Page 35 of Shadow Witch

“This is getting old. Think, Paige. Where are secrets kept?” She pounded a fist against the couch’s arm. “I got it. Heart!”

A blast of lightning jolted the plane, and she winced. “OMG, I can’t do this. How did Ivy answer her first one already?”

“Secrets…wait…secrets and memories. A memory where I had to leap out of a plane and trust Devon to save me.” She sat straighter. “That’s it. Trust! It’s trust!”

After she shouted the word, she found herself sitting on the lit spot again as a land bridge grew from the first island to the second. She rose, a celebratory laugh escaping her. “Haha! I did it!”

She glanced at the other set of islands. Ivy had made it to the third. “Dang it, I’m behind. I’m going to lose.”

She scurried across the bridge to the next island and searched for the lit area. “Maybe not. Maybe I can win still. I just have to solve this one super-fast.”

She located the scroll with her new riddle. “I am the joy that knows no bounds, the laughter that resonates through your soul. What am I when you are truly alive?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug as she stepped onto the lit spot. The warmth of an autumn day surrounded her. She glanced at the orange and red trees surrounding the Shadow Harbor Library before she took a step forward and tumbled down the stairs.

As her body bounced across the stone steps, landing in a heap at the bottom, she glanced up at the phantom form of Devon.

“This is the day I got my job at the library. I was so happy.”

Her stomach jumped. “That’s it. Happiness. It’s happiness.”

Before she knew it, she was back out onto the island with a land bridge forming leading to her final test. She’d done it. She could still win this round. Ivy remained on the third island, and she’d just made up a tremendous amount of time.

She raced forward to find the next riddle. Her hands shook as she read it. She’d have to be fast solving this one. Ivy still had a head start on her.

She found the scroll and read it aloud. “I am a moment lost in time, a shadow that haunts your past. What could have been, but never was. What am I?”

“A pain in my a–“ A bolt of lightning cut off her statement before she could finish it. “Sorry, sorry.”

Paige furrowed her brow as she read it again before she stuffed it into her pocket and stepped onto the lit spot. She found herself surrounded by Devon’s bedroom at Dominic’s castle.

“What is this memory?”

Devon’s shadowy form appeared in front of her. “I want you to marry me, Paige.”

Paige crinkled her nose as he stood in front of her awaiting her answer. She recalled what she had said. She’d asked if she’d heard him right before laughing hysterically.

“Uhhh, why am I having this memory? What does this have to do with…” She pulled the paper from her pocket and read it again. “A moment lost in time that haunts my past.”

“I want you to marry me, Paige,” Devon repeated, still seeking an answer.

“Heard you the first time, thanks.” She tapped her forehead as she sought the emotional response the riddle hinted at. “Shadow that haunts me. Uhhh, stupidity?”

A blast of lightning let her know she wasn’t correct.

“I want you to marry me, Paige.”

“Sure you do.”

“You’re hurting my feelings, Paige,” the shadow said.

Paige rolled her eyes at the phantom figure. “How sad. Oh…sadness!”

A jolt of lightning made it clear she was wrong again. “Dang it. Okay, ummm…”

She paced back and forth in front of Shadow Devon. “You asked me to marry you. I laughed. That wasn’t nice. Uhhh, kind–no.” She stopped herself before making another incorrect guess. “Kindness doesn’t haunt your past. What haunts your past? Things you wish you would or wouldn’t have done. Things that you…”

She opened her mouth into a wide O. “Regret! It’s things you regret!”

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