Chapter 24
P aige gulped as her hands rose slowly in the air. Devon stepped in front of her, already morphing into his beast form.
“Oh, put your wings away, Devon, they’ll do you little good in this situation.”
Devon’s clawed fingers reached behind him, pushing Paige back further. She wrapped her hand around his dark skin as she inched backward. Her foot caught the edge of the stair, and her back arched.
One arm flailed in the air as she fought to maintain her balance, but she lost the battle. She toppled backward, pulling Devon down with her.
They landed in a tangle of limbs, smacking into the ground hard. The air rushed from Paige’s lungs. Devon’s heavy weight crushed her further, and she struggled to gasp for air.
Caleb’s surprised face hovered above them as he peered down from the landing near the library door. “You truly are a disaster.”
Devon scrambled to his feet still in his beastly form, growling at Caleb.
Dewey wriggled on the ground. “Get up, Paige, you’re on my wing.”
“I’m trying,” she cried as she kicked her feet out to push herself up to sit.
“Leave,” Devon growled.
“I don’t think so. Time to finish off Paige Turner and her team once and for all.” Caleb leveled the gun at Devon, his lips twisting into an evil smile. “Say goodbye, Devon.”
A whirring noise sounded as Caleb’s finger tightened around the trigger of the odd-looking weapon. Paige squeezed her eyes closed as she waited for the item to obliterate her existence.
A gurgling, gasping noise made her open them to slits. They grew wider as she stared at the sight in front of her.
Caleb grasped at his stomach. Bright red blood stained his fingers. He raised his eyes to them, shock and fear in them as he sputtered a cough. More blood dribbled from his lips and streaked down to drip from his chin.
With a last choking inhale, he dropped to his knees and collapsed forward.
“What just happened?” Paige asked, eyes wide as she stared at the body whose limp arm dangled over the stair.
“I just happened,” a snarky, female voice said.
Paige raised her gaze to find Drucinda stuffing a gun into the holster strapped to her leather-clad leg. “You’re welcome.”
Devon morphed back into human form, a grin on his lips. “Dru.”
Drucinda crossed her arms, arched an eyebrow, and lifted her chin. “In the flesh. And good thing, too. He nearly killed you.”
Devon tugged the weapon from the Transylvanian’s fingers and dangled it in the air. “How did he get ahold of a photon gun?”
“Good question,” Drucinda said as Devon tucked the weapon into his waistband.
Paige poked a finger at the woman. “How did you get here, is a better question?”
“I see we’re still as hostile as ever. Thank you, Drucinda, for saving my backside one more time.”
Paige clamped her lips together, her jaw flexing as she stared at her. A mix of emotions coursed through her veins. Had Drucinda nearly raised her, or had it all been a ploy to off her mother?
“She knows, Dru. I told her.”
Drucinda’s features melted into a disappointed expression. She fluttered her eyelashes and flicked her gaze to the brightening sky in the east.
“Damn. I really wanted to see her face when she realized I was her mother’s best friend.”
“Who killed her!” Paige retorted.
Drucinda snapped her gaze back to Paige. “That’s not true.”
“The prison system says otherwise, lady,” Dewey said.
“The judicial system is flawed at best. Now, I suggest we get moving before the sun rises, and the townspeople discover the existence of dragons.” Drucinda hopped down the few steps to the cobblestone street below. “Or the Transylvanians beat us to the Bronze Ring.”
Devon followed after her, but Paige remained motionless. She crossed her arms, her jaw still working to clench her teeth.
Drucinda shot a glance over her shoulder. “This is the part where you follow me, darling.”
“I’m not following you anywhere!” Paige shouted, clenching her fists.
Drucinda stopped her sauntering and narrowed her eyes at Paige before she clicked her tongue and continued walking.
“Come on, Paige,” Devon said. “You can get more information about your mom on the plane. Come on.”
Paige refused to move forward, standing stubbornly in the same spot.
Dewey patted the top of her head. “I hate to be a jerk here, but–”
“But you will anyway?” she snapped.
“Yep. I mean, we’re kind of stuck. Even if we hate Drucinda, maybe we should just take the ride.”
“No,” Paige said, with a vehement shake of her head. “No way. I’ll wait here for the librarian, and they can get us in touch with Ronnie. We’ll get our own plane. It’ll be fine. In fact, I may even have service now. We can call–”
“Paige, that’ll take hours at best. I mean, if you really want Drucinda to beat us to the ring, we can go that route, sure.”
Paige scrunched her features and slid her eyes closed, her nostrils flaring as she forced her breathing to slow down.
