Page 93 of Shadow Witch

“I didn’t murder her!” Paige insisted. “We were fighting, and she fell into it. It wasn’t my fault.”

“Sure it wasn’t,” the mermaid cried. “We’ll go with you. Just don’t murder us, too.”

Paige rolled her eyes as Drucinda shoved them forward toward the town. “I didn’t mean to do it.”

“Never say that,” Drucinda answered. “Even if it was an accident, own it. They think you’re a badass. Let them.”

Paige floated forward, her eyebrows pinching. “Oh, okay. Yeah, well…keep it moving, ladies. Or I’ll do to you what I did to your friend.”

“Okay, it’s a bit much, take it down a notch. Sometimes, silent ownership is best,” Drucinda said.

“Oh, right. Okay.” Paige crossed her arms. “Keep it moving.”

They paraded the two remaining mermaids back to the underwater castle. The merman raised his eyebrows as they marched them into the palace. “You got them. Wait, where is the third?”

“Dead,” Drucinda answered. “Unavoidable, but you can imprison these two and put them on trial.”

“Are you certain she is dead? We do not want retaliation.”

“She’s dead as a doornail,” Paige said with a nod.

The merman’s brow furrowed as a few of his subjects came forward to wrangle the mermaids away from Drucinda.

“Well, that’s finished. I hope we’re able to move on now.” Drucinda dusted her hands as she floated toward Paige. “Let’s…where is Grandmother?”

Paige glanced around in search of the older woman. “Maybe she got stuck back at the cave. We could–“

Before she finished her statement, the water swirled around them.

“Oh, no!” Drucinda shouted.

Paige’s lips turned down at the corners. They were being pulled to their next location. But they hadn’t found Eyva yet. Is this how Dewey got lost?

When the winds died down around them, Paige found herself lying in the dirt. “Ugh,” she groaned as she rose and dusted herself off. Stalls filled the street around them with vendors hocking their wares. “That landing could have been better.”

Drucinda rose to stand as she twisted to glance around. “Well, we made it to the next location.”

“But what about your grandmother? Is this how Dewey got lost?”

Drucinda arched an eyebrow as she stared over Paige’s shoulder, crossing her arms. “Doubt it.”

Paige glanced over her shoulder, searching the area for whatever caught Drucinda’s attention. Her jaw unhinged as she spotted Eyva strolling through the marketplace, several bags dangling from her fingers.

“How did she get here?” Paige asked.

“She must have come early. Unbelievable. She left us to fight those mermaids alone so she could come shopping.” Drucinda stormed toward her grandmother, her features incredulous.

“Oh, there you are. I wondered how long it would take for you to make it. Long enough for me to have a successful bit of shopping,” Eyva said with a grin.

“I’m so pleased. How did you get here without helping us wrangle those mermaids?”

“Oh, the world moves you when you’ve completed whatever you need to complete. I did my bit when we located the mermaids, so I wound up here. So glad you’re all finished, too. Did you want to have a look around for Dewey?”

“I’d like to have a cup of tea and a massage, but that’s not in the cards,” Drucinda shot back.

“I don’t see why not. It wouldn’t hurt anything. And you are awfully tense.”

Drucinda narrowed her eyes at the woman.

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