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“Some pixies are friendly,” Ronnie said. “But not the Shrieking Pixies. And they certainly aren’t cute like Tinkerbell.”

“No, no,” Dewey continued with his head still wagging. “Horrid, ugly little creatures. They’ve got iridescent skin with red eyes, purple lips, and triangle-shaped teeth. One sharp horn pokes right out of their foreheads. Behind the spike is their black, spiky hair. One touch of their locks can pierce the skin. And they’ve got long, ape-like arms that hang down past their legs. Then, take those cute little pearly blue Tinkerbell wings and turn them gray-black and spiky, webbed with blood-red veins that cover the outside.”

“They are rather grotesque,” Ronnie admitted.

“Okay, their ugly looks aside, what do we know about the case?”

Dewey’s nose horn wriggled as she shuffled through the papers. “Not much. Apparently, there’s been some chatter on SupNet about this.”

“SupNet?” Paige questioned.

“SupernaturalNetwork,” Dewey answered. “It’s basically Instagram for supernaturals.”

“So, basically a supernatural social media site has had a few references to this, and the library flagged it and wants us to look into it?”

“They must find the threat credible enough to have sent it out.”

“Threat level is listed as Medium-High,” Paige read from the strip.

Ronnie bobbed her head up and down. “The medium is likely because of the lack of information about its existence.”

“So, if it’s real, the threat level is high,” Paige said, adjusting her glasses.

“Definitely. We do not want this outside of a library archive.”

Paige cocked her head and raised her eyebrows. “Okay, well, I guess we have our work cut out for us. Looks like we’d better get researching.”

“I agree,” Ronnie said. “Though you still need to worry about your unhealed beast mark. Dewey, do not let this investigation outshine the fact that Paige’s health is still in danger. We need that to be a priority, too.”

Dewey poked a chubby digit in the air. “Right. I’m all over it, Ronnie. Paige is moving in here with me.” He waved a hand at the air mattress. “So, we can split our efforts and research both.”

Ronnie glanced over her shoulder at the makeshift bed. “Moving in here? Paige, I understand how committed you are, but that seems extreme.”

Paige pulled her lips into a wince, her glasses sliding down her nose. “We had a bit of an incident earlier at my apartment.”

“Oh?” Ronnie asked, smoothing a lock of her hair behind her ear.

“The beast attacked us. He couldn’t find Paige because of the talisman, but he did some damage while searching and scared the heck out of both of us.”

“Okay, that settles it. We need Paige’s health to be a priority. That beast wound needs to be healed, and we must identify the source and eliminate it.” Ronnie swiped the folder from Dewey’s hand and snapped it shut. “I’ll pass this to the Grand Archive team. Let them chase their tails over a purple level.”

“What?” Dewey shouted, flying into the air. “No way! This is all us.”

“Dewey, this is Paige’s life. She’s been attacked, and the beast is looking to finish her off.”

“And we can do both,” Dewey argued. “I’m not going to let her die. She’s the best partner I’ve ever had. And more importantly, she’s my friend. I’d never take a chance with her life, but, Ronnie, we’ve got this.”

He flicked his dark eyes to Paige in a silent plea for help.

Paige pressed her lips together and nodded as she adjusted her glasses. “He’s right. We can handle both. I’ll research this wand, and Dewey can continue his work on the beast mark.”

Ronnie flexed her jaw, crossing her arms over her chest and flicking her gaze back and forth between the two of them.

She sucked in a deep breath and nodded after a moment. “Okay. As long as you’re both comfortable with it. But if this gets away from you and your beast mark starts to get worse, you’ll forget the wand and focus on that. Understand?”

Paige nodded, her flaming red ponytail bobbing up and down behind her.

Dewey spun in the air before floating back to his chaise. “We’re on it, Ronnie! And don’t worry. We won’t let you down on either count.”