Page 36 of Shadow Charms


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“What?”

“Yep. Has the power to rip you limb from limb. To split roads down the middle. To break buildings apart.”

Paige grimaced as she drew her chin back to her chest. “Yikes! This sounds more like a code red.”

“Well, code purple because it’s legend, not fact. Code red once we verify this bad boy actually exists.”

“And why does it say requested library instead of closest?” Paige inquired.

The door burst open, and Ronnie strode in and slapped a folder down onto the table next to Paige. “Because word got around about your Mirror of Duplication win, and now the powers that be prefer Shadow Harbor Library to handle dangerous cases.”

Paige’s jaw dropped open as Dewey flew in the air, a paw thrust in the air.

“Yeah! Finally!”

“Finally?” Paige asked, her brow furrowing.

Ronnie stuck a hand on her hip, leaning against the back of Paige’s chair. “We haven’t been the go-to library for decades. Not since your mother was the librarian.”

Paige arched an eyebrow.

“Never in my tenure here,” Dewey added. “It’s always been those goody-goodies over at the Grand Archive in D.C.”

Paige leapt from her seat and paced the floor. “Okay, so I’m learning. We’re the preferred library, which means we can take our pick of cases.”

Dewey fluttered back to his seat and waved at Ronnie to hand him the folder. “Is this what I think it is? Wand of Division?”

Ronnie bobbed her head up and down. “Yep. The legendary wand.”

Paige grabbed the ticker tape lying on Dewey’s chaise. “What’s the other two letters? Last time they were W.W. for werewolf, right? This time it says S.P. What’s S.P.?”

“Shrieking Pixies,” Dewey and Ronnie answered simultaneously.

“Shrieking Pixies?” Paige repeated.

“Miserable little buggers,” Dewey answered with a nod. “Horrible sound when they open their mouths. And teeth? Wow! For being only about as big as Dickens, they can do some damage. You do not want to be on the receiving end of a Shrieking Pixie bite. They sting something terrible.”

“It’s not just the teeth. It’s the venom,” Ronnie added as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Right. The skin will blister around the bite, and it leaves a permanent scar.”

Paige threw her arms in the air. “They sound just lovely. At least they’re tiny, unlike the werewolves.”

“Make no mistake, they are just as dangerous. Especially if they’ve got the Wand of Division,” Ronnie stated.

Paige crinkled her brow as Dewey paged through the folder. “Just as dangerous? Werewolves are huge with massive teeth. They can morph into beasts and chase you down and eat you!”

“Don’t let their size fool you. They can be deadly. One well-placed bite from a pixie queen or a swarm of them can easily kill a regular-sized human,” Ronnie informed her.

“Yeah. And given their tiny size, they can move around relatively undetected. Now, imagine a murder of Shrieking Pixies with an axe to grind holding entire cities hostage with the wand.”

“A murder?”

“Yeah,” Dewey said with a nod, “that’s what a group of three or more Shrieking Pixies is called. A murder. Like a murder of crows.”

Paige wrinkled her nose at the dark name for the group of tiny creatures. “I just picture sweet little Tinkerbells flying around. This is surreal.”

“Oh no,” Dewey said, waving a paw in the air.

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