucinda asked as Paige pressed a finger to her lips.

"She's asleep. We managed to create the bomb. Did you find the lair?"

Drucinda screwed up her face. "Lair?"

Paige crossed her arms, her features unimpressed. "What do you want me to call it? The place where the bad guys are?"

"How about the target?" Drucinda arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, right, that's…good. Umm, so have you found the target?"

"Yes, we have," Ronnie said with a nod. "Smack dab in the center of the Arctic. We're prepping the plane and your gear."

"Any luck with the bomb?" Drucinda asked.

"We're ready to roll," Dewey said. "We successfully tested it thrice. Now, I just need the rough specs of the la–target, and we can extrapolate the bomb to be large enough."

"I've got the rough size…let me warn you, it's big."

"No problem for my bomb. Trust me, Ronnie…we've got Best Library Team in the bag again this year." Dewey patted her on the shoulder.

"All right. I'll email you the specs, you build the bomb, Drucinda will get you to the spot– "

"And we'll handle the rest," Dewey said, raising his chin.

"Yep…with any luck in a matter of hours…Higgins and his evil plan will be wiped off the face of this Earth." Paige grinned, confidence swelling in her. They were about to defeat the bad guys once and for all. What could go wrong?