Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

P aige's heart thudded against her ribs as her pulse quickened. "What should we do?"

"Maybe we could just ask it for help," Eyva said. "Excuse me."

She stepped closer, waving a hand in the air as Drucinda hissed at her to stop.

"What? It's rude to assume the dragon is going to eat us. That's ridiculous nonsense perpetuated by fairy tales written by ignorant men. Really, Drucinda, I thought I taught you better than that."

Eyva took a few steps closer. "It's all right, dear. We won't harm you. We're Valkyries. Oh, and a human, but she's harmless, I promise."

Paige held her hands in the air, trying to showcase her inability to hurt a dragon. The chuffing sounded again, sending a shiver down her spine. This dragon did not sound friendly by any stretch of the word. What if Eyva was wrong?

The doors pushed open a little further, and a red snout stuck out. A moment later, flames shout from its nostrils, singeing the edge of Evya's dress .

"Now, that wasn't very kind," she said as she swished out the flames that caught the fabric.

"Sorry," the dragon's deep voice boomed, "I feel awful after last night."

Eyva took another step closer. "Awful? What happened?"

"What happened?" The dragon pushed further into the chamber. "You all came. We partied. A little too hard. My head is still spinning."

"We partied? With you?" Drucinda asked.

The dragon nodded his head with a groan. "Yes. Please, if there are any pictures, delete them. I'd rather not have them plastered all over SupNet."

Drucinda pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced at her photo album. "None of you on my phone. Just the Wizard's Tower, then this odd-looking place." She tilted the phone toward him.

"Oh, the fairy circle. Yes, you mentioned wanting to go there."

"We did? To the fairy circle?" Drucinda asked.

"Did we have a tiny dragon with us when we mentioned this?" Paige questioned, her heart finally returning to normal speed.

"Yes, you did. Delicate little fellow, but full of life. I really hadn't realized teacups were that small. Of course, I am a Giant Dragon so my species runs quite large."

"So, Dewey was with us here. And he left with us, I'm assuming." Paige rubbed her chin as she pondered it.

"Yes, he did," the dragon confirmed. "After a high-five that nearly killed him. Please tell him I still feel bad about that."

"Will do. If we find him. He's missing."

"How tragic. Well, I hope you find him soon. I don't recall any other mentions beyond the fairy circle, but if I think of anything, how shall I contact you? "

"Oh, here," Eyva said as she conjured a piece of paper and a quill. "Here is my number. Text or call anytime."

"Lovely. Thank you and good luck."

"You're welcome. And, uh, please do use that number." Eyva winked at him.

Paige screwed up her face. "Is your grandma hitting on him?"

"Yes," Drucinda said with a nod.

"Ew," Paige answered. "That's…I don't…OMG."

"What?" Eyva said with a shrug as she returned to them. "What's wrong?"

"Paige is a prude. She's shocked that you flirted with the dragon."

"Oh, he's quite fetching, isn't he? I imagine his shifter form is very handsome. And I haven't been on a date in several weeks."

"Weeks?" Paige asked as they stepped into the humid air again. "That's it? I haven't been on a date in…never mind."

"Well, I should hope not since you're nearly a married woman, dear," Eyva said. "Although…sometimes it's difficult to resist the appeal of new love."

"Grandmother, don't be a bad influence. The Durands do not take infidelity lightly." Drucinda led them back toward the forest.

"Oh, what's a little flirting here and there? Besides, I'm quite certain after the fiasco with the Djinn, Dominic has changed his mind about the 'til the world ends and all of that."

"Not when it comes to his son," Drucinda answered.

"I'm not cheating," Paige said.

"Of course you aren't, dear," Eyva answered. "Even if you were, that stays between the ladies. Sisters before misters."

Paige wrinkled her nose at the sentiment as the canopy of leaves covered them .

"Where is this fairy circle?" Drucinda asked.

"In another realm. We'll have to hop again." Eyva reached into her pouch and extracted more glowing dust. "Are we ready to hop?"

"I'm ready," Drucinda answered. "I'd like to find Dewey and get this over with."

"Here we go." Eyva tossed the dust into the air, muttering a string of nonsensical words. The glowing portal formed in front of them. Paige swallowed hard, wondering what the new realm would be like. Why had they done this?

Because they were too high to think, she reminded herself.

Drucinda stepped through the portal, and Paige followed behind her. After the humidity in the enchanted forest, she shivered when the cooler air hit her damp clothes. She glanced around at the lush greenery surrounding them that gave way to rolling hills.

"Ahh, a lovely spring day," Eyva said as she entered behind Paige and the portal snapped closed.

"This is much better than the heat, at least, but now I'm cold." Paige wrapped her arms around herself.

Eyva wrapped her arms around Paige. "Poor dear. You were cold last night, too, I recall. I held you as you shivered."

Paige shot her a surprised glance. "Really? Sorry."

"I didn't mind, dear. Although the crying got to be a bit much."

"I cried?"

