Page 101 of Shadow Witch

“Well?” Eyva asked.

“He’s not here. But the wolf inside said he was searching for Star Serum.”

Eyva’s eyebrows shot up toward her hairline. “Ohhh, really? Well, that explains a lot, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does. Let’s hope we find him at the celestial observatory.”

“And the Star Serum. What a fabulous idea from the little guy. It will make your search for Reed so much faster and easier.”

“While I agree, I would rather have searched for the Star Serum whilst sober. This has been nonsense. Come on,” Drucinda said, staring up at the sky. “Let’s go to the next location.”

With a click of her tongue, she shook her head. “Why isn’t this working?”

“Maybe because I didn’t give to the werewolf’s fund or whatever,” Paige said as she glanced over her shoulder to the temple ruins.

“No, that’s not it.” Drucinda heaved a sigh as she rubbed her temples. “The stupid thing is slow. Come on, universe! We haven’t all day.”

Drucinda set her hand on her hip, arching an eyebrow at the surroundings. After a second, the winds picked up. “Finally.”

She crossed her arms as the air swirled around them, whipping their hair wildly as it whisked them to their next location.

Paige landed with a thud under a starry night sky. “Wow. This place is cool.”

She twisted to find a circular, stone building poking toward the sky. “Do you think Dewey’s inside?”

“There is only one way to find out.” Drucinda crossed to the door and kicked it open.

“Can you ever just open a door like a normal person?”

“I prefer not to,” Drucinda said as she strode into the building and glanced around. “Let’s try upstairs.”

Paige mounted the curving staircase behind Drucinda, her heart pounding as she wondered if they’d find Dewey lounging in a chair, gazing at the stars through a telescope.

As they arrived in the observatory, Paige scanned the space, her heart sinking as she found only books and star charts surrounding a massive telescope.

Her shoulders slumped as she stalked a few steps into the room, hoping he’d flutter out from somewhere. “Dewey?”

“Unbelievable,” Drucinda said with a sigh. “He’s not here.”

Paige frowned, wrapping her arms around her. “No.”

“Damn it,” Drucinda cursed as she took one final look around. “Well, that’s that. Let’s go back. You’ve got a wedding to attend. And if we hurry, we can still make it in time to Devon’s last challenge.”

“Gosh, I hope he wins. If I have to marry Henry…” Paige wrinkled her nose as she descended the stairs behind Drucinda.

“What?” the woman asked. “He’s not that bad. And he may be quite a nice husband.”

“The entire point of me getting married was to get the soul compass to find my mom. Not to actually get married and have a husband.”

“My point is…even if it doesn’t work out the way you hoped, you still may come out with a win.”

“Nothing?” Eyva asked as they stepped into the night air.

“No, so it looks like we add Dewey to the missing persons’ list and search for him after the wedding,” Drucinda said with a shrug. “Poor fellow.”

Tears filled Paige’s eyes as the winds picked up to send them home. “I can’t believe this.”

Any further words were cut off as they transcended back to the real world. By the time they landed back in the sitting room, tears had spilled onto her cheeks. She sniffled as she wiped them away.

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