“Think of it like you’re using Drucinda. She’s a pawn in our plan to be the best librarian team again. It would be dumb not to take her up on the offer.”
Paige huffed out a sigh. “Fine.”
“Good decision,” Dewey said as she trotted to catch up to the others. “We are totally smart and savvy. The best librarian team would take advantage of this opportunity.”
“Stop talking,” Paige said, with a shake of her head.
“Right,” Dewey answered, with a nod.
“Oh, decided to join us, did you?” Drucinda asked, with a cool glance over her shoulder.
“Begrudgingly,” Paige said.
Drucinda rolled her eyes as she stalked to an all-terrain vehicle hidden in the trees.
“It’ll be fine, Paige,” Devon said, rubbing her shoulders. “You’ll see. And now, maybe we can finally get some answers about your mom.”
Paige shrugged him off with a wrinkle of her nose. “We’re not friends, okay? Stop acting like we are.”
“You really need to take it down a notch, sweetheart,” Drucinda said as she tugged the door open and slid behind the wheel. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Paige stamped a foot on the ground, her hands clenched into fists again. “Then why don’t you tell me?”
“I would love to. But let’s get to the plane first, shall we?” She fired the engine and revved it a few times.
Paige heaved another sigh before she pulled open the back door and slid into the seat behind Devon. Dewey fluttered onto the seat next to her and plopped down for the short ride to the makeshift airstrip in the midst of the thick jungle.
Drucinda drove the vehicle up a loading ramp into the plane.
“Dang,” Dewey said as he flew into the cargo space. “Paris went all out for this plane.”
Drucinda swung her ponytail over her shoulder. “I demand the best.”
She sauntered forward, climbing a set of metal stairs, with the others following her. They spilled out into a posh cabin. The pilots, who lounged in two of the plush leather seats, leapt to attention.
“I hope you’re ready because I expect to be in the air in the next fifteen minutes,” Drucinda said before she plopped onto the couch and kicked up her feet.
“Ready, Ms. Sharpe. We’ll have you in the air in ten.” The pilot and his co-pilot scurried to the cockpit, and the engines roared to life moments later.
Paige eyed the space, searching for a seat as far from the others as possible. Devon slipped past her and collapsed onto the loveseat.
Dewey flew off Paige’s shoulder and landed next to Devon. He poked at a throw pillow before he tossed himself against it.
“Wow, these are top quality.”
With her lips pressed together in a thin line, Paige started across the room as the plane lurched forward.
Drucinda arched an eyebrow and patted the seat next to her.
“Pass,” Paige answered.
“Oh, just sit down. Not everything is a fight.”
Paige scrunched her features and opened her mouth to answer when Drucinda cut her off. “And don’t start with the ‘you killed my mother’ bit again. I didn’t. Believe it or don’t. But it’s the truth. And if we’re going to get through at least this mission together, we must set that aside.”
Dewey shot her a glance and offered a slight shrug as he tilted his head toward the couch.
Paige glanced down at the burgundy rug, wishing she was anywhere but on a plane with Drucinda Sharpe and Devon LeBlanc.
With her teeth firmly embedded in her lower lip, she slipped past Devon and collapsed onto the seat.
The plane rumbled down the grassy strip before leaving the ground. Paige glanced out the window behind her, watching the jungle fade away below.
A tense silence filled the plane outside of the droning of the engines. Dewey cleared his throat, shooting a pointed look at Paige.
She jiggled her head back and forth in a discreet shake. He widened his eyes and nudged his chin toward Drucinda.
Paige pressed her lips together, giving him a small but vehement head shake.
“Any word on what’s happening with the ring?” Devon asked.
“The Transylvanians may already be on sight. Though they are notoriously slow at exploration, so we can likely catch them with a bit of effort,” Drucinda answered.
Devon slouched further down the leather seat. “With the problem solved with Dewey’s village, they’ve lost their leverage.”
“What exactly happened there?” Drucinda asked.
“They froze his parents. We reversed it. And now you’ve killed Caleb, so unless he let them know already, we have a slight advantage.”
Paige stared down at her hands as the conversation unfolded, her jaw working overtime.
“With them unfrozen, we have a major advantage. Good work.”
“Thanks,” Dewey said, with a nod. “Say, Drucinda, Devon told us you were good friends with Paige’s mom.”
Paige slid her eyes shut as she sucked in a steadying breath, unprepared for the conversation.
“I was, yes. We were quite close.”
“How close?” Dewey asked.
Paige pressed her lips together, her features pinching as she popped her eyes open. Drucinda tapped Paige’s thigh.
“So close, I put the first diaper on your bottom and dressed you in your first onesie.”