Page 11 of Shadow Witch

“Yes, of course. Devon is a prince. Do you know how many relatively powerful entities would love to join forces with him? Let alone the crackpots who just hope to be a princess.”

Paige wrinkled her nose, her stomach turning over as she ran her fingers along his ring for the umpteenth time to make certain it was still on her finger. “This sounds like a terrible idea.”

“It’s the only one we’ve got. I’m not chancing a marriage to Devon.”

“Why not?” Paige asked, Dewey’s carrier bouncing off her side as she hurried to keep up with Drucinda.

“Please. I’m a free agent, darling. Nobody’s locking this down.”

Paige scoffed at the statement. “And no one questions you about that?”

Drucinda slid her eyes sideways. “Would you dare?”

“No, but everyone seems to think my life should be decided for me. Like I have to pick one of these guys that keep throwing themselves at me. But I was happy being a free agent.”

“But you’re so…needy.”

“I’m not needy!” Paige insisted, scurrying around the corner at a near run.

“You are. It’s no wonder Devon feels the instinctive urge to protect you. You’re just so…you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” Dewey said, “you’ve got a damsel-in-distress vibe running. People naturally want to help you because you’re a walking disaster.”

“I’m not a walking disaster,” Paige argued as Drucinda slipped into an alley and approached a dumpster.

“Sure, you aren’t darling,” Drucinda said as she lifted the lid. “You’re a proper badass.”

“Why are you opening a dumpster in a Paris alley?”

“You want to go to Deiman Marcus, don’t you?”

“Yeah!” Dewey cheered.

“Let’s go.” Drucinda stepped on a box next to the large bin before she dropped into the dumpster. Paige rose to her toes, peering over the edge, but finding nothing but trash.”

“It’s a portal. Just jump in,” Dewey said.

Paige winced as she climbed onto the box. “This isn’t some kind of trick, is it? Haha, Paige ends up in a dumpster?”

“Drucinda’s not in the dumpster.”

“No, she’s probably scaling the wall to get a good view of me rolling around in the trash.”

“Just dump in. We’ll be in the magical shopping district in no time.”

Paige hovered over the trash bags with a wrinkled nose, one foot in the air. She slid her eyes closed and leapt into the bin, expecting to hit the cold, plastic bags. Instead, she fell through the air before smacking into a rounded tube and sliding through blackness toward some unknown destination.

A second later, she spilled out onto a cobblestone street, landing hard on her backside.

“Finally, I’ve been waiting forever,” Drucinda said.

Paige scrambled to her feet, her jaw falling open as she spotted all manner of supernatural creatures wandering the Main Street in front of them. “Is that a–“

“Werewolf. Yep.”

Paige stared with wide eyes as the hairy beast wandered through town with a shopping bag dangling from his clawed hand.

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