Chapter 1 #2
He shifted his eyes sideways and offered a slow nod. “Yeah,” he said, drawing out the word. “Just…trying to picture Devon’s head on a silver platter.”
“It’s just a figure of speech.”
“Right, I know, but…in Devon’s case…” Dewey’s voice trailed off, and he pressed his teal lips together before they drew back in a grimace.
“Given his species, it stands to reason that cutting off his head wouldn’t kill him.
Which means…we could literally have a talking Devon head on a silver platter. ”
Paige’s jaw dropped open, and her eyes went wide. She tugged her lips back into a horrified frown. “Ew. Why did you tell me that? I can’t unsee this in my mind.”
“Gross, huh?” Dewey asked. “Just imagine his chiseled chin bobbing up and down on the platter as he talks.”
“Oh, stop, stop, it’s disgusting.”
“Yeah.” With a shrug, he went back to tapping around on the RP.
Paige stared at her area rug for a moment before a shudder shook her. “Oh, please hurry up with whatever you’re pulling up. I can’t stop thinking about Devon’s severed head.”
“I’m going as fast as I can. Next time, watch what you say.” He poked around a few more times before he shifted the RP. Eight thumbnail images filled the screen.
Paige peered over his shoulder. “Are those the charms from my bracelet?”
“Yep,” Dewey said. “I snapped pictures of them so I could easily analyze them. Of course, basic image search turned up nothing.”
“What about ancestry stuff? Anything there?”
“Not much. Your grandparents weren’t from this country. I’m still searching for when they arrived in the U.S.”
“Where did they come from?”
“Looks like Ireland, maybe. I base that off a few things, one of which is the Celtic knot on your bracelet. It’s close to an Irish Celtic knot, but it’s not exact.”
Paige settled back in the cushions, pinching her eyebrows together. “Ireland. I guess that makes sense.”
“I’m still searching for your grandmother’s name. Reed’s mom, that is. As soon as I have that, I’ll go further back. But for now, I’ve made some notes on these charms.”
Paige leaned over as he pulled up the picture of the dragon charm. “I asked my parents about this charm. They’d never seen anything like it. That doesn’t mean your mom didn’t know the dragons. She just didn’t know my clan.”
“Too bad. It would have been nice to have gotten some information if they would have known her.”
“Yeah, oh, well.” Dewey swiped to the next picture. The Celtic knot appeared. “Already been through this one.”
He swiped it away. An image of a sword replaced it. “This is interesting.”
“Why?” Paige asked.
“Well, who has a sword?”
“Henry.”
Dewey’s features settled into an unimpressed stare. “Be serious, Paige.”
“What? He does. We took it, remember? Ohhhhh,” Paige said, her eyebrows shooting up as she stiffened, “I know what you mean.”
She offered him a knowing smile as he cocked his head, awaiting her answer. “Dominic. Dominic has Henry’s sword now. Remember, I lost it?”
Dewey slid his eyes closed and shook his head. “Sometimes, Paige, sometimes.”
“What?”
“Knights. Knights have swords. Traditionally, knights carried swords. Was your family somehow connected to a knight? Or King Arthur? Is this a representation of Excalibur?”
Paige shrugged. “No idea.”
“Well, it makes sense. Ireland. Close to England. Close to Arthur’s kingdom.”
“Hmm. Maybe I’m royalty.”
“Maybe. Too bad you don’t have servants, huh?”
“Really.”
“Okay, what else?”
“That’s all I’ve done so far. There’s still the cross, the cat, the scroll, the wand, and the flower. I haven’t made much headway on this. Of course, you had to get yourself kidnapped, and that really sidetracked me.”
“My apologies,” Paige said as her cat, Dickens, leapt onto the couch next to her. She stroked his fur and flicked her gaze to Dewey. “I’m really very sorry I was kidnapped by a crazy vampire and locked in a creepy tower room.”
Dewey patted her shoulder. “It’s okay, Paige. I don’t mind, really. But it did distract me from my research. I was all set to look into a few more of these charms while at the chateau, and then the Chaos Gem popped onto the grid, then you got kidnapped.”
“Don’t remind me. At least we got the gem, and Drucinda didn’t.”
“Right. Otherwise, we’d probably be working in the mines right now while Dominic Durand rules the world.”
Paige rose from the couch and stalked to the kitchen. The now-cold pizza sat on the counter. She pulled a few slices out of the box, plopped them on two plates, and threw one into the microwave. “I still don’t know what mines you’re talking about.”
“Any mines. All mines. We’ll be put to work mining for precious gems or something. It doesn’t matter. We’ve been spared the mines, at least. Now, we work on your mom.”
The microwave beeped, and Paige switched the plates. She crossed her arms, chewing her lower lip as she drummed her fingers against her forearm. “We need more information.”
“No kidding.”
She flicked her gaze to Dewey, her features stony. “We need to know what happened the night she died.”
“Paige–”
“No.” Her throat went dry as she considered the suggestion she was about to make. “We need to know. No matter how painful it is, we need to confront Drucinda Sharpe.”