Page 42 of Shadow Witch

“Put down your sword and find out. Let’s let the best man win, shall we?”

“Fine,” Henry agreed as he backed closer to the realm exit. As he lowered his sword, Devon dove for him and pulled him away from the door.

The two men struggled, wrestling around as each tried to stop the other from exiting first.

“What a good show these two are putting on, Charlie. Who will exit first?”

“That’s the question on everyone’s mind, Sam. I’ll bet Paige Turner is out there somewhere wondering which man will have the edge going into round two.”

“She is,” Dewey shouted at the screen. “Oh, wow, this is really getting tense. Come on, Devon, slug him and get out of there.”

“I wish you’d stop betting on these things. You’re going to end up losing so much money…”

“Right? Well, if Devon would put his big boy vampire pants on, I would have made money, but he’s such a wimp.”

“At least he’s trying.”

"Do I detect a note of care in that voice?”

“Yes,” Paige said with a bob of her head. “I care because I want that stupid soul compass so I can find my mom. And if Devon loses, I’ll never get it.”

“Really? Is that the only reason?”

“I’d feel sort of bad if Devon dies.”

“Oh, I knew it,” Dewey said with a shake of his head. “You’re falling for him. Him and his dimples and muscles and great hair.”

“No. But he’s my friend. And he’s helped us out a lot. I don’t want either of them to die.”

“Which one do you want to die less?” Dewey snatched another container of popcorn from a passing waiter.

“What kind of question is that? I don’t want either of them to die.”

“But if you had to pick…”

“I don’t. And I’m not going to. This is insane. I can’t believe this is happening. And they’re still fighting in there. Can there be a draw?”

As she asked the question, both men tumbled through the door, still locked in their battle. They rolled around on the floor of the ballroom, grunting and growling at each other until bystanders pulled them apart.

Dominic stood with wide eyes between them. “Well, it appears…it appears we have no clear winner.”

Gasps sounded from the crowd before silence stretched as the crowd awaited the next steps.

A man ran toward him with an ancient leather tome. He pointed out a passage that Dominic read. Color drained from his face though he tried to remain stoic. “In this rare event…where both competitors have emerged from the realm at the same time, the artifact retrieval time is used instead. Though instant replays have shown that this, too, was a draw.”

Dominic eyed the crowd, swallowing hard before he continued. “In the event that both of these have resulted in a draw…the round shall be determined by a best of three Rock, Paper, Scissors.”

Paige’s jaw dropped open. “He’s not serious.”

“I think he is. The tome has spoken,” Dewey answered.

“Seriously? They’re going to let my marriage potentially be determined by Rock, Paper, Scissors?”

“Looks like it,” Dewey answered as he fluttered into the air to get a good look at the competition as the two men came closer to each other, each one resting a fist in his palm.

“You’ve got this, Devon,” Drucinda told him. “Play smart, play big.”

“What is she saying? It makes no sense,” Paige said.

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