Page 140 of Shadow Witch

“Drucinda showed up and did it.”

“All of that for you to tell me Drucinda showed up?” Paige rolled her eyes as she shook her head. “Honestly, Dewey…”

She tried to push herself up to sit, but her hands felt strange. They must be bandaged to treat the gashes she sustained. But why both?

“What’s wrong with my hands?”

Before she could lift them to study them, Dewey batted them down. “Uh, well, you sustained some injuries.”

“I know. I remember the werepanther scratching me, but why are both my hands bandaged?”

“Eh, neither is bandaged. I healed the wounds entirely along with saving you from the poison.”

“Oh, good. So, why do my hands feel so weird?” She tried to lift them again, but he stopped her.

“Why are you doing that? Stop holding me down.”

“The thing is, Paige, I had to…do some quick thinking to save your life.”

“Yeah?” she asked.

“And, uh, well, I did it. You’re alive. And you’re cured.”

“Yeah?” she repeated. “Why are you saying it like that? What happened?”

“There was a teensy, tiny blip in how the serum worked to save your life.”

“A blip?” She shook her head. “What does that mean? What are you saying?”

Dewey poked a claw in the air. “Just a second.”

He retrieved a mirror from the table next to the hospital bed. “Now…when you first see this, it may be a shock, but–“

“Just hold up the mirror,” she grumbled.

“Okay. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Dewey positioned the mirror in front of her face.

She stretched her neck to see into it. Her eyes went wide at what stared back. She raised her hands to her face as her jaw flopped open. Black fur covered her from head to toe. Pointy ears poked from the top of her head.

“What happened?”

“I…accidentally made you part Panther.” Dewey shook his head. “I’m sorry. When I cured you, I…turned you into Panther Paige.”

Paige stared at her cat-like reflection. “I…I can’t believe this.”

She glanced down at her body, pulling back the covers to reveal the fur now covering her arms and legs. “I’m part cat. Will I always be part cat?”

“Ehhhh,” Dewey said, his lips tugged back into a grimace, “still not sure. I don’t think so. But…I’m still working on a cure to turn you back into normal human Paige.”

“I mean…are there any side effects that are…bad?”

“I’ve heard the hairballs can be a real problem. We'll get you on a hairball-controlling diet to help with that in the meantime.”

“What? You get hairballs from licking your fur. I’m not going to–“

“Groom? You’re not going to groom at all? I mean, let’s face it, Paige, you’re not going to hop in the shower anytime soon.”

“Well, I’m also not going to wash my face by licking my hand…paw…whatever, and raking it over my cheeks.”

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