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“Shape-shifting werewolf clans,” Dewey answered. “Possibly also shape-shifting vampires. I wouldn’t put it past the Valkyries, either. Oh, and then there’s the golems, but probably only certain clans.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Lots of these things would have dungeons.” Paige climbed to her feet and stalked around the small cell. “We need to find a way out of here.”
“Yeah, good luck with that, Sleeping Beauty. I’ve been down here for hours while you napped and can’t see a way out.”
Paige grasped the bars and jiggled them. “Napped? I was knocked unconscious by some unknown drug in a syringe. Not exactly beauty rest. What have you tried so far?”
“Well,” Dewey said, marking his attempts off on his fingers, “I tried hollering at them, I tried to squeeze through the bars, I tried rolling on the floor and pounding on it, and then I cried for about forty-five minutes. Then you woke up.”
“Are you sure you can’t fit through the bars anywhere?”
“Nope. The gaps are too small. I can just get my shoulder through, but I can’t fit my back end, see?” Dewey slid his front half through the bars, but his hindquarters got stuck as he tried to push through, his wings beating hard to drive him forward.
Paige grasped the bars and tried to pull them apart. “Maybe I could leverage these a little to help you slip through.”
“They’re iron bars, Paige. They ain’t budging.” Dewey trudged around the small cell as Paige continued tugging on the bars at various angles. “Nope. We’re stuck. No breaking these iron bars.”
Dewey tapped a fist against the bars as Paige plopped onto the stone floor with a grunt. “They aren’t going anywhere. We may as well just–“
A loud bang followed by a clattering noise stopped his monologue.
Dewey stared with his jaw open at the cause. Paige sat with her leg extended from a hard kick.
Across the space, half an iron bar lay. The other half remained lodged in the ceiling, a jagged edge poking down.
“How did you do that?” Dewey inquired, sticking his head into Paige’s cell.
“Simple,” Paige said as she kicked out a second one next to it. “This basement is damp. When I woke up, I heard water dripping. I found the source of the water up there.” She poked a finger toward the ceiling. “These bars are rusty from the constant moisture. Thus, they are weakened. Apply the appropriate amount of force, and voila!”
Paige grinned as she busted another pole in half, creating enough space for her to wiggle free.
She climbed to her feet and snatched a piece of the pipe from the floor. “And now we have a dandy weapon.”
“That’s perfect. Except I’m still stuck in here.” Dewey’s shoulders slumped. “It’s okay, though. You go for help. Just don’t forget about me.”
“Negative, Dewey,” Paige said, dropping to a knee and setting the makeshift weapon at her side. “I’m not leaving you.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, Paige, but I don’t see how we’re going to get me out of here. There are no keys and no rust on my bars as far as I can see. I don’t… What are you doing?”
Paige tugged her sweatshirt off and wrapped it around the bars, then she tied the arms together in a knot. She grabbed the iron bar and shoved it inside. “I’m going to apply pressure to these using my tool. When I do, you wiggle through. You can almost fit, and with this pulling on the bars, I think you’ll make it.”
Dewey approached the bars, sticking his head through. “Will that really work?”
“We’re about to find out,” Paige said. “Ready?”
Dewey nodded, and Paige squatted next to the cell, twisting the bar around until it became difficult to turn. With gritted teeth and a wrinkled nose, she eked another spiral out of it as Dewey slid through to his torso.
“Squeeze, Dewey!” she forced out of her clenched jaw.
“I’m trying. I’m stuck. I just need a little more.”
Paige’s muscles protested, and she groaned with effort as she twisted the bar a little more. Dewey clawed at the stone floor, trying to pull himself through. His wings beat against the air while his back feet pushed.
With another moment’s effort, Dewey popped through the small opening, stumbling forward onto the stones. Paige let go of the bar, and it wound backward. She blew out a long breath as she tugged it from her sweatshirt’s arms and loosened the knot.
“Thanks, partner.” Dewey gasped, climbing to his feet as Paige pulled her hoodie over her head and grabbed the bar to use as a weapon.
“Now, let’s find a way out of this horrid place.”
