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Paige glanced up from the book, amazed at the tale. Across the room, Dewey scribbled on his notepad.

“Any questions?” he asked, glancing up from his book as she flicked her book shut.

“Oh, tons of them,” Paige said.

Dewey set his pen down and lifted his head.

“None of which will help us locate this thing. But my mind is blown by the tale of Horatio and how the mirror came into being. Is this fact?” Paige flipped to the front cover of the book, trying to ascertain if it contained factual information or merely tales and legends.

“Fact,” Dewey confirmed with a sharp nod. “All fact in that book. That’s the honest origin. Verified multiple times.”

“So, there’s a portal to the underworld in Mexico?”

“And a few other places, too. If you ever need to enter, we’d have to look up the closest one.”

Paige grimaced. “I certainly hope I never have to enter one. It sounds terrifying.”

“Horatio did it,” Dewey said, adjusting the book in his lap.

“Horatio was a braver person than me. Why would he even have done what he did?” Paige waved her hands in the air. “Never mind. It’s inconsequential to our search. Maybe I’ll research it later once we’re finished with this.”

“Once we acquire the mirror, you mean?”

Paige didn’t respond, instead pursing her lips and wrinkling her nose. She drew her knees to her chest, her socked feet catching the edge of the cushion.

Dewey snapped his gaze up at her, the spikes running from his nose to his head wiggling. “Paige?”

Paige lifted a shoulder in response as she hugged her legs closer to her. “Sure.”

Dewey’s teal lips puckered as he studied her, his eyes narrowing.

Paige set her chin on her knees. “I’m beginning to worry I may not achieve this. And then I’ll be researching Horatio’s story from inside a jail cell run by werewolves who have taken over the world.”

Dewey huffed at her, a puff of steam escaping from his nostrils. “Honestly, Paige, you’ve got to find some confidence. Centuries of librarians have gone before you. And every one of them had their first case and their first asset retrieval.”

“Do you think every one of them was as nervous as I am?”

“I should think so, yes,” Dewey said. He tapped his pen against the lowest spike on his nose. “I’m sure I would be if I were retrieving an asset.”

“You’re still not off the hook there,” Paige said. “I’m brainstorming ways to take you with me.”

Dewey’s eyes lit for a moment. “That would be something. I take it back. I wouldn’t be nervous. I would be thrilled.”

“Good, that’ll make one of us,” Paige said with a grin.

Dewey tugged at his book again, adjusting the notebook on top and pressing his pen to his paper. “Correction. That makes none of us. I cannot go. It’s a moot point.”

Paige stared down at Dewey’s burgundy carpet with its gold swirls, her arms still wrapped around her legs.

“I guess I should work on a few books in that stack,” she said after a few moments of introspection.

Dewey waved a hand at her as he jotted notes, signaling for her to take a book.

Paige chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment before she wiggled from her chair. “I’m going to refill my soda first. You want anything?”

“I’m good, thanks,” Dewey murmured, his teal hand sliding across the page as he wrote notes.

“Whew, it’s hot in here, huh?” Paige called over her shoulder as the soda chugged from the bottle into her cup.