Chapter 9
“P aige!” Dewey hissed from below her. “Don’t move. See if she’ll go back to sleep.”
The harpy shot her head up with an agitated squawk, tilting her head to eye Paige before she glanced down at Dewey and Devon.
“Oops, never mind,” Dewey called. “You need a new plan.”
“No kidding,” Paige said as she hovered on the branch next to the harpy’s nest.
“You’re going to have to jump,” Devon said.
The harpy fluttered her wings, letting out another screech as she rose.
“Are you crazy? I’m higher than I was in the cage. I can’t jump.”
Paige bit her lower lip as she stared down at the ground. Her vision swam, and she squeezed her eyes closed before the height made her dizzy.
The harpy flapped her wings again, stretching her arms and legs.
Devon raced to stand under the branch. “I’ll catch you.”
“Fly up here and get me,” Paige shouted as she inched away from the still groggy but ever-awakening creature.
“Transformation will take too long, plus I’ve got a bum wing. Jump.”
Paige danced back a few more steps on the thick branch as the harpy clucked and poked her nose toward her.
“Paige, you’ve got to get out of there,” Devon called.
“No sh–” The lunging of the harpy cut off the rest of her response. Paige stumbled back, nearly losing her balance. She stared down at the ground again. She couldn’t make it from here. With a glance over her shoulder, she eyed the cages. She’d soon be a prisoner again.
Heat washed over her.
The cages .
She licked her lips and carefully turned herself around on the narrow branch. She sucked in a breath and scurried a few more steps toward the end, flinging herself into the air.
Her stomach somersaulted as she launched herself from the branch with outstretched arms. Seconds later, she collided with Devon’s former cage. She clawed at the bars until she caught hold of one.
The cage twirled around in circles as she dangled from it. She pumped her legs, swinging Devon’s former prison back and forth until she reached a branch.
The harpy circled the air above her, diving toward her twice but missing. As Paige approached the branch again, she let go, propelling herself forward to grab hold of it.
The harpy dove toward her, landing above her and swiping at her hands with her claws. Paige struggled to shimmy her way toward the trunk while she hung.
The weight of the harpy made the limb bounce, adding difficulty to Paige’s already-laborious task. As the harpy lunged toward her again, the bough cracked.
Both Paige and the creature fell toward the ground. The harpy flapped her wings in an attempt to escape the ground but failed to recover at the low altitude. She and Paige slammed into the dirt in a tangle.
Paige scrambled to her feet as the harpy fought to right herself.
“Let’s go!” Dewey called.
Paige raced toward him. Devon grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to the foliage that shielded the harpy village from the rest of the rainforest. They crashed through the thick branches and leaves. The sprigs tore at their hair and skin before they spilled out into the forest beyond.
Paige ran a few more steps, putting distance between herself and the village before she collapsed forward, propping herself up with her thighs as she gasped in a breath.
“Are you okay?” Devon asked as he panted for breath.
“I think so.” Paige wiped at a trace of blood on her arm. “Dewey?”
She crinkled her nose, pushing her glasses higher on her face as she eyed the dragon who rested on a limb.
“I’m okay. Not a scratch on me. You should have yours looked at when we get to the village.”
Paige nodded as she straightened. “I don’t think we should stay here much longer. We have no idea if those harpies will be back.”
“Right,” Dewey said. “Well, unfortunately, I’m all turned around now after that detour, so I have no idea where I’m going.”
“I can get us back to where we were when we got captured,” Devon said. “Will that help?”
“Yeah,” Dewey answered, fluttering out of the tree and onto Paige’s shoulder. “If you get us back to where we were, I can take us to my parents’ place.”
Devon nodded and twisted around, getting his bearings before he pointed in a direction. “This way.”
Paige marched behind him as he led them through the jungle. Every screech of a monkey set her nerves more and more on edge. “How much further is it? It didn’t feel this far when the harpy took us to her village.”
Devon shot her a glance over his shoulder. “Yeah, well, flying is faster than walking.”
Paige fluttered her eyelashes as she continued traipsing behind him. Sweat beaded on her brow as the sun heated the day and humidity soared. Paige puffed out a labored breath before she ground to a halt.
“Okay, I really don’t think it was this far.”
Devon took a few more steps before he slowed, glancing over his shoulder. “It was.”
Paige crossed her arms after wiping the sweat from the nose of her glasses. “It wasn’t.”
Dewey poked a claw at Devon. “You’re lost, Dimples, admit it.”
“I’m not lost,” Devon insisted. He spun in a circle before he jabbed a finger at a tree. “We’ve seen this tree.”
“They all look alike,” Paige shot back.
