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“Two hundred thirty-six,” he said without skipping a beat.

Paige screwed up her face, pausing the movie. “Huh?”

“Dragons live for hundreds of years. I’m still pretty young.”

Paige slouched down in the cushions as she slowly chewed another piece of popcorn. “How many hundreds?”

“Huh?” Dewey asked.

“How many hundreds of years?”

“Oh, right, like seven or eight hundred.”

Paige tugged her phone from her pocket and tapped around. “So, you’re about thirty percent of the way through your life.”

“Thanks, Paige,” Dewey said, throwing a piece of popcorn at her. “I’m so glad to know that.”

Paige pulled open the Twizzler package, peeled a few from inside, and bit the end off one. “I’m just trying to figure out how this compares to human life.”

“I’m a little younger than you.” Dewey waved his hand in the air, requesting a rope candy. “Also, I’m cooler than you.”

A loud, long scrape sounded, drowning out the dialogue on screen. Paige growled at the ceiling and raised her fists in protest. She grabbed the remote and pressed her finger against the Volume + button. The yellow bar on the bottom of the television rose higher and higher until the sound blasted from the speakers.

Loud booms resounded through the living room, and Blade fought through another throng of vampires.

“TAKE THAT, DEVON!” Paige shouted with a grin.

The disruptive sounds from above ceased after another twenty minutes. Paige turned the volume down on the television as she queued up the third movie.

“Ugh, I’m stuffed,” Paige said as she patted her full belly.

“Me too,” Dewey admitted. “Where’s your bathroom?”

Paige pointed to the doorway leading to her bedroom. “Through the bedroom. Hang a right.”

Dewey flew into the air, darting across the room and disappearing into the other room. Paige tapped her fingers on the remote as she waited. She tugged another Twizzler from the package, swinging it around after she bit the end off.

Her gaze floated to the ceiling above. What did her noisy neighbor do up there?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud shout.

“Hey, Paige?” Dewey called.

“Yeah?” Paige inquired.

“You better get in here!”

Paige leapt from her seat, hopping over a sleeping Dickens and racing toward the bedroom. “If you stuffed up my toilet–“

Her voice cut off as she stepped inside the room. Dewey hovered at the window. He twisted to glance over his shoulder, his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide.

“What is it?”

His features pinched, and he swallowed hard. He lowered his voice to a whisper and tapped a finger toward the glass. “The vampire’s outside your window.”

CHAPTER 3

Paige’s heart skipped a beat, and her throat went dry. She reached for the talisman hanging around her neck and clutched it. “A…vampire?”