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“Drive better! We’re going to wreck into the loch!”

Dewey waved frantically out the windshield at the fast-approaching water. Paige swerved to the right. The car skidded into a turn, fishtailing as the rear passenger’s tire grazed the water.

The car shot forward in the new direction, clipping a tree and knocking the mirror off.

“I hope you got the insurance,” Dewey shouted as he braced himself in the seat.

“If not, the library will owe them for a mirror.” Paige wrangled the car back onto the driveway and continued away from the castle.

She twisted to glance back at the large structure, now shrouded in mist.

“Paige! Look out,” Dewey screeched.

Paige swung her gaze back to the windshield. A giant, hulking wolf stood on its hind legs in their path.

“Hang on,” Paige shrieked, gunning the engine.

The car rammed into the wolf. It smashed against their hood and toppled into the windshield, cracking it and smearing blood across the glass. The beast rolled up onto the roof, rumbled across the top of the car, and flopped to the ground behind them.

Paige glanced in the remaining mirror. The hairy form of the wolf lay unmoving on the road.

They remained quiet for a moment as Paige flicked on the windshield wipers, spraying some washer fluid onto the broken glass and allowing the blades to wipe the blood away.

She shifted her eyes sideways as they passed between the stone pillars. “You okay?”

Dewey sat staring ahead, clinging to the door handle, his claws digging into the leather. “Yep. You?”

Paige bobbed her head up and down rapidly. “All good.”

They drove for another few moments in silence before Paige glanced in the rearview mirror. “Do you think I killed him?”

Dewey’s lips turned down into a frown, and he shook his head, finally prying his claws from the door. “Nah. He’s just stunned. It takes a lot to kill one of them.”

Paige blew out a shaky breath. “Oh, great. That’s good.”

“He’ll probably really want to kill you now.”

“What should I do?” Paige asked.

“I’d say don’t stop driving until we get to the plane.”

Paige returned her gaze to the road, swallowing hard as she tightened her grip on the wheel. “At least we got the mirror.”

“Yeah,” Dewey said, his voice still shaky. “Mission accomplished.”

* * *

Paige followed Ronnie’s pacing back and forth behind her desk. She and Dewey sat in the chairs on the opposite side. Paige pursed her lips, her hands in a white-knuckled grip on the chair’s arms.

“So, let me get this straight,” Ronnie said, raising a finger in the air. “You put Dewey into a pet carrier and snuck him from the library. On the way to the plane, you stumbled upon a werewolf lair and stole magic mercury from them after being captured. You then proceeded to travel to three separate countries to retrieve a magical enchantment, the mirror, and steal a talisman from another library.”

She flicked her gaze over her reading glasses at the two of them.

Dewey’s head, which had been bobbing up and down as she spoke, changed directions. “No.”

Ronnie raised her eyebrows at him.

Dewey’s fingers flicked back and forth. “We stole the talisman first, and then we retrieved the enchantment and the mirror.”