Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

P aige's features melted with fear, her lips tugging back into a grimace. "Holy shi– "

Her words were cut off as Dominique hurled a fireball her way, causing her to dive to the side to avoid being singed by it.

It hit a tree, charring it as it exploded.

A smaller blue fireball sailed toward the woman, discharged from Gray.

Dominique chuckled before she deflected it and took another step toward Paige. "Nice try, Gray. You always were useless, though. Come on, Red, let's see what you've got."

"Wait…" she tried, but no more words came.

"For?" Dominique asked. "Your dragon buddy told me you had skills. Let's see them."

"I have…wait!" A grin slid over Paige's face. "I do. Haha! I do."

She raised her arm, dangling her charm bracelet in the air. With an arch of her eyebrow, she shouted, "Stop, you foul beast! "

Dominique stood motionless before her eyebrows pinched together. "What the hell was that?"

"Oh, crap," Paige groaned. "Was really hoping that would work."

"Has it ever worked?" Dominique asked.

"Yeah, plenty of times," Dewey chimed in. "On all sorts of beasts."

The brunette chuckled as she shook her head. "Well, not on this one. And now, you're going to pay for that."

"Uh…" Paige's eyes darted from side to side as she tried to work out a way to escape her current situation.

Another few fireballs rained down on Dominique, but she dodged them easily, undeterred from her attack on Paige.

"Listen, there's something really important you need to know."

"Oh, yeah? Tell me," Dominique answered as she whipped up another red-hot fireball and flung it toward Paige.

Paige dove to the ground, wincing as her cheek picked up dirt and pine needles as she landed. "There's…a way bigger threat than me out there."

Dominique laughed again. "Red, you're not a threat. I'm just having some fun here. Although, I'm starting to think the dragon was lying about your skills."

"The thing is," Paige said, puffing for breath as she scrambled to her feet, "you…could be killed at any moment. Probably by some weird thing."

Dominique screwed up her face. "What are saying? I'm not in that much danger."

"Aren't you? Because…like some random thing is going to come up probably that'll kill you. Or…like your cousin, Celine, will suddenly find a way. During an epic battle, her powers will increase or something."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen. Nice try, though. "

"Well, I know it's going to happen because…I'm…from the future."

"Okay, Marty McFly, how am I going to die?"

"Okay, actually, I'm not from the future-future, I'm like from another place where…you are…fictional."

Dominique tilted her head at the words, her eyebrows pinching. Paige waited for her reaction. If she was crazy, maybe she'd have a breakdown or something.

"You know, the last nutty redhead I met said the same thing. And do you know what I did to her?"

"No?" Paige questioned. Dominique and her mother must have spoken. Too bad she didn't know what happened.

"I tossed her out to sea," Dominique answered.

Paige's eyes went wide as her feet left the ground. "Whoa. Hey, put me down!"

"If we're fictional, who cares, right?" She lifted her eyebrows. "Oh, hey, maybe by some weird plot twist, you'll live."

"Put me down! Put me down!" Paige cried. "Okay, wait, I have more."

"Better hurry up," Dominique said.

"I can be useful. I know how your story goes. I can tell you the end so you can…change it."

Dominique offered her a questioning glance, prodding her to continue.

Before she could, Damien smashed into Dominique's side, driving her into one of the trees and knocking her to the ground. Paige smacked into the ground below.

Hands grabbed her and lifted her to her feet. "Run!"

She twisted to find Michael tugging her along. Dewey buzzed in front of her, racing toward Alexander's house. Damien scrambled to his feet, following them.

He took a fireball to the back, knocking him to the ground, but he leapt up and continued forward as though he wasn't hurt.

They reached the house and barreled inside.

Paige gasped for breath as she waited for Damien to appear. The moment he slid through the door, Alexander closed it and locked it behind them. "She really is a problem."

"Thank you," Paige said to Damien. "You saved my life."

"No problem. Next time, though, maybe don't taunt her."

