Chapter 22
D ewey released pressure on the bottle, and the goopy gel stopped seeping into the measuring spoon. “Say what?”
Paige poked at her glasses. “Someone killed the fortune teller they asked you to find?”
“Yeah, I found her in a dumpster in Grayburgh.” Devon bobbed his head up and down as he slid his hands into his pockets.
“Then what happened?” Dewey asked as he squeezed more goo into the metal spoon.
“That’s kind of where everything stopped before your mom disappeared.”
“What do you mean? Like, she just took off right then?”
“No, she went into labor.”
Dewey’s eyes widened as he shook the bottle and more goo slid out. “Seriously?”
“Yep, and, uh…” Devon ran his hand through his hair again as he shifted his weight from side to side, lowering his voice. “Then you were born.”
“Wait, back up. Try again, hot stuff. Why did you gloss over that detail in that weird voice?”
“I didn’t use a weird voice.”
“Yes, you did. You went all low, like you were hiding something.”
Devon lifted a shoulder as he shook his head. “Nah, I mean–”
“Wait!” Dewey shouted, another glob of the goo plopping into the measurer. “Did you know Paige as a baby?”
“Ahhhh,” he answered with a wince. “Yep.”
Heat rose in Paige’s cheeks as her eyes grew wide.
“Was she a cute baby or an ugly one?”
“I mean…she was a baby. I couldn’t get a great look in the streetlight–”
“Streetlight?” Dewey questioned.
Devon puckered his lips before he raised his gaze to the ceiling. “Yeah. Umm, your mom went into labor, and I drove her toward the hospital, but we didn’t make it. So, I had to deliver you just off the off-ramp to Shadow Harbor.”
The pestle smacked off the mortar as Paige let it go, her jaw hanging agape as she stared at him. A massive glob of the Golem goo splatted down, overflowing the measuring spoon and spilling into the bowl below.
“Oops,” Dewey murmured as he dumped the rest in. “Should be fine. Okay, wait, you…delivered Paige?”
“Yeah.” A smile flitted across Devon’s face as he stared down at the marbled countertop. “She had a little smattering of red hair, and pink cheeks.”
Paige stared at him, unable to pull her eyes away as he continued.
Dewey snapped his gaze to her, his jaw hanging open. “OMG, Paige!”
“I know,” she whispered and swallowed hard.
“Devon’s seen you naked.”
She contorted her features, swiveling to face him. “What?”
“I mean, you were born naked. And Devon delivered you. Devon’s seen you–”
“Stop,” Paige said, waving a hand in the air. “Stop, please stop.”
“You’re right. There are more relevant details here. Please, continue,” Dewey said, retrieving a knife for the Harpy Heat. “Did you cut the cord?”
“Dewey, please! That hardly matters.”
“I did. Then I passed you over to Dru–”
Paige stamped a foot on the ground, her hands curling into fists. “Wait, what?”
“I passed you over to Drucinda to hold while I took my shirt off–”
Dewey’s eyes went wide, while he stirred the gooey concoction. “Whoa. Why did you do that? Just to show off your pecs or what?”
Devon squashed his eyebrows together. “No. I mean…we didn’t have any baby clothes because she came as kind of a surprise, like, a month early. So, I took my shirt off, and we–”
“Oh-ho-ho,” Dewey interrupted, “you wrapped little baby Paige in your T-shirt.”
Devon nodded. “That’s right. Then gave her back to Reed and we took them both home.”
Paige stared blankly ahead, her lips parted as the information sank into her brain.
“Wait, not to a hospital? The lady just gave birth to a preemie, and you took her home?”
Devon held up his hands. “Reed insisted. Dru drove her home. They had a doctor come to check on her and Paige, but she wouldn’t go to a hospital or anywhere associated with the library network. She didn’t want any parts of anything official.”
Paige’s head slowly slid back and forth as she attempted to sort through the conversation.
“And then what?” Dewey prompted as he palmed the Harpy Heat.
Devon lifted a shoulder. “I was trying to build the crib, which, by the way, is not easy. And then Dru said Reed found a note tucked into Paige’s blanket, threatening them. She got really paranoid, and she left while I was out buying some tools to finish the crib. I never saw her again.”
Paige’s fingernails dug into her palms until blood stained them. “Because Drucinda killed her!”
“That’s totally not true,” Devon said, slicing a hand through the air. “Drucinda nearly raised you.”
“Uh, no,” Paige said, with a shake of her head.
