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She read a few aloud, pondering their meaning. “The Goblet of Montenegro. I wonder what you do.”

She pictured a Dracula-like vampire in a tuxedo and cape, sipping blood from the goblet. Did it allow them to turn into bats or give them super strength?

Paige continued down the walkway, reading a few more. Her mind threatened to explode as she pondered the Men in Black style of secrecy involved. Creatures traded magical objects all over the world. Librarians across the globe protected humankind from magical threats every day. And now she would join their ranks.

She smiled to herself, rounding a corner and ogling the seemingly endless shelves. As she spun in search of the next path she’d like to take, a screech sounded overhead. Paige froze, her gaze darting around in search of the source of the frightening noise.

Something whooshed overhead, and she spiraled in a desperate search for what had flown over her. The shriek sounded again. It had been the same screaming sound she’d heard last night when she’d tried to enter the archive.

She gulped, her heart beating hard in her chest. What was it? Had she accidentally freed some creature when she’d opened the door?

Another shriek echoed throughout the massive room followed by a snarling growl.

Paige’s breathing turned ragged, and she swallowed hard. After the laundry list of threats Ronnie had given her, she worried about surviving her first day on the job.

She forced her mind to push the terrifying thoughts aside and reason a logical next step. Perhaps if she climbed to the platform above, she could spot the flying, screeching creature. Or at least escape if possible.

She ducked around the corner into the corridor she’d just come from and raced along it toward the next turn she’d need to make to reach the stairs. She reached out to grasp the corner of the shelving unit as she slid around the corner, her feet fighting to find purchase on the smooth concrete floor.

As she rounded the edge, she stopped in her tracks, her eyes bulging and her jaw hanging open. She fought back the urge to tremble while she stared down the source of the shrieking.

Hovering in front of her was a massive dragon. Teal in color with purple-striped wings, it snarled at her. Its sharp teeth gleamed in the light. Horns poked from each side of its head, and spikes ran from its nose to its neck and protracted from its wings.

Sharp claws extended from each of its four paws. The dragon flexed its front paws, spreading the claws out as it floated in front of her, eyeing her. A fat, barbed tail swished behind it angrily.

Paige flicked her gaze to the stairs behind the creature. She was trapped. She’d never make it around the dragon to safety.

She might not make it past her first day on the job.

CHAPTER 8

The dragon loomed large in front of her.

Its mouth opened, and a deep, growling voice emerged.“Wut eek hu juy hoor!”

“Uh…” Paige tapped the bridge of her glasses, pushing them up as they began to slide down her nose, slick with sweat. “Hello.”

“Wak eek hu!” it shouted, its eyes narrowing at Paige.

Paige licked her lips as sweat beaded on her brow. She searched for a hiding spot, but the flapping wings and hulking size of the beast suggested she’d never survive an attempt to flee. She could not skirt around it either. It filled the space between the stairs and the shelving units.

The creature fluttered around in front of her, studying her for a moment before it advanced toward her.

Paige bit into her lower lip hard and squeezed her eyes shut as she prepared to be maimed or eaten.

“Dewey!” Ronnie shouted from high above them.

Paige snapped her eyes open, hope leaping within her. The dragon in front of her ceased its movement. The image distorted, crackling before it finally died out. An object clattered to the ground and slid across the concrete floor toward her.

“Stop that!” Ronnie scolded.

Paige crinkled her brow as Ronnie descended the stairs. She collected the discarded item from the floor and studied it. It appeared to be a handheld projector of some kind. Dewey must have been having a bit of fun at her expense.

A voice mumbled something Paige couldn’t understand. She glanced up as Ronnie stepped onto her level. A creature, no larger than a small dog, flitted from a dark corner.

Paige’s jaw dropped as she recognized a tiny version of the dragon that had just loomed large over her.

“That doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t have scared her like that. She’s your new partner!”