"Sorry," Dewey said as he landed on Paige's shoulder. "Sometimes, I can't stop myself. And I figured…when am I ever going to meet someone like Dominique again. She's just so…explosive."

"Yeah, she almost exploded me, Dewey. We can die here, you know?"

"I guess. Well, anyway, we're no worse for wear. Lead the way to the library, Al."

Alexander clicked his tongue and shook his head. "This way."

"Place is great, Al," Dewey said as he floated into the room. "Really love the old-world charm. So, where would we find info on this elixir? Any ideas?"

"Not really. But I suppose we can start with some of the more general guides to serums and the like and go from there."

"Okay," Dewey answered as he fluttered to the shelves. "Just point me in the right direction, and I'll start pulling them."

"Dewey's great at research," Paige said with a nod.

"Thanks, Paige. I appreciate that," Dewey answered. "Oh, found one. Stirling's Guide to Potions, Serums, and Elixirs."

He wrangled the thick leather tome from the shelf, dropping in the air as it came free and delivered it to Paige. "We'll start with this one."

Paige dusted off cover and tugged it open .

"Look for anything even close to this elixir," Dewey said. "Or conditions that involve magical sleep."

"I'm not seeing anything," Paige said, her frustration building already with the check of one reference. She had hoped these people would be more knowledgeable. Or just have some of the elixir on them. "What about this?"

"Sleeping serum? That's probably to put people to sleep, but we'll check it."

Paige paged through to the entry, her shoulders slumping. "Yep…how to put people to sleep. Dang it."

"This likely won't be easy," Alexander answered as he poured over another volume at the desk. "None of us have heard of this."

"Which makes me wonder if it actually exists," Paige said with a sigh.

"I thought you knew it existed?" Michael asked.

"Well, we think it exists…here. We think. A friend of ours did the research. At first, we thought this elixir was just a legend, but then we realized it just existed in another realm."

"What made you think it was in this realm?"

"Drucinda tracked that all down. And she doesn't make mistakes."

"Let's hope for your sake, she's right, and we find it soon. Before Dominique kills you," Damien answered, tugging a book from the shelf.

"And for my mom," Paige said.

"You said she's in some sort of trance?"

Paige nodded, her features pinching. "She's dying. I found her after over three decades, and she's dying."

Damien tugged another book from the shelf. "Not if we can help it."

Paige pressed her lips together into a partial smile.

"Uh-oh. Really glad Devon isn't here," Dewey said.

Paige snapped her gaze to him. "Why? "

"Because he'd be pretty jealous about your book boyfriend over there."

"What? I don't have a book boyfriend."

Dewey flicked his eyebrows up as he studied the paper in their book before flipping to another. "I think you do. Kind of looks like you're making eyes at Damien."

"What about me?" Damien asked.

"Nothing," Paige said with a shake of her head. "Absolutely nothing. Just wondering if you found anything in your book yet."

"Nope, sorry. Nothing here. Maybe Celine will have better luck."

"Let's hope so," Paige answered.

A chilly breeze floated past her, and she shivered, rubbing her arms to rid herself of goosebumps.

A second later, Dewey's eyes went wide, and he dumped the heavy book on her lap with a thud before he buzzed across the room. "Ohhhh, boy! Marcus Northcott. I'd recognize you anywhere. I'm so honored to be in your evil presence, sir."

Dewey bowed his head in reverence.

The dark-haired, dark-eyed man arched an eyebrow at the dragon, his features unimpressed.

Dewey raised his gaze to Marcus. "You're my favorite. Absolutely favorite. You're bad but not in like a crazy way like Dominique. In super smart way, but also, you're not terrible. Just…morally gray, basically."

"You must be Dewey, the dragon," he answered, his British accent crisp and his voice betraying just how unimpressed he really was.

"That's me. Dewey the dragon. Yep. At your service. Seriously, if you need anything…I'm your guy."

"I still say you people haven't actually read the books," Gray answered from an armchair .