Devon lowered his chin and stared at Paige. “Uh, yeah. Drucinda took over as librarian when your mom was in the hospital. They were keeping her alive through her coma. Dru planned to raise you until Reed woke up.”
Paige’s features pinched, and Dewey shot her a shocked glance. “Oh, wow. Drucinda Sharpe was almost your mom.”
“Drucinda Sharpe is not my mom,” Paige growled through clenched teeth.
“But almost–”
“Stop saying that.” She pressed her fingertips against her temples. “That can’t be true.”
“It is true,” Devon said. “Your mom and Dru were close. She wanted nothing more than to help Reed.”
Tears filled Paige’s eyes, and she struggled to blink them away. Devon took a step toward her, but she inched away.
“Don’t.”
He shot a glance at Dewey, who shrugged. With careful restraint, he nudged his chin toward Paige.
“Ohhh,” Dewey answered as his eyebrows shot up.
He fluttered to Paige and patted her shoulder.
“There, there, Paige. It’s okay. You almost had a cheeky and dangerous part-valkyrie for a mom, but you caught a lucky break when Reed gave you to the nuns.
Sort of. Maybe Drucinda would have been a super-cool mom. Or not. Hard to say.”
Paige shot him a teary-eyed glance, her lips tugging down into a frown as her emotions devolved.
“Dude, you stink at this,” Devon murmured as he stepped forward and pulled a still-stunned Paige into an embrace. “Your mom did what she thought was best for you, but Dru never would have betrayed her.”
Paige sniffled as tears rolled down her cheeks, and her arms hung limply at her sides.
Devon pushed away from her, squeezing her shoulders as he caught her gaze. “You’ve got to stop thinking of us as the enemy, okay? We can help you. We tried to help your mom. And now we can help you. Your mom is alive. We can find her.”
Paige wiped at her tears as she shook her head. “No, she’s–”
“She is,” Devon interrupted.
Paige snapped her gaze back to him. “Then why haven’t you found her in over thirty years?”
“I didn’t know what to look for, and for a while we thought she may be dead. Dru spent a long time in prison. When she got out, she contacted me. It’s then I realized you were the baby I’d delivered.”
Paige sniffled as Dewey flew from the room and returned with a Paige-sized tissue. He tore a smaller strip from it and waved it at her.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks,” she said with another sniff and used the tissue to dab at her tear-stained cheeks.
Dewey patted her shoulder again. “It’s okay, Paige. We’ll sort it all out.”
Paige bobbed her head up and down as she blew her nose. “Right. At the moment, we need to focus on your family, and then–”
“No, no, no,” Dewey said, with a shake of his head.
“Well, I mean, yes. We need to save my family before they all die a slow and horrible death in a few hours. And then we need to find the Bronze Ring before the Transylvanians ruin the world, but as soon as we’re done with that, it’s all about figuring out what you want to do about your mom. ”
“Right,” Paige repeated before swallowing hard. She blew out a long, shaky breath. “Okay, let’s save your family, then the world.”
Dewey waved a fist in the air. “That’s the spirit! All I need to do is add in the Harpy Heat and your crushed soda, and we’re good.”
Paige swiped the tissue across her skin again and rubbed at her red nose before nodding. “Okay.”
“Stand back,” Dewey said as he grabbed the pepper again. “This’ll be a little volatile when I add it.”
He used the tine of a fork to pierce the pointed bottom. Red liquid dripped from the supernatural pepper, and sparks flew as it hit the goo inside.
“Now for the soda powder.”
He scooped a spoonful of the crushed bulb from the mortar before he shot a glance over his shoulder. “Remember, kids, do not try this at home.”
He grinned, his shoulders bouncing in a silent chuckle before he dumped the powder into the mixture. The metal bowl rattled against the counter as it vibrated. A popping noise sounded.
Paige sank down, covering her ears and squinting at the bowl as she turned slightly away, unable to stop staring at it but afraid it’d blow up in her face.
The quavering bowl rolled to a stop, settling back down against the counter. Paige blew out a sigh as she rose to stand, letting her hands fall to her sides.
A loud explosion made her drop down again, her hands flying to cover her ears again as a blue fireball shot out of the bowl, dissipating in a cloud of smoke.
“Is that normal?” Paige asked, her hands still hovering near her ears in case of another loud boom.
“Totally,” Dewey answered, flying back toward the bowl and studying the contents. He gave it a quick stir and curt nod. “Devon, could you be a pal and fly up to my parents’ bathroom? My mom should have a spray bottle in the vanity drawer. I’ll need it to mist this onto the villagers.”
“Sure. Where is this at?”
