Chapter 29
“W e’re stuck,” Paige squeaked.
“Not really,” Dewey said, with a half-shrug. “I could fly back over there and–”
“And leave me here alone in the dark?” she squealed.
“Oh, right, umm, well I could…” His voice trailed off as he winced. “Yeah, I’d have to leave you here in the dark, because I’d need the light. But still, it’d be scary for a little bit, but Devon could fly over and get you. Totally cool.”
“Right, yes. You’re right. It’s totally cool. We’re not stuck. You have wings. Thorn has wings. Devon has wings. One of them can just fly across and get me.” Paige blew out a breath as she bobbed her head up and down. “No problem at all.”
“Right. Plus,” Dewey answered, waving the light down a passage behind them, “there’s a tunnel back here. Maybe there’s another way out and nobody needs saving.”
“Yes, perfect. I’m sure there’s a way out,” Paige said as she tried to stand. Her feet slipped, and one plunged over the edge. “Whoa!”
Dewey spun and shined the light at her. She winced, squeezing her eyes closed as she held a hand in front. “Careful, Paige. If you fall…well…no one can save you, because you’ll probably die. The bottom looks pretty far.”
He flitted over the chasm and shined his light down. “Yeah, this doesn’t even reach the bottom.”
Paige squeezed her lips together as she tried to shimmy away from the edge. The ice caused her to slip closer to the chasm.
He flew down a bit further. “No end to this baby. You’re a dead woman if you fall down here.”
“Please stop saying that and get over here and help me not die.”
“Oh, right.” Dewey flew toward her, and they locked hands. His wings flapped hard as he struggled to pull her away from the edge. “You gotta help out, Paige.”
“I am helping! Every time I move, I slip further back.”
“Stop moving, then!” Dewey shouted, with a grunt.
She slid forward, finally able to hook her skate on the edge and push. With another slither, she managed to gain her footing. “Oh, man, that was close.”
“Yeah, let’s get out of here before you fall over the edge and die.”
“Not funny,” she groaned as she pushed off one leg and skated into the passage. “Are we still going down?”
“Seems like it,” Dewey said as he flew along next to her. She slowed and patted her shoulder.
“Pass,” Dewey answered, with a shake of his head.
“Are you kidding me?”
“If you go over another cliff, I’d prefer to live.”
“Thanks, buddy. I appreciate your support here. Also, the optimism in assuming that I’ll go over another cliff.”
“Let’s hope you don’t.”
“I’m hoping there’s a way out of here,” Paige said as the passage curved around before spilling into a new chamber.
“Problem is, you’re not that lucky.”
Paige sighed as she skated into the middle of the cavern. “You’re right. I’m sure Drucinda will find the Bronze Ring, kill an entire pack of ice panthers, fifteen Transylvanians, and rescue me all in less than the two-hour window we have.”
Dewey chuckled as he shone the beam around the cavern. “And rescue your mom, too.”
Paige frowned as she slowed to a stop.
“Oh, sorry, went too far,” Dewey said.
“No, you didn’t. You actually bring up a good point. Now that we actually have five seconds to ourselves without someone breathing down our necks, I’d actually like to hear your thoughts on the whole ‘my mom is alive’ theory.”
Dewey continued to explore the cave, without making eye contact. “Well…I mean, what do you think?”
“I think I’d like to hear your opinion,” Paige said.
Dewey wrinkled his nose, his horns wiggling. “What if you don’t like what I have to say?”
Paige crossed her arms and shrugged. “Simple. I’m an adult. I’ll just hate you with a burning passion for the rest of my life.”
“Very funny, Paige. I’m serious. You’re the first friend I’ve had in a long time. I don’t want to lose you.”
“Not going to happen, buddy. And it’s because we’re friends that I’d really like to hear your opinion. I don’t know what to think. I’d like an outside perspective. Someone who isn’t emotionally connected.”
Dewey flew back toward her, hovering in front of her. “I think…I think it doesn’t hurt to try. Maybe we should follow up on any information they have. What if it leads to something?”
“What if that something is heartbreak?”
“If you don’t do it, won’t you just spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if you did?”
Paige let her gaze fall to her feet as tears brimmed. “You’re right. I will always wonder if she’s out there somewhere and I let her down.”
“I don’t think you’re letting her down, but I do think if you don’t try, you’re letting yourself down.”
Paige sniffled. “Right again. It’s just hard after all this time to hear that she may be out there somewhere. That she may be alive. I’ve lost so much time with her.”
Dewey settled at her shoulder and wrapped an arm around her head. “Don’t think about it that way. Think about all the time you’ll still have with her if you find her.”
A tear fell to her cheek, and she flicked it away, desperately trying to shove down her emotions.
“Besides, it sounds like Drucinda is going to look for your mom with or without you, so…I mean, do you really want to be beaten by Drucinda again?”
Paige choked out a laugh between her quiet sobs. “Right. How bad is it if I’m just cooling my heels at the Shadow Harbor library keeping the paranormal world at bay and the humans safe and Drucinda finds my mom?”
“Terrible. Awful. Horrible,” Dewey said.
“Exactly.” She fished a tissue out from her pocket and wiped her face. “Okay, so as soon as we save the world again, we look for my mom.”
“Yeah!” Dewey pumped a fist in the air.
Paige blew out a steadying breath and scanned the chamber. “Now, if I was a Bronze Ring–”
“Stop. Why do you always say that? It’s impossible for you to be a Chaos Gem or a Bronze Ring. The question is meaningless.”
“It’s rhetorical. Like where would the Bronze Ring be?”
“Then just say that,” Dewey said, tightening his grip on her shoulder as she skated toward the opposite side of the cavern.
“What difference does it make?” Paige asked.