"What's the matter, Buckley? Don't have an adoring fan club? I'm not surprised."

"Ohhh, there's the zinger." Dewey twisted to eye Paige. "I love this guy."

"I'll love him more if he knows where the elixir is," Paige said as she climbed to her feet and dumped the book on the coffee table. "So, do you?"

"Marcus doesn't know of any offhand in this realm," Celine answered.

"No, but there may be a location…however, we would need several things to access it, and it may be a false lead."

"I'll try anything," Paige said, her voice breathless. "Anything. Just tell me what I need to do."

"There is something called the Aroostook Enigma. Hidden in a cave, a mystical safe with keys scattered across several realms. It supposedly contains a number of magical objects, one of which it was rumored would be sought by those from another realm."

Paige chewed her lower lip. "Well, I'm from another realm, so maybe that's it."

"How sure are you that this is what she's looking for?" Gray asked.

"Not at all certain, though, it's worth a try," Marcus shot back.

"Says you. What happens when we don't find it."

"Have you a better idea, Buckley?"

"Bet he doesn't," Dewey said with a shake of his head, clapping Marcus on the shoulder. "Marc, I think you're onto something here."

The man arched a dark eyebrow, staring down at the paw on him. "I'm so pleased you agree."

Paige winced as the man sounded anything but pleased. "So, where are these keys? Oh, please not another Super Mario realm or anything weird. "

"There's a Super Mario realm?" Damien asked.

Paige nodded. "Yeah. It was horrible, too. You don't want to get stuck there."

"I have never heard of such a thing. And I don't know the exact locations. We must research, and once you have them, I will assist you in reaching them."

Paige's lips parted before she grinned. "Wow, thank you. That's so nice of you."

"Don't give him too much credit," Celine answered with a shake of her head.

"Catherine made me do it," he added.

"Catherine?" Paige asked.

Dewey grinned, his eyes sparkling. "Cate Kensie is here?"

"No," Marcus shot back. "Catherine Northcott is here."

"Riiiiight," Dewey said with a nod. "Cause you married her and became slightly less morally gray."

The man stared at him, his nose wrinkling.

"Well, I'll start pulling references on this Aroostook Enigma," Alexander said. "And we will see what we can learn. We haven't found any references to the elixir so far."

Paige crossed to the bookshelf to take a load of books from Damien, who had already begun to find references. "Why was this never found before?"

"You've never been to Aroostook County," Gray answered. "This is rural Maine. Nothing around for miles."

"Oh, well, that makes sense then," Paige answered with a nod. "Come on, Dewey. Let's get searching."

"Oh, uh… I was wondering if I could go with Marcus. I want to meet Cate."

"No, you may not," Marcus answered.

"Aw, man. Maybe another time, huh?"

"Or not," the man shot back before he turned to Celine. "Contact me if you manage to find anything. I won't hold my breath. "

Paige crinkled her nose at the comment. "Wow, he's kind of rude."

"He's worse than that," Damien answered as he plopped down next to her.

Michael leaned over the back of the couch, propping his elbow on the cushion as he studied Damien's book. "Yeah, you caught him on a good day. The marriage to Cate really made him bearable."

"I'm going to have to read all of these books when I get back," Paige answered before she dove into her text. "So, what are the chances there will just be like a list of these?"

Damien burst into laughter, glancing at her with a grin before he sobered and cleared this throat. "Zero chance."

"He is correct," Alexander answered. "We'll likely need to piece together several bits of information."

"It'll take all of us," Celine answered, grabbing another book and collapsing into a chair.

"Wow, I'm super glad I don't live here. We get all our information from a computer."

"I got the impression magic was hidden in your world, too," Alexander said from his desk.

"It is," Paige answered, "but the library has a system with all the information compiled in it. Sometimes, we still have to use books, though."

"Nothing like that exists here," Celine answered. "Everything is word of mouth."

"So, we may never find this," Paige said, her shoulders slumping.