“Upstairs, door at the end of the hall. Bathroom’s on the right. Go to the vanity with no sink. There should be a bottle in the middle cupboard.”
Devon morphed into his beast mode and flapped his wings. He disappeared into the foyer as Paige inched closer to the bowl and lifted her chin to peer over the edge.
“Why would your mom have a spray bottle? And in her makeup vanity? Do dragons wear makeup?”
“My mom never goes without mascara. And she uses the spray bottle to mist her tail. She loves volume.”
“Oh, that’s…”
“What?” Dewey asked when her voice trailed off. “Weird? Were you going to say weird? Because you think dragons are like cavemen. We romp around in the jungle with pointed sticks, yelling, ‘Wonga wonga’ all the time?”
“What? No, I just…”
Dewey puckered his lips and narrowed his eyes as he stared at her.
“Was being an idiot,” she said, with a weak smile.
The flapping of Devon’s wings ended their conversation. He landed on the counter and transformed into human form before handing the bottle off to Dewey.
The tiny dragon cracked open the bottle and set the base on the counter. “Perfect.”
He stuck a funnel in the top and grabbed hold of the bowl’s edge. “Help me pour this in, Muscles.”
Devon lifted the large bowl up with ease. The now-runny green serum flowed into the clear bottle, filling it to the top.
“Bet you appreciate my physique at this moment,” Devon said as he settled the bowl back onto the counter.
“Not really. We could have done it without you.” Dewey screwed the top back on and grabbed hold of the bottle. “Okay, let’s go save some lives.”
Paige scrambled down the step ladder to the floor below as Dewey buzzed overhead. Devon joined her, and they made another trek through the jungle to the cave, with Dewey in the lead.
“How does this work?” Paige asked as they entered the chamber with the frozen dinosaurs.
“I will mist them with the serum, and in a few minutes it should start to eat through the coating and free them.”
“Minutes, good,” Paige said, with a nod. “So, we’ll know right away if it works.”
Dewey shot her a narrowed glance over his shoulder. “Of course it’ll work, Paige. I’m excellent at potions, you know that.”
Paige opened her mouth to respond, then clamped it shut and shook her head. “Right, you’re right.”
Dewey spun back to face his mother’s frozen form. He sucked in a breath and aimed the spray bottle at her, his finger on the trigger.
Paige raised her eyebrows as she waited for the mist to coat the glassy layer over her purple scales.
Dewey’s head dropped, and he shielded his eyes with a paw.
“Dewey? What is it?” Paige asked, stepping forward and placing a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, I’m just…I can’t stop thinking about Mr. Perfect Hair holding a tiny, naked baby Paige. Ripping his shirt off to wrap you in it.”
Paige pressed her lips together in a thin line. “Please, stop. We have to focus on saving your family before it’s too late.”
Dewey shook his head back and forth and jiggled his arms around. “Right, yes. Focus, Dewey. Stop thinking about how Hot Stuff almost built Paige’s crib. He was almost your dad. Then he tried to kill you, and then he proposed to you. It’s like a terrible paranormal romance novel.”
“Enough,” Paige hissed. “I’ll handle this.” She wrangled the bottle from Dewey’s hands and sprayed a generous mist over his mother before moving on to his father and siblings.
She worked her way around the cave, spraying each of the dragons before she returned to Devon and Dewey. She thrust the almost empty bottle at the little dragon.
“That’s how you get things done.”
“Good going, Paige,” Dewey said. “You really know how to do things. Meanwhile, I’ve just been hanging out with your almost-dad-slash-boyfriend.”
“I wasn’t really almost her dad. At no time was I in any way a father figure to her.”
Dewey shot him an irritated glance. “You were building her crib, dude, what do you think dads do?”
“I was kind of more like the fun uncle.”
Dewey’s jaw dropped open, and the corners of his mouth turned up into an amused grin. “Uncle Devon? Paige, you almost married your uncle.”
Paige shook her head and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “You’re not making this any better.”
A noise sounded behind Dewey. Paige lifted her chin to peer over his shoulder as he twisted to eye his mother. Large pockmarks covered the once-glassy coating, and some of it dripped to the ground below.
“It’s working!” Dewey exclaimed. “She should be free any minute.”
Paige clasped her hands together, resting her chin on her knuckles as she bit her lower lip in anticipation of the dragon returning to life. Her lower lip escaped her teeth as her jaw fell open. She slow-blinked at the form in front of her.
Dewey’s teal lips pulled back into a grimace, and he fluttered backward, his horns wiggling.
“Uhhh, oops. That’s not good.”