Page 115 of Shadow Witch

Devon lifted his shoulders to his ears. “I don’t know, but I’m not taking a chance. Come to my room first, I’ll change, then we’ll go to yours.”

“Okay,” she said with a nod.

“Devon,” Dewey asked as they strode toward the door, “any chance we can take one of the sports cars for this trip?”

“Yeah, dude, of course. We’ll get a sweet ride for the trip.”

Dewey shot a finger gun at him as they reached the door. Dominic slid between them and the exit. “Leaving?”

“Yeah, Dad, we’re going to head out. But we’ll see you soon.”

Dominic pulled his son into an embrace, slapping his back. “I expect to hear from you soon about the next steps.”

“Definitely.”

“Next steps?” Paige asked as they stepped into the hall.

Devon shook his head. “Don’t ask.”

“He means you becoming a vampire, duh,” Dewey said with a shake of his head. “Sometimes, Paige, sometimes.”

Her stomach clenched at the words as her conversation with Dominic flitted back through her mind. She shook her head, trying to dismiss it. She’d worry about that later. Right now, she needed to focus on finding her mother.

After a quick stop in Devon’s room, they moved on to hers. She replaced her dress with more comfortable clothing before she joined the others in the bedroom.

“Okay,” she said as Dewey held a glowing bottle of silvery liquid. “How does this work?”

“The soul compass will latch on to the emotions you have about your mother,” Drucinda answered.

“And the Star Serum will supercharge it, making this far less vague,” Dewey added.

Drucinda bobbed her head. “Right. It will point in the direction we need to go, but the Star Serum will also give distances and other information. Otherwise, we could be walking for days or weeks trying to find the spot.”

Paige wrinkled her nose. “Right, okay, so let’s get this started.”

Her hands trembled, and her stomach twisted into knots as Dewey poured a few drops of the Star Serum into a well surrounding the compass. The metal object warmed in her hands before it began to glow.

“That’s it,” Dewey said with a nod. “It’s supercharged. Now, concentrate on your mom. On how much you miss her and want to find her.”

Paige bobbed her head, blowing out a shaky breath as she tried to focus. Nothing happened with the compass. Its glow continued to light her face, but the needle never moved and no other information appeared.

“Concentrate, Paige,” Dewey said.

“I am concentrating. This isn’t working.” She tapped the glass covering the needle. “It’s broken or something.”

“Try again,” Drucinda said. “Really feel all the things.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means to really dig deep into how you feel about finding your mom,” Dewey said. “Like all those times you cried and stuff. All that stuff you felt when we were at that chateau. That kind of thing. Really let it well up inside of you.”

Paige crinkled her brow as she nodded again. “Right. Welling up. Got it.”

With another sharp inhale, she focused on her mother, on how she’d lost a lifetime with her, on how she’d felt when she realized she may still be alive. The hope, the fear, the upset, the excitement. She allowed all the emotions to course through her.

“There we go,” Drucinda said. “It’s moving.”

Symbols appeared around the face as the needle bobbed around before finally settling in a direction.

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