"We'll find it," Michael answered. "We've never failed yet."

Paige bobbed her head, offering him a tight-lipped smile.

Dewey landed on her shoulder, whispering in her ear. "Ohhh, he's a good book boyfriend, too."

"Stop it," she snapped. "I don't have a book boyfriend. I don't even have a real boyfriend. I have a fake husband. "

"Uh-huh. Tell that to D-boy himself. He really believes in your marriage. And you're going to look like the jerk when you leave him."

"I'm not…look, let's just worry about that when we're not in a realm of crazy people and my mom's not dying."

"I'm just saying. Never too early to start planning how you're not getting a divorce."

"Yeah, well, I'm not going to turn into a vampire either, so, there's that."

"Do you two always talk this much when you're researching?" Michael asked.

Paige winced. "Sorry, we're a little…yes. We do. I just…we'll be quiet now."

Michael offered her a smile and a nod before returning to his book.

"Boy, somebody's uptight, huh?" Dewey hissed.

"Stop it, you're going to get us in trouble again."

Dewey waved his paw at her. "So what? We'll never see them again. They're not even real!"

Paige snapped her book shut. "Nothing in this one."

"I may have found something," Damien announced. Celine set her book aside to peer into his. "This book is talking about the Aroostook Enigma and recounts clues to each of the four key piece locations."

Paige shifted closer on the couch to peer into the book. "What are they?"

Damien read the first aloud. "Within wall that whisper secrets of old, where spirits roam and tales are told, seek a room with treasure deep, where shadows dance and secrets sleep."

"What the heck does that mean? It's random and vague," Paige answered.

"What are the others. Maybe once we hear them all we can cobble something together," Michael said .

"Uhh," Damien began, poking a finger at the page, "where whispers of the forest carry tales untold, in a place where secrets breathe and stories unfold, seek where nature's voice breaks the silence's thrall, there lies the key piece where creatures heed the call."

"Nope," Michael said with a shake of his head, "that didn't help at all."

"Okay, here are the last two," Damien said. "Where waters gleam with a lustrous hue, in a mansion where secrets accrue, search where opulence meets mystery's lore, and the key piece may be found at the core."

"These are all bogus," Dewey said with a shake of his head. "Totally. It's just made up rhymes."

"What is the last one?" Alexander asked.

"In a town where shadows dance and secrets keep, in the hollow where midnight spirits creep, seek where darkness reigns and stories follow, there lies the key beneath the midnight's swallow."

Dewey flung his paws in the air. "Useless."

"I agree," Michael said as he pushed back in the chair. "It's totally vague. We need more information."

They spent another few hours pouring over books, but Damien's find remained their top clue. As night crept over the great estate, Paige yawned, her eyes starting to slide shut.

Her book toppled to the floor, startling her awake again. "Sorry. Sorry."

"It's okay. Maybe you two should try to get some sleep," Celine answered.

Dewey stretched and yawned. "Yes, please. I'm beat."

"Sure. We'll get you set up in a few bedrooms upstairs."

"None of you are going to sleep?"

Celine grinned at her as they followed her from the library. "We're all immortals. We don't need sleep. "

Paige rubbed at her sore neck as they climbed the stairs. "Right. That's handy."

"We'll find answers, Paige," Celine promised as she led her into a bedroom. "And through that door is a bathroom that leads to another bedroom."

"Thanks," Paige said with a nod as Celine pulled the door closed, wishing them a good night.

"Mind if I bunk with you?" Dewey asked, already pulling back the blanket on her bed.

"No. I'd rather not be alone here. This place is weird."

"Tell me about it. I like reading about the Slayers, but living with them is kind of messed up."

Paige crawled between the sheets, stretching out as her head hit the pillow. "I should have read more of their books. Maybe there are clues in them about those stupid locations."

"Nah," Dewey said, his arm flung over his eyes, "I read them all. Nary a clue in any of them."

Paige heaved a sigh as her eyes slid closed. "Great. We're doomed."