“They do not,” Devon answered.
Devon took a few more steps, running his hands through his hair as he searched the area.
“If only his good looks could be used for navigating, we’d have no troubles,” Dewey said, with a shake of his head.
Devon pushed through the thick vegetation in front of him. A smile spread across his lips, and he pointed at something on the ground, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Ha! This rock. We’ve seen this rock before. Right before the harpy got you.”
Paige wandered closer, eyeing it. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. This is right where we were when we were attacked, and you were captured.”
“Okay,” Paige said, with a tilt of her head. “Dewey, it’s your show.”
“Please. I am not doing a show again. The last time we did that, it ended up on SupNet with over a million hits. I’m still embarrassed about that.”
“It’s just a figure of speech,” Paige said as Dewey pointed in the direction he wanted them to go.
“What show did you do?” Devon asked as they trudged along through the thick jungle.
“Paige and I got a little tipsy and used a few magical items to do a little show. She used the TapMasters, and I used the TopTapper.”
“No way,” Devon said, shoving a leaf aside for Paige to continue. “Ah, I wish I had a signal here. I’d love to see that.”
“No,” Paige said flatly.
“You should see it. Paige is–”
“Stop it. No one’s seeing it,” Paige said as she stomped forward. “You deleted it.”
“Well, I deleted the source. But it had already been shared tons of times, so I just left it up on SupNet.”
Paige stopped, snapping her gaze to Dewey. “You what? You said you were taking it down!”
“Yeah, I know what I said, but–”
“Dewey! I don’t want millions of people seeing me in a sequined leotard.”
“Well, I mean, millions of people already have seen it, Paige,” Dewey said, with a flick of his paw. “What’s the harm in a few more views?”
Paige glared at him. “After the SmartMart video, you’re already on thin ice.”
“SmartMart Video?” Devon questioned.
“Never mind,” Paige said, resuming her trek forward.
“Dewey, care to comment on that?” Devon asked.
“No, he does not. Unless he’d like to be left in the jungle.”
“Paige!” Dewey said, fluttering into the air. “You wouldn’t leave me, would you? I thought we were friends?! I thought you cared about me?”
“Oh, stop being dramatic. I’m not actually going to leave you.”
“Really? No matter what happens, you promise not to leave me? You promise to be my friend?”
Paige studied the tiny dragon’s face as tears welled in his big eyes. “Yes, I promise. Friends for life.”
Dewey flew back to her and perched on her shoulder. “Thanks, Paige.” He turned to Devon. “Once, she was shopping in the SmartMart while on the Comm with me, and someone posted a video saying she was crazy and talking to her purse on SmartMart People.”
“Dewey!” Paige exclaimed, with a stomp of her foot.
“What? You said we’d still be friends, so I figured it was okay.”
Paige sighed and shook her head, wiping the sweat from her brow again. “Let’s just drop the ‘weird stuff that’s happened to Paige’ conversation. Let’s talk about something else, shall we?”
“Okay, sure,” Dewey said. “Any weird stuff ever happen to you, Abs?”
“Ummm, not really.”
“Really?” Paige questioned. “You grew up in that weird castle, and nothing weird ever happened to you?”
Devon offered her a mouth shrug, tugging the corners of his mouth down as he raised his lower lip. “No. Pretty standard life.”
“I feel like growing up in a castle is fundamentally opposite of what anyone would consider a standard life,” Paige answered as Dewey waved for her to make a turn.
“It was pretty normal for me.”
“How much farther?” Paige asked.
“Couple of miles or so,” Dewey said. “Keep going.”
Paige huffed out a tired breath as she trudged along.
Dewey shifted on her shoulder, facing Devon. “Answer me this, muscles, who had the room you imprisoned Paige in before she did?”
“I didn’t imprison her,” Devon argued.
Paige crinkled her forehead. “Yes, you did.”
“Not really.”
“Ah, yeah, you put me inside there after drugging me and then locked me in. That’s imprisonment, by its very definition.”
“You say potato…” Devon said, trailing off as he waved a hand in the air.
“Uh, no. You say potato, I say kidnapping.”
“You still haven’t answered the question, Chiseled Chin. Who had the room before her?”
“I thought we were past the whole insulting me with my looks thing.”
Dewey jabbed a claw at him. “Just answer, Six Pack.”
“Okay, geez,” Devon said, holding a hand up in defeat. “My grandma, why?”
Dewey shot a knowing glance at Paige before he tapped his chin. “And was she, by chance, held there against her will for any amount of time?”
Devon flexed his jaw, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “What are you getting at?”
“Trying to establish a pattern of expected behavior,” Dewey answered.
“What?”