Page 137 of Shadow Witch

“There’s some smog. A little,” Dewey shot back.

“Okay, so there is. But it’s not that bad.”

“Fine. Then go jogging when we get back and see how bad it is.”

“Pass,” Paige said as she continued through the corridors. “And if we ever get back. I feel like we’ve been walking forever. And we’re getting nowhere.”

“I wonder if we’re in another endless hall.”

“Scratch something into the wall,” Paige directed.

Dewey fluttered off her shoulder and scraped a D into the stone next to the third torch. “There we go. Let’s keep going and see if we come across that D again.”

Paige continued down the hall, taking a right at the next hallway. She hurried to the third torch and searched the stone. “No D.”

“Good. Then we’re not in an endless hall.”

“No, we’re just in an endless maze. I feel like this thing has no end. We just keep walking and walking and walking.”

“At least we haven’t met any more creatures.”

Paige dangled her bracelet in the air. “Even if we did, I’ve got us covered. Now that I’m magic.”

“We really need to look into that when we get back. I bet you can do other cool things too, like float.”

“Yeah, I want to learn how to float,” Paige said with a nod, trying to ignore the fatigue building in her thighs. “That was pretty cool that Marion could float. I’d like to float right now. My legs are killing me.”

“No wonder. When I was in your body, it was awful. I felt like I was walking on stilts.”

“Yeah, well, I’m pretty used to the feeling but we must have walked thirty miles already in this place.”

“I think that’s a pretty big exaggeration, Paige.”

“Whatever,” she grumbled. “Maybe it’s the poison coursing through my system that’s making me more fatigued.”

“Oh, yeah, probably. Do you feel tired, achy, maybe a little cranky?”

“All of those, yes.”

“That’s the poison, all right. You’re dying.”

“Great,” Paige said with a shake of her head. “That figures. I’ll die because we can’t find our way out of here.”

“Maybe we should turn back now.”

“No!” Paige cried. “I have to at least find where this leads. I didn’t marry Devon after nearly getting killed by Ivy multiple times to give up.”

“Maybe it doesn’t lead anywhere. Maybe it’s just one big maze and it just keeps going and going and going. Like the Energizer Bunny.”

“I hope not. And I always hated that commercial.”

“Me too. EB is a total jerk, too. Fame went right to his head.”

“He’s just a prop, Dewey.”

“No, he isn’t,” Dewey answered with a shake of his head. “He’s real. But you won’t want to meet him because he’s a total jerk. Just because he’s the spokesperson for a battery. Big deal, bud.”

Paige wrinkled her nose as she pushed herself to keep walking. What was the next thing she’d learn? That the leprechaun from Lucky Charms was also real?

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