"You did. One of the fairies bit you, and you would have thought you were bitten by an ogre."

Paige grimaced. "The fairies bite?"

"Oh, yes," Drucinda said as she stalked forward, swatting at tiny gnats that buzzed around her. "Get away, you damned fairies."

"Why did we come here if the fairies bite? "

"You'll see," Eyva said with a twinkle in her eyes.

Paige finally stopped shivering as they moved through the mystical land. "Do you think Dewey got bitten by a fairy?"

"Probably. The damned things are like mosquitos. With your fair skin, they'll be after you."

"Ow!" Paige slapped at her arm. "That hurt!"

"Oh, heavens, please don't start crying again," Eyva said. "I know it hurts, but it's not that terrible."

"I'm not going to cry," Paige answered. "I just…it hurts. If these things are mean, maybe they did something to Dewey."

"I doubt it. We weren't here very long. Just long enough to cast our wishes at the fairy circle."

"Wishes?" Paige furrowed her brow as she wondered what that meant.

"Yes. Wishes on where we'd like to visit. Then after we cast them, the circle will magically take us to each place we asked for."

"So, we went to more places?"

"I've got loads of pictures from who knows where," Drucinda called over her shoulder. "We'll have to sit down and try to guess where we asked the circle to take us."

Paige slapped a hand against her forehead as she shook her head. "I can't believe this. Dewey could be anywhere."

"Yes," Eyva answered. "Isn't it fun?"

"Not really," Paige answered, swatting at another fairy as it bit her. "I'm worried about Dewey. What if something happened to him? What if we went to a really dangerous place?"

"Why would anyone have wished that?" Eyva asked.

"I don't know," Paige said with a shrug.

They approached a clearing. Paige's jaw dropped as she stared at the moss-covered stones rising toward the sky. "Wow. This place is so cool! "

"I told you. It's very magical. You just have a…happy sense here."

Paige bobbed her head up and down as she grinned at Drucinda's grandmother. "Yes. I feel very at peace here. It's very soothing and calming."

"It's the stones. They give off a slight vibration that has that exact effect."

Paige held her hands out, studying the hairs on her arm as they stood on end. "It's tingly."

Eyva grinned at her. "Now, aren't you glad we came here?"

"I would be more glad if Dewey wasn't missing, but this is pretty cool."

Drucinda plopped onto the ground inside the circle and dug her phone from her pocket. "Stop being awe-struck and get over here to help me identify these pictures. I know the one. I'm betting it was your pick." Drucinda poked a finger at her grandmother.

"That predictable am I?"

Drucinda nodded as she twisted the camera toward them. "Magical marketplace."

"Ohhh, yes," Eyva answered with a clap. "It was. I just love it there."

"Okay, so that's one place down. What do the others look like?" Paige asked as she sat down next to Drucinda.

"These, I have no idea. There's a dilapidated manor, an odd-looking van, a dog, a hippie–"

"Ohhhh," Paige said with a wince. "That would be my pick. I wanted to go into Scooby-Doo."

Drucinda screwed up her face as she glanced at Paige. "Only you would want to go into a documentary."

"Documentary?" Paige repeated. "It was a cartoon."

"Documenting the lives of Scooby-Doo and his friends, yes," Eyva said with a nod. "Well, the names were changed, but still."

"That's real?" Paige asked. "That's…"

Drucinda screwed up her face. "Why do you constantly have a difficult time believing things are real? You have a tiny dragon for a partner and you work in a magical library yet at every turn, you're shocked."

"I just…didn't realize that cartoon was a documentary. I thought it was fiction."

Drucinda rolled her eyes as she flicked to the next picture in her reel. "I suppose you thought the Smurfs weren't real either."

Paige raised her eyebrows as she thought back to the small, blue-animated creatures. "So…"

"Oh, please. You can not be serious," Drucinda answered with a huff.

"I'm sorry. I also thought Super Mario Brothers was just a game. I can't believe this."

"Although," Drucinda said with a wag of her finger, "Gargamel was really slandered quite badly in that television show. He sued and lost, but I wouldn't have put up with that."

Paige stared into space as she recalled the evil warlock in the series. "I can't even…"

"Stop worrying about that and help us," Drucinda snapped. "I see the Haunted Manor…"

She flicked to another picture. "Oh, that's the underwater kingdom," Eyva answered with a nod. "Dewey picked it. He said he had such fun in the underwater world with Paige on their last mission that he wanted to visit there."

"All right, so that's three. And then these two." Drucinda swiped between two photographs, studying them. "Looks like ancient ruins and…"

"Space?" Paige asked .

"Oh, yes," Eyva said. "Now, it's coming back to me. The Celestial Observatory."

"All right," Drucinda said, scrambling to her feet. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us. I suppose we'll start with Paige's choice and work our way through the locations."

"How do we do this?" Paige asked.

"I'll say the locations, then we'll be whisked away to the first. Once we're finished there, we'll automatically move to the next location," Drucinda said. "Ready?"