“A good deal. As a writer, I have to be very selective about my words. One poor choice, and some idiot will one-star me with a nasty note about how I needed a better editor.”
Paige searched the walls for the opening she’d spotted earlier when Dewey explored the space. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but some idiot is likely to do that anyway.”
“Not if I can help it.”
“Yeah, right. Listen, someone won’t like your story or your character or something else about your book. It’s inevitable. You can’t take it seriously. People like different things. That’s what makes the world go ’round.”
“You’re right.”
“How’s the book going?” Paige asked as she slipped into the winding passage.
“Ehhhhh, it’s okay.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Are you stuck?”
“No, I’m just…thinking about things. But I’m still making progress. I’m working on another project, while I vet through my ideas on Malice in Wonderland .”
“What project?”
“It’s nothing. It’s just a procrastination document. You know…when I get stuck on Malice , I go over and fiddle around in the other one.”
“What’s it about?”
“Nothing,” Dewey said, refusing to look at her.
“Dewey?”
“Is that another cavern up ahead?”
Paige skidded to a stop and stared at him. “Are you writing a story about a vampire prince kidnapping a redheaded woman?”
“Maybe,” he answered. “Look, I really think we should focus on the task at hand here, and not my procrastination work-in-progress.”
Paige stuck her hands on her hips, her features pinching. “I can’t believe you. I told you not to write that.”
“Relax, Paige, I changed the names.”
Paige set her skates in motion again, gliding toward the wider opening at the end of the corridor. “I can’t believe you.”
“What? I couldn’t help it. Devon’s super creepy castle lit a fire in my brain, and I have to write this. Vampire romance is hot right now. I could retire early if this hits right.”
“How close is the story to what actually happened?”
“Oh, it’s tons different. Nothing like what happened. I literally just used a few bits and pieces.”
“Such as?”
“Like the red hair and glasses on the heroine. The impossibly good looking with perfect hair vampire. The dark, creepy castle. The heroine, a librarian who protects the world from supernatural danger, lives downstairs from the vampire who falls madly in love with his neighbor. He then kidnaps her after faking a car accident–”
“Stop!” Paige said, tossing her hand in the air. “That’s literally identical to what happened. That’s way more than bits and pieces.”
“Well, okay, there are some major differences.”
“Like what?” Paige asked as she circled around the cavern.
“Like the names are different.”
“Pfft, big deal,” Paige said. “Name one other major difference.”
“She works in a small town, not a city,” Dewey snapped, crossing his arms.
Paige slid her eyes closed, pausing at the entrance to another passage.
“If I get rich, I’ll cut you in for a share. And I’ll make sure someone cool plays you in the movie.”
“Madelaine Petsch. I won’t settle for anyone less.”
“Riverdale fan, are we?”
“Maybe,” Paige said, adjusting her glasses.
“We should binge it when we get home. It’s so good.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Paige slowed again as the passage curved sharply to the right. “Wait, that’s way too long of a show to binge-watch. It’ll take an entire weekend, and you invited Devon to the next movie night.”
Dewey tugged his lips back in a wince. “Maybe we won’t tell him about that one. He’d probably hate it anyway.”
“Probably,” Paige said, sliding along again. “Stupid Devon.”
“Yeah, stupid Devon and his stupid perfect hair.”
“And his stupid no-movie childhood.”
“In his stupid, creepy castle.”
“Stupid, stupid Devon,” Paige said as they reached the end of the passage. It branched off into three corridors. “Which one?”
“Left.”
“I thought right?” Paige said.
“Let’s take the middle, then.”
“Fine,” she said and pushed off toward the middle passage. After a few feet, it sloped downward. She ran her gloved hand along the icy wall as she picked up speed. “Ummm, this is really–”
Her words cut off as the floor dipped sharply. She barreled forward, desperately trying to stay upright. She lost the battle as the curve pivoted before dropping away again. She fell hard on her back before the ice swept her the rest of the way down and into another cavern.
She spiraled inside, her hands and legs spread like a starfish before she ground to a halt. She puffed out a few breaths as she lay in the dimly lit chamber. A strange orange glow lit it partially.
“Dewey?” she called, realizing the small dragon no longer clung to her shoulder.
“Paige?” A light bobbled from the passage leading to the chamber. Dewey buzzed in seconds later and flew to her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she said with a nod as she rose to sit. “Lost my footing when the slope went really steep.”
“Yeah, it was like a roller coaster. You’ll never be able to climb out of here.”
“Let’s hope there’s another exit,” Paige said as she climbed to her feet. “What’s that weird glow?”
“What glow?”
“Turn off the flashlight.”
Dewey clicked it off, and darkness enveloped them. As their eyes adjusted, the slight orange glow from across the chamber became brighter.
“There!” Paige thrust a finger in its direction.
Dewey gasped, and his paw clamped down on her head. “I think that’s the Bronze Ring.”
“Really?” Paige squealed.
“Bronze Rings glow with a ruddy orange light. Would you say that’s a ruddy orange light?”
“Yes. Where is it?” Paige skated forward toward the glow. “Is it buried in the ice? We should have brought an icepick. Why didn’t we bring the magic bag with us?”
Dewey floated forward and pressed his paw against the ice. “I don’t think it’s buried. The light isn’t refracting from inside the ice. It looks like it’s behind it.”
He traced his claw along the wall until his paw slipped into an opening. “Here!”
Paige skated toward him, finding a slim entrance leading to a small chamber. She sucked in a gasp as the glow brightened.
A small alcove in the back wall housed the glowing ring. Paige reached for it with trembling fingers. The cold metal permeated through her gloves as she lifted the glowing metal band. She snapped her gaze to Dewey, smiling broadly.
“We did it! We found the ring!”
“And just in time, too,” a British voice said. “I was getting cold. Now, hand it over before I shoot.”