Chapter 30
P aige held her breath, slowly spinning toward the voice. Her hands instinctively rose in the air, still pinching the ring between her thumb and forefinger.
She swallowed hard as she focused on the stubby barrel of the gun aimed at her. Dewey fluttered behind her, shielding himself with her body.
He tapped her shoulder. “Paige! He’s got a gun.”
“I can see the gun, yes, thanks.”
“Oh good, with those thick specs, I was worried you may not see it,” the vampire said.
“I’m not blind, idiot.”
“Ouch, my precious feelings. I hope I’ll recover from that stinging retort.” He pressed a hand against his chest, faking a whimper. In an instant, his face turned hard again. “Give me that ring.”
“No,” Paige said, with a vehement shake of her head.
The vampire heaved a sigh, his eyes falling to the icy ground below him. “Darn. I guess I’ll just go home.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“You truly are an idiot. Do you really think I’m leaving?”
“I mean, I was hoping,” Paige answered. “But I figured probably not.”
“You are correct. How bright you are. I will leave…but I’ll do it with the ring.”
“Over my dead body!” Paige shouted.
“That can easily be arranged.” He edged the gun forward, aiming at her chest.
“Hold it right there, Mister,” Dewey said. He climbed onto Paige’s shoulder, with his tiny weapon held close to his body. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
The vampire stiffened as his eyes fell on the squat barrel pointing at him. “Shoot me, and the last thing I do on this Earth will be to shoot her.”
“Looks like we’re at a stalemate then, pal.” Dewey shot his eyebrows up, giving him a haughty glance.
“Mmm,” the vampire said as he narrowed his eyes, “I maintain that I still hold the upper hand.”
“How do you figure that, Sparkles?”
“Firstly, you prefer me not to shoot her, so you won’t strike first and endanger her life. Secondly, I’m blocking the exit. I can escape, you cannot.”
“Damn it,” Dewey muttered. “He has a point.”
“Of course I do. And now, I’ll demand the ring before I kill you both and escape.” He cocked the gun and shoved it forward.
“You want this ring?” Paige raised it in the air, hiking her eyebrows high. “Well, go get it.”
She whipped her arm back and tossed the ring in the air. It sailed over the vampire’s head and clattered against the ice in the large chamber beyond.
The vampire followed the ring’s arc until it disappeared. He twisted to face Paige, sneering at her. “You foolish human. That will be the last thing you ever do.”
His finger squeezed around the trigger. A growl sounded from outside, and before the gun fired, the vampire fell forward. The reason became apparent as he landed in a crumpled heap on the ground and slid toward them with an ice panther on his back.
The massive beast snapped at him as he struggled to free himself or turn the weapon around and shoot the animal.
“Run, Paige!” Dewey shouted.
Paige pressed herself against the ice wall behind her as she inched around the battling beasts. “I’m trying. I can’t get around.”
She leaned away as the panther’s massive tail flailed in their direction. “Quick, fly out there and find the ring.”
“Okay,” Dewey said as he lifted off her shoulder and zoomed out of the small cave.
Only the vampire’s shimmery skin lit the space.
Paige crept along the wall toward the exit, while the other two rolled around across the floor.
As her fingers wrapped around the edge of the opening, a foot kicked her in the calf.
The force sent her sprawling. She smacked her chin off the ice floor. Stars floated in front of her.
“Get up, Paige!” Dewey called.
With a groan, Paige kicked her feet against the slippery surface as she attempted to stand.
Another flailing kick knocked her down again. “Give me the gun!”
“I can’t. Just get up before one of them kills the other.” Dewey flew across the chamber and grabbed her hand, tugging at her.
“Give me the gun,” she repeated.
“It doesn’t work,” he growled through clenched teeth.
“What?” she cried, finally finding her footing. “Why did you use it earlier?”
“Just to threaten him. I hoped it worked and scared him off without me having to use the darned thing. It’s jammed, remember?”
Paige groaned as Dewey twisted to scan the cavern.
“Help me find the ring.”
“You haven’t found it yet?”
“No.” He swept the beam back and forth in a methodic pattern.
“What have you been doing out here all this time?”
“I was a little distracted worrying for your life. Will you get off my back and help me look?”
“Fine, just keep sweeping the beam around.” Paige knelt down and ran her hands along the icy surface. “Why isn’t it glowing?”
“Wait, let me kill the light. It’ll take a few minutes, since the chamber’s big.” Dewey snapped off the flashlight. In seconds, a small orange glow emanated near one wall.
“There.” Paige jabbed a finger in its direction as she climbed to her feet and stumbled toward it on her skates.
Dewey buzzed behind her as she reached it and snatched the ring from the ground.