"I am. Oh, what fun," Eyva said, clapping her hands. "I can't wait to see Shaggy again. You know, many years ago…he and I had a little fling."

Paige's eyes widened as she stared at the woman. "Seriously?"

"Oh, yes. He's loads of fun. And he always has the best we–"

Before could finish her statement, wind swirled around them and the Fairy Circle disappeared. Paige's stomach rolled as they whirled in an unknown place before details filled in around them. She stared down at a cartoon image of herself before she snapped her gaze up to the eerie house in front of them. Bats flew from a tower poking into the air.

"Wow, it's just like the show," she murmured.

"Eyva?" a voice that seemed familiar to her shouted from behind them. "Back so soon?"

The woman twisted with a flirty grin playing on her features. "Yes, but…not for you, darling."

"Are you sure?" the man asked as he strolled over to them with a dog in tow.

"Unfortunately, yes. We've lost a member of our party, and we're merely retracing our steps to find him. You haven't seen him, have you? Tiny fellow. Teal. Dragon."

The man rubbed his chin. "Nope. But we've been busy sleuthing a case. Some joker has been haunting this house. And we aim to find out who. Isn't that right, Rube?"

"Rube?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, my dog. Ruby-Doo."

"But…" Paige shook her head.

The man poked his thumb at her. "I can see she's just as confused as she was last night."

"Oh, yes. Poor Paige is still getting the hang of magical things," Eyva said with an apologetic glance and a shrug.

The man stared at Paige, his eyes sliding up and down her before he shrugged. "Well, feel free to have a look around. I haven't seen your dragon friend, but maybe he's hanging around in the house."

"Thanks," Drucinda said as she grabbed hold of her grandmother's arm and tugged her away. "Come along, Grandmother, this isn't the time for flirting."

"Didn't you just give your number to that dragon?" Paige asked.

"Yes. What has that to do with Raggy?"

"Raggy?" Paige questioned.

Eyva thumbed toward the green-shirted man with the dog.

"Oh, right. Well, anyway, how many boyfriends do you want?"

"Zero. I'm not looking for a commitment here. Just a lovely time."

"Enough," Drucinda answered as she kicked the door in and dragged her grandmother into the foyer of the dilapidated house.

"Wow, it's just as creepy as it was on the shows." Paige shivered as she stepped into the cobweb-ridden space. "I'll bet there's a ghost lurking around the corner."

"Yes, after slinking from a hidden passage. Don't worry, it's likely just the local grocer in a mask or the house's owner wearing a sheet."

"Was that the way it really was or did the show make that up?"

"No, the Ruby-Doo squad managed to discredit thousands of hauntings. It all happened just like it did on the show."

"Wow. That's…okay, well I guess we don't have anything to worry about then." Paige pushed ahead into a darkened room. "Dewey! Hey, Dewey!"

They wandered around the house in search of their tiny friend, finding nothing but paintings with moving eyes and whispers of ghosts that never appeared.

"I don't think he's here," Paige said with a groan as they reached the last room.

"Just a minute, Paige," Raggy said as he burst into the room with his crew.

Ruby pawed at a wall panel across the room.

"I'll bet it's connected to this sconce," a glasses-clad woman said as she tugged on it.

The panel opened, and a mummy rolled out. Raggy hauled it to its feet as his blond friend wandered closer. "Now, let's find out who really is haunting this place."

He grabbed at the top of the mummy's head and tugged off a mask. Eyes went wide at the sight and everyone exclaimed, "Dewey?"

Paige's lips pulled into a deep frown. "Seriously? We've been worried sick about you and you've been here in Scooby-Doo playing a mummy?"

"And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for you kids and your meddling dog," Dewey growled.

"Oh, come on," Paige said with a slap on her thigh. "You could have at least come up with a better line than that. "

"Just a second," the blond man said, holding up a hand. "Something seems fishy to me."

Paige shook her head. "Doesn't seem fishy to me. Come on, Dewey, get out of that suit, and let's go. I have a wedding to attend…to someone."

The man's blonde partner stepped forward and grabbed onto Dewey's horns. Paige's jaw unhinged as the woman ripped another mask away and tossed it down. "Just as I suspected."

"Mr. Jenkins?" the others said in unison.

Paige puffed out her cheeks as she blew out a breath. "Who is Mr. Jenkins?"

The blond man twisted to face Paige. "The property owner. He's been the one lurking around playing mummy. And all for the insurance money."

"And I would have gotten away with it, too–"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it," Paige said with a sigh. "Dewey's not here. Let's go to the next location. We're wasting time."

"Right," Drucinda said with a nod. "We'll–"

Winds swirled around them and the haunted manor began to fall away in pieces. Within seconds, Paige found herself plunged into warm water.

It surrounded her, shooting up her nose and burning as she fought to find the surface. She clawed and scraped at the water, but never reached the top.

Her lungs burned as she continued to hold her breath, her eyes wide. If she couldn't find a way to get air soon, she'd die.