Chapter 23
P aige slow-blinked at the dragon in front of her. She pushed her glasses up and rubbed her eyes before she glanced at the purple dragon again.
With a shake of her head, she pulled her glasses off and swung them toward the light, trying to see if they were dirty.
She twisted back toward Dewey’s mom. “Is she…”
Dewey bobbed his head up and down. “Melty.”
“Melty? Is that even a thing? What’s wrong with her?”
The purple dragon slowly moved her smudged scales in a slow shake.
Dewey winced as a groan escaped him. “Must have used too much Golem goo. It melted her.” He slapped a paw against his face. “I melted my mom.”
“Oh, no,” Paige said. “Can we fix it?”
“It’s temporary. It’ll wear off as soon as the serum comes off her.
But she’s not going to be very happy with me.
” He spun to face the goopy form. “Hi, Mom. It’s me, Dewey.
Your son. I saved your life, but funny thing, there wasn’t much Golem goo, and I squeezed it too much and accidentally put too much in, so you’re a little muddy. ”
“Dewey?” her soft voice answered.
“Yep. It’s me. Little Dewey.”
“What’s wrong with me?” a deep male voice asked.
Dewey flitted to the blue dragon next to Imogen. He grinned and waved a paw in the air. “Hi, Dad. It’s me, Dewey. Sorry I made you a little melty while saving your life. But it’s just temporary. You’ll be back to normal as soon as we wash the serum off you.”
“You screwed up, Dew,” a smart-alecky voice called. “I look like sh–”
“All right, that’s enough,” Dewey said, with a slice of his paw through the air. “It’s not my fault, Connor. Rock Hard Abs over here was telling us an insane story, and my hand slipped. You’re lucky I saved your stupid butt at all.”
“Wow,” a female voice said. “He’s cute.”
“Oh, can it, Phoebe,” Dewey snapped. “He’s not into dragons.”
Dewey fluttered closer to Paige and landed on her shoulder, burying his face in his paws. “Why did I save them?”
“Because they’re your family. Now, is there a hose or something we can use to fix them?”
Dewey poked a claw toward the cave’s mouth. “There’s a well nearby. We could carry buckets.”
“Like giant buckets?” Paige asked, poking at her glasses.
“Fairly large, yeah.”
Paige stuck her hands on her hips and leaned forward to peer at Devon. “Devon, you’re up. Hop to it, buddy.”
“Seriously?” Devon lifted his hands in the air. “Fine.”
He shuffled from the cave with a sigh, grumbling about his muscles.
“I can’t wait to have this sludge off me,” Dewey’s dad murmured.
“Sorry, Dad.”
“A small price to pay for having your life, Rowan,” his mom answered.
“While we’re waiting,” Dewey said, fluttering back to his mother, “you can meet my partner, Paige. Paige, this is my mom, Imogen, and my dad, Rowan.” He fluttered to a group of three dragons. “This is my brother, Connor, and my sisters, Phoebe and Freya.”
Paige poked at the bridge of her glasses and waved. “Hi. Nice to meet you all. Sorry, it wasn’t under better circumstances.”
“Lovely to meet you, dear,” Imogen answered as she waved a dripping paw. “Oh, I’m a mess. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Once when we were in Russia, Dewey–”
Dewey sailed back to Paige and clamped a paw over her mouth. “Helped save Paige’s life. And boy, is she grateful.”
“Really?” Connor asked. “ You saved someone’s life?”
Paige peeled the paw away from her lips. “Actually, he’s saved a few people’s lives, not just mine. And he’s done that a few times.”
Phoebe giggled as a few other dragons’ coats dripped to the ground and they reanimated. “Little Dewey saving someone’s life?”
Dewey wrinkled his nose, his horns wiggling as his lips pulled into a frown.
“He just saved Devon’s life, actually,” Paige answered.
Phoebe’s melty mouth dropped open, forming a wobbly “O.” “That cute guy?”
Dewey curled his paws into fists. “I already told you he’s not into dragons.”
“Know from personal experience, eh, Dew?” Connor asked.
“No!” Dewey shouted as Devon reappeared with an overflowing bucket of water wrapped in his arms.
“Here’s the water,” he said.
“Just toss it on my mom,” Dewey said.
Devon scrunched his features. “Seriously? Just…douse her with it.”
Dewey stuck his paws on his hips. “Yes, Hair, douse her.”
With a shrug, he said, “Okay. Sorry ahead of time.” He splashed the water onto Imogen, who let out a shriek as it smacked against her scales. With a vigorous shake, she shed most of it off, returning to her normal appearance.
Paige winced, squeezing her eyes shut as cold drops spattered her from the dragon’s flailing.
“That was cold!”
“Sorry, he said–”
Imogen waved a paw at Devon. “I know, dear. It’s not your fault. Here, give me that bucket. I’ll gather another load.”
“I’ve got it,” Devon said, with a smile. “You can visit with Dewey.”
“Aw, aren’t you a doll?” Imogen said, with a sweet smile.
