Page 136 of Shadow Witch

Paige nodded as she wandered through the halls. It took them another forty-five minutes to retrace their steps through the winding passages back to the werewolf who still stood guarding the next corridor.

“Remember, be insulting,” Dewey said with a claw raised in the air.

“Yes, right,” Paige said as she raised her bracelet in the air. “Stop, you foul beast.”

The creature didn’t react.

“Uhh, maybe try…leave or something like that.”

Paige sucked in a deep breath as she nodded. “Okay, yeah. Leave, you foul beast.”

The werewolf grumbled before it twisted on a furry foot and raced down one of the corridors.

“Hey!” Dewey said with a clap of his paws. “You did it. You’re getting pretty good at this.”

Paige grinned. “Yeah. Now, all I have to do is get out of here within twenty-four hours without dying, and I’ll be a legend.”

“Correction. We’ll be legends, partner.”

Paige bobbed her head at him as they tried for a high-five and missed.

“Dang it,” she said with a shake of her head.

“Doesn’t matter. Shake it off,” Dewey answered. “Let’s just keep going and see what, if anything, is in this temple.”

“Gosh, I hope it’s my mom and not another dead-end.” Paige froze as tears welled in her eyes. “I’m starting to think this is all just a wild goose chase, you know? They’re keeping me busy so I don’t catch onto whatever my mom was looking into before she disappeared.”

Dewey patted her head, offering her a consoling glance. “I hope we find her, too, Paige. This has to be hard. The constant wondering if she’s alive or not. Conflicting evidence.”

“It is. Just when I start to hope, it’s squashed. And then I resign myself only to get a glimmer of hope again. I’m really starting to wonder if I’m being toyed with.”

“By who?” Dewey asked as he rubbed his chin.

“A lot of people. I mean, I think Ronnie and Rochelle are okay. But…maybe some of the higher-ups? My mom must have stumbled onto something big.”

“I’m glad you said that about Ronnie. I don’t see her being involved in this.”

“If she is…” Paige’s features crinkled. “So are Drucinda and Devon. Which means we have no friends.”

“I didn’t have any friends before, so no loss there,” Dewey answered. “Although I may be sort of upset if you weren’t my friend.”

“Sort of?” Paige asked as she blinked her tears away.

Dewey shrugged with a nonchalant expression on his teal face. “Yeah, I mean…no big loss. You’re okay.”

“Okay, huh? Yeah, well, you’re no walk in the park, either, buddy,” Paige said as she pushed her feet to move her forward again.

“Never said I was,” he answered. “In fact, I’m the opposite of a walk in the park.”

Paige screwed up her face, rounding another corner in the maze of corridors. “What is the opposite of a walk in the park?”

“A jog in a concrete jungle?” Dewey suggested.

“Oh, yeah, that would be pretty awful. I don’t jog, and the few times I’ve had to run on this job, it’s been terrible.”

“Imagine doing that for like an entire city block. And there’s people and smog and other…terrible things.”

“Hey, wait,” Paige said, “we live in a city. There’s no smog or terrible things.”

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