She shoved it into a zippered pocket of her snowsuit. “Let’s go.”
Dewey settled on her shoulder and flicked on his light as the commotion in the small chamber ceased. “Quick, go, I don’t hear them fighting anymore.”
Paige skated toward the opening and peered up. “I don’t know how I’m going to climb up the steep slope.”
A growl rumbled behind them. Dewey snapped the flashlight toward the noise. The ice panther, his gray-white fur covered in red blood, stalked from the chamber. “Ahhhhh, you’d better figure it out quick, because the panther just killed Mr. Shine.”
Paige grimaced, her eyes widening with fear, before she spun and tried to skate uphill. She slid right back down into the chamber.
“Damn it.”
Tears welled in her eyes as she tried again, with the same result.
“Uh, Paige…try faster, he’s stalking over here.”
“I can’t, I can’t,” she cried. Her strength began to wane as her muscles pulled from the effort.
The ice panther shuffled closer. Paige pressed herself against the wall as Dewey clicked off the light.
“Try flashing him your bracelet,” Dewey whispered.
“Didn’t work before,” she breathed as the animal chuffed before sniffing. “I bet he can make it up that stupid slope.”
“So what? It doesn’t help us.”
“Maybe it does.”
“Huh?” Dewey hissed.
“Just hang on.” Paige pushed herself off the wall and inched toward the animal who milled around near the passage opening.
“Paige, what are you doing?”
“Shh, getting us out of here.”
“How do you–”
“Shh,” Paige said again as she crept up from behind the panther.
The animal grunted, craning his neck to glance in her direction. Her heart pounded as she sucked in a deep breath and leapt in the air. She landed on the animal’s back and grabbed a fistful of fur.
The panther reared up, but she kept a firm grip. When its feet hit the icy floor, it bolted and raced straight up the steep slope, without issue.
“Oh, wow,” Dewey whispered as he clung desperately to Paige’s head. “We made it.”
“Yeah,” Paige said as they continued to bob along on the creature’s back.
“We’re at the top, let go,” Dewey said.
“Okay,” Paige answered as the animal continued its frantic scramble through the ice caves. She unfurled her fingers but quickly closed them.
“Let go,” Dewey shouted.
“I can’t. My stupid bracelet’s caught in its fur.”
Dewey’s arm flailed in the air as he struggled to hang on. “Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m not.” Paige reached for the charms with her other hand. As she slipped to the side, she abandoned the gambit and clung to the beast’s fur. “I can’t get it.”
“Whoa!” Dewey wailed. “He’s wild.”
“I know, I know. Maybe he’ll get tired soon.”
They whipped through a few more passages. The panther darted from corridor to corridor in a blind panic.
“I’m going to get tired before he does,” Dewey puffed out. “Can’t hold on much longer.”
They barreled around a sharp bend, slamming into the ice wall before the panther’s scrambling feet pushed them forward again. Light rays burst from a cavern above, and the animal aimed for it.
They blazed into the chamber, finding themselves surrounded by vampires on one side and Drucinda, Devon, and Thorn on the other.
The animal skidded to a stop, rearing up.
Paige’s bracelet pulled free, and she toppled from its back.
She landed hard on her back, her head smacking against the ice floor. The panther dashed from the space.
Dewey flopped to the ground next to her in a heap.
The tiny gun strapped to his side smacked against the hard surface.
A light beam shot out of it, grazing Paige’s shoulder as it blazed across the space and hammered through the heart of one vampire.
The sparkly man slumped to the floor as Drucinda took the opportunity to fire two more shots at the others in the room.
The last lone vampire’s eyes went wide before he burst into a bevy of bats and fluttered out of the chamber.
Devon raced across the room and helped Paige to her feet. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she murmured, rubbing at her neck as she grimaced. Everything hurt.
Drucinda holstered her weapon and approached them, her features scrunched. “Did you just ride in here on an ice panther?”
Paige wiggled her shoulders with another frown. “Ow, yeah. We were stuck in a cave at the bottom of a steep slope. It was our only way out.”
Drucinda shot a glance at Devon, who shrugged. “Well, bravo, darling. Well done. I’m not even sure I could pull that off.”
“I have every faith in you,” Thorn purred. “By the way, Dew, that was some fancy shooting.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Dewey said as he landed on Paige’s shoulder and flicked one wing around. “I really saved you guys.”
“Didn’t the weapon just accidentally discharge?” Devon asked, his forehead wrinkling.
“Uh, no. I shot it. Obviously,” Dewey said as he rolled his eyes. “I saved your life, pretty boy. How about some gratitude?”
Devon slow-blinked before he nodded. “Thanks.”