Dewey’s eyebrows squashed together as he wrinkled his nose, staring at Devon as he lumbered from the cavern, with the bucket banging against his side.
“Now, Dewey,” Imogen said as she rubbed a pointed claw under her eye to swipe away the black smudges of mascara, “what brings you home unannounced?”
“We had a little plane trouble. Figured we’d drop in and get some help getting to our next destination instead of dying in a fiery plane crash. And good thing we did!” Dewey poked a finger at his mother. “The Transylvanians froze you!”
Imogen’s thick eyebrows pinched together, and the horns on the side of her face rippled. “I barely remember what happened. One minute we were celebrating, and the next minute…nothing.”
Dewey squeezed his paw into a fist and pounded it against his other palm. “Darn vampires.”
“Why would the Transylvanians attack us?” Rowan asked. “It makes no sense.”
Paige raised a hand in the air. “I’m afraid that’s my fault.”
Dewey settled on her shoulder as Devon returned with another bucket of water and dumped it on Rowan.
He shook off the moisture, flinging beads of water everywhere and returning to his normal scaly form. “Oh, that’s better.”
Devon hefted the empty bucket up and left for another round of water retrieval.
“How is this attack your fault, dear?” Imogen asked.
“We’re trying to find a Bronze Ring. The Transylvanians are after it. I’m afraid they may have attacked you to use as a bargaining chip.”
Imogen clapped a paw over her mouth. “Oh, dear.”
“Sorry, Mom, ever since we won Best Library Team–”
“Whoa,” Connor shouted, “you won Best Library Team?”
Dewey lifted his chin. “We did, yes. And we’re going to win it again. If you wouldn’t mind giving us a ride to an airport where we can catch a flight to Antarctica.”
“Hmm,” Imogen murmured as Devon returned and splashed water onto Connor.
He peeled off his shirt before he swiped a forearm across his sweaty face. “It’s hot.”
“I can take over for you,” Connor said, snatching the bucket’s handle in his mouth and trotting through the opening.
Devon twisted to face him. “Thanks.”
Imogen’s eyes widened as she stared at an almost-healed scratch on his back. She sniffed in the air, her nostrils flaring. Her lips tugged back into a snarl, and a puff of smoke escaped from her nose.
“Whoa, Mom, what are you doing?”
“Get back, Dewey,” Imogen said, scraping a paw against the ground. “He’s dangerous.”
Devon spun to face the massive dragon, holding his hands up in defeat. “Look, Mrs. Decimael, I don’t mean you any harm. I just–”
“Stop talking, vampire!”
“Oh, crap,” Dewey murmured before he buried his face in a paw.
“Whoa, just a second,” Paige said, waving her hands in the air and stepping between Devon and Imogen. “He’s not a threat.”
“I beg to differ,” Rowan answered, assuming a defensive stance and inching forward past Imogen.
“Yeah, well, he’s not. He’s helping us. He’s helping you.”
“Dewey, you should have known better than to bring a day-walker into our village. I’m surprised at you!” Imogen said.
Rowan reared back, preparing to discharge a burst of flames from his mouth. “And we cannot let it stand.”
“But Mom!” Dewey cried.
“You screwed up big time, Dew,” Phoebe said. “And to think I thought he was cute. Ugh!”
“Oh, come on,” Devon said from behind Paige.
“Okay, that’s it!” Paige shouted, poking a finger at Imogen. “You stop lecturing Dewey. If it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t be alive.”
She jabbed a finger at Rowan. “And you, don’t even think about spewing that fire, because Devon is not a threat. He’d kept us safe from the Transylvanians, including getting wounded in a fight with the one who froze you. There’s no need for this.”
She nudged her glasses as she set her jaw and stared down the massive beasts in front of her. Dewey shot her a wide-eyed glance before his gaze flicked back to his parents.
“Do you really think you can tell us what to do in our own cave? A little thing like you?” Rowan asked.
“A little thing like me has stopped werewolves, Venompires, Shrieking Pixies, and more. I’ll do what I have to do. But to get to him, you’ll have to go through me.”
“And me,” Dewey said, straightening and patting Paige’s head. “We’re friends. And if anyone hurts Paige, they hurt me, too.”
“Dewey, get away from them!” Imogen said.
Dewey shook his head. “Nothing doing, Mom. Outside of his smoldering looks, he’s not a threat. And we’ll be out of your scales as soon as someone flies us to the nearest airport. We don’t plan to hang around.”
“The looks are a threat,” Phoebe said.
Dewey puckered his lips as he slid his eyes closed.
“You’ll do no such thing, Dewey,” Imogen said. “This sounds far too dangerous for a tiny fellow like you. I think it’s time you came home. This position with the library was supposed to keep you safe given your size–”
“That’s enough!” Dewey shouted as he fluttered into the air. “My size isn’t a handicap. In fact, it can be an advantage. I’m small enough to slip into places unseen. And I’m damn good at my job. No one’s going to stop me from doing it. Not you, not Dad, not anyone.”
Paige crossed her arms and flicked her eyebrows up as Dewey continued his rant.