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Paige pushed up to her elbows as she considered it. “So, can they be treated and eradicated from my body?”

Dewey waved a pencil in the air. “Working on that right now. I’m feeling good about finding a solution. Oh, there’s more good news, too.”

“What’s that? You found the Wand of Division?”

“Nope, that’s your job. But I did a quick search and found out that Dickens’s size issue is temporary. He should revert to normal size in about a week or so.”

Paige flicked her gaze at the tiny cat, still curled in his bed with a paw covering his face. “Oh, good. Now, all we need is a cure for me and the Wand of Division, and we’ll be all set.”

“Well, if you’re feeling up to it, you can start tracking information on the wand while I figure out how to save your life.”

Paige nodded as she rolled onto her side and stretched her feet out in front of her on the burgundy rug. “I am. I’m just–“

She sucked in a sharp breath, her words cutting off.

“What is it?” Dewey questioned, leaping to his feet. “Are you feeling lightheaded? Dizzy? Sick?”

“Just a little pain in my back.”

“Oh, yeah. I covered the wound, but I’d bet by now those things are venturing back out to feed. I can try to pull more out, but it won’t solve the issue. They’ll keep coming back. We’ve got to treat this orally in addition to getting some of those larger suckers with a topical treatment.”

“Orally?” Paige questioned as she rolled her shoulder back with a grimace.

Dewey flitted in front of her, his horns wiggling on his nose as he pulled his lips back into a frown, his fangs showing. “The ones growing out of your back are likely not the only ones in your system. They’re probably growing everywhere inside your body.”

Paige’s jaw dropped open. “What? Are you serious? Like they are feeding everywhere in my body?”

The horns on Dewey’s nose wiggled as he wrinkled it and nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. And you’ll have more and more complications from them as time goes on.”

Paige shot a glance at him over her shoulder as she struggled to stand, a burning pain searing through her shoulder. “Complications?”

“Ranging from general pain like in your shoulder to abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of consciousness, loss of motor control, muscle spasms–“

“Enough, stop,” Paige shouted, waving a hand in the air and adjusting her glasses. “I get it. Basically, the worms keep eating through my body until I turn into a vegetable and die.”

“Right,” Dewey said with a crisp nod.

“But that’s not going to happen because you’re all over this cure.”

“Like white on rice.”

Paige blew out a long breath and nodded. “Then there’s nothing to worry about. What I do need to worry about is tracking down the wand before these overaggressive pixies break the world in half.”

Dewey eyed the stack of five books next to the armchair. “No time like the present.”

Paige nodded and dug a notebook from within her tote bag along with a pen. She slumped into the armchair, pulled her feet up under her, uncapped the pen, and tugged one of the large volumes onto her lap. With the notepad balanced on the arm, she flipped through the index in search of information on the enigmatic wand.

After finding the appropriate page, she scanned the words for any mention of the wand. Outside of an obscure reference list of dangerous magical items, no information existed that would help them locate the object.

With a sigh, Paige snapped the book shut and tossed it to the carpet below.

“That was quick.”

“Nothing in there outside of a list of dangerous stuff, of which the wand is one. Not a darn thing about where it came from and where it may be.”

“I’m not surprised. This thing is a legend for a reason. Try the Legends and Facts book. It may have more.”

Paige lifted the book from the stack and tugged it onto her lap. “Did you say something about references on SupNet? Can I access that?”