Page 1

CHAPTER 1

Paige glanced over her shoulder, catching sight of the tip of the angry red gash. Pus oozed from it, and a greenish cast tinged the ragged edges. The foul scent of infection crinkled her nose as she caught a whiff.

“Ouch!” she shouted, her posture stiffening as Dewey’s scaly finger scraped the edge.

“Sorry, Paige, but I wanted Ronnie to see the black stuff here.”

“And you tried the general remedy?” Ronnie inquired, finger tapping her chin as she stared at the wound on Paige’s back.

Dewey buzzed around his tower nest to the kitchen counter, skirting around Paige, and collected a bandage. “Yep, it made her worse. Did nothing to cure it at all.”

“And you haven’t found anything else?”

“No, though to be fair, after the escapade in Scotland, I slept for fourteen hours straight. I’ve only just gotten back into my work here.”

Ronnie wandered to the counter and plopped on the stool next to Paige. “Oh, speaking of your shenanigans in Scotland, I just approved the bill for the rental car you ruined.”

“Hey,” Dewey said, the horns on his head wiggling as he wrinkled his teal nose, “that wasn’t our fault. Bill the werewolves!”

“I’ll be sure to have the library’s lawyers take it up with them,” Ronnie said with a chuckle.

“I’m really sorry about the car,” Paige added, wincing again as Dewey pressed the bandage onto her wound. “The next time we have a rental and werewolves are chasing us, I’ll try to be more careful.”

She stuck her tongue out at him before she grinned.

Ronnie patted her hand. “Don’t sweat it, Paige. You did a fantastic job with the investigation. We’re proud to have you as Shadow Harbor’s newest librarian.”

Dewey flew around her, hovering between them, his teal-trimmed wings beating in the air. “What about me?”

Ronnie chuckled at the teacup dragon. “You did a great job, too, for your first time out.”

An open-mouthed grin crossed his blue lips, and he glanced at his partner, Paige. “All thanks to Paige.”

“I was glad to have Dewey along. I can’t believe the last guy never took him out.”

Ronnie flicked her dark hair back from her face with a shake of her head. “Atticus was…different.”

“That’s not the word I’d use to describe him,” Dewey said as he shoved the wrapper from the bandage into his trash compactor. He flew back to the counter and landed on it, standing on his hind legs. “Anyway, I sincerely hoped the reason no cure was listed in any of the references I’ve come across so far was because Paige’s beast wound would heal on its own. But, as you can see, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“Maybe we should try something simple like an antibiotic ointment,” Paige said with a shrug before tugging her hoodie over her head and hiding the large bandage.

Dewey arched an eyebrow at her. “Be serious, Paige.”

Paige shrugged again. “I’m new at this, remember?”

Dewey turned to Ronnie. “I was hoping you could ask around at the other libraries. You know, put out the bat signal. Being the director may get you somewhere.”

Ronnie rapped her knuckles against the counter with a tight-lipped smile and a nod. “I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, don’t stop your search. If this can be fatal, we need to get Paige cured immediately.” She turned to face Paige. “And you keep that talisman around your neck. We don’t want this thing to find you and finish the job.”

Paige offered her a nod as she fished the crescent moon with its purple moonstone out from under her hoodie and squeezed it between her thumb and forefinger. “Don’t worry. We worked hard to get this. I’m not taking it for granted.”

Ronnie gave them a final nod before striding toward the door and descending from Dewey’s nest using the stairs that circled around the tower.

“I still can’t believe we stole that from the Moscow Library,” Dewey said with a chuckle.

“I still can’t believe you turned me into a puddle of mush to do it.”

Dewey’s chuckling continued as he recalled the accident with the Seepy Sap that resulted in Paige turning into a melted puddle version of herself for over an hour. “Yeah, good times.”