Page 112 of Shadow Beasts

“Really? I’ve always wanted to go. It looks so interesting. I–“ Her voice cut off as she glanced up and caught sight of Dewey’s expression.

He arched one of his thick, fleshy eyebrows at her. “No, not really.”

Paige winced and slumped farther down in her chair. “Right. Yeah, I think it would have been major news if a dragon showed up there.”

Dewey shook his head at her as he stretched his fingers across the polished wooden table. “Sometimes, Paige, sometimes…”

“Should we put a flight request in for Chichen Itza once we’re finished in Moscow?”

“Already done.” Dewey balled his paw into a fist and slammed it against the table, rattling the RP across it. “And that joker of a pilot better not question me this time.”

“To be fair, you were in a pet carrier.”

“So?” Dewey questioned, flitting into the air and buzzing around the cabin.

“And you were speaking Dragon.”

“Hasn’t he ever met a talking dragon before?”

“Apparently not, Dewey. I never had.”

“He’s been an employee of this library for close to five years now. No one ever told him about me?”

Paige shrugged and returned her gaze to the RP, toggling it back on to stare at the pyramid. She pressed a few buttons, trying to elicit more information from the machine. Instead, it toggled to a typed document.

Paige wrinkled her nose at the words on the screen. “What is this?”

She spotted the name Alice and words like “Mad Hatter” and “Cheshire Cat” as she scanned through the document.

Dewey twisted to face her, his eyes shooting wide as he spotted the black words on the white screen. He buzzed toward her and snatched the RP from her hands. “Give me that.”

“What was that?” Paige questioned again.

“Nothing,” Dewey said, clicking off the display and stowing the RP in Paige’s tote bag. “I think we need to discuss a plan of action for when we arrive in Moscow.”

A smile spread across Paige’s face. “We have at least another hour to go. There’s plenty of time for that. I want to know why Alice in Wonderland is on your research device.”

Dewey landed on a chair and crossed his arms. “When we get there–“

“No, no, no! Do you love Alice? Are you a fan?”

Dewey narrowed his eyes, smoke spewing from his nostrils. “If you must know,” he snarked, “that wasn’t Alice in Wonderland on there. It was Malice in Wonderland.”

“Malice in Wonderland?” Paige questioned.

Dewey raised his chin. “Yes. I happen to be an aspiring author. And I also happen to love fairytale retellings. Malice in Wonderland is my first book. I hope to publish it one day.”

Paige grinned at him, offering him an amused glance. “An author? Really? I love reading! Can I read it?”

Dewey shot out of the chair, flying across the cabin and sinking into one of the leather seats. “No!”

“Come on, Dewey! I’d like to read your retelling of Alice. I bet it’s good.”

“Authors do not like people reading their unfinished work.”

“How long until you’ve finished it?”

“Never mind. Can we please discuss our plan for after we’ve landed?”